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The Blind Happiness
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My entry to this month Sesskag's contest: "Fairy Tale Twist"
The story here is a folk story from my people: one of the 54 tribes of in Vietnam. The name is: "Dansan and Agie"
Long ago there was a hideous monster called Dansan. It's said that he's so ugly that anyone who saw him died of sheer shock and disgust. Dansan lived alone in a forest until one day a young girl (about 7-8 years old) was abandoned in that same forest. He heard the girl's cry and came to her, intending to give her a swift and painless death.
But the girl was blind. So she didn't die from looking at him. He took her to his home and raised her. She was named Agie. The girl grew up to be a beautiful woman and Dansan fell in love with her. The monster struggled with this new feeling. On her seventeenth birthday, Dansan told Agie: "I can cure your blindness. If you want, I'll give it to you as a birthday present. However, if you take this gift, you have to leave and never come back."
You can guess the rest.
But here's the real kicker: the fairy tale was based on a true story.
Dansan was actually an extremely powerful man and trusted adviser for the king. Unluckily, the king died young when the prince was a mere child. The empire power fell into the hand of Dansan's enemy. In order to preserve his own life, Dansan faked insanity, left his post, and lived as a hermit in a forest. He intended to wait until the young prince grew into an adult to come back and reclaim power from the enemy.
Dansan's greatest enemy was Agie's father. Agie's father knew that no matter how many assassins he sent, none would get to Dansan because he's too cautious and too intelligent. In order to defeat Dansan, Agie's father forced his own daughter (7-8 years old) to drink a poison that would ruin her eyes and abandoned her in the forest where Dansan stayed.
"Stay close to Dansan..." Agie's father said. "... one day, when you're grown and beautiful, Dansan will offer you the cure to your darkness and wish to wed you. Then, you will know that in his heart, you're the greatest. When the time come, on the night of your wedding... kill him."
Exactly as planned, Dansan fell in love with Agie (out of sheer loneliness I think), but what Agie's father didn't predict was that Dansan, by that time, had already figured out his plan. He knew that Agie was sent to kill him. The love of his life is also the one who will end him.
Dansan offered the cure, but inside the cure, there is another poison. If Agie killed him, she, too, would die. He wanted to know if Agie truly loved him. If she loved him, then that's great. But if she didn't, then death was maybe better than life, and he'd take her with him, so that they never parted.
Now here's where things get a little confusing since there are many versions how the story ended. In some versions, Agie somehow survived, went back to her family, married the prince and became the queen. In another, Agie survived, went back, killed her own father, then suicide because she couldn't bear the death of the man she loved... at her own hand. In the last version, Agie and Dansan both died together.
The scene above is the day of Agie's 17th birthday, right before the offering of the cure. You can see how happy Agie is because as long as she was blind, she didn't have to carry out her mission. Dansan, on the other hand, god knew what went through his head then... love, hate, frustration, despair.
If you're wondering about the books and papers on Agie Kagome's lap: in the story, it's said that Agie liked to read books, but since she's blind, Dansan would read the books to her every morning in his garden.
I used to read this story all the time when i was young, then wondered what really happened to them. Damn shame they don't write the same kind of love story nows-aday anymore.
The story here is a folk story from my people: one of the 54 tribes of in Vietnam. The name is: "Dansan and Agie"
Long ago there was a hideous monster called Dansan. It's said that he's so ugly that anyone who saw him died of sheer shock and disgust. Dansan lived alone in a forest until one day a young girl (about 7-8 years old) was abandoned in that same forest. He heard the girl's cry and came to her, intending to give her a swift and painless death.
But the girl was blind. So she didn't die from looking at him. He took her to his home and raised her. She was named Agie. The girl grew up to be a beautiful woman and Dansan fell in love with her. The monster struggled with this new feeling. On her seventeenth birthday, Dansan told Agie: "I can cure your blindness. If you want, I'll give it to you as a birthday present. However, if you take this gift, you have to leave and never come back."
You can guess the rest.
But here's the real kicker: the fairy tale was based on a true story.
Dansan was actually an extremely powerful man and trusted adviser for the king. Unluckily, the king died young when the prince was a mere child. The empire power fell into the hand of Dansan's enemy. In order to preserve his own life, Dansan faked insanity, left his post, and lived as a hermit in a forest. He intended to wait until the young prince grew into an adult to come back and reclaim power from the enemy.
Dansan's greatest enemy was Agie's father. Agie's father knew that no matter how many assassins he sent, none would get to Dansan because he's too cautious and too intelligent. In order to defeat Dansan, Agie's father forced his own daughter (7-8 years old) to drink a poison that would ruin her eyes and abandoned her in the forest where Dansan stayed.
"Stay close to Dansan..." Agie's father said. "... one day, when you're grown and beautiful, Dansan will offer you the cure to your darkness and wish to wed you. Then, you will know that in his heart, you're the greatest. When the time come, on the night of your wedding... kill him."
Exactly as planned, Dansan fell in love with Agie (out of sheer loneliness I think), but what Agie's father didn't predict was that Dansan, by that time, had already figured out his plan. He knew that Agie was sent to kill him. The love of his life is also the one who will end him.
Dansan offered the cure, but inside the cure, there is another poison. If Agie killed him, she, too, would die. He wanted to know if Agie truly loved him. If she loved him, then that's great. But if she didn't, then death was maybe better than life, and he'd take her with him, so that they never parted.
Now here's where things get a little confusing since there are many versions how the story ended. In some versions, Agie somehow survived, went back to her family, married the prince and became the queen. In another, Agie survived, went back, killed her own father, then suicide because she couldn't bear the death of the man she loved... at her own hand. In the last version, Agie and Dansan both died together.
The scene above is the day of Agie's 17th birthday, right before the offering of the cure. You can see how happy Agie is because as long as she was blind, she didn't have to carry out her mission. Dansan, on the other hand, god knew what went through his head then... love, hate, frustration, despair.
If you're wondering about the books and papers on Agie Kagome's lap: in the story, it's said that Agie liked to read books, but since she's blind, Dansan would read the books to her every morning in his garden.
I used to read this story all the time when i was young, then wondered what really happened to them. Damn shame they don't write the same kind of love story nows-aday anymore.
Date:
24.01.2011 19:17:31
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Ah sorry. I don't know where you can find it in English version either.
Asian countries like mine are generally very rich in culture. There are billions of stories like this back when the time written literature wasn't even born yet. Many of these were forgotten. Some were popular enough to be written down in the central language. The rest, like this one, were passed down in secluded area, usually in tribal languages and dialects.
I would be very surprised if any one managed to find an English version. However, the theme of blind love is prevalent in many cultures. There are stories with details like this in other countries too.
If you are that interested in it, then I think your best bet is the traditional libraries and not on the internet (where there are abundant info... but only about selected things.), especially in Asian studies section.
Good luck.
Love the coloring, so it is based on a true story insead of the whole demon part lOL hehehehe.