once upon a time, during the reign of the hung king, there was a man named mai an tiem. he was a poor and desolate man. he was a slave and was routinely bought and sold and moved about the country. one day, he was bought by the king to be used in his court.
at the king's palace, mai an tiem worked very hard. he moved up quickly in the ranks of the servants and was noticed for his hard work.
one day, the king's daughter fell in love with mai an tiem. she saw how hard he was working and how smart he was. she wanted to make him her husband. they were married and mai an tiem moved from a servant to a very important person in the king's court.
people began to get jealous of mai an tiem. the king loved him and treated him as a son. he had a lot of responsibility and some of the court's advisors were subject to his rulings. they plotted against him.
one day, at a party, they asked mai an tiem why he worked so hard. mai an tiem responded 'cua cho la cua no', which means that you are indebted to those who gave things to you. he was trying to be respectful to the king by telling him that he was trying to pay back his kindness by working very hard for him. the king took this as an insult. the king thought of mai an tiem as a son. the king lost face in this process and had to do something drastic to mai an tiem and his family.
the king, instead of killing them, banished them to a deserted island. they were not allowed to take anything with them and they were sure to die. they had to search all day for food. they tried fishing but didn't have much success. they were dying.
one day, mai an tiem found a small piece of fruit on the ground. it had been partially eaten by birds. he tasted it and it was very sweet. he decided to plant it in the ground and it grew and grew. one day, he had a whole patch of water melons and his family survived. he sold them to a passing boat and the boat brought back food in return. the watermelons were very popular.
one of these watermelons was offered to the king. the king tasted it and found it to be wonderfully delicious. he asked where they came from and they told him that they came from mai an tiem. the king decided that he wasn't angry at mai an tiem any more and he let him come back and live in the palace. that is where watermelon's come from.
(i was told this legend by my vietnamese teacher. the watermelon is very important during the upcoming lunar new year. i asked her a bunch of questions about mai an tiem. i felt like a little kid asking about a fairy tale. i asked if mai an tiem was handsome. it sounded important at the time. she said that it wasn't at all important if he was handsome or not. in asian culture there is a saying, 'tot go hon tot nuoc son', which means wood is better than paint. it basically means that the men of the story don't have to be handsome. they only have to be smart and hard working. this does not apply to women.)
this is my work id. thought you’d all like to see what i’ve become. don’t worry, it’s not permanent.
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