ld Ly Phan was not an evil man, but he was a money lender. He would lend you a dông, but you had to pay him back two before the next moon. In this way, he became rich and enjoyed all the comforts that money could buy. In fact, he enjoyed his comforts so much that he felt he needed more and more money. One fine day, Ly Phan was out collecting his debts and stopped at the hut of a poor peasant. There was no one about but little Tran Lôc, who was absorbed with creating a marvelous design of stones and sticks in the dust before the doorway. "Where are your parents?" asked Ly Phan. Tran Lôc replied, "My father is busy cutting living trees and planting dead ones. My mother has gone to the market to sell the wind and buy the moon." He returned to his design and ignored the money lender. Ly Phan thought surely that the parents were hiding and did not like that the boy was playing at riddles with him. He asked again and again, and even threatened Tran Lôc with his bamboo walking stick if he did not give a straight answer. Finally, Ly Phan said, "I will cancel your father’s debt if you will tell me the true answer." But Tran Lôc did not trust the money lender and said there must be a living witness to their bargain. Ly Phan spied a fly on the door post and suggested that the fly could be their witness. The boy agreed to this and explained, "My father is cutting bamboo for a new fence and my mother is selling the fans she has made to buy oil for the lamps." Ly Phan left, thinking how clever the boy was. But I am more clever than he. Who will believe a fly for a witness? Smiling with self-satisfaction, he finished his collections and went to his fine house. Some days later, he returned to the hut to collect his debt. When Tran Lôc heard the argument between his father and the money-lender, he told his father of his agreement with Ly Phan. "This is all foolishness!" roared Ly Phan. "Who is this boy I have never seen before?" They argued some more and eventually the case was brought before the local governor. Ly Phan claimed the father owed more than twelve Dông, and wished to settle the debt. The father explained that he did not have the money. Then, Tran Lôc told his story of what had happened in his meeting with Ly Phan. The mandarin governor then declared that since there were no witnesses, it was the boy’s word against the man’s. "But there WAS a witness!" exclaimed Tran Lôc. "We agreed that a fly should be our witness!" "Now, now", chided the old mandarin. "I’ll not have tales like that told in my court." Ly Phan just snorted to show his contempt. "But it’s true!", cried Tran Lôc. "The fly was buzzing around and lit right on the moneylenders fat nose!" With this, he jumped up and pointed right at Ly Phan’s overlarge nose. "That’s a LIE!" roared Ly Phan, jumping up before the magistrate. "The fly was NOT on my nose, but on the doorpost!" Too late to swallow his words, Ly Phan realized he had been well and thoroughly trapped by this clever boy. Having lost much face, he hung his head. When the mandarin and all the court finally stopped laughing, he pointed at Ly Phan. "You, Sir, seem to have made an agreement with this boy. As the fly is your witness, whether on the doorpost or on your nose, I expect you to keep that promise." Still chuckling, the mandarin dismissed the case. As Ly Phan Left the court, he noticed a small black fly buzzing around his head. It stayed with him until the day he died, as a reminder that he should be less greedy.

Note: Taken from an old Vietnamese tale, as told by Jane Yolen in "Favorite Folktales from Around the World", Pantheon Books, New York, 1986. This is my own retelling of that same fine tale.