Sometimes later, a magnificent golden apple tree with luxuriant branches and leaves grew from the burned ashes. It bore nothing but a single golden fruit of purely sweet scent. One day, an old lady, who sold beverages near the road, walked by and admired the scent of the fruit so much that she begged it to fall into her basket and promised not to eat but only to adore it. After the old lady finished her sentence, the golden apple immediately fell into her basket, and she kept her promise. Then, she brought the fruit back home and placed it on the table, not to eat but to enjoy its sweet smell.
"Oh golden apple, fall into my basket
Your scent I'll smell, eat you I'll not."
From that day forward, whenever the old lady came home, she was surprised to find the house tidy and a delicious hot meal waiting on the table for her. Curious to know who the kind-hearted person doing such good things was, she pretended to leave the next day, but she stayed behind the door and waited instead. To her amazement, a beautiful girl came out of the golden fruit. She was as small as a finger at first, but then she grew in size and became Tấm in the blink of an eye. After that, Tấm started tidying the house. Next, she washed the rice and picked the vegetables in the garden to make soup for the old lady. The old lady was overjoyed to see her, so she quickly ran into the house and tore up the fruit peel to prevent Tấm from getting back into it.
Henceforth, she treated Tấm as if she were her daughter, and they lived happily together. Every day, Tấm helped the old lady with the tasks of cooking rice, boiling water, wrapping cakes, and making betel nuts for her to sell.
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*artwork's copyright belongs to Lê Trọng Hoàng (Hoàng Hoàng)
