In the era of the Hung Kings, there was an old woman who led a lonely life. One morning she came out to inspect her eggplant field and saw that huge footprints had trampled several furrows. “Whose giant footprints are those?” cried the astonished old woman.
As she measured her foot against this strange footprint, the old lady shivered. Suddenly, she was pregnant! When the time came she gave birth to a chubby son named Giang. At the age of three, this boy remained motionless, crying out for food but unable to sit, speak, crawl or laugh.
At that time Yin troops were ravaging our country. These merciless savages were led by a cruel Yin general. The enemy set fire to every house and massacred villagers wherever they went. The army of King Hung had tried to fight back many times, without success. The anxious king sent ambassadors throughout the country to search for a talented savior.
One day the ambassador reached Giang’s village. Hearing the cry of the king’s scouts, Giang’s mother joked with her son: “My dear, how can you beat our enemies for the king when you’re still unable to walk or talk?”
All of a sudden, Giang opened his eyes and said: “Please, let the ambassador in!” Feeling both joyful and terrified, the boy’s mother told her neighbors. People rushed to witness this strange phenomenon. Some said: “We should call the ambassador:’ But when the king’s ambassador came and saw baby Giang, he said: “You are just a three-year-old who has learned to speak. Why did you call me?”
Giang answered clearly: “Come, ask the king to make me an iron horse, an iron blade, armor and an iron helmet and I will defeat those savages!”
The crowd froze in amazement. Thinking a deity had appeared, the ambassador immediately returned to the king. The relieved king ordered his blacksmiths to craft a horse, a sword, armor and a helmet. Dozens of people touched the sword, yet could not move it. The king had to send thousands of soldiers to carry these weapons to Giang.
At the approach of the king’s troops, Giang’s horrified mother told her son: “My dear, the king’s affai”rs shouldn’t be taken lightly. His men are assembling in the field! What should we do?’:
Giang got up and answered: “Don’t worry about defeating the enemies. But you should feed me as much as possible:’
The mother prepared a meal for her son. However, Giang devoured every single pot of rice. Each time he finished a pot of rice, he grew a bit and asked for more. The more his mother fed him, the more he grew, until he was transformed into a well-built lad. Running out of rice, she asked the other villagers for help. People rushed to bring rice, sweet potatoes, buffalos, liquor, fruit and cakes and pile them in the yard. However, Gi6ng promptly consumed all of this food and asked for more.
Later, Gióng said: “Give me clothes:’ People rushed to sew silk clothes but the boy continued to grow, so that soon, the clothes were too short for him. It wasn’t long until Gióng’s head hit the roof. As everyone stared in amazement, the king’s troops managed to carry the iron horse, sword, armor and hat into the yard. Gióng walked outside and stretched. He was a giant, with legs more than ten feet long! He boomed: “I’m a general of the Gods!”
Gióng put on the armor and the iron helmet, and waved his new sword. He bid farewell to his mother and the villagers and jumped onto the iron horse. The iron horse came alive, snorting out a stream of fire. Gi6ng urged it forward and the horse galloped away, each earth-shaking step covering several miles. In the blink of an eye, the horse had ploughed through the enemy’s encampment. Gióng’s sword flashed like lightning. His horse spat fire and burned up their barracks and the surrounding forests. Screams rose through the smoke, until all of the enemy troops perished.
However, the Yin general was still alive and calling for reinforcements. Suddenly, Gióng’s sword broke. Without a second thought, Gióng plucked bamboo hedges along the way and used them to mow down the Yin general’s soldiers. All the reinforcements fled into the jungle and the Yin general crumbled into little pieces. In less than a day, Gióng had obliterated the invaders. He rode his horse to the foot of Soc Son Mountain, removed his armor and helmet, and soared up to Heaven.
After the victory, in memory of the hero, King Hung founded a temple in Gi6ng’s village and proclaimed him the “Heavenly King of Phil Dong Region”. Nowadays a series of round ponds lie in straight rows from Kim Anh and Da Phuc to Soc Son. These are said to be the footprints of Saint Gióng’s giant horse. The forests destroyed by the horse’s fire lie in a region called the “Burning Village” (lang Chay). And the bamboo whips used by Gióng were also scorched, turning them from green to blue with black dots. Known as “golden bamboo” (dang nga), this species of bamboo still grows in this area.
A helpless handicapped child turns out to be the nation’s savior in this folk tale, adapted from a story in the Folk Tale Treasures of VIetnam by Nguyen Dong Chi.
Saint Gióng
First post at: Vietnam Culture
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