The Legend Of The Dragon And Fairy Descendants Vietnamese Folktales English Up

The Legend of the Dragon and Fairy Descendants Long ago, thousands of years ago, King Duong Vong married Long Nhu, the daughter of the god of Dong Din Lake. They had a son named Sung Lam, later known as Lac Long Quan. Lac Long Quan was a dragon's descendant, loved swimming underwater, and was very strong. He succeeded his father in ruling the land of Lac Viet. At that time, the land of Lac Viet was still wild, and in many places, demons appeared to harm the people. In the East Sea, there was a giant fish that had lived for a long time, known as the Sea Monster. This creature often opened its huge mouth to swallow entire fishing boats along with many fishermen at once, causing great fear among the people who made their living by fishing. To deal with this, Lac Long Quan stood on a large boat, holding a sharp ironwood spear, and went out to sea to eliminate the Sea Monster. When he encountered the evil fish, Lac Long Quan used all his strength to hurl the spear straight into its mouth. The Sea Monster was wounded, thrashed about, and caused the seawater to splash violently. Lac Long Quan then used his sword to cut off its head and rescued the people. In the Long Bien area, he encountered a nine-tailed fox spirit called Ho Tin. This fox often came out at night to capture and eat people. Lac Long Quan used a net woven with five colored threads to catch it and placed it at the entrance of its cave. When Ho Tin rushed out, it got entangled and could not escape, so it was killed. Then, from Long Bien to Phong Chau in the mountains, Lac Long Quan met a giant pine tree that had lived for thousands of years and had transformed into the tree spirit. At night, this spirit would take human form and raid villages, stealing cattle and chickens. Lac Long Quan used a large axe to chop the tree down himself. Once the tree was felled, the tree spirit died as well, after eliminating the three monsters. Lac Long Quan then taught the people how to plant glutinous rice. When the rice ripened and was harvested, it was ground into rice. The rice was put into bamboo tubes and mixed with water. Then, banana leaves were used to seal the tubes, and they were roasted over a fire. After a while, the tubes were opened to reveal delicious cooked rice. This kind of glutinous rice dish is called Kam Lam. Lac Long Quan also taught the people how to go fishing using boats with animal-shaped decorations on the hulls, resembling fierce creatures bearing their teeth. Fishing boats would return with two large eyes painted on either side of the bow. Lac Long Quan explained that these eyes helped scare away other creatures underwater, preventing attacks. Thanks to this, people across the land learned how to farm and fish to survive. At that time, Emperor Dalai and his daughter Oko traveled from the north to visit the south. Seeing that Lac Long Quan was strong and an excellent swimmer, Dalai decided to give his daughter's hand in marriage to him. The talented man and the beautiful woman were wed in a grand ceremony. The people of the region were overjoyed. They danced, sang, and celebrated to congratulate the newlyweds. The festivities lasted for three full days. Oko married Lac Long Quan and after one year, she became pregnant. When the time came to give birth, people gathered at their house to help. Some boiled water, others sewed clothes and prepared bedding. But instead of giving birth to a baby, Oko delivered a large sack. But instead of giving birth to a baby, Oko delivered a large sack. The sack grew bigger each day, and after seven days, it suddenly cracked open, revealing a hundred eggs. From each egg, a beautiful baby boy was born. Strangely, all one hundred boys could walk immediately and ran to their mother, even though he had a wife and children. Lac Long Quan often returned to the underwater realm to visit his mother, the Dragon Lady. Oko, left alone on land, was often sad. Seeing this, Lac Long Quan said, I am of dragon descent, and I love the water. You are of fairy descent, and you prefer the land. That is why we cannot stay together for long. Now let us part ways. You take fifty children to the mountains, and I will take fifty to the sea. From then on, Lac Long Quan and Oko parted ways. Some of their children went to live in the forests and mountains, while others moved down to the coastal regions to make a living. They became the ancestors of the Lac Viet people. The eldest son remained in Phong Chau and became the king of the Van Lang kingdom, known as Hung Vong. Therefore, Vietnamese people are all said to be descendants of dragons and fairies. This legend teaches future generations to remember their roots, love their fellow countrymen, and always uphold the spirit of national unity, staying bonded in harmony and working together to build the nation.