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1     Once upon a time, in the small village in Viet Nam, there was a poor orphan^[1] boy whose name was Khoai. He was very good-natured, and he lived as a servant for the rich landowner. The landowner was greedy and artful^[2], so he usually tricked his servants. He also had a beautiful daughter, and he told Khoai, “If you stay in the household and work hard for three years, I will let you marry my daughter.” 

2     Khoai believed the landowner and was very happy. He worked as hard as two or three people, day and night. Therefore, the landowner became more and more wealthy. After three years, the landowner was the richest man in the village. Khoai came to see him and reminded him of his promise. But the landowner did not want to keep his promise because he wanted his daughter to marry the village chief‘s^[3] son.

3     The landowner told Khoai, “During last three years, you did very well serving me, but now you must finish one last thing. If you can find a bamboo tree with 100 joints and bring it to her as a wedding gift, I will let you marry my daughter.”

4     Khoai believed him again and went to the forest in search of the bamboo tree. During that time, the landowner prepared a wedding for his daughter and the village chief’s son. Khoai searched for days on end from forest to forest, but he did not succeed. He only found bamboo with 30 to 40 joints. The tallest bamboo he found only had about 50 joints.

5     Disappointed and exhausted, he sat down in the forest and wept in despair. Suddenly, an old man with white hair and all white clothes appeared. The old man approached him and asked. “Why are you crying?” 

6     Khoai shared his story. The old man told him, “Go and cut 100 joints of bamboo and bring them back here.”

7     Khoai went out and brought back the bamboo that the old man had requested. The old man approached the bamboo joints and said the magic words, “Stick together! Stick together!”

8     The bamboo joints lying on a ground started to move and began to stick together in a row. Together they made a single tree with 100 joints. Khoai was very happy. He wanted to thank the old man, but he had disappeared.

9    Khoai put the bamboo on his shoulder and brought it back to his village, but he realized the bamboo was too long and there was no way to bring it out of the forest. He sat down and cried again. Immediately, he saw the old man reappear.

10    The old man asked him. “Why are you crying?” Khoai explained his situation.

11    The old man approached the bamboo and said the magic words, “Unstick! Unstick!” and the bamboo came apart in 100 joints. The old man disappeared again, and only his voice remained “You should remember ‘stick together’, and ‘unstick’. Those words will help you.” Khoai realized that he had met Buddha. He tied up the 100 parts of bamboo and proceeded to take them home.

13    When he arrived home, he saw the landowner was preparing for the wedding of his daughter with the village chief’s son. Khoai was very angry and came to talk with the landowner and asked him why he did not keep his word.

14    The landowner said to Khoai, “I asked you for a bamboo with 100 joints, not 100 joints of bamboo.”

15     Both families looked at Khoai and laughed derisively at him and joked about his naiveté^[4]. Khoai told the landowner that he had the bamboo at the courtyard and the landowner should come out and see.

16    Khoai went over to the bamboo joints and said in a low voice, “Stick together! Stick together!” The bamboo joints came together to form one long bamboo. The landowner could not believe his eyes. He came to the bamboo and tried to separate the bamboo joints again.

17    Khoai repeated a second time, “Stick together, Stick together.” Immediately, the landowner became stuck at the end of the bamboo. He tried to escape, but he could not. The village chief and his son came to rescue the landowner.

18    One last time, Khoai said, “Stick together! Stick together!” They, too, became stuck to the bamboo along with the landowner. The more they tried to pull away, the harder and more painful they became stuck. Both families were now panicking^[5]. Nobody dared to pull the three men away.

19    They begged Khoai to pardon the three men. Pained and ashamed, the landowner realized his mistake and agreed to let Khoai marry his daughter. The village chief and his son were scared and agreed to stop the wedding. Then, Khoai said “Unstick! Unstick!” and let them free. Finally, Khoai married the landowner’s daughter, and they lived together in happiness.

20   In this story, greed is indicted^[6] and punished; honesty is rewarded. It also illustrates the Vietnamese belief in God, Buddha, and supernatural powers. God always helps good people and punishes naughty^[7] people.

21    This folktale is the most popular story in my country. My mom usually used it as a bedtime story when I was young. I really love this story because it a good story and it gives me a good lesson. In addition, bamboo is very popular in Vietnamese culture. It is used in many things like houses, chairs, tables, farm tools, etc.