THE LEGEND OF THE DURIAN

Once upon a time, during the Tay Son uprising, a young man from the Dong Nai region, skilled in both literature and martial arts, fought with his sword against the enemies. He led the army multiple times to defeat the forces of Nguyen Anh.

The Tay Son dynasty fell, and Gia Long had just conquered Vietnam, but he also began to kill those who had supported the Tay Son dynasty.

The people in the neighborhood liked him and advised him to flee. They helped him with money for rice and other necessities, including a small boat for an easy journey. And so, he left to escape to the land of Chan Lap.

One day, while stopping to buy food at a kiosk by the river, he saw a mother sitting gloomily beside a daughter who was lying unconscious. The day before, the mother and daughter had gone to offer incense on Ta-lon Mountain, and when they arrived here, the daughter had fallen seriously ill. With a particular talent in medicine, he saved the young girl from her illness. With a boat ready, he took them back to their home.

The daughter fell in love with him. After a week of fasting to thank God and Buddha, her mother said that Buddha had appeared to them in a dream, advising them to marry. He gladly accepted the invitation, and from then on, the couple worked in the fields and raised farm animals.

Ten years passed like a dream. In the garden of his wife's house, there was a fruit tree called "tu-ren," which was not found in his country. When the fruit ripened, the wife would pick one and give it to her husband. The "tu-ren" fruit inherently had an unpleasant smell. Seeing her husband grimace, the wife said:

• He is as rich as my love for you.

Unexpectedly, one day, his wife went to offer incense to De Thien, and when she returned, she was enlightened. The husband tried to heal her but was unable to save her in time. Death brutally separated the couple. The husband's suffering cannot be overstated. Although separated by the distance between the yin and yang, they still met in a dream. The husband promised never to marry anyone again. The wife's soul promised never to leave her husband.

Upon learning that Gia Long had stopped killing his former enemies who had followed Nguyen Anh, the neighbors advised him to temporarily go somewhere to relax. He had to leave his second homeland. Before the day of departure, the wife informed her husband in a dream that she would follow him to the end of the sea. That year, the "tu-ren" tree naturally produced one fruit. The "tu-ren" fruit naturally fell onto his knees in the middle of his visit to the memorial tree for his wife. He was overjoyed, determined to take it back to his country.

He returned and became a teacher for children. He planted "tu-ren" seeds in the garden and along the path of his house. He took great care of the "tu-ren" tree.

Ten more years passed, and his trees grew tall and started to bear fruit. He joyfully invited his friends and neighbors to his house on the anniversary of his wife's death and took the opportunity to let them taste a strange fruit that had never been found in the region.

When the "tu-ren" fruits were brought out and placed on the table, everyone noticed a foul odor. The owner said, "This fruit is ugly and smells bad, but the inside is as beautiful and fragrant as the love between a couple," as he cut the fruit into small pods for everyone to taste. Then, he told the story of his love that he had lived in the South. As the story ended, two shining tears fell from the corners of his eyes, naturally landing on the "tu-ren" pods.

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