The Mountain of the Woman Who Is Waiting for Her Husband (Hòn Vọng Phu)

A long time ago, in a small village there was a poor family.

The parents had to work hard every day to make ends meet. They left their two children at home. The parents told their son that he had to take good care of his little sister, keep her safe and happy.

One day, the boy was peeling a sugar-cane, sudden his knife was slip p ed out of his hands and hit his sister’s head. The little girl screamed loudly then fainted away. The boy thought he had killed his sister, and afraid of punishment, he fled.

Years later, by coincidence, they met again, fell in love, and married without knowing they are siblings. Together they had a son.

On a beautiful morning, he found his wife sitting in the back yard drying her long black hair under the sunshine. At the time when she glided the comb on her hair that she lifted with her other hand, he discovered a long scar above the back of her neck. Surprised, he asked her for its cause. Hesitating, she began to tell the story crying:

I lived with my brother who, fifteen years ago for unknown reasons, injured me with a blow of an knife and abandoned me in the forest. I don't know what happened to my brother and it is hard for me to explain his insensitive act. However we love each other so much.

The husband overcame his emotion and asked his wife for information concerning her father's and brother's names and her native village. Taken by remorse while keeping for himself the frightening secret, he was ashamed and horrified himself. He tries to stay away from his wife and his son by taking advantage of the military draft to enroll in the army and hoping to find the delivery on the battleground.

From the day of his departure, in ignorance of the truth, his wife waited for him with patience and resignation. Every evening, she took her son in her arms and climbed up the mountain looking out for the return of her husband. She made the same gesture for entire years. On a beautiful day, reaching the top of the mountain, exhausted and stayed standing, her eyes fixed to the horizon, she was changed into rock and immobile in her eternal wait.

This mountain, known as "Núi Vọng Phu" (or The Mountain of the Woman who is waiting for her husband ) is located not far from Lạng Sơn, quite close to the Sino-Vietnamese border. At the top of the mountain is a rock bearing the shape of a standing woman holding her child in her arms. This resemblance is striking when the sun sets on the horizon. The tale of this mountain is so touching it becomes thus one of the legends preferred by Vietnamese and gives so much inspiration to Vietnamese poets.

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