A Stack of Gold for Starfruit

There were two brothers living in this village. Their parents died, leaving them a fortune, but the elder brother was greedy. He claimed all the fortune and left the younger brother only a starfruit tree. Luckily, the tree gave him a lot of fruits. But when the fruits were ripe, a giant raven came and ate them every day. The younger brother begged to the raven, “Please don’t eat the fruits. If you eat them, my family will starve.” So the raven responded, “Don’t worry, for each fruit I eat, I’ll pay you with gold.”
One day, the raven took the man to a secret island, which was full of gold. He filled a small bag. Then the raven took him home, and he became well-off. Seeing that, the elder brother wanted the gold too. He traded all of his fortune for the fruit tree.
The raven also took the elder brother to the island. He brought a very big sack and filled it with gold. The raven got tired on his way back; it got angry and dropped the man into the sea.

The practice of ancestor worship is relatively straightforward. Nearly every house, office, and business in Viet Nam has a small altar which is used to commune with ancestors. Incense sticks are burned frequently. Offerings are made – fruit, sweets, and gifts. The latter items are paper replicas of dollar notes (‘ghost money’), motorbikes, cars, houses and so on. After worship, the paper gifts are burnt so that the spirits of the gifts can ascend to heaven for the ancestors to use.
In the past, the income from a plot of land was used to maintain the altar and arrange the rituals, but this tradition has now faded away. However, the custom that the eldest son will arrange the ceremonial and inherit the family house upon the death of his parents is still generally observed.
Another traditional element is the placing of wooden tablets on the altar for each of the ancestors over recent generations. This is less rigorously observed today, and tablets are often replaced by photographs. Some pagodas house commemorative tablets for ancestors on behalf of regular worshippers.

A

B

_____ 1. Burn incense sticks and paper gifts.

_____ 2. Use income from a plot of land to maintain the altar.

A. Faded away

_____ 3. Place wooden tablets on the altar.

B. Still popular today

_____ 4. Eldest son arrange the ceremonials.

C. Seen today, but not popular

_____ 5. Pagodas house commemorative tablets for ancestors on behalf of regular worshippers.