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GIỠ HAO JRANG chapter 1

Long time ago I mean very very long time ago that no one know
How many millenniums had passed
How many lives had gone
How many winters had left and
How many springs had come.
The rainy days just left and drought days were coming. That weather made people who lived on ground got flu and desired fruit sour and acrid.
That was the time the fruit in forest started to ripen. Beautiful girls went and called guys to go with them in forest and picked longans. They gathered under communal house (nhà rông*).
“Hey guy! Are you busy?”, yelled girls, “if your hands are not busy with anything, if your feet are not busy with anything and you are resting. Go with us, pick longans. We are ill. We are getiing flu. We want to eat fruit, sour and acrid”.

DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet replied:
“No, we are not busy girls. Our hands and our feet have nothing to do. We are also ill getting flu and was wanting to eat some sour and acrid fruit.”
Then beautiful girls and hundreds of people, thousands of people came back their home, took the biggest rattan baskets. Then they all walked to forest.
Women and girls brought rattan baskets on their back.
Men and boys brought machetes in their hands.
They smilesd, sang on whole of their way.
While women and girls clapped, men and boys sang up.
They realy happy.
“DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet”, said the beautiful girls, “Where will we go?”
“Oh, beautiful and clever girls”, cried up DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet, “We will came to hight mountain which stands by the shore, very distant but there have many longans”.
Then crowd of people, hundreds of people, thoudsands of people stepped toward the mountain which reached to blue sky and stood by wide sea.
They slapped on their way, screamed and sang loudly. They broke the silence of forest, of mountain. They forgot their tiredness and all of them only wanted the longans, sour and acrid.
They kept going till they saw a longan tree its top reached clouds while its trunk was as large as a house. Longans was in ripe time, reddening whole a large area of sky.
They happily stopped to rest, drink, smoke and talk.
After resting, drinking and smoking DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet talked to others
“We will climb and drop longans down and you will stay here, pick up longans, eat and fill full rattan baskets”.
Then DamBik, DamVingBingKlan turned to DamDokGleTreVet and said:
“Hey DamDokGleTreVet! You first. We will after you.”
DamDokGleTreVet stood up and started but he slided down when he still didn’t reached the first branch of the tree.
 DamDokGleTreVet talked to DamBik, DamVingBingKlan:
“Oh DamBik! Oh DamVingBingKlan! This tree’s too large, too hard. It’s difficult. I can not climb.”
 DamVingBingKlan turned to DamBik and said:
“Hey DamBik! You try. We won’t give up, right?”
DamBik stood up, he hugged the trunk by his strong arms and pushed his body up by his legs but DamBik only reached to the first branch before he slided and fell down on ground.
Hundred of people, thousands of people who went to forest to pick longans felt sad and depressed.
DamVingBingKlan shouted:
“See you. So stupid! You can’t climb the tree though you’re all men. Open your eyes and see what I do.”
DamVingBingKlan stood up and started. His athletic arms hugged tightly the trunk, his legs clamped on the trunk and pushed his body up, then clamped and pushed. DamVingBingKlan moved and moved a little and a little higher.
All people who were staying on ground nervously looked at him.
But, DamVingBingKlan only reached to the second branch before he slided down.
DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet knew they could not climb the tree, the grabbed their machetes cut trees and branches around in pieces and then they threw the pieces up toward ripe longans but how they could threw up sky it’s too high. They tried again and again but no pieces of tree or branches could reach one longan. All of people felt disappointed and said. They looked up and saw red ripe longans but that only made you felt sadder.
They didn’t want to come back because they didn’t want their effort to be meaningless. Besides, they didn’t want to leave the longans. But, if they stayed there they also couldn’t do any thing. They knew that. All of them sadly looked at the others.
Then, they didn’t know to do more but to pick longans which dropped on ground, gave to others and ate.  
 DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet not only wanted longans but also they felt ashamed front of girls because they couldn’t climb and pick longans for them.
Girls, on other side, felt a little angry they talked to others.
“We find longans and see longans. But now we have no longan to eat, only can see them. The men like that are useless.”
Then they said:
“Girls, we ought to come back our village. We will call DamPhan, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong. They are great in climbing. Though this tree’s high, they will climb up. We want to eat longans, we have to back and call them”.
  Then hundreds of people, thousands of people stayed at there and waited while beautiful girls came back their village and called DamPhan, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong.
Beautiful girls went to the communal house of their village and called up:
“Oh GiỡHrengTengDengKoDrangArangAron…
Oh GiỡTuKrongGongBlengBlongKoDongDaSalTang…
Oh DamPhan…
“Are you busy now? If you are, forget it. If you are not, we have something to need your helps. Go with us to forest and pick longans, will you? We are getting ill. We want fruit which is sour and acrid. Deep in forest, on the top of highest mountain standing by sea, we found a longan tree with its trunk as big as a house and its top reached to clouds. The tree had many many ripe longans on whole of its branches reddening a large area of sky. It’s wonderful men.”
DamPhan, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong replied:
“DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, DamDokGleTreVet did go with you, right? We saw you and them yesterday.”
“Yes, we did go with them but we didn’t have any longans they are useless.DamBik, DamVingBingKlan and DamDokGleTreVet are not better than women like us. They want but they don’t know how to climb the tree. They are not as good as you”, said the beautiful girls.
GiỡTuKrong turned to the beautiful girls and said:
“DamPhan, GiỡHreng and including me are not better than DamBik, DamVingBingKlan, and DamDokGleTreVet. They all grew up in the place which has no tree and so we also don’t know how to climb like them.”
Then GiỡTuKrong continued:
“But, we feel really sorry if we don’t go with you that came back to ask our help. We will go and see how much big and high the tree is but don’t hope to much. Maybe, we can not climb like others.”
Then DamPhan, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong, with beautiful girls. Each of them brought a machete to cut branches and an archery to shoot birds along ther way.
Beautiful girls went ahead while men after them.
They went deeply in forests, climbed up high mountains.
They sang and yelled loudly along their way.
All of them were happy because they’ re all young and they’re all on their journey. DamPhan, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong had shot many birds on their way. The beautiful girls got more happy because men beside them now were good guys.
At last, they arrived to the longans tree which had trunk as big as a house, had the top reaching to clouds and had many many of longans they couldn’t know how much.
They stopped and rested. DamPhan, GiỡHreng and GiỡTuKrong roasted the birds and then they could eat and talked to others. Later, they started picking longans.
Hundreds of people, thousands of people who stayed around the root all talked to them:

“Oh DamPhan! Oh GiỡHreng! Oh GiỡTuKrong! Try your best. Pick the good taste-looking longans there. We all really want them, really want to taste them.” 

"Translater: Hung Nguyen"
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