THE EYES OF PRINCE CâU NA LA

Once upon a time in India, there was a King named Asoka (A Døc). He was a good ruler and everyone
lived in harmony. His wife, Queen Liên Hoa, was also a very nice person. Together they had one son
whose eyes were beautiful and kind like the Câu Na La bird; therefore, they named him Prince Câu Na la.
Not very long after prince Câu Na La's marriage to Ma ña Vi, Queen Liên Hoa passed away.
The King then remarried to Xích Di who was mean and evil. She was always jealous of the Prince. Her
hatred towards the Prince escalated after she had a son because she wanted her son to be the one to
succeed the throne.

One day the king became extremely ill. When no medicine man in the country could cure him, Xích Di
found the cure and King Asoka regained his health. The king was very grateful for her action. When
asked how he could express his gratitude, Queen Xích Di replied, "I want to be the successor to the
crown." King Asoka pondered on this request. It was impossible for him to grant it to Xích Di because he
promised Queen Liên Hoa before she died to pass the crown to their first born – Prince Câu Na La. He
told Xích Di of his promise and said, "I can forsake my royal seat but I cannot go back on my promise."
She realized that her scheme was not working. With bad intentions, she asked the King to let her be the
ruler of the country just for one day and have all the power. King Asoka still had uneasy feelings, but he
granted her the wish anyway.
At that time, in ñ¡C Xô Thi La City, the corrupt, local government officials were taxing people very high.
Not being able to withhold their dissatisfaction any longer, the people of that city stood up to protest
against the government. Immediately, a messenger informed the King of this situation. All of this
occurred on the day Queen Xích Di was the ruler. She suggested to the King to send Prince Câu Na La to
handle the situation. King Asoka hesitated to send the Prince for fear of the danger there, but Prince Câu
Na La volunteered to go anyway. Therefore, King Asoka could not interfere. Both King Asoka and
Prince Câu Na La did not realize that this was part of Queen Xích Di's scheme to get rid of the prince. She
had set everything up from the beginning.
The next morning, Prince Câu Na La said good-bye to his father and wife. He then proceeded on his
journey to ñ¡c Xô Thi La City with his horse Mæng ña La. He did not realize that on the way to the city
he was being followed by an unidentified horseman who was on a deadly mission given by Queen Xích
Di. When the Prince arrived at ñ¡c Lô Thi La City, the people were on their knees along the roadside
asking forgiveness from the King. After a few days of investigation, Prince Câu Na La changed the tax
laws and appointed new local government officials who would work for the people. Relieved and happy,
the people celebrated their improved living condition. While everyone was still celebrating, the horseman
arrived and delivered a message to the local government which stated: "Must blind the Prince because he
is the enemy of the King and has shamed the country. This must be accomplished immediately and no one
is allowed to help the Prince nor could his name be repeated from this time forward."
The local government officials were still in a state of shock when the prince asked for the content of the
message. After reading the message, only Prince Câu Na La knew it was not from his father but it was
Queen Xích Di's scheme. The mission had to be carried out but no one wanted to do it. Finally, one
person stepped forward and used a hot metal rod to stab the Prince in the eyes. The people were still crying and grieving for him when Prince Câu Na La reminded them of the last part
of the message. They all stopped and left reluctantly. The Prince crawled to a big tree where his horse
Mæng ña La stood and said, "Mæng ña La, you heard the message, now go." The horse hesitated at first
but then headed toward the palace with a sad expression on its face.
Since the Prince left the palace, his wife Ma ña Vi waited night and day for his return. She sensed that
something had gone wrong but did not know exactly what it was. One day his horse, Mæng ña La, came
back without the Prince. Ma ña Vi fainted for she knew something had gone wrong. After giving it some
thought, she left quietly the next morning dressed in plain clothing.
King Asoka, like Ma ña Vi, had waited also for the Prince to come back. After hearing about how the
horse had returned alone and that his daughter-in-law had left, he sent a messenger to ñ¡c Lô Thi La City
to investigate. The local officials realized that it was not the King who ordered blinding the Prince's eyes.
Therefore, they lied that Prince Câu Na La was on his way back to the palace. The messenger was
suspicious but the story was the same from the other villagers. He had to go back and tell the King what
he heard.
Meanwhile, after he was reunited with his wife, Prince Câu Na La and Ma ña Vi had to beg for food on
the way back to the palace. When they got there, they were not allowed to enter because of their
appearance. Instead, they were given lodgings in the horse stable. The next morning, after awakening,
they were singing to one another. At that time, King Asoka, who was missing his children, was in his
room facing the direction of ñ¡c Lô Thi La City when he heard singing coming from the stable. He sent
people out to check. They brought in two beggars. The King did not recognize at first that they were his
son and daughter-in-law until after checking them out. After he realized who they were, they all cried in
joy. Neither wanted to tell him the truth, but after insistence, Ma ña Vi finally told the King of what had
happened and how everything was Queen Xích Di's doings.
Since giving out her orders, Queen Xích Di had been worrying the King would find out. When she had
learned that Prince Câu Na La had come back and King Asoka wanted to see her, Queen Xích Di knew of
the trouble she was in. Therefore, she went to the King quietly awaiting her punishment; she was to be
beheaded.
Prince Câu Na La asked for mercy and told the King he had been thinking about what he had done to
deserve such consequence. He realized that in his past life he had done many bad actions: "Long time
ago, there was a hunter who trapped fifty mountain goats. Realizing he could not sell or eat all of them at
once, he blinded all fifty goats. Now he has to face the consequence," he said. The King, moved by his
son's love and understanding, still refused to believe the story. To convince his father, Prince Câu Na La
sat down and prayed, "If what I had just told was the truth, let Buddha be my witness and let me have my
eyes back." Immediately, he regained his eyesight. The King and Ma ña Vi were joyous.
King Asoka agreed not to behead Queen Xích Di. Instead, he commanded her to go find a peaceful place
to think about her actions and repent.
Later, Prince Câu Na La succeeded the throne and his wife Ma ña Vi became the Queen.

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