Vietnamese Tales - My-Châu, Trong-Thuy and the magic crossbow

[swanchika]

 In a time when Vietnam was still called Au-Lac, warriors from the north often came to disturb its peace. This prompted King An-Duong-Vuong to order the construction of Cô-Loa fortress. But strangely, every time it was about to be completed, it crumbled to ruins. Seeing this as a manifestation of divine will, the king had an altar built, to ask Heaven for permission to build the stronghold. The night after that, a spirit named Kim-Quy, who had a golden turtle on his crest, came to tell the king of the right way to build the fortress. When it was constructed, Kim-Quy gave the king one of his nails and said : "This land of Phong-Kê is full of malevolent spirits who want to harm you. With this nail, you will make a crossbow that will help you destroy the evil spirits." The king followed Kim-Quy's advice, and thus, the warriors from the north sustained heavy losses.

Trieû-Dà, a Chinese general, decided to use cunning. He sent his son Trong-Thuy as an emissary for peace, and told him to try and arrange a marriage between him and My-Châu, An-Duong-Vuong's daughter. An-Duong-Vuong approved of this union in good faith. Once he was married to My-Châu, Trong-Thuy asked her how it was that such a small country could resist to the powerful Chinese army. My-Châu trustingly told him about the Cô-Loa fortress' history, and Kim-Quy's help. She even went as far as to show him the magic crossbow.

Trong-Thuy soon took advantage of his wife's absence and stole the crossbow, replacing it with a fake. He then asked An-Duong-Vuong permission to visit his parents. Before bidding his wife farewell, he looked at her tenderly and asked : "If war breaks out while I'm away, how will we find each other ?

– I have a dress made of goose feathers, My-Châu said. If I were to flee, I would tear the feathers off and leave them behind me ; this way, you would only have to follow the trail."

Back in China, Trong-Thuy reported everything he had learnt to his father and gave him the magic crossbow. Trieû-Dà immediately launched an offensive on Au-Lac. Trusting his crossbow's power, An-Duong-Vuong remained calm in the face of the invasion. He only went to take the crossbow when the Chinese were in front of the fortress. But the weapon did not work as expected, and the frightened king could only watch as the enemy forces were pressing onwards, like waves breaking dikes. He took My-Châu on his horse and fled south. When he reached the Mô-Da mountain, he saw that his way was blocked. As tears welled in his eyes, he raised his head to the skies and cried out : "My God ! I cannot believe that I will die in this place !" At this moment, Kim-Quy appeared once again and said : "O, King, the reason for this war is just behind you !" An-Duong-Vuong turned around, and saw only My-Châu. He suddenly understood, drew his sword and beheaded his daughter, before drowning himself in the sea along with his horse.

As his wife had said, Trong-Thuy had followed the trail of goose feathers. As he reached the Mô-Da mountain, he found her corpse. Bitterly regretting his betrayal, he clutched his wife's lifeless body and started to cry. Then, overcome by despair, he threw himself in a nearby well.

Even today, this well sits near the Cô-Loa fortress, in northern Vietnam. When looking at it, one cannot help but remember Trong-Thuy's tragic fate. The locals say that My-Chau's innocent blood turned part of the sea red ; the oysters that drank it produce beautiful pearls. And if one of those pearls is washed in the well, it shines a thousand times brighter...