Vietnamese Tales - The Mountain Spirit And The Water Spirit

[swanchika]

King Hùng-Vuong the Eighteenth had a daughter as sweet and beautiful as daylight. Her name was Mi-Nuong. As she grew up, she became even more beautiful, and soon enough, she was receiving marriage proposals from every prince of every country. But Hùng-Vuong refused them all. One day, two exceptional suitors arrived : one of them was Thuy-Tinh, Spirit of Waters, and the other was Son-Tinh, Spirit of Mountains. They were equally powerful and handsome, and the king was embarrassed. After a few days of pondering, he called them both and said : "I will marry my daughter to whoever comes first with the wedding presents." Thuy-Tinh and Son-Tinh bowed and left.

The next morning, Son-Tinh arrived very early, with the most precious gifts : jades, ivories, fabrics never seen before. King Hùong-Vuong kept his word and allowed Son-Tinh to take Mi-Nuong atop his mountains. No sooner had they left the palace that Thuy-Tinh came, with presents just as rare and precious. Seeing that he was too late, he became furious and decided to take Mi-Nuong by force.

Thus started an era of fear and desolation for humankind. First a titanic storm broke out. Rain and wind unleashed destroyed everything on their path. The seas overflew, flooding the land ; fish, shellfish and crustaceans turned into millions of soldiers that assaulted the mountains to kidnap Mi-Nuong. But Son-Tinh was not going to yield. Seeing his rival's armies rising towards him, he called forth thunder and, to block his enemy's advance, he covered his lands with iron-mailed nets.

But Thuy-Tinh changed tactics. Going from the Ly river, he reached the foot of the Quang-Oai mountain, crossed the Hàt river, reached the Lu river, went down the Dà river and attacked the Tan-Viên mountain, where Son-Tinh had taken refuge, from behind. At the same time, he sent another army on a front assault. The battle was a clash of titans ; thunder growled, the water level rose even more, huge waves were reaching the sky ; everywhere, weapons clanged together and warriors screamed.

Naturally, humans were the first victims of this conflict ; their crops were destroyed, their houses washed away by the waves, and many of them were killed. In the end, Son-Tinh, perched atop his Tan-Viên mountain, ordered the tigers, the elephants and the panthers to uproot trees and roll them down the slopes to crush Thuy-Tinh's armies. At the same time, he elevated the summit so high that the waters could no longer reach it. Thuy-Tinh finally retreated. After this battle, the seas remained red with blood for a long time and the corpses of millions of fish, shellfish and crustaceans could be seen floating on its surface.

But Thuy-Tinh's jealousy has not died out. Ever since this battle, every year, he sends his armies against Son-Tinh ; and at this time of the year, around the Tan-Viên mountain, the waters of the Dà river burst its banks, destroying many crops.