Origins of Vietnam
Thanh, Lac Long Quan in this life, is the son of a clan chief with superhuman strength called Loc Tuc. He was able to walk on land and water since his ancestors were of the dragon family, well, those from his mother side, that is. This ancestry allowed him to have Herculean strength as well as the ability to fly. Thus, his subjects called him the Dragon King.
Au Co, being Hue, was the gorgeous, heavenly princess fairy of a kingdom that invaded the south of Lac Long Quan's land. This clan was amazed at the beautiful mountains and the stunning seas of this land, so that the king brought his daughter and settled down here.
The people living there complained to Lac Long Quan about the invaders, and so he went to check them out, only to find the striking Au Co left in the area.
"Hello! Who are you?" boomed the voice of Lac Long Quan.
"I am Au Co, princess of the De Lai tribe. My dad has left to return back, leaving me here because I fell in love with this place. Now who are you?" asked Au Co.
"I am the ruling king of kings of this land. The almighty. One would even say, the greatest," he bragged.
"You are? Why have I never heard of you? You must not be THAT important," she teased with a wink, perfectly knowing how capable this man was of destroying her whole clan.
This was how this love started between the star-crossed lovers. They eventually fell deeply in love and got married after asking Au Co's dad for a blessing, of course.
Au Co eventually became pregnant and gave birth to one hundred eggs, which hatched into one hundred strong, intelligent boys. The Queen of Heaven, seeing how happy Thanh was in this lifetime, had a plan up her sleeves. She created massive waves that demolished the beaches on the coast, creating panic and anxiety among Lac Long Quan's people. Lac Long Quan was already missing his submarine palace under the sea, so he used this opportunity to leave his land palace to return back to his submarine palace. He loved being back so much that it turned into months of not coming back.
Au Co, lamenting at her husband for not coming home for years, prayed to him while on top of the tallest mountain.
"Lac Long Quan, I miss you. Why haven't you been home? Please come home to our one hundred kids and to your loving wife," she pleaded.
Suddenly, Lac Long Quan appeared right by her side.
"My dear wife, I miss you so much, but we are from two different places and cannot be together. I am from the seas, and you are from the mountains. We must now return to our places and run the country the best we can. Sorry for not coming back. Going home made me realize all of this," Lac Long Quan said with tears streaming down his face.
He told her he will take fifty of their sons back down to the seas, while she takes the other fifty up to the mountains, near the heavens. This way, they will conquer the land together.
This is the legend of the origins of the Vietnamese people and also where the phrase that the Vietnamese are the children of the dragon and the grandchildren of the fairy comes from.
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Where was the King of Heaven to stop these heinous acts done by the Queen? Well, he was doing some investigating on where the bear came from in the last life when his daughter was the lovely Chuc Ngu. Bears are not prominent in that region, and he didn't remember ordering the guy to make bears in that region either. He traced it back to the Queen herself.
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed when he found out it was his wife that was causing their beautiful daughter to be sad.
"What do you mean?" she said with a sense of confusion, not knowing that her husband knew about her meddling.
"That is our daughter that you are messing with. You know the girl that Thanh keeps falling in love with in every life? Yeah, that girl. That is Hue! I have been trying to help our daughter, and you have been going behind my back," he said, raising his voice.
"What?! What is she doing down there?! Now, my plans are foiled," she said, not knowing what her next step would be.
Will she keep up with her plans or will she finally give in to their love? Where will fate bring them next?
Source: The Legendary Origins of the Viet People
Author's Note: This story is almost the exact same as the original except for the characters of course. However, in the original, Lac Long Quan one day left and never came back until Au Co stood on top of the summit and called to him. I wanted to give more details and incorporate the Queen's meddling into this event and make it so that it was more believable. I just don't think a loving husband could just one day leave without saying anything. The ending of this story was perfect for my storybook because they do end up splitting, so I did not have to think of a terrible way for them to split. Adding dialogue really makes the story come to life more, and that is just my plan. I really want to make this story more relatable and use experiences that we commonly see in modern day life but with a twist, of course. I did not include the King in the story because I wanted him to be able to tell the Queen what she has been doing and have her decide what to do next. Now, at this point, there are two ways for this story to unfold, either the Queen continue torturing Thanh or she can give in and help them come back together. I can't wait to write the next story!
Images: Sunrise at Phu Quoc Island: Pxhere, Terraces at Sapa: Pixabay, Country of Vietnam: US Dept. of State
Banner Photo: Vietnamese beach: Pixabay
