When Disabled Man Preserves Epics

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As a child, A Luit was intrigued by the traditional Vietnamese epic stories told by his family. Now, people from around his mountainous province gather to hear the 66-year-old disabled man recount the tales.

Luit walks with crooked legs and a hunchback, but he has become a master storyteller and people travel from around Kon Tum Province to visit his home in Daktore commune to hear legendary epics of great battles between good and evil. In Luit’s stories, good always prevails.

He first noticed his dramatic storytelling abilities when he began reciting epics to anyone who would listen when he was 22. He remembered the epics well as he had heard his father and grandparents tell them many times.

He would often drop by funerals in the commune to recite fantastic tales to ease the grief of those in loss. Though his disabilities have rendered him too frail to travel these days, his humble home has become a place of congregation for local residents who come to enjoy a variety of legendary stories. Luit can keep people sitting on his floor listening to an epic for a day and half, no problem.

Thanks to his stories, neighbors have provided Luit with food and other necessities to eke out a living as he has no relatives or steady employment.

The Daktore communal government has dispatched personnel to A Luit’s house to record his recited epics so that they can be preserved.