From the popular cheo play Kim Nham, Kim Nham is a native of Xuan Truong District, Nam Dinh Province, an area well-known for producing outstanding scholars and talented statesmen. Kim Nham marries Xuy Van and then goes to the capital to study and become a mandarin. Left at home, Xuy Van is hired by a perfidious woman.
To remove herself from unbearable circumstances, Xuy Van pretends madness. She takes up with Tran Phuong, an illiterate but rich merchant, who soon tires of her and sends her off. On her travels, Xuy Van meets Kim Nham again. He pities her and gives her a ball of cooked rice. When she bites into the rice ball she finds a teal of gold. Ashamed of her infidelity to such a good man, she throws herself into the river. This play has many lively, dramatic scenes, such as “The Perfidious Woman Laying out Her Wares”, “Xuy Van Feigns Madness”, and “Magician Exorcising Evil Spirits.”
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