A student asks a teacher:

– “What is love?”

The teacher said:

– “In order to answer your question, go to the padi field and choose the biggest padi (cay lua) and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick.”

The student went to the field, went through first row, saw one big padi, but he wonders… maybe there is a bigger one later. Then he saw another bigger one… but maybe there is a even bigger one waiting for him. Later, when he finished more than half of the padi field, he starts to realize that the padi is not as big as the previous one he saw, and he knows he has missed the biggest one, and regrets. So, he ended up going back to the teacher with an empty hand. The teacher told him:

– “This is love… You keep looking for a better one, but when it’s too late, you realise you have already missed the person…”

– “What is marriage then?” the student asked.

The teacher said:

– “In order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the rule is the same: you can go through them only once and cannot turn back to pick.”

The student went to the corn field, and this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake; when he reaches the middle of the field, he picks one medium corn that he feels satisfied with, and goes back to the teacher. The teacher told him:

– “This time when you were looking for a corn… You look for one that is just nice, and you have faith and believe this is the best one you get… and this is marriage.”

Nice story! But the author forgot to tell the end. There is it: “After eating the corn, the student though he would liked the rice much better and spent the rest of his life to feel pity for it!” It is life!