The Four Heroes

Nine steamers of sticky rice sat piping hot, the steam curling up in thick clouds, and a single small, skinny boy ate every last grain in one meal. He ate so astonishingly much that the people of his village simply named him Cẩu Khây. The Tày are one of the peoples of northern Vietnam. In the mountains of the north, they say that in their language, Cẩu Khây means nine steamers of sticky rice. The boy was small in body, but nobody could match his strength.

At only ten, Cẩu Khây was as strong as a young man of 18. He hauled timber and carried stone, doing the work of several grown men put together, and his face never even showed the strain. By 15, he had mastered the martial arts. He was quick of hand and foot, and braver than anyone. But the greatest thing about Cẩu Khây was not his strength. It was his resolve. He was always thinking about what he could do for his village.

Then disaster struck. A monster appeared in that region. It caught people, and it caught buffalo and cattle too. Wherever it went, homes were left in ruins. Many villages fell silent, the fields went untended, and the kitchen fires died out. People were so afraid that no one dared to step outside at dusk. When Cẩu Khây heard of it, his heart burned with pain. He resolved to set out, find the monster and rid the land of it, to win back peace for the people of his village.

After a long time on the road, Cẩu Khây met a young man doing something very strange. In the middle of a field, he had clenched his hand into a fist like a mallet, and he was pounding it into the ground. With each blow, a wooden stake sank about a hand span deep, firm and solid. People called him Nắm Tay Đóng Cọc, which means Fist That Drives Stakes. When Cẩu Khây told him about the monster, he nodded and came along at once. The two became friends and walked on together.

A little farther on, the two met another young man sitting beside a dry field. He was scooping water with the rims of his own ears, flinging it up from the stream to a field as high as a rooftop. The water splashed up in torrents, and in a moment a whole patch of the field was soaked. People called him Lấy Tai Tát Nước, which means Ears That Scoop Water. He gladly joined them too, and now three walked the same road.

Before long, the three met a fourth young man. He was gouging into a tree trunk with his fingernails, and with just a few strokes he had carved a long trough to bring water to the fields. His nails were as hard and sharp as a small knife blade. People called him Móng Tay Đục Máng, which means Nails That Carve Troughs. Now there were four young men, each with a strange gift, joined together as one to go and defeat the monster.

Four men, four gifts, each quite unlike the others. One drove stakes, one scooped water, one carved troughs, and Cẩu Khây was strong and brave, with a great will besides. The four became sworn friends, all of one mind to rid the land of the monster so that the whole village could live in peace.

The four walked on and on, until they reached a deserted place where only a single house still stood. In the house lived an old woman. The monster kept her there to herd its buffalo and cattle. When she saw four strange young men, she was glad and afraid at once. She cooked rice and fed them until they were full, then urged them to hide before the monster came home. Cẩu Khây answered calmly, "Don't be afraid, Grandmother. We have come here precisely to catch the monster." Only then did the old woman feel at ease, and she hid all four of them inside the house.

Just then, the wind rose and the trees shook and rustled. The monster was home. It pushed its head through a gap in the door and stuck out its long, long tongue. Quick as a flash, Nắm Tay Đóng Cọc swung his fist in one straight punch. With that single blow, the monster's teeth broke and scattered. The creature howled in fright, turned and fled for its life.

The four chased right on its heels. Cẩu Khây tore a big tree out of the ground and swung it to block the way, driving the monster on and on, with no chance to strike back. The wind roared, thunder crashed, and the whole region shook. In a valley, the monster ran out of road. So it played its last trick. It spat out water like pouring rain, and the water rose until it flooded the whole field. It hoped to drown all four of them.

But this was the very moment when the four strange gifts joined into one. The stake driver at once drove stakes and built up banks to hold back the churning flood. The water scooper scooped with his ears and flung a whole sea of crashing water over a high mountain. The trough carver felled trees and hollowed them into long, long troughs, to carry the extra water away. And Cẩu Khây swung his arms to stop the monster in its tracks, so it could not escape. Four men had four tasks, and they fitted together as if they had practiced side by side for a very long time.

Little by little, the water drained away. The field dried out again, as if there had never been a flood. The monster saw that every one of its tricks had come to nothing. It was worn out, and frightened as well. At last it gave way and surrendered. It promised to change its ways for good and never again dare to come near the villages to cause trouble. With that, it slunk away out of sight and never came back.

Free of the monster, the villages slowly came back to life. Those who had fled came home, rebuilt their houses and plowed their fields again. Smoke rose from the kitchens once more, and children's voices rang out across the raised floors of the houses. The old woman who had herded the buffalo went home to live among her neighbors again. As for the four young men, each had once been used to doing just one thing. One drove stakes, one scooped water, one carved troughs, and one was strong and brave. On ordinary days, hardly anyone thought much of such small, odd gifts. Yet when the floodwater rose, those four small gifts suddenly fitted together perfectly. Together they were enough to hold back a flood and drive a monster away from the villages. The Tày in those mountains still tell their children and grandchildren the tale of the four heroes, gathered around the fire on winter nights.