Vietnamese fairy tales

GiỡHreng turned boring. He put his machete in the sheath he stopped. Saw that GiỡTuKrong requested MaKlen, MaJong to fight AtauYangBul. “Hey GiỡHreng! You did well. Now, take a rest and see others do. MaKlen and MaJong ‘ll help you now. So that, all of us won’t be exhausted and all will be fine” said GiỡTuKrong MaKlen, MaJong dived the fight with AtauYangBul. They wrestled, kicked, punched and burked. Their fight took continuously though many days had passed, daytime and nighttime. Sometime AtauYangBul was up on the others and sometime he was under them. The fight still continued.

“GOD! What are you doing BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong?” shouted GiỡTuKrong, glowering, “You always proud that you are the strongest person on the world and now you are kneeling crying and begging for your life. SHUT UP! You are the person who started this fight. Who came and cursed and frighten us who only came helping people to pick longans, WILD longans but YOU, you said that the longan tree’s yours. You planted. You watered and took care of it from it was little tree. Yes, there’s what you said. You said us thieves and wanted fighting us. You showed off that you had god’s power”. “AND”, added GiỡTuKrong, “see you. We just started and you have felt tired and begged me to stop. Don’t you lie me? BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong talented and powerfull accepted defeat. COME ON! Stand up and fight me”.

AtauYangBul’s power source things was hidden in Dark forest and stood by Black sea. They were spider webs in deep Dark forest and ancient trees stood by Black sea. It’s very difficult for people to find out where the spider webs and ancient trees were because very few people could go to there dark and dangerous. Most of people scared to approached the Dark forest where dangerous creatures stayed. People would died because of losing their way or they met the creatures. And in the deep heart of Dark forest there were spider webs which gave AtauYangBul power. Black sea it was a dead sea no living creature could lived after it touch on its water. There were on souls which were killed by the Black sea. But, there stood ancient trees, no leaves and dry twigs but they still alived and gave AtauYangBul power.

BiaBơlang bowed while BiaChăm’s talking she was distracted. “Not good”, she thought, “BiaChăm was not normal as others. She is talented having strenght of gods. Not many people dare to fight against her. I may die if I do”. Though she didn’t want, she had to force herself to be brave. She held her shield and knife and was ready to fight BiaChăm. A flame erupted from BiaBơlang’s shield. It chased BiaChăm. BiaChăm ran. Her feet bleeded because of thorns, sharp rocks on her way. Then, her feet turned heavy she couldn’t force them to move. She stopped let the flame catch her in. The flame reached her it surrounded and started burning her body. Her clother and hair was completely burned. BiaChăm, now, was naked but she didn’t feel ashamed she stood still and continued chanlenged BiaBơlang.

 DrangMai, BiaVai, BiaBơngBơh, BiaSơngLong and BiaSơdrăngMatAnar went to BiaChăm’s house first. They wanted BiaChăm to join them. “BiaChăm – Go – Go, find and fight against BiaBơla and BiaBơlang, the younger sisters of AtauYangBul. Men fight against men and women will fight against women”, they called BiaChăm. BiaChăm emerged and saw beautiful girls standing on her front yard. She invited the girls to go in and get some drinks. They all went in, get drinks and took a short conversation. “Go! Go and show them who I, BiaChăm, am”, said BiaChăm, hurrying the others.

The fighting of Giông, GiỡTuKrong, DamPhan, GiỡHreng, MaKlen and MaJong, LingNgoa, RơNung and BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong, AtauYangBul turned much more fierce than ever. Though LingNgoa and RơNung were new born children, they were strong and combative. While they were fighting against AtauYangBul, they saw their mothers coming so they dropped their shields, the baskets and knife and ran toward their mothers. “Father and uncles help us fight to BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong and AtauYangBul. We rest a while”, they said.

Giông and the others, all talked to LingNgoa and RơNung: “Go home! And get your milk. Let BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong and AtauYangBul for us. We’ll take care of them.” “Go! Go! You two look so hungry. Go home and don’t worry about anything.” added  MaKlen, MaJong. “My son”, said Giông, “go home and send your mothers my regards. Tell them I’m fine”. LingNgoa and RơNung grabbed their knives and baskets they were going to come back home. “Buzz! Buzzz! Buzz!” they flew apart.

DrangMai turned scared and more scared as she thought about what her son had just said it’ s too strange to her and she couldn’t understand why her son said that. Then, she turned to LingNgoa and said: “My son... I ever heard bout Giông a handsome and talent man but I have never met him, have never talked to him. So, how can you be his son?” Then, DrangMai continued talking she talked to herself.

At last, Giông decided to stand outside. He peed on one mango and started he muttered: “God! If I’m the person who talent and powerful as like a son of God, I will throw this mango into the millstone DrangMai use everyday. Whole night she will not able to sleep. She will feel like to eat mangoes. She will find and find out this mango and enjoy it. After that she will be pregnant and enough time she will give birth to a son, my son and his name will be LingNgoa”. Giông threw that mango. It flew highly and dropped right in DrangMai’s millstone. That night, DrangMai couldn’t sleep her brain only thought about eating mango. She sat up and turned to her mother.

“All right!” said Giông and GiỡHreng, “We will go in. If we stain your community house by blood, you don’t hate us or if we made your community house shake or ruin it, you don’t say that we want to do it. Or if you also want to fight with us, let us know immediately”. “I am gentle person”, said AtauYangBul, “Who have never gotten argument with anyone. I have asked BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong but he don’t listen he still lie on floor under blanket shaking. Come on and fight with him on floor. I will go and sleep at garret”. While BiaBơngBơh, BiaSơngLong, BiaSơdrăngMatAnar found shade under trees resting, Giông, GiỡTuKrong, DamPhan, GiỡHreng, MaKlen, MaJong started stepping up community house. “MaKlen, MaJong shut the doors up.” said GiỡTuKrong “Today we will fight with BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong in this community house”.

“Let’s break there protection layers”Giông, GiỡHreng talked to the others, “though Giông, GiỡHreng’re lowly, though our strength’re not stronger than anyone and though we had heart empty, we will try –never scare, never turn back”. “Let’s start”, Giông added, “GiỡTuKrong, you are big brother -- you first, stand up and step on ground and try to break there walls.” “Let it there” said GiỡTuKrong, standing up, “See how much I GiỡTuKrong can do”.

“Hey Giông, GiỡHreng, GiỡTuKrong! Hey DamPhan, MaKlen, MaJong! Hey BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong!” said  BiaSơdrăngMatAnar, “This is delicious rice. This is silver fish, gold fish greasy. Everyone, let’s eat together. If anyone who don’t want to eat my rice and my fish, pour away”. “Don’t say that BiaSơdrăngMatAnar”, said Giông, “No one here can’t refuse your food. They look delicous and we are all hungry.” Then Giông invited all others to enjoy the food. Giông turned to BiaSơdrăngMatAnar and said: “BiaSơdrăngMatAnar! Come here and join with us. Let’s have something to remember the first time we meet.”

Giông went toward BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong. Politely he asked: “BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong what’s happening? Why are you unpleasant? Why do you and they fight? You all make me scared”. Then Giông clever and talented continued. “I am an orphan. My parent died when I was a child. My grandparent also had died. When I see you, I remember my grandfather. When he was alive, he’s also as huge as you. He also had beard sweeping on ground as you. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong, the person’s like my grandfather you will not frightened me, will you? You will be kind to me, won’t you”, said Giông.

Their fighting was very noisy. When their knives hit against the others or hit again shields it rumbled as thunders. The place between sky and ground where they fought was covered by dusts. They wrestled, punched and kicked other by their feet. They burked others by their huge hands. Daytime as like nighttime they fought without resting. Sometime, GiỡTuKrong and his fellows got advantage but sometime, they lost. Long time had passed but they still didn’t find out the winner. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong clawed on GiỡTuKrong’s face by his pointed hard fingernails but all his fingernails were broken while GiỡTuKrong’s face had no scratch. GiỡTuKrong raised his hexagonal rod which was made of brass and lashed on BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong’s face. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong dizzied and fell on ground he fainted.

BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong kept crying and wriggling as a worm. “How’d you dare? Dare to cut my longan tree? Dare to steal my longans”, he roared, “If you wan, you have to ask me and letting you or not is my decision”. Then, hundreds of people, thousand of people started speaking: “No village here, no field here, there are only trees and mountains. We think it’s a wild longan tree and of course, it’s really a wild longan tree. It’s born and grew up itself no one planted and took care of”. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong turned angry, again.

GiỡTuKrong turned to DamPhan. “You try first”, he said, “This tree’s high as hell I think it’s dificult to climb”.  DamPhan stood up. He extended his arms and held on the tree and started climbing. Each step he climbed higher and higher. All people standing out looked up at him and cheered him up.  DamPhan got highly on the tree but he only reached to the fourth branch before he felt exhauted and fell down. GiỡTuKrong turned to GiỡHreng and said:

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”.