雙語故事:一個發生在越南的感人的友情故事
Back in the old days there were three boys, Tung, Truc, and Mai. Each of the boys was from a different region in Vietnam and by chance they were brought together to study under the same teacher. The only thing the young men had in common was how poor each of them was.
Their families were dirt poor but the parents were determined for their sons to have an education. For that very reason, all of them buried themselves in their books so their family's effort would not go to waste. Somehow they became friends.
When they became friends, the boys swore together that later on in life if one of the three became successful, he would not forget the others and their time in poverty. He would also promise to aid the other friends out of the lower class.
After a while, due to family circumstances all three boys had to quit school; they went their separate ways. Tung was the first fortunate one to have his luck turn around. With a bright mind and perseverance, Tung was very determined to pursue his studies.
Tung became a servant for an elderly man named Nghe in order to continue his studies. The old man recognized Tung's potential and determination and supported him like a son. For the next few years, Tung studied and he was finally able to obtain Tien Si (a person who passed all three examinations held by the government). With the Tien Si, Tung became an officer in the capital city.
From that point, Tung's life picked up its pace, its speed turned into a whirlwind that no one could catch up with. Even though he now lived in luxury, Tung still remembered his book friends from before. One day, Tung decided to find his friends so he took a leave of absence.
On Tung's journey to find his friends, he dressed as a commoner in order to avoid disturbances and being hassled by the guard soldiers around him. It did not take him a long time to find Truc's house, one of his two best friends back in the old days.
曾有三個叫東（Tung），特呂克（Truc）和麥(Mai) 的男孩。他們來自不同的地區，但命運安排他們師從於同一老師。
他們唯一共同點是他們都很窮。他們家徒四壁，但父母卻下定了送兒子上學的決心。爲了對得起家裏的犧牲和付出，爲了家人的希望不付諸東流，他們都埋頭苦讀。不知怎的，他們成了朋友。
而後，男孩們一起發誓說以後如果他們中的其中任何一個若是功成名就，肯定不會忘記其他兩個夥伴和曾經受窮的歲月，並承諾幫助以後如還處於下層階級的朋友。
不久之後，由於家庭原因，三個孩子不得不輟學，他們分道揚鑣了。好運最先降到了東身上。聰明伶俐、堅忍不拔的他決定繼續完成學業。
爲了繼續深造，東爲一個名叫納喝（Nghe）的老人當僕人。老人看出了東的潛力和決心，像待兒子般的支持他完成學業。經過幾年的苦讀，東終於成爲了“進士”（Tien Si）（注：通過了政府組織的三門考試的人）。之後，在首都當官。
從此，他飛黃騰達，升官如旋風之勢，無人能及。儘管過上了奢華的生活，他還是沒忘記曾經的朋友。於是，東決定請假去找他的朋友。
爲了避免擾民，他決定扮成平民。沒多久，他就找到了特呂克的宅邸。
The first visit...
Let's back track a bit to Truc's story after he left his friends. The day after Truc quitted school he inherited a large amount of land from his grandparents on his mother's side. Through hard work and knowing how to turn the land around, Truc was able to make the land rich in ten years and became well off.
Even though he was rich, he did not want to lose a dollar, a quarter, or even a penny to anyone. Because of this, Truc had forgotten the words of promise between the three friends in the past."AW Heck! Why waste your time searching? The other people did not bother to find you or I."
With that thought, Truc felt very secure with all his actions and words. When Tung first saw how rich his friend was, he wanted to test how true the feelings were so he did not say anything about his current life. The only thing that Tung told Truc was that he missed his friend so he wanted to find and visit him.
Judging from Tung's appearance, Truc guessed he only had enough to eat and only came to rekindle the friendship to ask for money. The thought floated with Truc as he pretended his life was still in difficulty and went on to tell Tung.
"To tell you the truth, if it were not because of past recent business trips then I would not be losing to anyone. Earlier I was considering finding you in the North but after so many bad droughts continuously and then there was a famine, I had to mortgage some of my acres and it was not until recently that I finished paying it off."
Truc went on and on about his so-called hardships in order to zip Tung's mouth if he had any thoughts about asking for money. To continue with the charade of his life of poverty, Truc gave his friend a small, simple dinner. The next morning before everyone woke up,
Truc went to the cook and asked him to make a fish net and worms for his next plan. While Truc showed Tung around the property, they came upon the cook. Truc yelled at the cook, "Hey!'Dan bat kha ha tri' (at 3 do not let the net down). Don't you remember the old saying?! Why do you want to fish at this hour? Do you want me to go bankrupt?"
The servant caught the owner's meaning and quietly left the scene. That afternoon when the chickens returned to their coop, Truc's wife told the house servant to pick the plumpest chicken to kill. Before the chicken could be killed, Truc ran into the kitchen screaming,
"Ey! At 4 you should not kill birds! Even if your friend should visit, you should still not kill. It is highly forbidden."
Tung was done witnessing how Truc's life was and continued onto Mai's house, the second friend who lived through hardships with Tung during his school years. Still in his commoner's clothes, Tung arrived at Mai's house and just as before at Truc's, he did not mentioned anything about his life.
初訪
讓我們把時間往回拉。話說特呂克與好友別離後，他繼承了外祖父的大規模的土地。他知道怎樣去經營這塊土地，通過艱苦的工作，他在十年間迅速致富。
雖然有錢，他不想失去一分一釐。所以，他忘記了當初的承諾，過去的誓言。“神啊！何必花時間去找呢？誰知道他們會不會花時間找我呢？”
這樣一想，特呂克就心安理得了。
當東看到他的第一眼，他就看出他的朋友有多富有了。他想考驗一下他，看看他內心的最真實的情感。所以，他隱瞞了自己生活。僅僅告訴特呂克他是如此地想他，多麼迫切地要造訪他而已。
打量了一下東的外表，特呂克猜想東的收入只能勉強維持生計，如今來找他只是爲了特呂克通過敘舊從他身上榨點錢。心存這個想法，他就假裝他仍然生活艱難，並重復告訴東這點。
“說實話，如果不是最近出差，我絕不輸給任何人。前階段，我還想去北方找找你，但最近旱災不斷，饑荒太嚴重了，而且我的按揭最近才付清。”
爲了讓東不開口問他借錢，特呂克喋喋不休的訴說着所謂的困境。同時，爲了使東相信自己生活貧困，特呂克只提供了簡單的晚餐。次日一起牀，特呂克就跑去找廚師，要他做個漁網，並找些蚯蚓——他已想出了下一個鬼主意，並在努力的付諸實踐。
當特呂克帶着東參觀他的產業時，他們遇上了廚師。特呂克對廚子嚷道：“你忘了'Dan bat kha ha tri'（意爲3點不撒網。）這句老話了嗎？爲何要在這個時候捕魚呢？你想要我破產啊？“
僕人知道了主人的意圖，悄悄地離開了。日暮西山，小雞回舍，特呂克的妻子讓僕人宰掉最肥的那隻雞，特呂克跑進廚房尖叫道：“嘿!4點不能殺雞，即使你朋友到訪也不行。這是強烈禁止的事。”
東目睹了特呂克的生活，打算去拜訪麥了。即使在臨行前，東也沒對特呂克說起自己的生活。
No money, no worry...
Ever since Mai quit school and returned home, he saw his family's situation worsen. He worked hard to try to make it to the top but it seemed like it was not his time. All his business trips ended in failure and losses and when he switched to teaching, he suddenly became sick. Mai had to sell off parts of his land to pay off the medical bills.
In the end both husband and wife had to rent some land to farm and had to work on other's land to be able to get by. Even though the couple had nothing and finding a meal was hard, they didn't once complain. Mai welcomed Tung warmly into his house when he came to visit.
He introduced his friend to his wife, "This was my closest friend when I went to school in the city. If you count the days since then, it must have been least fifteen years. Go and find food to serve to our guest." Tung saw his friend's wife listened to her husband and then took the basket and left for the market.
Around noon, he saw the woman carrying back a basket full of food but this time around her head was in a black scarf even though it was not the wind season. He did not think of this much at first but soon after when he was roaming the house he saw Mai and his wife by the restroom whispering.
He immediately hid himself on the side so they would not see him. Like something just kicked him in the face, he was shocked walking into the scene. Mai's wife had just taken off her scarf; however, the fine black hair on her head was no longer there.
Tung instantly questioned what had happened to her hair when Mai and his wife walked away from the restroom. Mai's wife knew that they could not keep the secret hidden any longer, she said,
"This morning there was no money when I left the house. I thought I could go and borrow some money from the neighbors but they also didn't have any. However, there was a wig factory in need of long hair, and since I have it I sold it. It is only once in a lifetime a friend like you comes to visit. Do you expect us only to look at each other the whole time? Please do not feel bad. Once hair has been cut it will grow again. Why worry?"
Tung was very touched by Mai's wife's words and actions. Not a moment sooner, he confessed to his friend about his life since the day they went their separate ways including the visit to Truc and how he was treated. After Tung was done talking, he took out a box of jewelry and gave it to Mai's wife and said,
"The hair's root is the basis of a person. I truly regret not knowing beforehand of the situation so that you would have not sold your precious hair. Nonetheless, with that action I discovered what kind of person you are and I want to give you this as a gift. Go ahead and sell this. Spend it however you like while you wait for your hair to grow back and can find work again."
Not long after Tung returned home, he sent money to Mai and dispatched him to Nam Dinh to learn the art of dyeing clothes. When Mai finished learning the skill, Tung helped him open up a dyeing factory in the village. Their business began to grow bigger by the day and before long it became successful.
Mai took what he knew and taught it to the people in the village. The dyeing skill became the most successful business that anyone had ever known. And what happened to Truc? It was not until later on when he heard Tung had become an officer in the capital city that he started to regret it.
Next, he found out with Tung's help that Mai's business was as successful as it was. "If I had known then, I would not have treated my friend poorly rather than harboring the thought he would run away with my money," he said this regretfully.
One day, Truc packed up his luggage and went to search for his two friends. When he arrived to each house, Truc received the same hospitality he had treated them to. He had no choice but to drag himself home.
So, what do you think? I think that every now and then we should be reminded of all the people making a difference in our lives. I hope that you are always surrounded with friends who you can depend on. If you have any questions, do contact me. From where I am and wherever you are, have a good night.
無財則無憂
麥自從退學回到家裏後，家境每況日下。他努力工作，試圖扭轉乾坤，但似乎時運不濟。他所有的商務旅行以失敗和損失告終。他試圖轉向教育業，卻忽生重病。爲了還清的醫療費用，他不得不賣掉他部分的土地。最後，夫妻倆只好租些土地耕種，並幫別人當佃戶，但也只能勉強過日。儘管夫妻倆一無所有，有了上頓沒下頓，但卻從不抱怨。東到他家時，受到熱情得歡迎。
他給妻子介紹時說：“這是我在城裏讀書時最親密的朋友。想想，以有15餘載了。去給我們的客人找點吃的吧！”妻子聽了話拿起籃子去了菜場。
中午時分，女人帶回了一籃子的食物。頭上圍了條黑色的頭巾。動很奇怪，現在不是風季，她爲什麼要圍……但他想太多。，但不久後，當他在房子裏漫步時，他看到了麥和他的妻子在廁所裏咬耳朵。爲了不被發現，他立刻躲到了一邊。突然，他像被人狠狠的抽了個耳光般，震在了那裏。麥的妻子脫下了頭巾，但她烏黑柔亮的青絲不復存在。當麥和他的妻子離開廁所時，東立即問他們到底是怎麼一回事。
他的妻子剛剛脫下圍巾，但是，在她頭上的黑色細的頭髮不再存在。麥的妻子知道不能再瞞下去了，便說:“今早我離開家的時候，家裏已經沒錢了。我以爲我可以像鄰居借一點的，但他們也一樣捉襟見肘。還好，附近有個收購長髮的假髮廠，我把我的頭髮賣了。像你這樣的朋友來看我們，一生能有幾次?我們總不能一直對視吧！不要內疚，頭髮剪了還會長長的，擔心什麼?”
對於麥的妻子的言行，東十分感動。不多久，他就告訴朋友禮拜離別後自己的遭遇，並訴說了自己在特呂克家時受到的待遇。說完，他拿出一盒首飾給麥的妻子，並說：“身體髮膚，受之父母。我真後悔沒有早一點知道你們的境遇，讓您賣了自己寶貴的頭髮。儘管如此，從這一行動中，我知道了您是怎樣的人，我想把這作爲禮物送給您。去賣了它吧！在頭髮重新長長到可以重新找到工作之前，盡情的花吧！”
東回家不久，就寄錢給麥，並送他去南定（Nam Dinh）學習印染服裝藝術。麥學成歸來，東又幫他在村裏開了個印染廠。他們的生意一天天壯大，不久就開始盈利。
麥將自己所掌握的技術技藝教給鄉親。之後，印染業成爲該車最聞名的行業，享譽全國。
再說說特呂克吧。不久後當他聽說東已在首都做官時，後悔莫及。而後，他又聽說麥在東的幫助下擁有了自己的生意，並很成功。“如果我早知道的話，我就不會那麼對待惡劣得對待我的朋友了，還以爲他會帶着我的錢跑掉。”他懊悔的說。一天，特呂克收拾好行李去找他的兩個朋友。但他曾是怎樣待他朋友的，朋友也就怎麼回敬他。他只能灰溜溜的回家。
你怎麼看這件事呢？我認爲我們要銘記那些讓我們的生活與衆不同的人們。我希望你的身邊圍繞着值得相知相交的朋友。
