A 4-Year-Old Child, in Bizarre Circumstances, Recognizes Two People He Has Never Met as His Parents
This was the headline and subtitle of an article published in the newspaper Đuốc Nhà Nam on September 6, 1932, written by Phan Thế Ngọc. Here is the content of that article:
“Mr. Lang, a merchant, resided in Khánh Hội, a suburb of Saigon. In his forties, he was blessed with a beautiful 19-year-old daughter named Phiên, whose beauty rivaled that of a blossoming spring flower. Sadly, after a brief illness, the young woman passed away, leaving her parents in deep sorrow.
Her death, like many others, held no particular significance and was fading into oblivion. However, one day, a strange phenomenon occurred:
On August 31st, Mr. Lang noticed a boy of about four years old sitting in front of his house. Initially, he paid no attention, assuming it was a child from the neighborhood. However, after finishing his meal and returning outside, he found the boy still sitting there. He pretended to be angry and told him to leave.
The child replied:
“This is my house. Why are you chasing me away?”
Naturally, this statement surprised Mr. Lang, his wife, and several witnesses. Someone suggested that the boy was lost and, in his confusion, mistook Mr. Lang for his father. But Mrs. Lang, a compassionate woman, gently asked the boy for his parents’ names and address. The boy pointed at Mr. and Mrs. Lang and said, “They are my parents! This is my house! What else is there to ask?”
Mrs. Lang then asked his name and age. He replied, “My name is Mọi, and I am four years old.”
Choosing to ignore these nonsensical claims, Mr. Lang led the boy from house to house in the neighborhood, hoping to find his parents. After walking about 500 meters, he found the boy’s grandmother. After handing the child over to the elderly woman, Mr. Lang turned to leave, but the boy chased after him, crying and clinging to him, “Daddy! Daddy!” Mr. Lang pushed him away and continued walking. The boy fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Unable to bear the sight, Mr. Lang turned back. Seeing that the boy had calmed down, he tried to leave again, but the boy ran after him even faster. The grandmother, at a loss, pleaded with Mr. Lang to take the boy back to his house temporarily, until his parents returned from work in the afternoon.
It’s worth noting that Mọi’s family had recently moved to Khánh Hội from Chợ Đũi about two weeks prior and had no prior interactions with Mr. Lang’s family. Moreover, the grandmother never allowed her grandson to wander around the neighborhood. She was bewildered by his sudden insistence that Mr. and Mrs. Lang, whom he had never met, were his parents.
When his parents arrived to take him home that evening, he refused to go with them, resisting all their attempts to persuade him. Helpless, they reluctantly left him there and returned home, deeply troubled.
This news spread like wildfire, and Mr. Lang’s house was constantly filled with curious visitors. Some playfully tried to take Mr. Lang’s belongings, and the boy would rush to protect them.
Furthermore, the boy displayed an uncanny familiarity with the layout of the house: the dining room, the bedrooms – every corner seemed known to him, as if he had lived there for a long time. He even knew the names and family relationships of Mr. Lang’s relatives who came to visit.
Faced with this inexplicable phenomenon, people began to speculate that the spirit of Phiên, witnessing her parents’ immense grief over her death, had reincarnated into Mọi to alleviate their suffering.
“By reporting this phenomenon,” the author concludes, “my aim is to present it to spiritualists for their consideration, hoping for a clear explanation.”
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