1 post tagged “vietnam”

We stopped in a tiny town in the hills. I forget the name of the ethnic minority that lives here, but for the condition of the housing, I thought it quite odd that the government had erected a huge rooster statue here. One of the local gals who worked in her family's textile "shop" had taught herself english, french, and german so she could communicate with the travellers that came through. She explained the story of the rooster to Penny and I, and I'll try to do it justice. Let's just say, it resulted in me spending $20 USD on a handmade silk shirt at her shop.

There is a legend/story in this village that a young man and woman were very much in love, however the woman's family was very poor, and did not have the standard dowry to give to the husband's family. The dowry was traditionally 1 rooster. So she went into the forest to look for a rooster. She never came back, and presumably died out there, leaving her would-be groom and family to grieve. The dowry of 1 rooster was then considered to be unlucky, so it was changed to 1 water buffalo. (Seems to me that the rooster was a far cheaper and better deal. But so be it, a water buffalo it is.) The government felt it was appropriate to commemorate the story by building a large rooster in the town.

Which brings me to the reason I bought the shirt. The girl we were talking to was the youngest of 7 daughters. Three of which still worked at the shop. This meant that the family had to raise enough money to purchase 7 water buffalo to marry off all their daughters. She was the last in line, and they had saved almost enough money for a buffalo for the second youngest daughter.

So I bought a $20.00 shirt, handmade by the family. I'm sure that Long, our tour guide, was fully aware of this story, and that's why that sneaky guy brought us to this village, and it totally worked. Vote for how gullible I am.