Thánh Gióng
A long time ago, Vietnam was at war with the Chinese. Day by day, Chinese forces get closer and closer towards the capital. King Hùng was desperate for more soldiers because they were losing too much. He sent messengers and all over the country to hopefully recruit some soldiers. A messenger came to Phù Đổng village. He asked the people if the wanted to join the army. No one volunteered. Suddenly, a small voice came from a hut nearby, "Me, me!." The voice was a small boy called Thánh Gióng. He told the messenger that he needed a full metal suit of armor, an armored steed, a metal rod and a lot of food. The messenger told this to the king Hùng, and the king agreed to the conditions. He left the villagers with the job of supplying the boy with food. In about only a span of a few weeks, the boy grew bigger than everyone in the village. He charged into battle, fearless and
brave. The Vietnamese soldiers now are increased with strength and hope. Suddenly in the middle of a fight, Gióng’s metal rod broke in two. He then grabbed a nearby bamboo stick and continued to fight. After the battle, Gióng rode away with his horse to the top of Sóc Sơn Mountain and disappeared.
Whoever could bring all this first would be eligible to marry his daughter. There were two competitors who wanted to the princess as their bride. The first one was Sơn Tinh, the god of the mountains and earth and the other was Thuỷ Tinh, the god of the sea. They showed the king their powers. With one small hand gesture, Sơn Tinh's can manipulate the land and fill it with vegetation on it. His abnormal strength allowed him to pick up boulders and toss them over half a kilometer. Now it was Thuỷ Tinh's turn. Thủy Tinh had the power to control the water, create titanic tsunamis, and order the animals of the ocean to do whatever he desired. At the day of the competition, Sơn Tinh came to the palace of vùa Hùng first with all the offerings. As promised, king Hùng Vương allowed Sơn Tinh to get engaged with his daughter, Mỵ Nương. As Thuỷ Tinh found out that Sơn Tinh was a
Sơn Tinh Thủy Tinh
step ahead of him, he was full of rage and started a war with Sơn Tinh. Day and night, the sea roared in Thủy Tinh’s rage. The water began flooding the villages and towns near the coast. Thunder struck the earth, waves the size of skyscrapers pummeled onto the rocks, and sea creatures were hurled onto land. On the other side of this war, Sơn Tinh extruded the land to create mountains to block the water, he threw boulders at the aquatic creatures to end them, and had the help from the people of Văn Lang to aid him in battle. Because of this story, people from long ago ages knew that the monsoons came and flood their lands and crops and weeks later the flooding end is because the battle of Sơn Tinh, Thuỷ Tinh is still going on for decades.