Nhan Diep

A character from a Vietnamese folktale, the Story of the Mosquito (Chuyện con muỗi). Nhan Diep was the beautiful wife of a humble rice farmer named Ngoc Tam. She secretly dreamed of a life of luxury but kept this hidden from her husband. Then one day she suddenly died. Ngoc Tam was inconsolable and, instead of burying her body, he sold all his possessions to buy a small boat and sailed away with his dead wife.

After a while he came across Thien Thai, the mountain of the genie of medicine. Ngoc Tam beseeched the genie restore his wife to him. Though initially hesitant, the genie was moved by the farmer's deep love for his wife and agreed. He opened the coffin and cut Ngoc Tam's finger, letting three drops of blood fall onto the body, and Nhan Diep came back to life.

On their way back home the couple stopped at a town to buy provisions. While Ngoc Tam was away, a rich merchant moored next to their boat and, impressed by Nhan Diep's beauty, invited her to board his vessel. She accepted, and the merchant immediately ordered his crew to sail away.

Ngoc Tam searched for his wife for over a month before finally finding the merchant's vessel. However, by this time his wife had become accustomed to this new life of luxury, and she refused to return to her husband.

Unable to persuade his wife, the farmer asked only that she return to him the three drops of blood he had given to restore her life. Nhan Diep readily agreed, but when she made a small cut in her finger, all life suddenly drained from her body and she died.

Since her second death, Nhan Diep has returned in the form of a mosquito, first bothering only her husband and than all of mankind to regain those three drops of blood that would once again restore her to a life of luxury.

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