True love

Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.

One day, he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.

When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to look at him. After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, "Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?"

"Yes," she answered, still looking at the floor. "And do you?"

"Yes I do," he replied. "You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added, 'But your wife will be humpbacked. Right then and there I called out, 'Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful.'"

Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife.

- Barry and Joyce Vissell

In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.

- Erich Fromm

Whenever a Man Lies

One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water. The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.

"Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

Again, the woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happily.

One day while he was walking with his wife along the riverbank, the woodcutter's wife fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?" "Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez. "Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the woodcutter.

The Lord was furious. "You cheat! That is an untruth!"


The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I said 'no' to Jennifer Lopez, You will come up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then if I also say 'no' to her. You willthirdly come up with my wife, and I will say 'yes,' and then all three will be given to me. But Lord, I am a poor man and I will not be able to take care of all three wives, so that's why I said yes this time."

The moral of the story is whenever a man lies it is for an honorable and useful reason !!

The donkey in a well

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up any way, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the ell and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our challenges is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Tang Thanh Ha with "Ugly Girl" and... naked ?

Tang Thanh Ha naked ???

Q.N.
Picture: Pham Hoai Nam
Stylist & Make-up: Cu-tie

Hanoi street festival highlights best of east and west

Hanoi Street Art 2009 enraptured crowds in Hanoi on Nov. 3 with its multicultural mix of hip-hopping, b-bopping and traditional Vietnamese arts.

Hanoi’s first street art festival was attended by Danish Queen Margrethe II as part of a cultural exchange program.

For nearly seven hours at Ly Thai To flower garden, the main stage was cordoned off into four sections: one for hip-hop and modern dance, one for experiential art, one for traditional music, and one for circus acts and dramatic performances.

Members of the audience were asked on stage to sing hat xam, a traditional Vietnamese style of singing originally performed by the poor and the blind. Audiences also learned to sing ca tru, which was first performed in sacred ceremonies and rituals in the 11th century.

Andrew Talle, a music teacher and tourist from the US, said he was “impressed” by the performances. He said he knew many kinds of traditional music from around the world but this was the first time he sat down and sang age-old ca tru songs with authentic artists.

Visitors also enjoyed graffiti on the main stage and break-dancing led by artists from Denmark, who also performed jazz dancing, and art troupes that rode unicycles and performed slight-of-hand magic tricks.

Renowned contemporary Vietnamese singer Tung Duong said the show was “magical” and performed for free.

Some 150 Danish and Vietnamese artists partook in the event, organized by parties from both Denmark and Vietnam.

Queen Margrethe II arrived in Hanoi on Nov. 1, marking the first state visit by Denmark’s Royal family to Vietnam. The Queen also met with Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh as well as President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Queen missed a rock music show featuring the Danish band Blue Van Nov. 4 as her flight to Thua Thien-Hue Province landed in Da Nang instead due to strong winds from Typhoon Mirinae.

On Nov. 5 she visited the tomb of King Minh Mang and Hue’s Imperial Palace, and met with the authorities of Hue City before departing for Ho Chi Minh City the same day.

Reported by Dinh Huong

Quan Ho on call

Traditional performances are hard to come by, but singers of centuries-old quan ho songs are more than happy to sing for fans over their cell phones.

As I spoke with quan ho singer Thanh Kim, whom I was interviewing for my research on the traditional form of antiphonal singing, she interrupted our conversation to take a phone call.

After a few polite words with the caller, Kim began singing into the receiver. It was not as though she was just reciting a few lines to make a point – she went into a full performance, giving her listener, and me, the pleasure of hearing the form sung purely and properly.

She sang Beo dat may troi (Whatever happens, I am still waiting for you), the lonesome croon of a woman singing for her lover who is far away, perhaps on the battlefield.

At the end of the song, Kim thanked the caller and hung up. She smiled.

“My fans often call to request a song,” she said almost shyly.

Kim explained that such impromptu performances were common these days, as quan ho devotees across the country had fewer and fewer opportunities to hear their favorite music live.

Though Kim is not a professional singer, she is well known by quan ho listeners in the northern province of Bac Ninh. She said she receives 4-5 calls requesting songs each day.

“I’m usually very happy to sing for anyone who likes my voice,” Kim said.

“Sometimes I get a call while I am traveling or working, but so long as I am not too busy, I will stop and sing for anyone who calls.”

Roots

Quan ho, also known as quan ho Bac Ninh, was founded in the northern province eight centuries ago. Popularly described as “folk love duets,” the songs originated in age-old village mating rituals still practiced in some Bac Ninh hamlets today.

Some 400-plus quan ho songs, all written hundreds of years ago, are still sung in Bac Ninh Province and neighboring Bac Giang Province. The cappella tunes are sung in pairs as a kind of call and response in which male singers try to woo females into marriage. The first line is always a “challenge” from the ladies, with a “response” then sung by the men.

The art form was inscribed on UNESCO’s representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on September 30 this year, thanks in part to the annual Lim Festival, held from the 12th to the 14th days of the first Lunar Calendar month each year. Though many consider the art dead or dying, devotees of the music gather in the town of Lim, birthplace of the art, every year to celebrate the music at the festival. There, groups of men and women take boats out onto the town’s lakes and sing before large audiences.

Lim performances also take place on stage, on boats cruising along local rivers and in local residents’ homes. At the festival, quan ho features its traditional backdrop - the rolling hills and paddies of the countryside - not the elaborate sets associated with other traditional Vietnamese performances. Visitors to Lim can ask for their favorite songs to be sung and can even perform together with the artists.

The movement

Kim said she often sings more than one song per call, but she is not the only one who does so.

Most singers from the Hoa Dinh Quan Ho Club in Bac Ninh’s Hoa Dinh Village get similar calls and also give spur-of-the moment live performances via phone.

The Hoa Dinh Quan Ho Club was founded in 1995 by amateur singers in Hoa Dinh who wanted to preserve and promote quan ho singing the way their ancestors had done. They know all too well that during and after the war years, the songs were neglected and the art was nearly lost. The club now has nearly 50 members, all of whom are local amateur singers. Some are young school students and others are 80-yearold grandparents.

Well-known professional singers including Thuy Cai, Thuy Huong and Quy Trang, leader of the renowned Bac Ninh Quan Ho Troupe, also said they received regular requests via phone from fans as far and wide as Canada, the US or Germany.

Hoa Dinh Club member Xuan Vinh said the most requested songs were Con duyen (Still charming), Giua toi hom ram (When the moon is full) and Dem qua nho ban (I missed you last night).

Tran Van Quyen, leader of the amateur club, said the singers provide the service free of charge and aim to keep it that way. They often pass phones around at meetings, so that listeners get the full experience of hearing the duets.

“We sing on the phone as a way to express our gratitude to those who love quan ho,” Quyen said. “We’re happy to sing for our fans and require nothing in return.”

He said anyone interested in hearing a quan ho folk song could call him at 095 329 6338 from 8-10 p.m. every evening while the group meets. He asked that callers refrain during the day as most singers were busy. Although Quyen said the artists had no problem performing for free, donations to the club are welcome.

Reported by Phong Lan

What’s in a vase

Piracy, prosperity and a Vietnamese love story present the history of a porcelain vase on display at a Dutch museum.

There is more than a grain of truth in the fictional Manh ghep cuoc doi (Porcelain) television series commissioned by the Zeeuws Museum in the Netherlands.

A young author living in contemporary times accidentally comes into possession of a ceramic vase that dates back to the 16th century. Guided by a mysterious female voice, she is led to learn more about the vase that traveled on a cursed voyage from Asia to Europe.

This narrative, developed as a script by a group of local and international filmmakers, is an attempt to explain the origins of an Asian porcelain vase on display at the Dutch museum.

The television series based on the script is produced with a predominantly Vietnamese cast by the Propeller Group, a Vietnamese-owned creative development and production company, in cooperation with Superflex – a group of artists from Copenhagen that has collaborated with the Propeller Group on several projects.

“It is really to challenge the ideas and notions of an ‘authentic truth,’ said Barbara Dong, a representative from Vortex Company, in charge of PR and marketing for the series.

“History is often seen as truth, but this project plays around with that notion and playfully attempts to challenge it through narrative fiction,” she quoted the Propeller group’s director Tuan Andrew Nguyen as saying.

While several antiques, including the vase, were brought from the museum to Vietnam for the filming in Ho Chi Minh City, the crew asked local artisans to make 50 copies of the vase.

According to the museum, the vase was among Asian porcelain products carried by a Portuguese carrack, San Jago, which was captured by the Dutch in an act of piracy off the St. Helena coast in 1602.

When the ship was later brought to Middelburg in the Netherlands, millions of dollars were earned from selling the porcelain at an auction, marking the start of the city’s prosperity, the museum says on its website.

Some of the props used in the film are part of an installation display together with other artifacts in an exhibition that opened early last month at the Dutch museum.

As part of the exhibition, open untill February 8, the series was also screened at Filmtheater Schuttershof in Middelburg, capital city of Zeeland province on October 16.

The series and the exhibition have received good feedback from Dutch audiences, said Rasmus Nielsen, executive producer and also a member of Superflex.

Nielsen said the combination of the mysterious but true details of Dutch history and a Vietnamese love story had charmed the audience.

“Porcelain” and the display are part of a Zeeuws Museum plan launched this year to explore the significance of local identity in a national and international context.

The museum wants to offer the public a chance to study its collection’s history in creative, interesting ways.

Interested readers can find the series’s trailer at http://www.propellergroup.com/porcelain.

Reported by Cat Khue

Sakura Café, gateway for disabled children

At a bustling corner in Ho Chi Minh City lies a humble coffee shop where mentally-challenged children are pushed to integrate into broader society under the guidance of a Japanese philanthropist.

The five-year-old Hoa Anh Dao (Sakura) Café is the brain child of Chisato Esaki, a Japanese woman who has devoted more than a decade to Vietnam’s underprivileged children.

After graduating from Doshisha University in 1998, the 25-year-old Esaki arrived in Vietnam for the first time to start her four-year Master’s thesis on relief activities for Vietnamese disabled children and their families.

The young graduate soon became a regular visitor to a local charity center where she learnt the language and developed an attachment to local disadvantaged and disabled kids.

After three years in the trenches in Vietnam, Esaki realized that all mentally-impaired people here are unemployed.

It led her to the idea of creating a workplace where disabled children interact with people, learn work skills and help change the public’s misconceptions of the mentally-challenged.

To fund her project, Esaki, who is called Sato by the children, moved back to Japan for a couple of years.

With the support from Japanese and Vietnamese philanthropists, the Sakura Café was opened in April 2004 with 14 staff comprising of children suffering from Down Syndrome and several hearing-impaired kids who work as bartenders.

Different from other local coffee shops which are punctuated with flashy design and trendy music, Sakura Café is an open-spaced café with soft music, simple design and highlighted by a number of pottery pieces made by the cafes staff.

The seemingly simple tasks of training the staff became an entirely different animal, proving to be hard work for both Esaki and the kids.

She said it took her an entire month to teach them how to “Thank you” and “Goodbye” to the customers before the opening of the café.

Esaki also thought up a few different approaches to make the job easier for the children.

Customers to the venue, at 4, Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, can call over waiters by ringing a small bell on their table.

Also, each table is not numbered but a small ornament in the shape of a type of fruit or animal is placed on each table to help the kids remember where they have to drop off the orders.

Customers don’t tell waiters their order. Instead they fill out what they want from a pre-prepared form.

Working at Sakura Café has helped the kids, who were often seen as awkward, an opportunity to be more open to the outside world.

A grandfather, whose grandson has been working at the café, said the 18-year-old boy often refused to sleep at night through sheer excitement at the prospect of going back to work the next day.

Sakura Café last week moved to a new, more spacious home at 153, Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Binh Thanh District thanks to the support of a local company, The Saigon Times Daily reported.

The café, whose name has been changed into the Hoa Anh Dao Club, maintains its original design, an open-aired venue surrounded by a natural landscape.

The club members currently include nine mentally-challenged children, one hearing-impaired and three volunteers. The children do shift work for no more than five hours a day.

‘A little bit more’ of Air Supply

Rain didn’t stop fans from coming out last weekend to see Air Supply, one of the first western acts to slip through embargoes against Vietnam in the 80s.

When Aussie-UK soft rock duo Air Supply were in their prime, Vietnam had been cut off from the rest of the world by US-imposed sanctions.

In the 1980s, listening to western music in general was rare and youngsters like me valued every chance we got to hear it.

To get western albums, you had to go to the flea market in Ho Chi Minh City. We called it Cho Cu (old market, or second-hand market). The tapes were smuggled from Thailand or brought back by local sailors who had docked at foreign ports. Nearly all copies were illegal bootlegs.

If you lived in the provinces and had no means to visit HCMC, there was no way for you to find cassettes of Air Supply.

Selling the albums was illegal in Vietnam as well. Flea market vendors had to run whenever they saw police.

In those days, the most popular foreign bands were ABBA, Boney M, Modern Talking and of course, Air Supply. Rock fans could also find some albums by AC&DC and the Scorpions. Europe was also a popular band at that time.

I got my first Air Supply album when I was in 11th grade. My friend’s elder brother was a sailor and he brought home the cassette from Singapore.

Our group passed the tape around for weeks from person to person, each anxious to hear it soon and none of us anxious to let it out of our hands. We had no photocopy machines, so we had to rewrite the lyrics by hand. The Air Supply tape was possibly the most valuable thing we owned. We never thought that one day we would enjoy a live Air Supply show in our home city.

But 20 years later, that dream came true.

Nearly 2,000 fans crowded the Hoa Binh Theater last weekend, many of them seeing their favorite band in person for the first time.

Three generations of Vietnamese were: the war generation, the postwar generation and even youngsters born in the 80s – we call them Generation 8X.

Air Supply appeared on a simple stage and in simple dress. Of course, they looked older and less glamorous than the pictures we had seen as kids, but Russell Hitchcock’s voice still soared and Graham Russell’s guitar still charmed...

They thrilled the audience with raw talent, and nothing else.

The performance reached its peak when they played “Goodbye.” They asked their throngs of excited fans to leave their seats and gather near the stage to sing with them.

They played all our old favorites: ”Every Woman in the World,” “Lost in Love,” “Here I Am,” “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”... but there was one song we ‘d never heard before: “Just A Little Bit More.”

With a guitar in his hand, Russell told the audience the story behind the new song.

He said he was deeply moved and touched at the wedding of two 19-year-old friends of his. He said he could see the depth of their love and knew nothing would ever split them apart.

At the wedding, the groom had asked Russell to write a song about the couple. After the marriage, the groom left the country to serve in the military. And he never came back.

After the groom’s death, Russell met the wife and she asked him to sing the song. He said he didn’t want to because he thought it would cause her more pain.

“Just a little bit more,” she said. Hence, the song’s title.

We in Vietnam were also happy to get just a little bit more Air Supply.

Russell said the tune would be on their next album, their 35^th in as many years.

I thought about that: one album every year for 35 years… quite an achievement.

I’m now looking forward to buying their next album, and I know I won’t have to go to the flea market to find it.

Reported by Le Huynh Le

Dustin Nguyen favorite actor at Chinese film fest

Dustin Nguyen on Friday was named as the favorite international actor at the biannual Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in China on Friday.

Winning the poll of juries and audience at seven theaters in Nanchang capital of Jiangxi province, the Vietnamese American actor was praised for his role as a young man who wants to bring his mother’s ashes back to America to bury her next to his late father’s tomb in Huyen thoai bat tu (Legend is alive) directed by Luu Huynh.

However, no representative from Vietnam’s only entry at the 18^th edition of the festival attended the award ceremony.

Singaporean actor Jack Neo shared the award with Nguyen for his role in Money Not Enough 2 that he directred himself.

The festival also sorted through 25 films from 15 foreign countries, including the US and Japan, for choosing other awards: two favorite actresses, two best directors and two best films.

One of China’s most influential film festivals that opened in 1992 closed Saturday with awards granted to local films.

Source: Tuoi Tre

Organizer plans to change Miss World venue

The organizer of the 2010 Miss World pageant in Vietnam plans to shift the event from the resort town of Nha Trang to Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta.

The move, supposedly based on cost factors, has sparked concerns the new venue will not be able to prepare adequately for the event. The central government and authorities of Khanh Hoa Province last year granted Rare Antibody Antigen Supply, Inc. (RAAS) the right to hold the international competition in Nha Trang, which had already hosted the Miss Universe contest in August 2008. But now RAAS wanted to move the pageant to Tien Giang as it would cost much less to organize the event there, according to an official of the Mekong Delta Province, who also confirmed that they were seeking approval from the central government to become the official host. Nguyen Hong Minh, deputy director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said RAAS Chairman Hoang Kieu plans to build a five-star ecotourism resort in Thoi Son Commune for the event at the end of next year. Officials in the province said the pageant would be a great opportunity to promote tourism. However, there were also worries that the province would not be able to prepare for the event in short time remaining. An official, who wished to be unnamed, said the Miss World pageant was a big event while “the province’s capabilities are limited and there is so little time left to prepare.” My Tho Town, the capital of the province, only has one three-star hotel. There is a four-star hotel project under construction but it will not be completed next year. Luu Van Phi, a resident in My Tho, said he was surprised on hearing that his province, which “doesn’t hold any special position on the country’s map,” may host the 2010 Miss World pageant. “I really don’t know if the province can pull it off,” he said. An official of Khanh Hoa Province said moving the pageant away from Nha Trang would cause many difficulties to the organizer. He said the provincial government has already started a campaign to support the event and it would write to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to express its stance on the issue. Nha Trang has been promoted heavily as the host of the 2010 Miss World pageant overr the past year. RAAS Chairman Hoang Kieu unveiled a plan in October last year to build a 1,530-hectare resort at Nha Trang Bay which would become the venue of the pageant in 2010. The project was criticized by many scientists and environmentalists, who said it would damage the environment at the bay. In November, Kieu canceled the plan, as well as another road project in Nha Trang. As of June this year, however, Kieu had still confirmed that Nha Trang would host the event. Source: Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre

Huong Giang to vie for Miss World title

Model Tran Thi Huong Giang will represent Vietnam at the Miss World 2009 Beauty Pageant to be held in South Africa from November 11 to December 12.

The Performing Arts Department said Friday that Giang will leave on November 6 for charity events in the UK before heading to South Africa’s Johannesburg city along with beauty queens from other countries.

Giang told Thanh Nien that she would “talk about the 1,000th year anniversary of Hanoi at the contest. I think this is a unique event as not many countries have a capital with such historical and cultural background.”

Standing 180 centimeters tall and measuring 86-61-92, the 22-year-old model won the Miss Hai Duong crown 2006 and was the second runner-up at the Miss Vietnam Global 2009.

Reported by Do Tuan

Thanh Nien’s gala to pay homage to late stage director

Thanh Nien’s signature annual gala this year will open as a tribute to the late Huynh Phuc Dien, nationally renowned show and stage director.

Director Dinh Anh Dung of the event Tro ve (Return), said in a recent interview that Thanh Nien wants to include the Tro ve (return) part in the script to express gratitude to Dien, who significantly contributed to the prominent place that Duyen Dang Viet Nam (Charming Vietnam) gala occupies today in the national calendar.

Dien, who passed away in late June, directed nine editions of the gala since it debuted in 1994 and was a legend in the local entertainment industry, proving himself repeatedly as a director, designer and scriptwriter over nearly two decades.

Dung said Tro ve part will reproduce a Vietnamese village on stage with the participation of all artists who have attended the festival over the years, an idea taken from a script nurtured by Dien.

The other part, named Bonjour Vietnam, “will introduce a new and lively Vietnam,” as this year’s gala also marks its 15^th celebration, the director said.

“For Bonjour Vietnam, I want to introduce young artists who will inherit and help develop Vietnam’s music industry.”

Vietnamese Belgian singer Pham Quynh Anh, whose hit song Bonjour Vietnam caused quite a stir in chat rooms and forums in the Vietnamese community around the world because of the nostalgic feeling it evoked in 2006, will also join the show, Dung said.

Scheduled to kick off this December 12, the four-day music and variety entertainment festival will be held at Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoa Binh Theater with the participation of 40 local and overseas singers, more than 50 models and hundreds of dancers.

Held to raise money for the Thanh Nien-initiated Vietnam Talent Fund and Nguyen Thai Binh Scholarship Fund, which grants scholarships to both deserving poor and outstanding students, the gala was taken to Canberra and Sydney in Australia in 2005, Singapore in 2007 and London in 2008.

Reported by Do Tuan

Có cánh chuồn nào trên vai em...

Ðó là một thị trấn nhỏ nhưng thơ mộng. Cũng ở đó có một đôi tình nhân đang trong thời đắm đuối yêu nhau. Có những buổi sáng, tay trong tay họ đi dọc bờ sông ngắm nhìn mặt trời lên hoặc có những buổi chiều, hai người cùng nhau lên núi tiễn đưa ánh tà dương chìm dần trong thung lũng phía xa xa. Cũng có khi họ lại cùng nhau tới ngôi nhà lớn ở trung tâm thị trấn. Ở đấy có tượng thờ một vị phúc thần, người khai sáng và cũng là người bảo hộ cho thị trấn xinh đẹp này. Nơi đó là nơi mà các đôi trai gái tiến hành các cuộc hôn lễ, và cũng là nơi mọi người tới cầu mong những điều mà họ ấp ủ. Có lẽ bất kỳ ai nhìn thấy họ đều không thể không ánh lên niềm vui và cầu chúc cho họ hạnh phúc.



Nhưng một ngày kia, chàng trai bỗng mắc phải trọng bệnh. Ðã mấy hôm liền chàng hôn mê bất tỉnh trên giường. Suốt ngày nàng túc trực bên chàng, lo lắng khôn nguôi. Buổi tối nàng lại chạy tới ngôi nhà trung tâm khẩn cầu vị Phúc thần ban phúc cho chàng. Nàng khóc nhiều đến nỗi nước mắt của nàng hầu như đã cạn.
Một tuần nữa trôi đi nhưng chàng vẫn hôn mê bất tỉnh, còn nàng thân thể cũng héo mòn vì lo lắng, buồn đau, nhưng nàng vẫn kiên tâm khẩn cầu Phúc thần ban phúc cho chàng.

Thế rồi vào buổi tối nọ, Phúc thần đã động lòng trước lòng thành và tình yêu của người con gái, quyết định cho người con gái được hưởng một ngoại lệ.

Vị Phúc thần hỏi nàng: "Con có bằng lòng đánh đổi cuộc sống của mình để cứu người yêu của con không?”. Không một chút đắn đo, nàng trả lời: "Vâng, con bằng lòng!".

Vị Phúc thần nói: "Thế thì được, ta có thể giúp cho người yêu của con bình phục một cách nhanh chóng, nhưng để được như vậy thì con phải tự nguyện biến thành con bướm vàng trong ba năm. Con có đồng ý như vậy không?”. Rất cương quyết và có phần kích động, nàng trả lời: “Con đồng ý”.

Trời vừa sáng, người con gái biến thành một con bướm vàng rất đẹp. Nàng cáo từ Phúc thần rồi vội vàng bay tới bệnh viện nơi người yêu của nàng đang nằm. Quả nhiên nàng nhìn thấy chàng đã tỉnh lại và đang trò chuyện cùng một nữ bác sĩ. Nàng rất lấy làm tiếc vì không nghe được họ nói chuyện gì, bởi vì nàng không thể bay vào tận nơi chàng đang nằm, mà chỉ có thể nhìn chàng qua lớp kính của cửa sổ mà thôi.

Mấy ngày sau chàng bình phục hoàn toàn và được xuất viên, nhưng vô cùng buồn bã vì không thấy nàng đâu. Chàng dò hỏi rất nhiều người, nhưng không ai có thể trả lời cho chàng biết. Từ hôm đó chàng ra sức đi tìm nàng, miệng không ngừng gọi tên nàng ở khắp mọi nơi, đến nỗi quên cả ăn uống và nghỉ ngơi. Còn nàng, lúc này là con bướm vàng lúc nào cũng bay lượn quanh chàng, nhưng chàng đâu có biết.

Mùa hè đã qua, gió thu đã về, lá vàng cứ từng chiếc, từng chiếc rơi xuống khiến cho bướm vàng không thể ở lại cùng chàng. Trước khi phải ra đi, bướm vàng đã bay tơi đâu trên vai chàng, và muốn dùng đôi cánh mỏng manh của mình vuốt nhẹ lên đôi má của chàng, dùng đôi môi bé nhỏ của mình thơm nhẹ lên trán chàng. Nhưng tấm thân bé nhỏ của bướm vàng không đủ để cho chàng cảm nhận được điều đó. Tiếng khóc bi thương của bướm vàng cũng chỉ có bướm vàng nghe thấy mà thôi. Thế là trong lòng mang nặng tình cảm yêu thương, bướm vàng đành cáo biệt người yêu rồi bay đi.

Thời gian trôi nhanh. Mùa xuân của năm thứ hai đã tới, và ngay lập tức bướm vàng vội vã bay trở về đi tìm chàng. Nhưng cái hình bóng yêu thương mà bướm vàng mong gặp lại, giờ đã cận kề một người con gái xinh đẹp tuyệt vời. Không thể tin vào mắt mình, và chỉ suýt nữa thôi bướm vàng đã rơi từ lưng trời xuống đất. Bướm vàng lại càng không thể tin vào tai mình khi được nghe những lời mà mọi người đang bàn tán, rằng trong ngày lễ thánh chàng đã mắc phải trọng bệnh, rằng cô bác sĩ tài hoa khả ái đã cứu càng, rằng tình yêu của họ…

Sự đau khổ xâm chiếm trái tim khiến bướm vàng tê tái. Những ngày tiếp theo đó, bướm vàng thường nhìn thấy chàng trai yêu dấu của mình dắt tay người con gái lên núi ngắm cảnh chiều tà, và những buổi sáng họ lại cùng nhau ra bờ sông đón mặt trời lên… Tất cả những điều đó vốn dĩ thuộc vè nàng, thế mà giờ đây bên cạnh chàng lại là một người con gái khác… Nhưng không thể làm gì hơn, bướm vàng chỉ thỉnh thoảng như vô tình lại tới đậu trên vai chàng.

Năm ấy mùa hè đặc biệt dài. Mỗi ngày bướm vàng lại bay đi trong đau khổ. Nó không còn đủ dũng cảm để đến gần chàng nữa. Những lời thủ thỉ giữa chàng trai với người con gái, những tiếng cười tràn đầy hạnh phúc của họ cứ như những ngọn gió lạnh buốt khiến cho bướm vàng không sao chịu nổi. Thế là mặc dù mùa thu còn chưa tới, bướm vàng đã vội vã bay đi…

Mùa hè của năm thứ ba đã tới. Trái tim tan nát của bướm vàng không còn đủ sức để chứng kiến cảnh họ tay trong tay, cảnh họ trao cho nhau những nụ hôn nồng cháy… lại không còn lòng dạ nào dám nhớ tới những kỷ niệm xưa.

Ba năm dài dằng dặc trôi qua. Lời nguyền giữa vị Phúc thần và bướm vàng đã kết thúc. Nhưng trước đó một ngày, chàng trai và người yêu mới của chàng đã cử hành hôn lễ. Trong ngôi nhà trung tâm có rất đông người tới dự. Bướm vàng nhẹ nhẹ bay vào, rồi cũng nhẹ nhẹ đỗ trên vai chàng. Bướm vàng nghe rõ từng nhịp tim của người mình yêu, nhìn cảnh chàng trai đeo nhẫn cưới vào tay cô gái, sau đó là cảnh họ trao cho nhau nụ hôn. Những giọt nước mắt đau khổ của bướm vàng trở nên cháy bỏng.

Buồn rầu, Phúc thần quay sang hỏi bướm vàng:"Con có cảm thấy hối hận không?". Bướm vàng lau hai hàng nước mắt mà không hề có nước mắt, rồi trả lời: "Không ạ”.

Lòng đầy trắc ẩn, Phúc thần bảo "Ngày mai con có thể trở lại với chính mình…”, nhưng bướm vàng đã lắc đầu: “Dạ thưa, con xin người hãy cho con được là bướm vàng suốt đời…!". Nói rồi, bướm vàng lại vỗ cánh bay đi.

Vị Phúc thần quay xuống nhìn đám đông… và bỗng thở dài. Có những cái mất đi là do chủ định, có những duyên phận là mãi mãi không bao giờ được hưởng hạnh phúc! Yêu một người mà không nhất thiết phải có, nhưng có một người thì nhất thiết phải tìm và gìn giữ thắm thiết tình yêu! Ôi những con bướm vàng…

Ðã dễ mấy ai biết được trên vai mình có một con bướm vàng nào đang đậu đó không?