Story by: Vietnamese Folk Tale

Source: Traditional Vietnamese Legend

Story illustration

In the mountains of northern Vietnam, where ancient forests whisper secrets to the wind and streams cascade down rocky slopes like silver ribbons, there lived a young woodcutter named Cuoi. He was known throughout the mountain villages for his honest heart, his incredible strength, and his skill with an axe—but most of all for his contentment with the simple life he had chosen.

Every morning, Cuoi would venture into the deep forest to gather wood, always taking only what was needed and never cutting down healthy trees that still had many years of growth ahead of them. He lived in a small bamboo hut that he had built himself, surrounded by a garden where he grew vegetables to share with elderly neighbors who could no longer work their own land.

“Wealth and fame mean nothing to me,” Cuoi would often say to friends who encouraged him to seek his fortune in the cities. “I have fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, and meaningful work to do. What more could a man need to be happy?”

But even as he spoke these words, Cuoi sometimes felt a loneliness in his heart. As he worked alone in the quiet forest, he would wonder if there might be someone, somewhere, who could share his appreciation for the simple beauties of mountain life.

One evening, as Cuoi was returning home from a day of wood cutting, he noticed an unusual glow emanating from a clearing deep in the forest. Curious, he set down his bundle of wood and crept quietly through the trees to investigate.

What he saw there took his breath away and filled him with wonder.

In the center of the clearing, beside a crystal-clear mountain pool, stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her skin seemed to glow with soft, silver light, her long black hair flowed like liquid starlight, and when she moved, it was with the grace of moonbeams dancing on water.

She was bathing in the pool, and as Cuoi watched from his hiding place among the trees, he realized that she was not entirely human. Her ethereal beauty and the way the moonlight seemed to gather around her suggested that she was some kind of celestial being.

The woman was Chang’e, the Moon Goddess, who had descended from her palace in the heavens for her monthly bath in the sacred mountain pool. For centuries, she had performed this ritual in perfect solitude, never knowing that mortal eyes might witness her celestial beauty.

As Chang’e prepared to return to the moon, she noticed that her silk scarf—woven from moonbeams and star-threads—had somehow fallen into the forest during her descent. Without this magical garment, she could not return to the heavens.

Cuoi watched as she searched frantically for the missing scarf, and his kind heart was immediately moved by her distress. He quickly searched the area around his hiding place and found the celestial garment caught on a branch nearby.

For a moment, Cuoi hesitated. He had heard stories of mortals who had captured fairy maidens by hiding their magical clothing, forcing the celestial beings to remain on earth as their wives. The temptation to keep the scarf and win the beautiful goddess for himself was strong.

But Cuoi’s honest nature would not allow him to take advantage of anyone, even if it meant losing the chance for love.

“Beautiful lady,” he called out, stepping into the clearing with the silk scarf in his hands, “I believe this belongs to you.”

Chang’e was startled by the appearance of a mortal, but when she saw the genuine kindness in Cuoi’s eyes and realized that he was returning her scarf freely, she felt a stirring of interest and gratitude.

“Thank you, good woodcutter,” she said in a voice like silver bells. “Many mortals would have kept my scarf to trap me on earth. Your honesty and respect touch my heart.”

As Chang’e took the scarf from Cuoi’s hands, their fingers touched briefly, and both felt a spark of connection that surprised them.

“May I ask who you are?” Cuoi inquired respectfully.

“I am Chang’e, goddess of the moon,” she replied. “And you, kind sir, have shown me that there is still honor and goodness in the mortal world.”

They talked until dawn began to break over the mountains, and Chang’e found herself charmed by Cuoi’s simple wisdom and genuine nature. Unlike the gods and immortals she knew in the celestial realm, who were often concerned with status and power, Cuoi spoke only of his love for the forest, his care for his neighbors, and his contentment with an honest life.

When it came time for Chang’e to return to the moon, she felt reluctant to leave.

“Will you come back?” Cuoi asked hopefully.

Chang’e smiled mysteriously.

“Every full moon, I return to bathe in this sacred pool,” she said. “Perhaps, if you wish it, we might meet again.”

Thus began a secret romance that lasted for many months. Every full moon, Chang’e would descend to the mountain pool, and Cuoi would be waiting for her with flowers he had gathered from the high meadows and stories of his simple but honest life.

Chang’e had never experienced love before, and she found herself deeply moved by Cuoi’s sincerity and the way he treated her not as a goddess to be worshipped, but as a woman to be cherished and respected.

“In the celestial realm,” she told him one evening as they sat by the moonlit pool, “everyone treats me with reverence and distance because of my divine status. But you see me as I truly am—not just a goddess, but a person with hopes and dreams and the desire to be loved for myself.”

Their love grew deeper with each meeting, but both knew that their relationship faced impossible obstacles. Chang’e was immortal and bound to her duties as the moon goddess, while Cuoi was mortal and belonged to the earth.

As autumn approached, Chang’e made a difficult decision. She offered Cuoi a choice that would change his life forever.

“My beloved,” she said one night as they watched the stars reflect in the still pool, “I have obtained permission from the Jade Emperor to grant you immortality, if you choose to accept it. You could come with me to the moon and live forever as my companion in the celestial palace.”

Cuoi was overwhelmed by the offer, but he also understood what it would mean.

“Would I be able to return to earth to visit my friends and care for my neighbors?” he asked.

Chang’e shook her head sadly.

“Immortality requires that you leave your mortal life behind completely. You would gain eternal life and love, but you would lose your connection to the human world you care so much about.”

Cuoi was torn between his love for Chang’e and his sense of responsibility to the people who depended on him. For days, he wrestled with the decision, knowing that whatever he chose would require enormous sacrifice.

Finally, Chang’e could wait no longer. The Jade Emperor had given her a limited time to make the offer, and the deadline was approaching.

“I must have your answer tonight, my love,” she said with tears in her celestial eyes. “If you choose mortality, I will understand, but we will never be able to meet again. If you choose immortality, you must drink this elixir before dawn.”

She showed him a small jade vial filled with liquid that glowed like captured moonlight.

Cuoi looked at the elixir, then at the woman he loved more than his own life, and finally at the forest and mountains that had been his home for so many years.

“Chang’e,” he said finally, “I love you more than I have ever loved anything in my life. But I cannot abandon the responsibilities I have to my neighbors and my community. There are elderly people who depend on the wood I gather, and young families who need the vegetables I grow. My love for you is real and deep, but so is my duty to those who need me.”

Chang’e nodded with understanding, even as her heart broke.

“I knew you would make this choice,” she said softly, “and it is why I love you. A man who would abandon his principles for love would not be worthy of that love in the first place.”

But as dawn approached and their final moments together slipped away, Cuoi found himself overwhelmed by the thought of losing Chang’e forever.

In a moment of weakness and desperation, he snatched the jade vial from her hands and drank the immortality elixir in one gulp.

The transformation was immediate. Cuoi felt his mortal body becoming lighter and more ethereal, and he began to rise into the air alongside Chang’e.

But as they ascended toward the moon, Cuoi was overcome with remorse for his impulsive decision. He had chosen love over duty, desire over responsibility.

“Chang’e,” he cried out as they flew through the night sky, “I have made a terrible mistake! I cannot abandon my people for my own happiness!”

The Moon Goddess saw the anguish in her beloved’s face and understood that his noble heart could not find peace with the choice he had made.

“Then you must choose again, my love,” she said sadly. “But know that this time, the choice cannot be undone.”

When they reached Chang’e’s palace on the moon, Cuoi made his final decision. He chose to remain on the moon, not as Chang’e’s happy companion, but as a guardian who would watch over the earth from afar.

“I will stay here and serve as a protector of mortals,” he declared. “From the moon, I can watch over not just my own village, but all the people of earth who need guidance and protection.”

Chang’e understood that this was Cuoi’s way of finding honor in his immortality, but it meant that even though they lived in the same celestial realm, they could never be together as lovers.

Cuoi became the Man in the Moon, forever visible to people on earth as a reminder that sometimes love requires sacrifice, and that the greatest honor comes from serving others even when it means giving up personal happiness.

Chang’e continued her duties as the Moon Goddess, but she never forgot the mortal woodcutter who had shown her that true love sometimes means letting go.

On clear nights, when the moon is full and bright, people say they can see both Chang’e and Cuoi in the lunar surface—forever close, forever apart, forever serving as guardians of the earth they both loved too much to abandon completely.

The Tale of the Moon Goddess and the Woodcutter became a beloved story throughout Vietnam, teaching young people about the complexity of moral choices, the nature of true love, and the idea that sometimes the most noble sacrifice is the one that serves a greater good than personal happiness.

Lovers would look up at the moon and remember that authentic love sometimes requires difficult choices, and that the deepest relationships are built not just on passion, but on respect for each other’s values and commitments to honor and duty.

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