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2. Birth and death

Sun was going downing. Birds turned back their nests. A woodcutter was heading his home on the winding road. Dark started covering the place. It got more and more silently. Bell tones echoing from distance seemed hurry people to get the scary forest. Howls coming out from deep forest frightened people who were in there. Night was the time monsters moved out from their hiding. An old monk was on his way from his place, the temple at the foot of mountain, to the edge where a couple lived. The people were the followers of the monk. The monk arrived to the tent when dark just covered whole the place.
vietnamese fairy tales
“Knock! Knock! Knock”, the monk knocked the door. The couple appeared. After greeting, the couple invited the monk in. The monk sat on a round carpet while others surrounded him. They all were enjoying tea.
“From the time you were followers”, said the monk, “I used to come here and directed you. I am very happy as I see you both progress every day. We meet and then we part that is the life. Tonight, I come to goodbye. I have come to other place ang help other people. I don’t know it will take me how much time so I don’t daresay whether we can meet again or not. So before I leave, I have some advices for you”, the monk stopped a while. “Don’t forget to recite the Buddhist scriptures. Live and work followed Buddaha’s direction. You both will meet things you don’t like but you have keep yourself calm, not being impatient. One of us will die early but the other doesn’t hurt too much. Have to help the dead recite the Buddhist scriptures. Only if you do that, the soul of the dead can reincarnate early. It’s difficult to do what I say. Many people also can’t do that. But, you have to remember the words and follow them”.
The monk left in the next morning.
Time passed. The monk had left the place for two years. The couple always followed the monk’s words. They recited the Buddhist scriptures everyday. They used to help others. They love people and was loved by people. Their family life was happy and peaceful. The days like that continued passed but,
One day, the husband got sick. The sick made him stay on bed whole day and seemed not to relieve. The wife had found all the ways to doctors around the place they lived but no one could cure. At last, a relative helped her invite famous doctor to come. The doctor examined and said:
“He won’t pass”, said the doctor, “His pulse’s very weak. You had better prepare for the thing’s going to come”.
The wife fell in hopelessness. Her mind turned confused. She forgot all the words. She bent her head down on her husband and cried. The last seconds the husband opened his eyes, looked at her, she cried more violently.
“Don’t leave me alone”, she scream, “Why can I live without you?” The wife cried loudly.
The husband listened mournful words, the feeling of sorry his wife made him could not be peaceful. He looked her awhile, tears dropped from his eyes then he died. His soul left out from eyes but she still bent down and cried on his face so the soul went in her nostril and changed into a worm.
   She did her duty after that. She held a funeral. People came and helped her very much. After her husband was buried, people found the ways to their home, left her alone in the empty house. The house now became too big with her. It’s so cold and quiet. Besides, the worm in her nostril got bigger each day, made her get more and pained. She felt unhappy and so that she cried. She cried whole day, daytime and including nighttime. The mournful cry came out from the house made people who lived surrounding felt sorry for her but they couldn’t do anything.
Then, the monk came back. The first thing he did was visited to her home. She burst into him as she just saw him. She started lamenting.
“Stop do the thing”, said the monk, “You’re one follower must know that birth and death are obvious. We are born and we all will die. With followers, death is a good thing that they are recused from blood and flesh. You should feel happy for him because of that. Why’d you still cry? You cry it mean you still don’t understand the dogma. Hear me. Stop crying and focus on practicing. You have to let the dead leave in peace”.
After heard monk’s words, she seemed to understand. She helped herself redress her clothes, comb her hair. Then, in the accident, she sneezed. The worm was pushed out.
The monk laughed. He said:
“There had very few people in the world who because of mercy husband, getting a worm in nostril”.
The wife felt ashamed, she planned to kill the worm. But, the monk prevented her.
“Stop”, said the monk, “Don’t do that. It’s your husband changing in”.
That seemed surprised her.
“Master”, said her, “My husband had done good deeds for all his life. Why’ d he change into a worm when he died? That’s nonsense”.
“You forgot my direction”, said the monk, “When your husband died, you forgot to recite the Buddhist scriptures, leading him to the right way. Instead of that you fell in sadness, you burst in tears. So, when he died, his soul couldn’t go, it was bounded by emotions. He changed into worm and lived as a worm in your nostril. His life was wasted. A follower want rescue but to be bound by emotions that like a bird want to fly up to escape from trap but it don’t know its legs are tied by a rope. It’s so pitiful”.
The monk approached the worm. He said gently:
“When you lived, you followed me doing good deeds but when you died, you were bounded by emotions so you couldn’t go on the right way. So that, you was changed in a worm. It’s so pitiful.
The worm lied still on ground. It heard and understood what the monk said. It felt ashamed. Later, the worm died. The monk helped him recite the Buddhist scriptures, telling all the good deeds it had done when it’s human. Its soul was led on the right way, another time going to the gate to become a human.

THE END

Book Introductions

1. Complete Collection of Vietnamese Fairy Tales - A Treasury of Legends and Folklore

Discover over 240 enchanting Vietnamese fairy tales, translated into English and beautifully illustrated. This collection is a treasure trove of legends and folklore that reflect Vietnam's rich cultural heritage. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

2. Vietnamese Fairy Tales - Stories in English and Vietnamese

This bilingual collection features 162 Vietnamese fairy tales in both English and Vietnamese, with stunning illustrations. Ideal for language learners and cultural enthusiasts. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

3. The Treasury of Fables

An enchanting collection of timeless fables, written in English and beautifully illustrated. Perfect for all ages, these stories offer valuable moral lessons. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

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BÀI ĐĂNG ĐƯỢC XEM NHIỀU

List of Vietnamese fairy tales

Vietnamese  fairy tales includes many stories as Tam and Cam; So Dua; Hundred – knot- bamboo tree... which were spread in folk. Each stories has  its own meaning. I think I can not translate exactly each word into english but I will try my best to convey its meaning to you. Hope you like them!

The Tale of the Hundred - knot Bamboo tree

Once upon a time, there had a boy who was poor, had no field. Therefore, he found the way to work for a landlord. He was healthy, worked hard and great in working so the landlord wanted him to work for him long time without any pay. One day, he called the boy to come. "You are honest and healthy. If you agree to work for me in three years without pay, I will let you marry with my only daughter after that." The boy agreed. He believed completely. He worked very hard, help the landlord turn richer that he could build more houses, buy more fields and cattles. Then, time passed. Three years nearly crossed, the boy always remembered his master's promise while his master, the landlord didn't want to do his promise. He in secret had found another boy for his daughter, a son of another landlord in that area. Therefore, what he need was a reason to refuse the boy. One day, he called the boy to come. "You have worked very hard for three years, waken early, slept late....

Thanh Giong

Once  upon a time, a woman was old but she had not given birth a child. One day, when she went to her field, she saw a stranger footsore on the ground. The big footsore made her surprise and said: “omg, this footsore is so big” the she put her foot into the footsore. More 9 months later, she gave birth to a little boy named Giong. The boy was extraordinary that he was over three years old but had not spoken. He only knew lying and smiling. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com That year, the enemies they were known An planed to attack the country of the boy. They were merciless. Wherever they had gone, houses were ruined, fields were fired, people were killed. The sight behind them is mess of corpse and blood and ashes.The King was worry he forced his servants to look for person who could fight against the enemies.  One day, a servent went to Giong’s village while the woman was holding the boy in her arms, she said sadly that: “Giong, I wonder that when you hav...

Announcing New Ebook Collections: Dive into the Magical World of Vietnamese Fairy Tales

Hello Dear Readers, My name is Hung Nguyen, and I am the proud owner of the blog  Vietnamese Fairy Tales . First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all my readers who have followed and supported me throughout the years. Your passion for Vietnamese culture, particularly Vietnamese fairy tales, has been a tremendous source of inspiration. In my journey to share the rich and enchanting world of Vietnamese folklore, I have carefully curated and published three remarkable books that I believe will captivate your imagination and enrich your understanding of our cultural heritage. These books have been designed to reach a broader audience, and they are now available in ebook format on Kobo and Apple Books. 1. Complete Collection of Vietnamese Fairy Tales - A Treasury of Legends and Folklore ($15) Dive into the magical world of Vietnamese fairy tales with this comprehensive collection. This book includes a vast array of stories that have been passed down th...

Truyện 110. Lấy chồng dê

Ngày xưa, ở một vùng gần biển, có hai vợ chồng nhà nọ, đầu tóc đã hoa râm mà vẫn hiếm hoi. Hai vợ chồng cầu khấn khắp nơi mong có mụn con khỏi phải hiu quạnh lúc tuổi già. Thế rồi người vợ bỗng có mang, chín tháng mười ngày đẻ ra một bọc, khi   mở   ra thì không phải là người   mà   là một con dê đực. Chồng bực mình bảo vợ đem ném xuống sông cho khuất mắt, nhưng người vợ không nỡ, khuyên chồng cứ để lại   nuôi. Trong lòng phiền não, người chồng phát ốm rồi từ giã cõi đời. Trái lại, dê thì hay ăn chóng lớn, lại biết trông gà, chăn lợn, giúp đỡ mẹ những việc vặt trong nhà. Vì thế, mẹ dê cũng phần nào khuây khỏa.

Crow and Peacock

Once  upon a time, both Crow and Peacock were best friends and had same feather colors, gray. They knew themselves were ugly so they didn’t appear front of other birds. Peacock in Crow’s eyes was uglier than him because Peacock had a small head and a long neck that they didn’t connect to his body. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com One day, Crow talked Peacock: “A painter was painting nearly so we should come and steal some colors to paint on our feathers and make it beautiful” said Crow Peacock bowed his head. That day, the painter hadn’t finished his picture so he left his jar of colors on ground and took a nap. The first time, they stole a paintbrush and some jars then hid them on mound middle lake nearly. The second, they planned to go and steal again but the panter had woken up and came his home so they only took a jar of ink and a pocket of purl he had left. “Right, we start painting, yet” said Crow Crow made Peacock lie down and began painting. Crow painted v...

Thuong Luong

Thuong Luong was common name of creatures which are in people’s imagines. They are distant relatives of dragons. While dragons are worshiped as gods, the gods ruled rivers and sea and the gods can make rains, Thuong Luong is not respected as dragons that the creatures are too amorous, combative, wild, and have bad behaviors. All most of them like to harm people.

So dua - Coconut boy

Once upon a time, there in a village had a couple who worked as servants for a landlord. Although they were over fifty years old, they had ever not had a child. They were sad about that, but they had never given up to dream about a child. One day, it's a very hot day, when the wife was working in the field and felt very thirsty. She seeked for water, but she didn't see any but a little water in a skull which was in a hole beside an ancient tree. She had no choice but to drink it. Right the moment she drank, the feeling of cold water running from her throat to her stomach made her felt very comfortable. As a magic, she was pregnant after that short time. Then, the husband died before he got the happiness looking his child be born. After nine months and ten days, the wife gave birth a son but he didn't look like any child on the world. He had no feet, no leg, and even no body. He just had a head with full of eyes, nose, ear, hair and mouth on it. He didn't ugly but was ...

Toad is uncle of King of gods

Long  time ago, it had not rained for four years that made all lakes, rivers are out of water, trees were withered and animals were thirsty. Most of animals only waited to die but a tiny, ugly Toad planned to go up heaven to save their life. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com First, Toad went alone up. When he crossed a dried swamp he met Crab. Crab asked him where he went. Toad talked him that he wanted to go up heaven to pray God to make rain and invited Crab went with him. Initially, Crab didn’t want to go he said he prefered waiting to die to going up heaven from which was too far. Toad had insisted for a long then Crab agreed.