Vietnamese fairy tales

“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”.

His birth name is Tuan Ngo, an offspring of Quyen Ngo. He was borned in 1019 at Thai Hoa ward, Thang Long (now Hanoi). When he was child, he early showed brave and martial spirit what were inherited from his family who had been generals, dedicating to Ly dynasty. His father, An Ngu Ngo was also one of them he was a great general. When he was 13 years old, he lost his father and was taken care by his aunt and her husband. Tuan Ngo was taught by Cong An Ly, a royal great teacher at that time. His teacher complimented that he had talent but he headed to be a general instead of a mandarin. Therefore, he studied literature in daytime and research art of warfare in night time. When he was enough 18 years old, he opened a martial class. People coming and studying were crowded. The news came to the recent king who summoned him to castle and conferred him to be a low martial mandarin. Two years later, he became the king’s guard staying by the king entire day. That time, the king realize...

His  mother was a beautiful woman but Crown Prince Can Duc seemed not to inherit her beauty. People described that he had protruding eyes, a convex forehead and especially, his hands could reach over his knees as he stood straight. Though, people said that was shape of person who had rare talents. They might be right because Crown Prince matured sooner than children who had same age with him. When he was six, his father died, he had no choice but becoming the next king. Sat on the throne with  Empress Dowager Linh Nhan  staying in a veil behind him, he (now was King Nhan Tong Ly) solved national’s problems clearly front of mandarins and generals though his voice was still thin and weak. He used to have good ideas which none could think about. When he was 9 years old, he felt that his teacher could not teach him anymore. Though his mother had broad knowledge, couldn’t meet his learning desire. Therefore, he thought about competitions which used to find out the peopl...

Like  previous kings,  King ThanhTong Ly  worshiped Buddhism but he also interested in Confucianism, the system of philosophical and ethical was used as standards of living in China over one thousand years of history. According to Confucianism, an ideal model had to followed three rules or three Moral Bonds (there regulated about three relationships, people and king, father and his offspring, husband and wife) and five moral qualities or five constant virtues (these were benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, fidelity) King Thanh Tong Ly seemed to predict the development of Confucianism and he also realized that had no way to build talented people but Confucianism. Therefore, he was the first person who went on the way, developing Confucianism in the country. Vietnamese history had written: “In spring 1070, King Thanh Tong Le ordered builders to build Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), built statues which were Confucius (Khong Tu), Zhou ...

Being  royal concubine seemed to be god’s setting for Thi Yen Le, a country girl. She was born in Tho Loi village (in Duong Quang, Thuan Thanh which now is Gia Lam, Hanoi). She lost her mother when she was child. Every day, she busied weaving but she still kept the beauty and innocence. That year, in 1062 while mulberry trees was in harvest time, King Thanh Tong Ly was on his travel went to Dau temple in neighbor village, crossed Tho Loi. The temple was sacred temple and King Thanh Tong Le went to there to pray for a son (King Thanh Tong Ly that time was 40 years old but he still had never had a son. Therefore, having a son was the greatest wish). While Yen was picking up mulberry leaves in filed, a crowd of people went cross the field who were the king and his servants. King Thanh Tong Ly rode on a horse and was escorted by soldiers. People living the village didn’t want lose their chance seeing the king, sprinted to and rounded him. King Thanh Tong Ly stopped to meet the...