The Durian is probably THE most controversial fruit in human history, known for its unique odor that the Western world finds offensive, but did you know its Vietnamese name is SẦU RIÊNG, which translates to lonely sorrow, and it comes with a folklore? The legend has it...

Once upon a time in Vietnam, during the war between the Tây Sơn dynasty and the Nguyễn overlords, there lived a handsome young man who not only was the dynasty's most prized warrior, but he had also spent his ENTIRE life mastering the scholarly arts of Eastern medicine and literature. His ambitions brought him everything except love, but he had no time to seek what he considered a frivolity.

When the war was over and the dynasty lost, the once accomplished warrior was forced into self-exile, in fear of being hunted by the enemy's Emperor. With only a few belongings, he disappeared into the neighboring nation of Chân Lạp, now known as Cambodia.

One day, as the man was carrying firewoods back to his isolated shack, he heard a cry for help in the distance. An elderly woman was desperately trying to wake up her unconscious daughter, who had fainted on their journey. Already armed with medicinal knowledge, the young prodigy quickly rushed to action and was able to miraculously revive the young woman.

As soon as she opened her beautiful, timid doe eyes, the young man was immediately love struck and she returned the same feelings. Soon, they wedded and spent a blissful life together in the tiny coconut shack, despite knowing that her chronic health conditions could untimely take her away at any moment.

10 years passed and that dreaded day finally came. The frail woman's health deteriorated almost overnight, and the next day, the neighbors found the heartbroken husband weeping unconsolably while tightly holding his wife's lifeless body.

Days and weeks passed by, but the man, who has been mourning in lonely, sorrow, still could not bear to part with his wife's corpse, who was now decomposing so severely that the odor alarmed the neighbors. One morning, the village mob arrived with the authority to force him to let her go. With lonely tears falling from his eyes , he complied.

One year later, in the same spot where the man's sorrowful tears fell, a mysterious fruit tree grew from the Earth. This strange and delicious fruit, whose unusual odor tends to either repel or enchant its audience, was named TU RÊN by the locals. Eventually, the seeds migrated to neighboring Viet Nam, where the name evolved into SẦU RIÊNG, or "lonely sorrow."

In a different version of the folklore, the fruit was introduced to the man by his wife. At first, he hated the pungent smell. Smiling compassionately, she said, “The sweet fruit will eventually grow on you like my love is imprinted in your heart.” She was right, and he grew to love the strange but sweet fruit.

After her death, he brought it back to Vietnam, where it was met with disgust. He then proceeded to tell his love story while cutting the fruits for villagers. As he got to the end, two tear drops fell from his eyes and on to the flesh of the fruits, strangely bubbling up like lava. The villagers were so moved by his story that they decided to give the smelly fruit a try and loved it. The legend has it that the fruits cultivated from the seeds of the tear-soaked Durian are the sweetest ones.

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It appears that through this bittersweet lore, the ancestors wanted to remind us that our feelings about anything is only for us to understand, and no one else, and to encourage empathy among each other, for we never know the tale that might have preceded what we find offensive.