Wedding Pig And New Robe

There was a man who had just had a new robe made. Not a grand robe, mind you — but new, crisp, the cloth still smelling of the tailor's shop. And he could not bear that no one knew about it. So he put it on early in the morning, walked out to the front of his house, and stood by the gate. He did not have anywhere to go. He simply stood, in his new robe, waiting for someone — anyone — to pass by and say, "My, what a fine new robe you have."

He stood there all morning. The sun climbed. People walked by carrying water, herding ducks, hurrying to market — and not one of them so much as glanced at him. He grew more and more annoyed. All this fine cloth, and no one to admire it! Still he would not give up. He kept standing, fingering his sleeve, hoping the next passerby would finally notice.

Then, down the road, came another man — and this one was in a great state of fuss. He was rushing about, looking left and right, clearly searching for something he'd lost. Now, this second man had bought a pig for his daughter's wedding feast, and the pig had slipped its rope and run off. So he was dashing up and down asking everyone he met the same urgent question.

He came up to the man in the new robe and called out, breathless: "Excuse me — have you seen a PIG run by? My WEDDING pig! The one I bought for the wedding — have you seen my WEDDING pig anywhere?" He leaned hard on every word, because of course it was terribly important that everyone understand this was no ordinary pig, but a pig bought for a wedding.

And the man in the new robe — who had been waiting all day for exactly this opening — lit up with joy. Here at last was someone speaking to him! He threw open both sides of his new robe with a flourish, spread his arms wide so the whole garment showed, and answered: "Since the moment I put on THIS NEW ROBE and stood here at my gate, I have not seen any pig run by at all!"

And there the two of them stood in the road — one flapping his coat, one clutching his empty rope — each so busy advertising himself that neither got what he actually wanted. The pig was still lost. The robe was still unadmired. And anyone watching had only one thing to laugh at: two grown men who couldn't ask a simple question without dragging in the thing they were proud of.

That little scene became one of the most famous comic tales in Vietnam — "Lợn cưới, áo mới," the Wedding Pig and the New Robe. People say it whenever they catch someone forcing their good news into a conversation where it does not belong. You asked the time and somehow heard about their new phone. You mentioned the weather and somehow learned about their promotion. Ah — wedding pig and new robe.