Long, long ago, deep under the blue sea, there lived a dragon named Lạc Long Quân. He was big but very gentle, with scales that shimmered green and silver. He loved to swim up the rivers to visit the land, where he taught people how to grow rice, how to catch fish with nets, and how to build houses on tall wooden legs so they stayed dry in the rainy season.
High up in the mountains of the north lived a fairy named Âu Cơ. She had long black hair and a dress as soft as clouds. She loved flowers and fragrant herbs, and she had heard that the land in the south was very beautiful, so she flew down to see it.
One day, Âu Cơ came down to pick flowers by the river. At that very same moment, Lạc Long Quân swam up the river to visit the fields. They saw each other and smiled. "Hello," said the dragon. "Hello," said the fairy. They talked all afternoon about the sea and the mountains, and the more they talked, the more they liked each other. Soon they married and made a home together in a palace on a hill.
After a while, Âu Cơ had a big surprise. It was not one baby. It was a soft, round pouch, and inside it were... how many eggs? One hundred eggs! One, two, three, all the way to one hundred. Every day Âu Cơ kept them warm and sang to them. After seven days, crack, crack, crack! One hundred babies hatched, one hundred little boys and girls, round and rosy and giggling.
The babies grew and grew, as fast as bamboo shoots after the rain. Soon the whole palace was full of running feet, pitter-patter, pitter-patter, and happy voices calling, "Mama! Papa!"
But Lạc Long Quân was used to living in the water, and he began to miss the sea. Âu Cơ was used to living on the peaks, and she began to miss the mountains. One evening, when all the children were fast asleep, the two of them sat together and talked.
"My dear," said Lạc Long Quân, "I come from the sea, and you come from the mountains. The seaside needs someone to teach people to sail and fish. The mountains need someone to teach people to plant and weave. What if we each look after one part of our big land, so everyone can be well fed and warm?"
Âu Cơ thought for a long time, and then she nodded. "Then fifty children can go with you to the sea, and fifty children can come with me to the mountains. We will still be one family."
"Always one family," said Lạc Long Quân. "Whenever anyone needs help, just call, and we will come right away."
So fifty children went down to the sea with their father, laughing and splashing in the waves. Fifty children climbed up to the mountains with their mother, picking flowers along the path. They visited each other often. The sea children brought shells and dried fish. The mountain children brought honey and warm woven blankets. Whenever they met, they hugged and cried, "Brother! Sister!"
The eldest son went with his mother to the land of Phong Châu, and the people chose him to be their king, the first Hùng King. He named the country Văn Lang and looked after people everywhere, by the sea and in the hills.
And that is why, even today, Vietnamese people call each other "đồng bào", which means "born from the same pouch". It is also why we proudly say we are "children of the Dragon, grandchildren of the Fairy". Whether we live by the sea or up in the mountains, near or far away, we are all brothers and sisters in one big family.
Parent tip: Count some of the hundred eggs together on your fingers, then ask your child whether they would rather visit the sea or the mountains.
Ask your child: After the story, you can ask: “Who was kind in this story, and what did they do?”
This is a gentle retelling where the family stays close and loving even while living in different places, with nothing scary at all.