Thach Sanh Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in Cao Binh district, there was a family of woodcutter Thach Nghia. The couple was old but still had no children. The old couple were sad and tried their best to do good deeds. The old man repaired bridges, repaired sewers, dug ditches, and built roads. The old woman boiled water for passersby to drink. The work of the Thach family reached the heavens, and the Jade Emperor allowed the Crown Prince to reincarnate into the human world as the son of the Thach family. Mrs. Thach conceived for three years, but before giving birth, Mr. Thach died. Later, Mrs. Thach gave birth to a handsome son named Thach Sanh. A few years later, Mrs. Thach also died, and Thach Sanh lived alone in a thatched hut under a banyan tree with only a loincloth to cover his body and an axe to chop wood.

When Thach Sanh was thirteen, out of pity, the Jade Emperor sent a fairy to teach him martial arts and all kinds of magical powers.

One day, a wine seller named Ly Thong stopped by a banyan tree to rest while selling wine. He saw that Thach Sanh was strong, smart, and living alone, and could be used for business. He became friends with him and brought Thach Sanh home.

At that time, in the area there was a Python Spirit that often caught people to eat. The army surrounded it many times but could not defeat it. Because it had magical powers, the king had to build a temple to worship it and each year surrender a person to it. That year, it was Ly Thong’s turn to surrender himself.

Ly Thong’s mother and son were shocked when they heard the news and plotted to send Thach Sanh to take his place. When Thach Sanh returned from collecting firewood, Ly Thong warmly invited him to drink wine and said: “Tonight I have to go guard the temple in the forest, but I have already brewed a batch of wine, I am afraid it will be ruined, please help me guard the temple for one night”. Thach Sanh happily accepted and left immediately.

At midnight, the Python Spirit appeared, raised its claws, bared its teeth, breathed, and breathed fire, intending to rush into the temple to eat Thach Sanh. Thach Sanh calmly showed off his fighting skills with the Python Spirit, and finally he cut off its head, burned its body to charcoal, and saw a set of golden bows and arrows appear in the temple. Thach Sanh happily put on his hammer, put on his bow and carried the Python Spirit’s head and ran straight home.

Hearing Thach Sanh calling, Ly Thong and his mother were frightened, thinking that Thach Sanh’s ghost, after being eaten by the Python Spirit, had returned home to blame him, so they prayed and begged: “Live wisely, die sacredly, please leave for now, tomorrow your mother and I will buy gold, incense, rice, soup, and a feast to worship you!”.

Thach Sanh opened the door and went in, holding the Python Spirit’s head, which scared Ly Thong and his mother to the point of fainting. When they woke up, they realized that Thach Sanh was not dead and heard the story of Thach Sanh killing the Python Spirit himself, and Ly Thong and his mother regained their senses.

At this time, Ly Thong immediately came up with a new evil plan. He said that the Python Spirit was the king’s treasure, and whoever killed it would be punished greatly. Thach Sanh was afraid, Ly Thong told Thach Sanh to hide for safety, and that he would take care of the arrangements himself.

After Thach Sanh said goodbye to Ly Thong and his mother and returned to the old banyan tree, Ly Thong led the Python Spirit to the capital and reported to the king that he had defeated the Python Spirit. The king was delighted and rewarded Ly Thong and appointed him as the Duke of the District.

Next, the king held a festival to choose a husband for his daughter, Princess Quynh Nga. The festival lasted for months but the princess could not choose anyone she liked. One day, while the princess was walking in the peach garden, another giant eagle swooped down and carried her away. Seeing the bird carrying her flying by, Thach Sanh raised his bow and shot. The eagle was hit by an arrow on its left wing. It used its beak to pull the arrow out and continued flying back to its lair. Thach Sanh followed the trail of blood to the eagle’s cave. He marked the entrance to the evil bird’s cave and returned to the banyan tree.

The king loved his son and remembered that Ly Thong had once killed the Python Spirit. The king sent Ly Thong to find and save the princess. If he could save her, he would marry the princess, become her husband-in-law, and succeed the king. If he could not find her, he would be punished. Ly Thong was both happy and worried. He planned to hold a ten-day singing festival to listen and inquire for news.

On the tenth day, hearing that Ly Thong was holding a festival, Thach Sanh came to visit and told Ly Thong about the eagle shooting. Ly Thong was extremely happy, treated Thach Sanh well, and told him that the king would punish him if he could not find the princess. Ly Thong asked him to lead the way to the eagle cave to save the princess. Hearing this, Thach Sanh did not hesitate and immediately set out to lead Ly Thong and the royal soldiers to the eagle cave.

When they arrived, Thach Sanh used a rope ladder to go down to the cave to meet the princess and gave the eagle a sleeping pill. The princess promised to marry Thach Sanh, then Thach Sanh tied her up and brought her to the ground. Ly Thong ordered a group of soldiers to carry the princess on a palanquin back to the palace, and he lied that he stayed behind to fight the monster and help Thach Sanh. After that, Ly Thong ordered his men to block the cave entrance with rocks and returned to the court to claim credit.

After the anesthetic wore off, the eagle woke up and used magic to harm Thach Sanh, the brave warrior with a “red face and green eyebrows” who dared to “destroy its house and steal its wife”. Thach Sanh used his martial arts skills and magic to destroy the eagle.

Looking up at the cave entrance, which was completely sealed without a single gap, Thach Sanh walked around the eagle’s cave and met the prince, the son of the Water King, who was being locked in an iron cage by the monster. Thach Sanh broke the iron cage and freed the prince. The prince invited Thach Sanh to go to Water King to meet his father.

The Water King thanked him and treated him well. During his stay in the water palace, the Water King invited Thach Sanh to stay in the water palace and would give him a title, but Thach Sanh refused. After staying in the water palace for a long time, he missed his homeland and the familiar world. Thach Sanh asked the Water King and the Crown Prince to let him return to the human world to live. The Water King knew Thach Sanh’s thoughts and did not keep him. To thank him for saving his son’s life, the Water King gave Thach Sanh a magic lute and a pot of rice, then sent a messenger to part the water and bring him back to the human world.

Thach Sanh returned to the old banyan tree. Without Thach Sanh’s presence, the banyan tree was sad and gloomy. When Thach Sanh returned, the banyan tree was green again.

When she returned to the palace and did not see Thach Sanh return, the princess was sad and depressed and lost her voice, not saying a word. The king was sad and ordered Ly Thong to find medicine to cure her before the wedding. Searching for a ladder everywhere was ineffective, Ly Thong had to postpone the wedding to focus on curing the princess.

In another development, the souls of the two monsters killed by Thach Sanh (Python Spirit and Eagle) met each other. They were still holding grudges in their hearts and together they sought to harm Thach Sanh. They entered the king’s treasure house to steal gold and silver and threw them at the banyan tree where Thach Sanh lived.

The king’s soldiers followed the traces of the two monster souls to the banyan tree. The soldiers quickly arrested Thach Sanh and put him in prison. The king handed him over to Ly Thong to be punished.

Ly Thong was extremely frightened when he heard that Thach Sanh was still alive. He then sentenced Thach Sanh to death to cover up the clues. While being imprisoned, awaiting execution, Thach Sanh sadly took out his magic lute and played it.

The magic lute played the sounds of silk and bamboo, the sad and sorrowful notes accused Ly Thong of being ungrateful, unfaithful, and stealing Thach Sanh’s merits; the palace blamed the princess for breaking the promise in the cave (tich tich tinh tang, who brought the princess back from the cave?)…

The sad sound of the lute made anyone want to cry. But hearing the sound of the lute, the princess woke up, smiled, and talked. The king was happy to hear the princess explain the whole story. The king immediately ordered Thach Sanh to be released, and when he met Thach Sanh, the princess told the whole story to the king. Only then did Thach Sanh realize that he had been deceived by Ly Thong for so long. He told the whole story of destroying Tran Tinh, Dai Bang, and being harmed by Ly Thong.

The King was angry and ordered Ly Thong to be imprisoned. The King gave full authority to Thach Sanh to punish Ly Thong. Thach Sanh was kind and forgave Ly Thong, allowing the mother and son to return to their hometown to make a living. On the way, unfortunately, they encountered a storm and were struck by lightning and died. Ly Thong had committed many sins, so his soul was transformed into a dung beetle, having to roll around in dirt and feces for the rest of his life to atone for his sins.

Talking about the situation in the palace, the King agreed to his daughter’s wish, and the King was happy to marry the princess to Thach Sanh. Their wedding was the most bustling in the capital, never so joyful. Seeing this, the princes of the vassal states who had previously rejected the princess’s engagement were angry. They gathered soldiers from all eighteen countries and came to question the King about why he had married his daughter to a commoner. They used that as an excuse to send troops to rebel.

Hearing the news, Thach Sanh asked the King for permission to handle the matter. The King trusted Thach Sanh to quell the rebellion. Thạch Sanh did not lead his troops to quell the rebellion, but instead played the sacred zither from the high wall for his soldiers to listen to. Suddenly, the soldiers of the eighteen countries no longer had the will to fight. Some missed their mothers and fathers, some missed their children and wives, everyone wanted to return home and was afraid of war. Finally, the princes of the countries who had not yet served all rolled up their armor and retreated. Thạch Sanh ordered his soldiers to prepare a meal for them.

He took the magic pot given to them by the Water King and treated them. The tens of thousands of soldiers saw that the pot of rice was too small, so they all pouted and did not bother to pick up their chopsticks. Knowing his intention, he challenged them to finish the pot of rice and he would reward them greatly. Sure enough, they tried their best to eat and eat, but no matter how much rice they ate, it was still as full. After they were full, they bowed their heads in gratitude and returned to their country.