Little Altar on the Roadside, and The Hero Summary and Analysis

Little Altar on the Roadside: Nhuong speaks of a little altar that the townspeople used to burn incense on and maintain. The tragic story of the altar involves a mother and her son. The mother's husband was lost to a wild hog, and she urged her son to marry so he could carry on the family line and give her grandchildren. A bride was arranged from another hamlet, and the son went into the forest to cut bamboo and make a wedding bed. But since custom dictated the bed remain as "virginal" as the bride, he slept on a cot outside prior to his wedding.

The mother visited the son on this cot, and noticed that a banyan leaf had been placed over his face. She nearly...