The tale of the watermelon prince unfolds how the watermelon was introduced to Vietnam long ago. This tale begins with the Vietnamese king who adopted a boy named Mai An Tiem. The King adopted him and bestowed upon him the title of prince.
Long ago in the land of Vietnam, there was a heavy wind that blew across the land. The palm trees bent over due to the wind blowing. The bent trees reached the ground and caused it to take red tiles from the palace roof and scatter them across the courtyard.
The wind troubled the sea. Sighting the storm from afar, the local fishermen pulled back their boats from the shore. Swiftly, they tied their boats to the ground. A cargo ship was caught in the storm. Everyone except a baby drowned.
The basket carrying the baby was luckily saved from the waves, and he wasn’t harmed. The sea carried the baby safely to shore not far from the Palace of the King. The next morning after the storm, the wife of a fisherman was strolling along the beach looking for anything that was worthwhile. Then a baby’s cries reached her ears. Some palm leaves covered the basket the baby was in.
The fisherman’s wife knew that the baby was from a wealthy background. Stranded on what her next action should be, the woman then took the baby to the king’s palace. The news of an infant had reached the king and he thought to himself that the child must be special.
The king then adopted the baby and called him his own. The baby grew up and became Prince Mai An Tiem. This infant grew up to be a good, decent young man. He was wise beyond his years.
The prince was the man after the king’s heart and he understood the king very well. Because of this, the councilors of the king would ask for his advice before concluding a decision. The king loved Mai An Tiem very well even more than his natural sons.
The young prince turned twenty years old. The King planned for him to marry one of his daughters. The princess he was to marry was one of his childhood friends Princess Ko Ba. The wedding of both royalties was extravagant and the whole land joined in the celebration.
This made one of the King’s sons grow envious of his adopted brother for his extravagant wedding and so he devised a plan to sabotage Mai An Tiem. By bribing the head of the King’s bodyguard, Prince Hau had people on his side. The prince also bribed the head of the king’s household.
The head of the King’s bodyguard and the head of the household began to spread false news about Prince Mai An Tiem. Some of the lies they told include that the prince was plotting a coup.
It was long before the rumors spread like wildfire. As the rumors spread, the prince couldn’t figure out where it had begun. Soon after the head of the King’s bodyguard approached the king and told him that his favorite prince was plotting a coup.
The king didn’t believe the lies they said about his son, however, there were people in the palace who backed the claim. The king was so distraught that he exiled Mai An Tiem from the land. Princess Ko Ba stood by her husband when she learned that he was banished from the kingdom.
Soon after, both couples enter a ship and they go far away. They were then dropped off a deserted island. They were sad or depressed about their situation, instead, they held their head up high. Although, it seems like they have lost it all, at least they had each other.
The couple found a stream which has fresh water and they also built a little hut for them to live in. With the little resources that they found, they made a fishing net and learned how to climb the trees to take coconuts and bananas.
They seem to be having only fresh fruits, still, the princess dreamt of having banquets. While he was walking, Mai An Tiem saw a flock of birds surrounding something. The birds seem excited. As he was closer, he could tell that what caused the excitement of the birds were some black seeds.
He picked up the seeds and when he got to his home, he scattered the seeds across the ground and also along the stream. After several months, he took notice of the unusual plants that were going where he spread the black seeds.
After several weeks, the plant was growing like a vine and they had begun to spread across the ground. Some fruits also grew under the leaves. These plants grew into large green fruits and he had never seen such fruits in his life.
After cutting the fruits in half, he noticed that the inside of the fruit was red and soft. He cut a piece of it and put them in his mouth and the taste was like nothing he ever had before. She was delighted when he brought treats to her, as it had been years since she had received any.
The couple gave the fruit a name which was red melon and they spread the seeds to grow more melons. One faithful day, as Mai An Tiem was sitting on the beach of a wide ocean and thinking about the turnaround in his life, he took a watermelon and carved his name on it.
After carving his name, he then tossed it into the water. He wondered where the watermelon would go and who would find it. Whoever found it would be grateful to the name Mai An Tiem for such a delicious fruit.
The current of the sea carried the watermelon to the land of Vietnam. A watermelon was found ashore and discovered by the wife of a fisherman. She brought the watermelon to the king. When the king saw his son’s name carved on the fruits, he marveled and thought about it.
The fruit was excellent when the king tried it. The king thought that this was the best gift that anyone could give to the king. The king thought of his son and he forgave him in his heart. A few weeks after the king received the watermelon, he sent a ship to return his adored son and wife to the palace. After this Mai An Tiem went on to become the best King in Vietnam and he ruled the land well.