The Story of Tam and Cam - A Vietnamese fairy tale

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Once upon a time there was a young girl named Tam, whose mother died early and her father remarried. Soon after, her stepmother gave birth to a daughter named Cam. When Tam's fatherdied, the evil stepmother began to abuse Tam and forced her to do all the housework, while Cam lived in comfort. Stepmother's hatred of Tam was intensified by the fact that Tam was much prettier than her own daughter Cám, even though Tam was forced to do all the laboring under the sun.

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One day, the stepmother sent Tam and Cam out fishing, promising to reward the girl who catches the most fish with new red silk lingerie (ao yem, a form of Vietnamese vintage bra). Cam knew her mother would never punish her, so she only went out and played while Tam was working hard fishing. When Cam noticed the amount of fish Tam had caught, Cam told Tam to wash the mud out of her hair or else she would be scolded by Cam’s mother. As Tam was washing her hair, Cam poured all the fish Tam had caught into her own basket and ran home.

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Upon discovering she had been tricked, Tam could only cry. Suddenly, a God (in some versions, a fairy or an angel) appeared in front of her and comforted her. He told Tam to look into her basket. In it, Tam discovered one remaining little carp. He told Tam to take the carp home and put it into the well at the back of the house, and sing a special song to call the fish at feeding time.
Everyday, Tam would go out to the well after a meal to feed the carp, always reciting the song beforehand so that the carp would come up from the water. The carp grew bigger by the days, but the stepmother began to suspect Tấm's behavior. One day, the stepmother went after Tam and spied on her while she was feeding the fish. She waited until Tam was gone, and went over to the well, finding nothing. The stepmother repeated the song she had heard Tam reciting and to her delight, saw the carp come up from the water. The stepmother caught and cooked it right away

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When Tam discovered this, she broke down in tears. The god again appeared to Tam and consoled her, and instructed her to salvage the bones of the carp and bury them in four separate jars underneath each corner of her bed.
After some time, the king was hosting a large celebration for his son’s birthday. Tam pleaded to go along with Cam and her stepmother, but her stepmother wanted to keep Tam at home. She mixed together countless black and green beans and ordered Tam to sort them out before she was allowed to go, adding to thefact that Tam did not have any decent clothes to attend the event.

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Tấm still worked hopelessly after Cam and stepmother had gone for a while. She soon broke down and cried out of sadness. Once more, the god appeared and commanded nearby sparrows to sort the beans for Tam. Tam was then told to dig up the four jars from the corners of her bed. She found extravagant treasures in each, including a beautiful silk dress, jewelry, golden slippers and even a horse! Tam dressed herself splendidly and made her way to the celebration, but in her excitement she dropped a single slipper into the river.

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The slipper drifted along down the river until it was picked up by one of the prince's attendants. The prince marveled at the beautiful slipper and proclaimed that any maiden at the celebration whose foot fit the slipper would become his first wife. Every eligible lady at the celebration tried on the slipper, including Cam, but all to no avail. Suddenly, a beautiful young girl dressed in a magnificent silk gown appeared whose foot fit perfectly into the slipper.The stepmother and Cam were shocked to discover the mysterious lady was no other than Tam! Tam was immediately brought on the royal palanquin into the imperial palace for a grand wedding celebration, right in front of her seething stepmother and stepsister.
One day, on Tấm's father's death anniversary, Tam fulfilled her filial duty and made a short visit home to attend the ceremony with her family, despite the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her stepmother and stepsister.

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They asked Tam to climb an areca palm and gather its nuts for her late father's altar.Tam obeyed and as she was climbing to the top of the tree, her stepmother took an axe and chopped the tree down. Tam fell to her death. Cam then put on her sister's royal garb and entered the palace in her place. Tam was reincarnated as a nightingale and followed her sister into the palace.
The prince, now a king, remained loyal and dearly missed his late wife, despite Cam’s best efforts to please him. One day, a palace maid was hanging the king's dragon robe to dry, when the nightingale appeared and sang a song to remind the maid to be careful with her husband's gown. The bird's song captivated everyone who listened to it, and even drew the attention of the king. The king called out to the nightingale and asked it to fly into the wide sleeves of his robe if it really was the spirit of his late wife. The nightingale did exactly as the king had asked and from then on, it was kept in a golden cage. The king spent most of his days sitting nearby as it sang songs to him. Cam became increasingly furious and asked her mother what she should do. Her mother instructed her to catch the bird and eat it. Cam did as she was told and after the deed was done, she threw the remains over the walls of the palace.

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From the remains rose a tree bearing a single, magnificent fruit. A poor old woman who worked as a water vendor walked by one day and saw the fruit, begging it to fall to her, and promising that she wanted not to eat it, but only admire it. Indeed it fell to her, and she kept her word. The next day, the old woman found that when she came home from her errands, the housework was done while she was gone and there was a hot meal waiting for her. The next day she pretended to leave but stayed back and waited, and she saw Tam emerge from the fruit and begin to do the household chores. The old woman jumped in and tore up the skin of the fruitso Tam could no longer return to it. Since then, Tam lived happily as her adopted daughter.
One day, the king, who got lost on a hunting trip, stopped by the hut of the old woman. The old woman offered him betel leaf and areca nut, and when the king saw how the betel had been prepared, in the peculiar special way his late queen had always prepared it; he demanded to know who had prepared the betel leaf. The old woman told him her daughter had done it, and the king commanded her to let him see her daughter. When he realized that it was indeed his wife,he was overjoyed, and Tam was brought back into the palace as the queen. Cam and her mother were punished and exiled to dead.

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