Love’s Crystal

The story of the fatal love of a poor fisherman for the daughter of a wealthy mandarin is widely known throughout Vietnam. This paper traces its Chinese origin and its retelling in two forms, a long and a short version, by the Francophone Vietnamese author Pham Duy Khiem (1908–1974). It suggests that rewriting in this way helped Khiem develop the sparse, melancholy style that is characteristic of mature work