Analysis of the folk tale 'Smart Baby'

Assignment: Analyze the folk tale 'Smart Baby'

3 sample essays on analyzing the folk tale 'Smart Baby'

1. Analysis of the folk tale 'Smart Baby', sample #1:

Smart Baby is one of the Vietnamese folk tales with its unique charm and is favored by the people. The story praises the intelligence of our people in life.

The central character is the smart baby, whose intelligence is showcased in four instances.

First, faced with the challenging question from the official, 'How many furrows can a buffalo plow in a day?' the smart baby cleverly retorted, 'How many steps can a horse take in a day?'. Turning an uncertainty into an answer is a common theme in many folktales. For example, when asked, 'how many strands of hair on the head?', the response is, 'how many hairs on the nose?'...

Second, the king granted the village 3 buckets of glutinous rice, 3 male buffaloes, within 3 years, and those buffaloes had to give birth to 9 calves. The peculiar part is, how can male buffaloes give birth? Is there a type of buffalo that can give birth to 3 calves in 3 years? No one dared to defy the king's command. The baby, in a 'peculiar' move, slaughtered two buffaloes, prepared 2 buckets of rice for porridge for the whole village; the remaining 1 bucket of rice, 1 buffalo was sold to finance a journey for the baby and father, revealing their clever plan. The baby's encounter with the king was also very clever. Crying for a deceased mother and a father incapable of having more children, the innocent question made the king burst into laughter, 'Your father is male, how could he give birth!'. The baby set a trap, making the king fall into it, cleverly stating, 'Then why does our village have a decree to raise 3 male buffaloes to give birth to 9 calves to submit to the king's virtue?...' The baby was very intelligent, utilizing logical reasoning to expose the illogical and unreasonable: if men can't give birth, neither can male buffaloes, that's natural!

The king still doubted the baby's intelligence, so he sent a messenger bringing a sparrow and ordered the baby and father to prepare three meals. The baby sent back the messenger with a needle, which the king forged into three knives. In primitive conditions without sophisticated tools, a needle cannot be turned into three knives. There were no knives, or hadn't been any yet, so there was no way to kill the sparrow to prepare three meals for the king. Very witty, interesting. The baby was very clever: the baby used the impossible to explain the situation into the impossible! It's impossible to forge a needle into three knives, just like it's impossible to turn a sparrow into three meals!

The fourth time, the baby competed wits with a neighboring envoy (similar to Trạng Quỳnh encountering a Tao envoy, in the old days!). How to thread a string through the twisted gut of a snail? While Trạng was perplexed, a great scholar, an official with no feasible solution, the baby, relaxed, sang a verse:

Tang tình tang! Tang tình tang!
Capturing ants, tying them with a thread along their backs,
Then using paper to lift and carry,
Applying grease, ants celebrate, dancing along. Tang tình tang....

What seemed like a tricky riddle was a breeze for the clever child! The envoy from the neighboring kingdom had to admire as they witnessed the ant pulling the thread through the snail's twisted gut. After four impressive feats, the child was appointed Trạng Nguyên, close to the king for convenient inquiries, making them the emperor's chief advisor!

The folk tale Smart Baby bears resemblance to the story of Trạng Quỳnh. It is a humorous and witty narrative. Despite being a 7 or 8-year-old, the child is appointed Trạng Nguyên, the head advisor to the emperor, leaving the envoy from the neighboring kingdom wide-eyed in admiration. In the midst of harsh and challenging life, our people conjure up amusing stories to bring joy and amuse the emperor.

The tale exalts the folk wisdom. Smart Baby epitomizes the folk wisdom—sharp, agile, and clever in behavior. Through this folk tale, our people express admiration and respect for intelligent and creative individuals in society. It asserts that intelligence, creativity, and wit are invaluable! Everyone must cultivate their intellect.

2. Analysis of the tale Smart Baby, Sample #2:

Analyzing the Smart Baby tale, we discover a unique allure of Vietnamese folktales. This is a folk story with intriguing elements praising the intelligence of ancient people. In this folk tale, the main character is the smart baby, and their intelligence is showcased through four challenges. Each time, the baby impresses the challengers with their cleverness.

Analyzing the Smart Baby tale, we discover a unique allure of Vietnamese folktales. This is a folk story with intriguing elements praising the intelligence of ancient people.

In this folk tale, the main character is the smart baby, and their intelligence is showcased through four challenges. Each time, the baby impresses the challengers with their cleverness. The first challenge involves a perplexing question about how many furrows a buffalo plows in a day, and the baby cleverly responds with an indefinite answer about how many steps a horse takes. This is a pattern commonly found in ancient folk stories.

Next, the clever child displayed their wit and intelligence when faced with the absurd decree from the king for the entire village. The child used the king's own absurdity to respond: making the entire village raise male buffaloes to give birth - the child demanded their father bear a child for them. It was a clever maneuver, and the child's innocence and humor made everyone burst into laughter and admire their cunning. At this moment, the child quickly retorted to the king, questioning why the village was ordered to raise male buffaloes to give birth.

This time, the child used absurdity to explain and refute the irrationality. Because of the obvious absurdity, the king was impressed with the child's intelligence and did not punish the villagers anymore. However, the child's demonstration was not over; the king still doubted their intelligence. The king then issued another challenge: making the child turn a sparrow into three meals. The child promptly handed a needle to the envoy and requested the forging of three knives to slaughter the sparrow. With this witty and humorous response, the king truly admired the child's sharp intellect. The child used the impossible to respond to the king's unfeasible request.

The fourth time, the child's intelligence competed with the neighboring kingdom. Through this detail, we can see the intellect of the Vietnamese people in ancient times was on par with other nations, especially when it surpassed the neighboring country, bringing pride to our nation and earning the envoy's admiration for the southern region.

Constructing the tale of the smart child is similar to the ancient story of Trạng Quỳnh, where intellect triumphs over nations that belittle the intelligence of our people. Aside from bringing joy to the lives of our people, these folk tales are a source of national pride, showcasing that the talent of our people can compete internationally, triumphing over other nations and affirming the ingenuity of the Vietnamese nation.

Through analyzing the tale of the smart baby, we recognize and elevate the wisdom of the ancients, always sharp and quick-witted in handling life's situations. Moreover, individuals with higher intelligence are always esteemed and respected by society, affirming that human intelligence is priceless, and creativity is an endless source.

3. Analysis of the folk tale Smart Baby, Sample #3:

Since ancient times, our folk culture has celebrated the intelligence of the working people. Many fairy tales have emerged to praise intelligence, cleverness, and wisdom. Each story has its own uniqueness and allure. 'Smart Baby' is one of those stories.

Like many folk fairy tales related to intelligence, the folk author constructs stories that revolve around a character smarter than others but with a normal, humble background. The story of the smart baby focuses on a character, a clever child whose intelligence is evident from a young age. The smart baby comes from a peasant family, often assisting their father in the fields. Thus, the character in the story is a small child from a peasant family, entirely ordinary. However, the folk author's choice of a child as the main character is a clever decision that can generate witty, clever, and humorous details.

The story's scenario unfolds naturally, originating from the recruitment of talented individuals. Since ancient feudal times, royal officials have sought intelligent and skilled people to serve the nation. In the tale, the situation begins when the king sends soldiers to find intelligent individuals and encounters a baby working in the fields with his father. This detail showcases the author's cleverness in building the story's situation, creating a natural and captivating introduction to the subsequent narrative highlights.

The character representing intelligence in the story undergoes various intellectual challenges to highlight their cleverness and wit.

Firstly, a royal official passes through the field and asks the boy's father, 'How much land can your buffalo plow in a day?' While the father is still unsure how to respond, the child cleverly retorts, 'How many steps can your horse take in a day?' Without directly answering, the child demonstrates quick-wittedness and intelligence through a counter-question.

Then, the king orders the village to raise three male buffaloes and, after three years, have them produce nine offspring. While the entire village fears and dare not object, the baby suggests slaughtering all the buffaloes, using the rice to make a communal meal. The remaining two buffalo and rice are sold, and the father and son go on a journey. Facing the king, the baby claims that the mother passed away, and the father refuses to have more children. The king laughs and says, 'How can a male give birth?' The baby quickly retorts, asking why the village was ordered to raise male buffaloes to produce nine offspring in three years. In this second instance, the baby triumphs over the king with their intelligence, pointing out the illogical similarity between the two situations and highlighting the king's unreasonable demands. It's a rare brilliance, not only showcasing intelligence but also displaying the baby's courage, as no one else dared to question the king's logic except the smart baby.

Not stopping there, the king gives the baby a wren and demands three feast trays. The clever baby sends back the needle, requesting the forging of three knives to butcher the bird. One bird with three feast trays is analogous to a needle crafting three knives. Truly ingenious and rarely thought of—a fitting and clever parallel between the illogical and quantity. This creates humor and allure for the story.

The folklorist not only creates details that highlight human intelligence, but each story, each detail gradually increases in difficulty and importance of the riddles. Here, the challenges the king sets for the smart baby gradually escalate. It's no longer just a question, a riddle from the king, but also a question from a foreign deity. If an entire country can't solve the puzzling riddle of your land, it's truly embarrassing. However, when a tough question makes every royal official break a sweat, the smart baby easily solves it. The neighboring country challenges to thread a string through a snail's shell. The baby cleverly answers with a few humorous verses. The baby's problem-solving approach impresses everyone:

Tang tình tang! Tang tình tang!
Capture ants, tie them flat on their backs,
Then use paper to bundle and lift,
Sturdy, smear with fat, ants celebrate, singing Tang tình tang...

Without extravagant and fanciful details, but with clever, intelligent, and gradually challenging solutions, the story of the smart baby brings readers delightful moments and hearty laughter. Through this, the story expresses admiration for the intelligence and wit of the Vietnamese working people.