Folk Arts – Cultural Treasure Charter School Vietnamese Folk Arts    F O L K · A R T S · S T U D I E S A research project in the Vietnamese folk arts heritage

Lesson: 12-Thang-Cuoi
for Vietnamese 16-string zither
by Teacher Phan Gia Anh-Thư & Teacher Ngô Thanh Nhàn
Nov 23, 2024 18:13:23
12-Thang-Cuoi-Melody_Chords

Tablature to Click and Print:

T H E   S T O R Y:Thằng Cuội [The Liar on the Moon], composed by Lê Thương, 1943, retelling the folk story about a greatest liar ended up on the moon. Once upon a time, there was a greatest liar banned by his village to the forest. He discovered a magic banian tree, which could cure all diseases, and even revive recently dead living beings. He became the best healer with the tree next to his clinic. He was well enough to marry a beauty named chị Hằng. One day, a band of robbers came by when he was away, killed her and took her internal organs away. Coming home, shocked, he took the internal organs of his dog and revived her. Waking up, she ran to the banyan tree and pied on it. The tree shook and uprooted and flied up towards the sky. Without thinking he grabbed its roots and flied to the moon with the tree. On a mid-autumn full moon, we still can see him under the banyan tree. The children, celebrating Tết Trung Thu [Mid-Autumn Children Festival], with their lanterns calling him to come down and celebrate with them.