The Story of the Jealous Stepmother

In a village along the banks of a peaceful river, there lived a widowed man named Minh who had been blessed with a daughter of extraordinary beauty and virtue. His daughter, Linh, was not only lovely to look at but possessed a heart so pure and kind that everyone who met her was touched by her gentle nature and generous spirit. She had inherited her late mother’s grace and wisdom, along with her father’s honest character and strong work ethic.

After several years of widowhood, Minh decided to remarry, hoping to provide his daughter with a mother figure and to find companionship for himself in his later years. He married a widow from a neighboring village who had a daughter of her own, roughly the same age as Linh. At first, the marriage seemed promising, and Minh hoped that his new family would bring happiness and harmony to their home.

However, it soon became apparent that Minh’s new wife, Ba Lan, possessed a jealous and bitter nature that she had carefully hidden during their courtship. She was envious of Linh’s natural beauty, grace, and the love and respect that the girl received from everyone in the community. Ba Lan’s own daughter, while not unkind, was plain in appearance and unremarkable in character, making the contrast with Linh even more painful for the jealous stepmother.

As time passed, Ba Lan’s resentment toward her stepdaughter grew stronger. She began to treat Linh with increasing harshness, assigning her the most difficult household chores while allowing her own daughter to live in comfort. Linh was required to wake before dawn to prepare meals, tend the garden, care for the animals, and clean the house, while her stepsister slept late and spent her days in leisure.

Despite this unfair treatment, Linh never complained or showed resentment toward her stepmother or stepsister. She performed all her duties with patience and grace, continuing to show kindness and respect to her family members even when they treated her poorly. Her gentle nature and willingness to help others remained unchanged, and she found joy in small acts of service and in the beauty of the natural world around her.

Minh, who worked long hours in his fields and often traveled to nearby markets to sell his crops, was largely unaware of how his wife was treating his daughter. Ba Lan was careful to act kindly toward Linh when her husband was present, saving her cruelty for times when they were alone. When Minh did notice that Linh seemed tired or overworked, Ba Lan would make excuses about the girl’s eagerness to help or her natural diligence.

As Linh grew into young womanhood, her beauty and virtue became even more apparent to everyone in the village. Young men began to express interest in marrying her, and their families would approach Minh to discuss possible matches. This attention only increased Ba Lan’s jealousy, as she worried that her own daughter would be overlooked by potential suitors who were drawn to Linh’s superior qualities.

In her growing desperation and envy, Ba Lan began to devise cruel plans to diminish Linh’s appeal and reputation in the community. She would send the girl on impossible errands, hoping she would fail and be criticized for her incompetence. She would deliberately damage Linh’s clothes and possessions, hoping to make her appear poor and unworthy. She even began spreading subtle rumors about Linh’s character, though these had little effect since everyone who knew the girl recognized her virtue.

One day, Ba Lan’s jealousy reached such a peak that she decided to take more drastic action. She told Linh that she needed to gather a special type of medicinal herb that grew only in the deepest part of the forest, claiming that Minh was ill and required this remedy immediately. In reality, Ba Lan hoped that Linh would become lost in the dangerous forest or encounter wild animals that would harm her.

Without questioning her stepmother’s request or considering the danger to herself, Linh immediately set out for the forest to search for the herbs that she believed were needed to save her father’s life. She ventured deeper into the woods than she had ever gone before, searching diligently for the plants that Ba Lan had described.

As evening approached and Linh had still not found the herbs, she realized that she had become hopelessly lost in the dense forest. The sun was setting, wild animals were beginning to stir, and she had no idea which direction would lead her home. For the first time in her life, Linh felt truly frightened and alone.

As darkness fell and Linh sat beneath a large tree, praying for protection and guidance, something miraculous happened. A soft, golden light began to glow around her, and she heard a gentle voice speaking to her from the luminous air. It was the spirit of her deceased mother, who had been watching over her daughter and had seen the cruelty that Linh had endured with such patience and grace.

“My beloved daughter,” the spirit said, “your kindness and virtue have not gone unnoticed by Heaven. You have suffered much at the hands of those who should have protected you, but your goodness has earned you divine protection and reward.”

Linh’s mother’s spirit guided her safely out of the forest and back to her village, but not before bestowing upon her daughter a magical gift. She gave Linh a small, plain-looking pot that would provide an endless supply of the finest rice whenever the girl was truly in need. She also granted her daughter the ability to communicate with animals and to receive their help and protection.

When Linh returned home the next morning, Ba Lan was both disappointed that her plan had failed and suspicious about how the girl had managed to survive a night alone in the dangerous forest. She questioned Linh closely about her experience, but the girl simply said that she had been fortunate to find shelter and had been guided home by helpful forest creatures.

From that day forward, Linh’s life began to change in subtle but significant ways. Though Ba Lan continued to treat her harshly and assign her impossible tasks, Linh found that she was always able to complete her work with the help of her animal friends. Birds would help her gather fruits from high branches, rabbits would show her where to find the best vegetables, and even the domestic animals worked more efficiently under her gentle care.

The magical rice pot ensured that Linh never went hungry, despite Ba Lan’s attempts to deprive her of adequate food. More importantly, Linh was able to secretly share this miraculous rice with poor families in the village, helping to feed hungry children and elderly people who had no one to care for them.

Word of Linh’s mysterious good fortune and her increasing reputation for kindness and generosity reached the ears of a young nobleman who was seeking a wife of exceptional character. Unlike other suitors who had been attracted primarily by Linh’s beauty, this young man was specifically looking for a woman of virtue and compassion who would make a worthy partner and mother.

When the nobleman’s family approached Minh to request Linh’s hand in marriage, Ba Lan was furious. She had hoped that her own daughter would attract such a prestigious match, and she could not bear the thought of her despised stepdaughter achieving such success and happiness.

In a final act of desperate jealousy, Ba Lan attempted to poison Linh’s food on the eve of the engagement ceremony. However, the animals that Linh had befriended warned her of the danger, and she was able to avoid consuming the poisoned meal. The stepmother’s evil plan was exposed when she accidentally consumed some of the poisoned food herself and became violently ill.

The truth about Ba Lan’s years of cruelty toward Linh finally came to light, and Minh was horrified to learn how his wife had treated his beloved daughter. The community was outraged by Ba Lan’s behavior, and she was forced to leave the village in shame, taking her daughter with her.

Linh, despite all the suffering she had endured, showed mercy toward her stepmother and stepsister. She provided them with supplies for their journey and even gave them some of her miraculous rice to help them survive in their exile. Her forgiveness and generosity amazed everyone who witnessed it and served as a final testament to her extraordinary character.

Linh married the young nobleman and lived happily ever after, using her magical gifts to help others and raising children who inherited her virtuous nature. Her story became a beloved tale told throughout the region, teaching important lessons about the power of kindness to overcome cruelty and the certainty that virtue would ultimately be rewarded while evil would be punished.

The tale of the jealous stepmother served as both entertainment and moral instruction for Vietnamese families. It reinforced cultural values such as filial piety, the importance of treating stepchildren with kindness, and the belief that Heaven would always protect and reward those who remained virtuous despite facing adversity.

The story also taught that jealousy and cruelty would ultimately destroy those who harbored such feelings, while patience, kindness, and forgiveness would bring lasting happiness and divine favor. It showed that true beauty came from inner virtue rather than external appearance, and that character was more important than social status in determining a person’s worth.

Today, this tale continues to resonate with Vietnamese people who face difficult family situations or who struggle with jealousy and resentment. It reminds them that choosing kindness over bitterness, forgiveness over revenge, and virtue over selfishness will ultimately lead to greater happiness and fulfillment.

The story of Linh and her jealous stepmother teaches us that goodness has its own power to transform situations and that those who remain true to their principles, even in the face of cruelty and injustice, will find that their virtue becomes a source of strength and protection that no human malice can overcome.