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his father be buried naked. He attended
the funeral in borrowed clothes and
then found himself without a garment
of any kind.
The poor young fisherman was
obliged to fish at night. During the day
he would attempt to sell his catch to
people in passing boats, remaining im-
mersed in the river up to his waist.
One day, Princess Tien Dung hap-
pened to approach the place where
Chu Dong Tu was standing in the water.
When the young fisherman heard the
sound of gongs and bells and saw the
wonderful array of parasols and ban-
ners, he became frightened and took
cover behind some bulrushes. Then, he
quickly dug a hole in the sand and cov-
ered himself completely.
Taking a liking to the picturesque
surroundings, the princess decided to
bathe there. A tent was set up on the
shore and the princess entered, dis-
robed and began to pour water over
her head and shoulders. As the water
trickled to the ground, it washed away
some of the sand, exposing Chu Dong
Tu in all his nakedness.
Tien Dung, who believed that the
encounter was arranged by heaven, fell
in love with Chu Dong Tu and immedi-
ately wanted to marry him. However,
King Hung opposed the marriage and
wanted to arrest Chu Dong Tu to pun-
ish him.
Both Chu Dong Tu and Tien Dung
had to hide with local people. To earn
a living they began a small business.
Gradually, the area where the couple
lived became a thriving location crowd-
ed with commercial ships.
One day, Chu Dong Tu met a Tao
hermit who taught him superpowers and
gave him a stick and a conical hat before
leaving. He then taught his wife about
Taoism and the couple left their business
and went to different parts of the region
to save mankind from suffering.
One day, the couple had to sleep
outdoors under the shade of the coni-
cal hat which was placed on top of
the stick. At about midnight, a luxury
palace arose at the site where they
slept, together with servants and armed
people.
Rumours spread to the royal palace
where the parents of Tien Dung lived
Old villagers take water from Red River for the procession
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