Vietnamese Tales - The Warrior Sent By Heaven

[swanchika]

 During the reign of King Hùng-Vuong the Sixth, a couple of poor, honest and pious peasants lived in Phù-Dông village, in northern Vietnam. They had been married for a long time, but the wife was only awaiting her first child. More than ten months had passed, and the child was not born yet.

One morning, as she was back from the market, the woman found on her way a very large footprint, and put her foot inside. No sooner was she at home that she started to feel great pain, and she gave birth to a boy. Husband and wife were overjoyed. But three years passed, and the boy never talked or walked. He sat on his bed all day long, sombre and silent, and his parents were despairing.

At this time, the An dynasty was sending its warriors to conquer Vietnam. Enemies flooded the country like waves breaking themselves on dikes. King Hùng-Vuong erected an altar and made offerings to ask for Heaven's help. Soon enough, a spirit visited his dreams and told him to send emissaries across the country, to recruit the most courageous men. The king immediately obeyed.

One day, the emissaries reached Phù-Dông. As soon as the child heard the drums' call, he started to speak : "The An warriors are coming", he told his mother. "Will men not fight them to prove their fealty to the king ? Tell the emissaries to come, so that I can speak with them !" When she heard her son talk, the mother was full of joy ; but she looked at him worriedly and said : "How could you go to war, if you cannot even walk, my little child ? If you jape, it might cost you your life !" Despite this, the child insisted and his mother called the king's emissaries. When they arrived, the child said, still in bed : "Tell the king to forge an iron horse for me, as well as a bronze sword, and I will save the country from its enemies !" The emissaries reported this request to the king. The latter was very surprised, but remembering the spirit's words, he carried the child's orders out.

When the iron horse and bronze sword were brought to him, the little boy rose, stretched, and started to grow tremendously. He became two metres tall, hopped on the iron horse, spun his sword and galloped to the An warriors' camp. At the foot of the Trân-Son mountain, the enemies tried to block his path ; but no sooner had they taken a step that their heads were rolling on the ground. The iron horse spat fire, scorching the whole region. But the enemies were many ; they surrounded the iron horse, and the bronze sword had to cut so many heads that it ended up breaking. The disarmed warrior uprooted bushes and spun them around. Terrified by such strength, the survivors dropped their weapons, bowed to him and asked for mercy, calling him "the Warrior from Heaven". Having saved the country, the Warrior from Heaven rode up to the summit of the Vê-Linh mountain, and from there, he jumped into the sky with his horse.

This region is full of lakes and marshes ; those are the iron horse's hoofprints. The bamboos uprooted by the warrior have grown back, and now, the area has plenty. As for the village that was burnt down by the iron horse's flames, it is now called Chay : the torched village.