S is for Starfruit and Greed (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

The first time I met someone from Vietnam, and asked her about folktales, she told me the story of the starfruit tree. I have encountered the story in many Vietnamese collections since then - but I have yet to actually eat a starfruit...

The story begins with two brothers and their parents who, when they die, leave all their wealth to their oldest, while the younger boy only inherits a single starfruit tree. The older brother lives in comfort and luxury, but is very greedy and mean, while the younger, as poor young people in folktales usually are, is kind and generous. He lives in a small shack under the starfruit tree.

One day a giant eagle lands on the tree, and asks the young man if he can have some fruit. He agrees, and the eagle eats his fill, then leaves. He comes back the next day, and the day after that, and the young man keeps offering as much fruit as he wishes. Eventually, however, the fruit is almost all gone, and the owner of the tree respectfully asks the eagle to leave enough to take to the market. The eagle, in response, asks the young man to hang a bag from the tree - and spits a bar of gold into it. The young man takes the gold to town, sells it, and buys everything he needs.

The older brother soon finds out about the luck of his sibling. He offers to trade everything he owns for the starfruit tree, in hopes of getting more gold from the eagle. The younger brother agrees to the trade, and moves into the mansion. The older brother sits around, waiting day after day, for the eagle to come back. Eventually it does, and asks for some fruit. The older brother tells the eagle that payment is needed for the fruit, and hangs a bag from the tree. But even so, he doesn't trust the bird, so he climbs the tree, and grabs the eagle's feet to make sure it doesn't escape before (literally) coughing up some gold. The bird takes flight, taking the man along, and when it arrives to the ocean, the older brother falls into the water, never to be seen again.

The young man, now owning the estate (and the starfruit tree) lives happily ever after.

(Read the story here or here.)