Truong Chi's Obsessive Love - Vietnamese Tales

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who was named My Nuong. She was a daughter of a King's first minister. She lived in a mansion near the river. A young fisherman often cast his net at that part of the river. His name was Truong Chi, and he had a sweet voice. He often sang when he was rowing his small boat. The songs and the voice were so attractive that My Nuong was addicted to listening to them every day. One day the young fisherman did not come to cast his net and this made My Nuong feel sad. Then he appeared again. My Nuong was so happy to open her window, and to look down and listen to his sweet songs. Gradually, those songs and his magic voice entered her heart. It made her lovesick, and no medicine could cure her sickness. Her family was very worried because her sickness became ever more serious. Her father asked her about what was making her so ill and after learning about her feelings, he called Truong Chi to come in the mansion to meet her. Truong Chi extracted the essence of some herbs by simmering them and sang lovely songs for her. But sadly, when she saw his very ugly face, all of her sickness disappeared and she didn't want to see him again. But Truong Chi had fallen in love with her. He was so pained that his heart would no longer beat, and he died of lovesickness. Three years after his burial, his family exhumed his body to move his remains to another place. When they opened the coffin hey found a crystal ball – his obsessive love that it was impossible to dispel. The mandarin came to hear about the remarkable crystal ball, and Truong Chi's obsessive love. He bought the ball one day when he was passing by and he had a turner to make a teacup from it. When the cup was filled with tea, people could see in it that young man rowing his boat on the river, as he had done before. My Nuong took the cup, and remembering the old story, tears welled in her eyes. But as her tears splashed into the cup, it melted into water.

Translated by Mai Anh Tuyet