Ahoy Hanoi: How the Koi Became a Dragon

In Vietnam, there's a popular story that almost every Vietnamese kid had definitely heard about when they were growing up. Told oftentimes by their parents, or sometimes by their grandparents, the story is called "The Story of How the Koi Became a Dragon".

I first heard about the story from a Vietnamese friend when we were spending some time at a mall and came upon a particularly remarkable wall fountain display. You must not miss the inspiration the story carries, so I'm sharing it with you:

Listen up!

The koi, a kind of cold water fish, swim against the current to gain strength. Many a-thousand years ago, long before history has been recorded, thousands of koi swim as though they were flowing jewels up the Yellow River. Upon getting to a waterfall, most of the koi of the thousands got discouraged to go on and dishearteningly decided to swim back, to just go with flow of the river. Three hundred and sixty koi remained however, and were determined to get past the waterfalls and reach its top. Again and again, leaping and then splashing back into waterfall basin, the remaining koi struggled. With all the noise and splash of the water these koi were making, attention of the demons in the place were drawn to them. The demons laughed at the koi and, to add to the koi's struggle, added more height to the waterfalls. But still the koi refused to give up! They refused to give up for one hundred years! Then, at last, one of the koi made its final leap and got to the top of the waterfalls! The gods smiled and approved of this koi's achievement. They transformed the koi to a shining golden dragon as a reward for its heroic feat. Now, the koi-turned-dragon blissfully spends the day chasing pearls of wisdom in the sky and in the heavens. The waterfalls became to be known as The Dragon's Gate, and whenever a new koi gets to leap to the top of the wateralls, the koi transforms into a golden dragon as well.

The koi's perseverance and endurance in the story have become inspiration to many Vietnamese people (and probably to other people who've heard the same story as well) in overcoming adversities in their lives and in fulfilling their destinies. Now, you get a little bit of Vietnamese culture to appreciate and learn a lesson from.

This is the particularly remarkable wall fountain display
found inside the Royal City Vincom Mega Mall in Hanoi.