Star fruits are sweet and tart, delicious in salads or by themselves, and also, most Vietnamese children learned our first moral wisdoms from the classic folklore, "The Tale of the Star Fruit Tree." The legend has it....

Once upon a time, after their parents have passed, two brothers were dividing up the inheritance their late parents left behind.

The older brother, who was greedy and a bully, usurped most of the house, land, oxen, and money for himself. To his younger brother, he only offered a tiny straw shack and the star fruit tree in front of the shack.

The younger brother, who was virtuous and mild mannered, accepted his meager share with no defiance. He made a living for himself by working as a field hand for other farmers.

One year, the star fruit tree suddenly produced an abundance of sweet, heavy clusters of fruits. Overcame with optimism, the younger brother planned to sell the fruits to make some money. However, before he could harvest the fruits, a Phoenix bird arrived and started eating the fruits. The young man pleaded to the bird with tears. The Phoenix responded: "ONE STAR FRUIT FOR ONE NUGGET OF GOLD. TOMORROW, BRING A 3-PALMS-LENGTH BAG TO BEAR THE GOLD."

The younger brother complied. The next day, he prepared a bag that was exactly 3-palms in length. The Phoenix arrived as promised and took the young man on its back and flew across the ocean. They landed on an island with an endless treasure of gold. The young man took the amount of gold that he could store in his 3-palms-length bag, and no more. The Phoenix took him back to the mainland, where he used the gold to live comfortably and helped others in need.

The older brother heard the story, and demanded his younger brother to give him the shack and the star fruit tree in exchange for all his properties. The younger brother complied.

The next day, as expected, the Phoenix arrived to eat the fruits. The older brother pretended to cry and plead. The Phoenix once again instructed: "ONE STAR FRUIT FOR ONE NUGGET OF GOLD. TOMORROW, BRING A 3-PALMS-LENGTH BAG TO BEAR THE GOLD."

The greedy older brother instead sewed a 12-palms-length bag. The Phoenix arrived the next day and took him to the treasure island. He stuffed the 12-palms-length bag full of gold.

On the flight back, the Phoenix started to swerve because the load was too heavy. The bird pleaded the older brother to discard some of the gold. The brother refused. Unable to carry the heavy load, the Phoenix dumped him and all his gold in the ocean.

........

You've heard me spoken many times on the laws of Karma, on the wisdom of "never take more than you're given." The Native Americans have taught this wisdom for many generations, known as the "Honorable Harvest," and so have our Vietnamese ancestors. But it seems, that somewhere along the line....we've forgotten this wisdom, and now we're about to learn the price of taking more than we're given.