Son Tinh Thuy Tinh

Introduction.

Son Tinh Thuy Tinh is a story about the wish to control water from the perspective of ancient people. The story was sanctified from the war at that time between Hung-Thuc. The story is also a wish to fight against natural disasters and floods. The story has many different versions, below is the version according to the storytelling style of thuvimoingay.

Story Content

Once upon a time, during the reign of the 18th Hung King in Van Lang country, King Hung had a daughter named My Nuong. My Nuong was extremely beautiful, her talent and beauty were well-known far and wide. Therefore, My Nuong was loved by her father very much. That year, when My Nuong reached the age of marriage, King Hung immediately held a ceremony to choose a husband. The king wanted to choose a husband for her who was truly worthy.

Hearing that King Hung was choosing a son-in-law, talented people from all over the country eagerly came to compete. Many days had passed but the young men who came to the son-in-law selection festival did not show any outstanding performance. This made King Hung extremely anxious, and after many days, My Nuong also showed signs of fatigue.

One day, two extremely handsome and unusual young men came to King Hung’s wedding ceremony.

A young man who called himself Son Tinh came from the Ba Vi mountain range and ruled the western mountains. He was handsome and exceptionally talented. Wherever he went, fragrant flowers and lush vegetation grew. When he showed his talent, he only needed to point to the west, and mountains appeared in the west. When he pointed to the east, forests and lush rice fields appeared in the east.

A young man who called himself Thuy Tinh came from the east and ruled over the vast eastern sea. He was as handsome as Son Tinh. Wherever Thuy Tinh went, dark clouds gathered and whirlwinds followed him. Thuy Tinh also had magical powers and was as talented as Son Tinh. He could summon wind and rain at will, point his hand at the river and the water rose and the waves rolled, put his hand down and the sky and sea were calm, the wind stopped blowing, and the clouds dispersed.

Both were talented, making the King wonder who to accept and who to reject. Both were worthy of being King Hung’s son-in-law. To avoid offending the two young men and to find a suitable plan, the King invited the mandarins to discuss, but each mandarin had a different opinion and could not find a good plan.

Finally King Hung made a decision and said:

Both of you are talented people that I like, but I only have one daughter and don’t know who to marry. To choose a worthy person for my daughter My Nuong, the dowry requested includes: one hundred trays of sticky rice, two hundred bundles of banh chung, a nine-tusked elephant, a nine-spurred chicken, and a nine-red-haired horse. Tomorrow, whoever brings the dowry first, I will marry my daughter to.

The two young men agreed with King Hung and quickly said goodbye to prepare the wedding gifts.

Because he was the king of the mountains and forests, Son Tinh quickly found the wedding gifts that King Hung required. Although Thuy Tinh was the king of the sea, with his own efforts, he also quickly prepared enough wedding gifts.

Early the next morning, Son Tinh quickly found all the gifts. He quickly brought all the gifts and arrived first and King Hung agreed to let him take My Nuong as his wife. Thuy Tinh brought all the gifts but arrived later. When he heard that Hung Vuong had married My Nuong to Son Tinh, he was furious, brought his army to chase after her, and demanded to take back My Nuong.

Thuy Tinh summoned rain and wind, creating a storm that shook the heavens and the earth, and the river water rose and rushed towards Son Tinh. The rising river water flooded the rice fields, swept away houses and doors. Many Thuy Tinh’s soldiers followed the water to destroy villages and chase Son Tinh. Wherever Thuy Tinh’s soldiers followed the water, they terrified the people.

Son Tinh knew that Thuy Tinh was chasing him, but he was not shaken. He sent someone to take My Nuong to the mountains and forests first, promising to hold the wedding later, while he stayed to mobilize his soldiers to stop Thuy Tinh. Son Tinh used his magic to lift each hill, move each mountain range to stop the flood. As the water rose higher, Son Tinh made the hills and mountains grow that much higher. Son Tinh’s soldiers also joined forces to fill the river, stop the flood, and fight the water monster.

The two sides fought for months, suffering countless losses. Having to move troops from the river and sea, Thuy Tinh’s soldiers quickly became exhausted. Along with the magic of raising water to attack Son Tinh many times, they failed. Thuy Tinh and his soldiers were exhausted and had to retreat back to the sea.

Son Tinh won and held a festival to celebrate. As promised to My Nuong, he held a wedding with her. Son Tinh also did not forget to send soldiers to help people clean up after the flood and restore the fields. He used magic to help the fields grow green and forests grow back where the walls were destroyed.

Hearing that Son Tinh was holding a grand wedding with My Nuong, Thuy Tinh was extremely angry. Every year he still sent troops to harass Son Tinh but could never defeat him.