The Story of Tam and Cam

The Story of Tấm and Cám (Vietnamese: Truyện Tấm Cám) commonly known as Tấm Cám (chữ Nôm: 𥹀𥽇) is an ancient Vietnamese fairy tale. The first part of the tale's plot is very similar to the European folk tale Cinderella. The story is about two half-sisters; the eldest is named Tấm (broken rice) and the youngest is named Cám (rice bran). Tấm's mother dies early and her father remarries before dying soon after. Tấm lives with her stepmother, who is Cám's mother. The stepmother is very sadistic and makes Tấm do all the housework, whereas Cám does not have to do anything. One day, the stepmother tells Tấm and Cám to go to the field to catch "tép" (caridina, a tropical genus of shrimp) and promises to give them a new red yếm (a Vietnamese traditional bodice) to whoever catches the most.