The Star Fruit Tree is known to be one of the most resilient trees and bears sweet fruit. There is also a story about this tree, which is the story of this tree. Read this story with us.
Summary Story of The Star Fruit Tree
To better understand the story of the Star Fruit Tree, let's summarize the most basic and important elements of the tale:
The story is about two brothers who lived together after their parents passed away. Day by day, they had to work hard to have enough food. When the two brothers got married, things started to change. The older brother became lazy and took all the property, leaving the younger brother and his wife only a small hut and a star fruit tree. Day by day, the younger brother and his wife worked hard, and the harvest was plentiful.
However, when the older brother and his wife moved into the younger brother's place, they only knew how to have fun and refused to work. When the bird arrived, they sewed a 12-span bag instead of a 3-span bag to exchange star fruit for gold. After reaching the island with gold, the older brother tried to put as much gold as possible into the 12-span bag, climbed onto the bird's back to return home, But in the end, because it was too heavy, the giant bird flying fell into the sea along with the gold and the older brother. The greedy older brother died with the gold, while the strange bird only got its feathers wet.
Full story of the Star Fruit Tree
There was a family with two brothers who lost their parents at a young age. Despite the hardship, the two brothers worked hard, and the family did not lack anything. To make life more enjoyable, the two decided to start a family. But since getting married, the older brother became lazy, leaving all the work to the younger brother and his wife to take care of.
They stayed up late and woke up early, plowed, did housework, took care of the fields, and the harvest was more abundant than before. However, the older brother was afraid that his younger brother would take most of it, so he negotiated with his wife to have the younger brother live separately.
The two brothers separated, and the older brother gave the younger brother a poor thatched house and a sweet star fruit tree in front of the house. They didn't complain, went to chop firewood to sell, and worked as hired hands to make a living.
The older brother stayed at home, leaving the fields abandoned, and enjoyed a comfortable life with his wife, no longer caring about his younger brother.
The best days for the younger brother and his wife were the days when the star fruit ripened. All year round, they took care of the star fruit tree, catching insects and chasing away ants. Then, the star fruit tree grew lush, and the tree was laden with delicious fruits.
One morning, as they were preparing to pick star fruit to sell, they saw a giant bird eating the star fruit. The couple stood under the tree watching, waiting for the bird to fly away before they dared to pick it. From then on, every morning, they saw the bird in the tree. The bird was not afraid of them, eating the fruit before flying away.
One day, while they were waiting for the bird, the younger brother's wife said to the bird, "Bird, if you eat our star fruit like this, there will be no more fruit! Our star fruit tree will soon have no fruit left, bird!" The bird seemed to smile, saying, "Eat one fruit, pay with a gold bar! Sew a three-span bag, and take it to collect." The bird said it three times and flew away.
The couple was surprised when the bird could talk, and said so, so they thought about it more. Finally, the younger brother and his wife decided to follow the bird's instructions. The younger brother's wife then sewed a three-span bag and gave it to her husband.
The next day, the bird came, and they brought out the three-span bag. The bird lay down and sat on the bird's back. The bird flew up into the blue sky, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes flying over mountains and forests.
Then, the bird flew out to the vast sea, where towering blue waves crashed against the shores of small islands. Sitting on the bird's back, the younger brother saw the vast sea with no end in sight... Suddenly, the bird flew to an island full of white, blue, red, and multi-colored rocks, reflecting a brilliant light that he had never seen before. The bird flew a wide circle around the island as if looking for a place to land, then flew in narrower circles, just above the rocks, and at times he thought he was about to hit the giant rocks. Flying in front of a wide and deep cave, the bird slowly descended. Stepping onto the island, he looked around and saw absolutely no living creature, not even a blade of grass or a bird's nest.
The bird signaled him to enter the cave, to take whatever he wanted. Right at the entrance of the cave, he saw all kinds of stones as clear as glass and amber stones of all colors; some were green like cat's eyes, some were red like the sun, and gold and silver were as plentiful as pebbles. Seeing that the cave was deep and wide, he didn't dare to go in for fear of getting lost. He picked up some gold and diamonds and put them in the three-span bag, then climbed onto the bird's back, signaling the bird to fly back.
The bird seemed happy, nodded its head, stretched its neck and cried out a few times, then flapped its wings and flew up into the blue sky, over the sea, over the forest, over the mountains. The sun had just risen, and the bird landed in the small garden with the sweet star fruit tree. The wife was overjoyed to see her husband return safely, ran out to stroke the bird's feathers, expressed her gratitude, and signaled the bird to fly up the star fruit tree to quench its thirst. The bird flew up the star fruit tree and ate for a while, then called out three times as if greeting the farmer and his wife, and flew away. From then on, the bird would come to eat star fruit from time to time.
Rumors of the younger brother's sudden wealth reached the ears of the older brother and his wife. The older brother and his wife rushed to their brother's house to investigate. After hearing the younger brother honestly tell his story, the older brother tricked him into exchanging all of his wealth for the thatched hut and the golden star fruit tree. The younger brother and his wife were worried that the older brother would not agree to the exchange, but to their surprise, the younger brother happily agreed right away.
The older brother and his wife were overjoyed, and immediately gave all of their wealth to their younger brother. The next morning, they moved into the thatched hut in the small garden with the sweet tamarind tree. After moving into the cramped garden, the older brother and his wife did not work at all. They spent the little money they had left, and all day long they just lay outside, happily looking up at the golden star fruit tree, waiting for the bird to come. One morning, a strong gust of wind blew into the house, and the older brother and his wife saw the golden star fruit tree shaking. They hurriedly ran out into the yard and looked up at the tree, and sure enough, they saw a large bird eating the tamarind.
The bird had only eaten a few fruits when the older brother and his wife started screaming, "Our whole family is counting on this tamarind tree, now that the bird has eaten all the fruit, what else can we rely on!" The bird replied, "Eat one fruit, pay a bar of gold. Make a bag three spans long, and carry it away." Then the bird flew away.
The older brother and his wife were overjoyed, and quickly bowed to the bird, then set to work making the bag. At first, they planned to make many bags, but then they worried that the bird would not carry them, so in the end they only made one bag, just like the younger brother's, but it was 12 spans long, three times the size of the younger brother's bag.
The next morning, the bird landed in the yard in front of the thatched house. The older brother was eating when he saw the bird flying towards him. He immediately dropped his meal, ran outside, grabbed the large bag, and climbed onto the bird's back, while his wife bowed to the bird. The bird took off and flew into the blue sky, over mountains and forests, across the sea, and finally landed on the island as before.
As he stepped down from the bird's back, the older brother was completely immersed in the sparkling light of the diamonds and jade. As he entered the cave, he became even more stunned, forgetting both hunger and thirst, and tried to pick up the gold and diamonds until the bag was too full, and even tied his wrists and trouser legs, stuffing them with gold and diamonds. The bag was so heavy that he had to drag it along, but he still couldn't get out of the cave.
The bird had been waiting for too long, and kept calling out, its voice echoing throughout the island, urging the older brother to hurry back. Finally, late in the afternoon, he managed to drag the bag full of gold and diamonds to where the bird was waiting. To avoid dropping it, he placed the bag under the bird's wing, and then used a rope to tie the bag to the bird's back and his own neck.
The bird took off, but because of the heavy weight, it only flew a short distance before it fell down again. Then, the bird tried to kick hard on the ground and flew up. The older brother sitting on the bird's back was very excited, thinking that in a moment, he would be home, and would have a rich life, with a big house, a large garden, and endless money to spend.
By then, the bird had flown across the sea. The sky suddenly turned windy, and the waves were as big as houses. The bird struggled to fly against the wind, its neck bent down, its wings getting weaker. The large bag of gold was suddenly hit by the wind against the bird's wing. The bird dropped its wings and plunged from the sky into the sea. In an instant, the older brother was swept away by the waves, and the large bag and the trouser legs and sleeves filled with gold and jade quickly sank to the bottom of the sea. As for the bird, its feathers and wings were only wet for a while, and then it rose from the water and flew back to the mountains and forests.
Lessons
The golden star fruit tree and its story have brought us not only cultural values, but also many life lessons and meanings. First, it is a lesson about gratitude and keeping promises. It was the gratitude of the younger brother and his wife that led the golden star fruit tree to bring them income.
Second, it is a lesson about human greed. The older brother in the story was consumed by greed and lost everything.
The Legend of the golden star fruit tree is one of the most distinctive fairy tales of the Vietnamese people, bringing us not only cultural beauty, but also many life lessons and meanings.
