Legend of the tiger tiger U Minh

As a land end to the country, mentioning Ca Mau, people will immediately associate the image of U Minh Ha cajuput forest. After nearly 300 years of being reclaimed, this place has survived many mysteries of the era, especially those of the U Minh tiger.

Under the crocodile river - on the tiger forest

Ca Mau in the early days of wild reclamation was a land of many obstructions. At that time, the vast forest land had not yet been exploited, so the tiger tiger, the snakes, the birds and the honey bees went on hails, the river and the turtles floated their heads like firewood.

Born and raised in U Minh, Nguyen Phuoc Hai, a teacher of Tan Xuan Primary School, Thoi Binh District, was soulful about the past: 'U Minh Forest is located in the South-West of the South, between the provinces of Ca Mau and Kien Giang. with an area of ​​nearly 2,000 km ² . At that time, forest animals in U Minh were numerous. So much so that Ba Phi's posterity lied about the stories saying tortoise-like turtles dragged the boat faster than the motorboat, or that the melaleuca tree was so tall that Uncle Ba fell from the top to the base and took seven days and seven nights . .

Talking about the characteristic beasts in U Minh Ha, crocodiles and tigers are the two species mentioned most by Mr. Hai: 'The ancient folk had the phrase' go to the river to eat crocodile eggs, to the shore of tiger teeth floss', or into the city. The words' obediently excuse me, crocodile catch 'are to refer to the danger of these two species'. As the U Minh original people, talking about tigers, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dieu, former Chairman of Tan Phu commune Women's Union, excitedly: 'The U Minh people call the tiger' lobster ',' Mr. lobster ', or' he is thirty '. There are even places where temples are set up, worshiping 'Mr. Lobster' as incense. In the past, many tigers and so many people who heard it were trembling. '

At that time, the residential areas were sparse, the forests were mostly occupied by tigers. Every tiger forest, each tiger has a certain activity area that other animals must not violate. Therefore, tigers are animals that are determined to hold on to their habitat despite encountering humans.

How many days ago the tiger was so rare.

Obsessed with tiger .

In the time of the occupation of the West, the upper and lower people opened up U Minh. Plain land is not enough so people move towards the jungle. At that time, people and tigers seemed to live close to each other so unfortunate disasters were inevitable. Many people who go to the forest to eat bees will be killed by tigers. Those who work as interlocutors, send letters at that time did not escape the fate of 'dying without seeing' because they were 'snatched away and taken away'.

Mr. Tu Thang, a former villager in the area, told the story: 'When I was still left behind, I heard my grandparents tell me when I first came back to this land, people did not dare to go into the forest to build houses but only built in small ditches and made fences. Be careful around the precaution of 'he is thirty'. However, there are days when the sky is new, but 'he' has come close to the huts to steal pigs, chickens and ducks . '.

Walking there, Lung Tram has an old villager called 'Mr. Van' , a big male tiger weighing nearly 200kg, dark yellow feathers interwoven with black streaks. How many times people in the village have set traps, arresting them but every time 'Mr. Zebra' escapes. During the fight with Mr. Nam Thinh, a famous tiger striker at the time, 'Mr. Van' injured his leg, one eye was blind. And Mr. Nam was slapped by his tiger with his left arm, his head hit the stone and became "deadly". He also saw all tiger cubs and demons.

After the death battle, 'Mr. Zebra' hid in the mountain for a long time. Everyone is sure that 'he' has moved to another area to be active or dead. Once, a team of bees who ate bees went to the forest to guard the raft, when it was dark, to dispel the coldness of the great thousands, people set fire to roast dried fish to make prey. While chatting happily, I heard a fierce roar that shook the mountains and forests, followed by people calling for help. The team of beekeepers hurriedly ran to witness the horrifying scene: A huge forest swarmed with blood and the bodies of five dead bodies lost their heads. Seeing a man groaning with a bloody leg, everyone rushed to bring him back to the village when he heard him say 'tiger one eye . tiger eye' and then stopped breathing.

The fear of 'Mr. Zebra' is increasing. Ending with the tightening of his abuses thirty times, the trapping was not finished, the people in the hamlet thought of setting up a temple to worship the tiger. Every time they pray, they bring the pig's head out and leave it in the forest. 'Since the temple was built and the pig's head was offered, perhaps due to the provision of food, he was less disturbed. People therefore believe that tiger is very sacred. From that point on, there was a chance to draw a tiger hanging as a charm - called 'Black Tiger Tiger' - to pray for easy-to-raise children, from evil or evil spirits. Sometimes people still hang the 'Five Tiger' - 5 tiger gods - with the five colors of the Five Elements of Green, Red, Yellow, White, and Black to pray for the religion to be at peace '.

Tiger fighting skills .

Many times encountered the tiger, the people of U Minh drew a lot of experience to deal with, even fought him thirty. In the old 'Gia Dinh Land' , the writer Son Nam has a description of how to catch tigers as follows: 'The person who used to fight the tiger grasped the law: the tiger kneeled in the back, the front legs were waiting. Before grabbing the prey, the tiger ran after the reptile then rushed to. The side-by-side tails or the other side are the instructions for us to predict the direction of the attack. '

Many tigers used to fight with each other so it was wise to lay on their stomachs, look at their opponents through their front and hind legs. With that posture, the tiger will wait for the opportunity. If anyone is impatient, he will be beaten to "beaten up" by him. At that time, the tiger will capture the whip, hold on tightly, the healthy person will not be able to stand out, the tigers inherit the body in the blink of an eye. Let go of the whip to run, the faster you die. That piece of tiger is called 'buffalo'.

Mr. Du Vo, a tiger hunter fondly conveyed his experience to set up ambushes and snares: 'Tigers often eat fresh meat. Old tiger eating meat well. It must be based on that characteristic to set the bait. First tie a piece of string in the bamboo tube so that when the tiger sticks to the ring, it will not bite the string. On the section of bamboo pipes hang decoys with fresh meat, underneath the loops put on a trap table. Next to the trap, dig a deep pit that disguises with the leaves of the trees and line the forest below so that when the tiger sticks to the trap, it will not be able to escape. ' Speaking of this, Mr. Du e Han: 'But it is not always effective. Meeting tigers with too strong traps, they can wave their bites off their legs to escape. '

The sadness of Mr. Muoi

At the time of reclamation, the martial arts teachers had the ability to fight tigers so much so that the tiger could be spoiled and acted like a place without people. Later, due to the day-to-day confrontation, the experience of catching tigers of the end-land inhabitants gradually improved. The skill of putting paint on the gods of the forest is also more sophisticated.

With a glass of stinging wine, Mr. Hai made a regretful expression: 'The day before tiger, how much it is, it is so rare. For years, the U Minh people have not had anyone to complain about tiger. Happy but sad because this proves that U Minh's characteristic beast is almost like damn '.

In the nearby area to play, Muoi Luu affirmed, 'Tiger U minh is absent because of some talismans who specialize in tiger tigers. Some of them practice some kind of magic spell to overcome tiger, so gradually, the tiger in this country leaves the country '.

Mr. Muoi also has another explanation: 'At that time, there were many good teachers in Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen who were lost here and met the tiger and killed them and met them. The martial arts of the masters were so strong that the tiger saw the shadow from afar and ran away. Which teachers can forgive, rush to chase for him, have a teacher jump on his back, throwing punches that make the tiger so fiercely must also be happy. '

There are many reasons to explain the absence of the lord of the forest in U Minh forest. However, according to us, the most convincing explanation is because U Minh forest is getting more and more narrowed, more and more mercilessly raided by the wards to serve the high aspirations of rich men. so the tiger U Minh was extinct.