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This story tells how the delicious fruit the watermelon came to Vietnam many centuries ago.
The hero of the legend is Prince Mai An Tiem who was adopted by the King of Vietnam. His brother grew envious of him, and started to plot against him. If you want to know how watermelons come into it all – well you had better listen to the story.
Today watermelons re associated with the New Year in Vietnam – called the Tet festival. People eat roast watermelon seeds at the time of the festival.
Read by Natasha. Version by Bertie. Duration 10.10.
The Watermelon Prince
Many centuries ago, a gale blew across the land of Vietnam. It leant on the palm trees so that they bent their branches to the ground, and it grabbed red tiles from the roof of the great palace and chucked them across the courtyard. Out at sea, great waves made war on the cliffs, pounding them with all the force of nature. Most of the local fisherman had seen the storm coming from afar, and had pulled their boats well back from the shore, and tied them fast to the ground. But a merchant ship was caught in the storm, and its hull was dashed to splinters on the rocks. Everyone on board was drowned, except for one. By some miracle, the waves carried a basket containing a newly born baby, and they deposited it on the beach not far from the great palace. The morning after the storm, a fisherman’s wife was out walking along along the beach and searching through the debris for anything of value. She heard the baby’s cries, and discovered its basket under some torn-off palm leaves. She knew from the swaddling clothes of the child that he belonged to a rich family, and not knowing what else to do, she took him to the palace in search of a reward.
When the king heard of this infant who had been saved from the storm by a miracle, he thought that it must be a very special child indeed. He adopted him as his own, and he grew up to be Prince Mai An Tiem.
Mai An Tiem proved to be a popular young man, with wisdom and knowledge beyond his years. Often the king’s councilors would consult his opinion before reaching an decision, because he understood the king’s heart and his wishes better than anyone else. His adopted father loved him as much, if not more, than his natural sons.
When Mai An Tiem turned twe nty years old, the king arranged for him to marry one of his daughters, Princess Co Ba, who had been his friend since childhood. The celebration was the most extravagant of the King’s reign. So much so, that the king’s own son, Prince Hau, grew envious, for the lavishness of the wedding party far exceeded his own.
“My father means to adopt Mai An Tiem as his successor,” he thought to himself. “I must stop this.”
And so Prince Hau bought a large bribe to the head of the King’s body guard, and a slightly smaller bribe to the head of his household. In return for this payment, these officials started to spread ugly rumours about Main An Tiem.
He grows arrogant.
The king’s favoritism has gone to his head.
He is plotting a coup.
And the further the rumours spread, the less clear it was where they had began. Eventually the head of the body guard came to the king and said that Mai An Tiem had tried to recruit his services to overthrow the king. At first the king would not believe this lie against his adopted son, but soon others in the palace, who confused rumour for fact, backed it up. With great sorrow in his heart the King decreed that Mai An Tiem was guilty of plotting treason, and must be banished from the kingdom for evermore. His wife, Princess Co Ba, swore that she would follow him to the ends of the earth. And soon the couple boarded a ship, which took them far out to sea, and deposit d them on a desert island.
But Mai An Tiem and Co Ba did not despair, for although they had lost all the privileges, friends, and comforts, they had at least, each other. They found a stream with fresh water, and they built a hut for themselves out of leaves and branches. They made nets for fishing and they learned how to climb trees to pick bananas and shake down coco-nuts. But although everything they ate was fresh and good, their diet lacked anything that you might call a special treat. Co Ba began to dream of sumptuous banquets.
One day, after they had been on the island for several years, Mai An Tiem was walking along the cliffs when he saw a flock of birds, squabbling excitedly amongst themselves. As he drew closer, he saw that the cause of all their excitement were some black seeds. He picked up a handful, and when he reached home, he scattered them on the ground around their hut and along the stream.
Many months later, during one of the hottest times of the year, he noticed that some unusual plants had began to sprout on the spot where he had spread the seeds. Over the coming weeks, they spread like a vine along the ground, and then some fruits started to bud under the leaves. These grew into enormous green fruits, the likes of which he had never seen before. On cutting them open, he discovered within, soft, red flesh. He cut off a piece and popped it into his mouth, and it melted on his tongue like no other. When, a little later, Co Ba, tasted the fruit, she was enormously happy and pleased. It was her first treat in seven years.
The couple decided to call the fruit, red melon, and the were careful to spread the seeds and grow a second crop. The red melons – which we know as watermelons – were one of the greatest joys of their life on the island.
One day, when Mai An Tiem was sitting on the beach, contemplating the vast ocean, and the way his life had turned out. He idly carved his name on a watermelon, and tossed it into the waves, wondering where it would wash up. Perhaps some one in some far away land would be lucky enough to find the delicious fruit, and would for for ever more thank the name of Mai An Tiem that was engraved on its skin.
And just as the ocean tide had been a friend to Mai An Tiem when he was a baby, so it proved now. The current carried the watermelon back to the Kingdom of Vietnam. A fisherman’s wife found the wondrous fruit on the beach, and she took it to the palace in hope of a reward. When the king saw the name that was carved on the fruit, he marveled at the reminder of his long banished son. He tasted the red flesh of the fruit inside, and it was so delicious that he thought it was the greatest present that could be bestowed on a king, who was so wealthy that he had every other pleasure that a human being could desire. He thought with love of Mai An Tiem and in his heart he forgave him. And two weeks after that, a ship sent by the King, came to the desert island to bring Mai An Tiem and Ko Ba back to the palace. Eventually Mai An Tiem became king of Vietnam and he ruled wisely to the end of his days.
Version by Bertie of Storynory
48 Comments
this story loud
Thank you very much
I’ve not had a chance of hearing it again for ages
next they sould have a strawberry prince or something berry prince anyway grate story P.S I like berry things better
Can you write more stories about Bertie, Tick-Tock-Turkey,Katie the Witch, etc?
Also please read the Harry Potter books…
Dear Knight, Yes, we will have more stories about our main characters. Thanks for your encouragement. We can’t do Harry Potter I’m afraid. He’s in copyright.
thank you so much for your tale from Vietnam, I remind me my childhood
did not like it that much
That is a WOOOOOOOWSER!!!!!!!!!!
eaitng watermelon is very nice. your mounth fills with woter ant its taste is fantastic. but in this time of the yer find it abit hard and costly. so ı have to vait the comig summer… bad luck.. but the tale is warm.
thanks
My parents are from Vietnam!
nice story.but where is Vietnam ive never been there????
Vietnam is close to China and it’s southeast of Asia.
You say a lot of things wrong Natasha.Too bad.I could tell you how to say them but I can’t.You said tem, Mai An Tiem,Co Ba,Hau wrong.
it was great….but, why i can’t download its mp3 file? plz tel me
Dear Cattien I am sorry we don’t know how to pronounce all languages, but we do our best !
Tiyam, sorry the mp3 is downloading for you. I’m sure it will clear in a short while.
THE STORY IS COOL IS THIS STORY REAL? IDK THANKS FOR SHARING IT!!
Hi bra I think the story is a legend and has some true history as well as a deeper truth
dear bertie i am very sorry my friend took over my laptop and i did not know. but anyway i did not find anything offensive about you story i really enjoyed it. =) i loveee that story becuase my mom used to tell it to me when i was 6
so i am very sorry about my friend (he didnt find it offensive either he was just being a loser lol) we BOTH love the story =)))))
Dear Asiannn, Many thanks I will delete the earlier comment. I’m glad you like the story. We partly did it to say thank you to people from Vietnam for listening to us, as we noticed quite a lot of visitors from that part of the world to our site. It is hard for us to get the pronunciations right sometimes, and in future I am going to try and research the correct way to say Asian names.
Dear Bertie,
Is there another Gladys and the chix story coming up?
(P.S. reply!)
Dear Amy there will be one more Gladys but I haven’t written it yet.
Yes, Bertie, Amy’s right. Er, uh when’s the new gladdy comin’ up? Have you..sorta cooked it up yet here? Puh-lease reply!
Dear Sir,
I am K.N.SANTOSH KUMAR. I HAVE HAD DOWNLOAD MANY STORIES FROM UR WEBSITE IT IS AWESOME STORIES WITH FULL OF FICTIONS AND INTERESTING TO LISTEN. I AM REALLY VERY HAPPY TO TELL U R GREAT PERSON WHO IS REALLY GREAT ONE.
Dear K.N.SANTOSH KUMAR. Many thanks for your very kinds words.
cool
that is good
it,s learn me new word ….good
I love watermelons !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m Vietnamese and my dad heared this story in Viet Nam. (you spelled Viet Nam wrong!)
Dear Kayla, I’m glad we have reminded your father of his youth.
I think we have good authority for the spelling of “Vietnam” in English though :
http://www.vietnamembassy.org.uk/consular.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam
This is what the Wikipedia says :
” Vietnam (pronounced /ˌviː.ɛtˈnɑːm/; Vietnamese: Việt Nam), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ”
Which I think explains the difference between the English language and Vietnamese variants.
i like this tale. it makes me proud of my mother country , VietNam
This a great story and should be up there with the best. Why haven’t we heard this before.
Keep them coming Bertie
Lovely site, I am a volunteer(just started) at a library for the blind;I was browsing the web for useful sites and chanced upon yours. It’s wonderful, keep up the great work!
It was a wonderful long story!!
totally wonderful
i wish i could see princess Co Ba.
i loved the story myself i thought it was really cute even though im a child. Well im not that young im 11 years old but i thought it was really cute. Is this the real story of the Watermelon if it is that is so cool! Watermelon is mt favorite fruit! ! !
i love this story but who is the author
nice.i also want to ask you a quation.why is the last story about gladis and the chix just a song?its kind of weird
Kyle Glayds the story that explains the song is here http://storynory.com/2009/10/17/gladys-and-the-eurovision-song-contest/ … we just thought that people might want to play the song separately sometimes, as indeed they have
Rebecca, I think the author of the Watermelon Prince is lost in the mists of time.
Hi Rebecca The Watermelon Prince is a myth which means we aren’t quite sure if it’s true or just a story or a bit of both.
that was amazing
Dear Natasha,
Thanks for the great voice and great stories. My kids love it. I love it too.
English is our second language, what you have contributed has a great impact on us.
Thanks again!
James
Hi James, Many thanks for your kind message. I’m so glad that you and your family enjoy our stories and find them useful for your English language.
(Kayla) Thank you Bertie to remind me that Americans spell Viet Nam in their very unusual way. And what does authority means?
Dear Kayla, when you cite an “authority” it’s a trusted source. For instance, you might cite the Oxford English Dictionary for the spelling of an English word, or the Football Association for the rules of soccer.
(Kayla) sorry I’m late! Any way thank you for being my teacher for a few min.