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| Statue of historian Le Van Huu at the Vietnam National Unversity of Ho Chi Minh City (photo source: baomoi.com) |
At the age of childhood, Le Van Huu (1) went to school and passed by a blacksmith's house. One day, the blacksmith given him one sentence for a distich:
- Coal in furnace, iron in furnace, fire in furnace, blowing puffily to forge the steely pricker.
Le Van Huu replied:
- Pen in pocket, ink in pocket, ink-pot in pocket, writing busily to win the golden tablet (2).
Annotation:
(1) Le Van Huu: famous historian of the Tran dynasty. He is the author of the Dai Viet su ky, the first work on the historical record of Vietnam.
(2) Golden tablet: tablet in which the name of the passers is writen.
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