TRUYEN KIEU: January 2024

Friday, January 26, 2024

TRUYEN KIEU mo dau

Kieu start

1 . Trăm năm trong cõi người ta,

In one hundred years, the limit of human life,

2. Chữ tài chữ mệnh khéo là ghét nhau.

Without mercy, talent and destiny1 clash and fight.

3. Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu,

The blue sea is now thundering where mulberry field2 used to be;

4 . Những điều trông thấy mà đau đớn lòng.

Our hearts suffer painfully from the vicissitudes we see.

5 Lạ gì bỉ sắc tư phong,

A gift is always received to the detriment of one’s destiny;

6. Trời xanh quen thói má hồng đánh ghen.

With jealousy, Blue Heaven often hounds the fate of beauties.

7. Cảo thơm lần giở trước đèn,

Fragrant manuscripts thumbed under the lamp slowly

8. Phong tình cổ lục còn truyền sử xanh.

Reveal an ancient love story as recorded in history.

9. Rằng năm Gia Tĩnh triều Minh,

Under the reign of Gia Tinh Emperor of the Ming Dynasty,3

10 . Bốn phương phẳng lặng, hai kinh vững vàng.

The frontiers were calm and both capitals were secured firmly.

11. Có nhà viên ngoại họ Vương,

There lived then a small bourgeois of the Vuong family,

12. Gia tư nghỉ cũng thường thường bực trung.

Whose wealth was classified as average in the vicinity.

13. Một trai con thứ rốt lòng,

A son named Vuong Quan, the last born child,

14. Vương Quan là chữ, nối dòng nho gia.

Was supposed to continue the family’s scholarly line.

15 Đầu lòng hai ả tố nga,

Born before him were two girls of exceptional beauty and mind

Thúy Kiều là chị, em là Thúy Vân.

Thuy Kieu was the elder and Thuy Van came after her.

Mai cốt cách, tuyết tinh thần,

They were elegantly slender and their spirits had snow candor.

Một người một vẻ, mười phân vẹn mười.

Each had her own charm but both were enchanting stunners.

Vân xem trang trọng khác vời,

Van commanded an uncommon dignity,

20 Khuôn trăng đầy đặn, nét ngài nở nang.

Her harmonious face with delicate bold eyebrows radiated generosity.

21, Hoa cười ngọc thốt đoan trang,

Her decency was enhanced by her voice of jade and her smile of flower,

22. Mây thua nước tóc, tuyết nhường màu da.

Snow yielded to her complexion and clouds to her hair splendor.

23. Kiều càng sắc sảo, mặn mà,

Kieu’s charm turned out to be more sapid and exquisite.

24. So bề tài, sắc, lại là phần hơn

She definitely was the better in both beauty and spirit.

25 Làn thu thủy, nét xuân sơn,

Her bewitching eyes were autumnal water limpid,

And her eyebrows were gracious lines of mounts in Spring.

26. Hoa ghen thua thắm, liễu hờn kém xanh.

Flowers were jealous of her beauty so captivating,

And willows envied her hair so rich cascading.

27. Một, hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành,

She could collapse citadel and empire by just a smile4

28, Sắc đành đòi một, tài đành họa hai.

Her beauty and talents left ordinary girls miles behind.

29. Thông minh vốn sẵn tính trời,

Her superior intelligence was definitely Heaven’s blessing.

30 . Pha nghề thi họa, đủ mùi ca ngâm.

She mastered rapidly poetry, painting, and singing,

31. Cung thương làu bậc ngũ âm,

[And was well versed in the five- tone musical composing]i

32, Nghề riêng ăn đứt Hồ cầm một trương.

And her virtuosity at the “Ho” guitar5 was second to none.

33. Khúc nhà tay lựa nên chương,

She wrote a song, “The Cruel Fate,” a masterpiece of her own.

34, Một thiên bạc mệnh, lại càng não nhân.

35 /. Phong lưu rất mực hồng quần,

One of the best persons in red pants6, sophisticated and noble,

36..Xuân xanh sấp xỉ tới tuần cập kê

The nubile age of young ladies, she approached.

37. Êm đềm trướng rủ màn che,

Behind nice drapes and curtains, the sisters enjoyed virginal peace

38. Tường đông ong bướm đi về mặc ai.

Paying no heed to those bees and butterflies7 at the wall in the East.8..

TRUYEN KIEU’S CHARACTERS

KIM TRONG
THUY KIEU (Kieu) THUY VAN (Van)
Mr. and Mrs. VUONG VUONG QUAN (Quan)

DAM TIEN
Mr. CHUNG
MA GIAM SINH
TU BA
SO KHANH
MA KIEU
THUC KY TAM (Young thuc) OLD THUC:
HOAN THU:
Mrs. HOAN:
GIAC DUYEN:
BAC BA:
BAC HANH:
TAM HOP:
TU HAI:
HO TON HIEN:
TRIBAL CHIEF
MASTIFF & FALCON

: A young scholar, Kieu fiancé
: Mr. and Mrs. Vuong’s eldest daughter : Kieu’s younger sister
: Parents of Kieu, Van, and Vuong Quan : Son of Mr. and Mrs. Vuong

: Dead singer and courtesan
: A clerk at the yamen (Mandarin’s office)
: Partner of Tu Ba, Kieu’s first husband
: A panderess, Ma Giam Sinh’s partner
: A rascal working for Tu Ba
: A prostitute working in Tu Ba’s whorehouse
: Kieu’s second husband
: Young Thuc’s father
: Young Thuc’s legitimate wife
: Hoan Thu’s mother
: A bonzess
: Another panderess
: Bac Ba’s nephew, Kieu’s third husband
: A bonzess and prophetess
: A rebel chief, Kieu fourth husband
: A governor, commander of the imperial army
: Kieu fifth husband
: The two servants whom Hoan Thu ordered to kidnap Kieu

TRUYEN KIEU’S CHARACTERS

page14image1004202784 KIM TRONG

THUY KIEU (Kieu) THUY VAN (Van)
Mr. and Mrs. VUONG VUONG QUAN (Quan)

: A young scholar, Kieu fiancé
: Mr. and Mrs. Vuong’s eldest daughter : Kieu’s younger sister
: Parents of Kieu, Van, and Vuong Quan : Son of Mr. and Mrs. Vuong

KIM TRONG
THUY KIEU (Kieu) THUY VAN (Van)
Mr. and Mrs. VUONG VUONG QUAN (Quan)

: A young scholar, Kieu fiancé
: Mr. and Mrs. Vuong’s eldest daughter : Kieu’s younger sister
: Parents of Kieu, Van, and Vuong Quan : Son of Mr. and Mrs. Vuong

TRUYEN KIEU’S CHARACTERS

TRANSLATION CONCEPT

Before translating Chinh Phu Ngam and Kieu, I pondered for a long time over the problem of how these wonderful poems should be translated. How could the translation be done so that it could retain as much of the beauty of the original as possible by evoking in the reader’s mind the exquisite images, emotions, and impressions that the original poem offers? The rhythm, the musicality and the poetic language of the original verses can never be rendered by a translation in prose, which readily transforms a melodious poem into a story or in the case of Kieu, a novel, no matter how skillful the translator may be. A translation in prose definitely distorts and denatures any poem. Consequently, the first rule I apply to the translation of Kieu is:

The translation must be in the form of verses to keep as much as possible the beauty of the original poem. To illustrate this concept let us take some examples from the English version in prose, the only English translation available to me up to now:

Original:

Tiếc thay một đoá trà mi
Con ong đã tỏ đường đi lối về
Một cơn mưa gió nặng nề
Thương gì đến ngọc tiếc gì đến hương Đêm xuân một giấc mơ màng
Đuốc hoa để đó mặc nàng nằm trơ.
Giọt riêng tầm tã tuôn mưa
Phần căm nỗi khách, phần nhơ nỗi mình.

Nguyen Du wrote these verses to beautifully describe the moment Kieu was deflowered by Ma Giam Sinh, the pander who bought her for his saloon. The English translation in prose reads:

Ah! Poor flower of camellia!

Here the bee came, and to and fro he open his way...

What a squall of rain and wind!

No regard was given to her frail jade, no pity was had for this light perfume!

How to describe that night full of nightmare?

The light of the flowery torches left in the room shone over the girl, abandoned and forlornin the bed.

Bitter tears flowed down endlessly, imbued with hatred for that stranger, and full of shame for her stained body.

And this is our translation of the same verses: O, poor tender camellia flower!

The profane bee swooped down and brutally opened his way into her!
The violent storm raged on heavily
With no consideration for her delicate body and the perfume of her beauty. After that love nightmare, she woke up to find

Herself lying all alone in bed under the nuptial lights.

As in a downpour, her tears flowed abundantly Against that stranger, tears of animosity
And against herself, tears of repugnancy.

The English translation in prose has the merit of rendering the idea contained in the original verses, but it fails to bring out the rhythm, the musicality that makes the beauty of the original verses. With almost the same vocabulary but arranged in a poetic fashion and structured according to the poetic language, our translation sounds better and can render part if not all of the beauty of the original verses. Let’s use some more examples to elucidate our concept:

Original:

Dưới dòng nước chảy trong veo

Trên cầu tơ liễu bóng chiều thướt tha
The translation in prose of the two verses above reads as follows:

Down in the rivulet the water seemed wonderfully clear.

Near the bridge, the silk of the willow trailed in the evening shade Our translation:

In the stream, crystal clear water was flowing by

Near the bridge, a willow tree was undulating its hair in the sunset light.

The poetic language and style used in our verses evoke in the reader’s mind a more romantic and picturesque description of the scenery.

Original:

Buồng the phải buổi thong dong
Thang lan rủ bức trướng hồng tắm hoa Rõ màu trong ngọc trắng ngà
Dày dày sẵn đúc một toà thiên nhiên Sinh càng tỏ nét càng quen
Ngụ tình tay thảo một thiên luật đường.

The English translation in prose:
Kieu profited from this hour of liberty to take a perfume bath in her room.

Through the light rosy gauze curtain, the silhouette of her body stood out as white and transparent as if it were made of jade and ivory.

It resembled truly a perfect statue and a divine masterpiece

The young man conceived a great admiration for her sweet heart as he considered her qualities more deeply.

Unable to keep these sentiments to himself, Thuc improvised and wrote to her a poem in particular form of the Duong prosody. (Note: Duong prosody is a kind of poem composed of eight sentences of seven syllables each.)

Beside one misinterpretation (in the fifth verse and the word “nét” meaning curves of lines was thought by the translator to be “nết” meaning qualities or virtue), the translation in prose is almost a literal translation of the verses.

And this is our translation:
In her room, on a day of leisure, Kieu lowered

The pink curtain to take a bath in water perfumed with orchid flowers. Jade pure, ivory white, her body appeared in its pristine beauty,
A perfect temple of love created by God the Almighty.
The more Thuc looked at her lovely curves, the more he liked.

Inspired by admiration, a classic poem he improvised.

Anyone would notice the difference between the two translations.

In my concept, verses must be rhymed. Without rhymes, verses lose most of their charm and musicality no matter how poetic the language used may be. That’s why I tried to rhyme all the verses of my English version of Kieu. Some of the rhymes are weak, but even with weak rhymes, the verses sound much better than no rhyme at all.

My second concern is the correct interpretation of the verses to be translated. Kieu, a classic poem of the nineteenth century certainly contains some obsolete expressions or terms that are now no longer in use and lead readily to misinterpretations. I have read the best French versions of Kieu by distinguished Vietnamese and French scholars and found to my great astonishment that those scholars did not interpret several Kieu verses the same way. Sometimes, because of the inversion of words required by either the rimes or the poetic way of saying things, verses appear to be somewhat ambiguous and requires careful reflection as well as good judgment for correct comprehension. The example above clearly illustrates my point. Thetranslator misinterpreted the word “nét” (curves or lines) and took it for “nết” (virtues or qualities) and the misinterpretation, of course, leads to an inaccurate translation. Let’s take another example:

Original:

Ở đây tai vách mạch dừng
Thấy ai người cũ cũng đừng nhìn chi Kẻo khi sấm sét bất kỳ
Con ong cái kiến kêu gì được oan

The translator took the word “dừng” meaning strips of bamboo used in the construction of partitions or lattices in Vietnam and China for “rừng”, meaning forest because the two words have almost the same pronunciation in Vietnamese, particularly in North Vietnam. He also misinterpreted the word “mạch”, meaning in the context “interstices” by assigning to it the meaning of “source of spring”. And the following is his English translation:

Here in this house, all the walls have ears like small spring in the forest.
If ever you meet one of your old friends, pretend not to be acquainted with her*. Unexpected storms might break out and at that moment,
As a weak bee or a frail ant, how can you prove your innocence?

It should be “him”, meaning Thuc, Kieu’s husband. And this is our translation:

Here walls have ears and partitions have eyes,
Should you ever see any old acquaintance, don’t try to recognize

Or thunder would fall upon you otherwise

A humble ant as you are, how could you against injustice cry? A correct interpretation makes all the difference.

To avoid misinterpretation and misunderstanding, before translating Kieu, I spent a long time studying several Vietnamese editions of Kieu as well as the explanations and commentaries given by prominent Vietnamese scholars to make sure that I fully understood all the verses and obsolete words of Kieu. Of course, I had to make my own judgment since there were so many discrepancies in the notes, explanation, and commentaries. It’s a long process requiring patience and time but it is a must.

My third concern is the accuracy of the translation. “Traduire c’est trahir” (To translate is to betray) goes as a French saying. The translator is apt to go away from the original meaning and sometimes make blunders that change completely the meaning of the original, especially when the translation is in French or English that has no relation whatsoever with the original Vietnamese, a musical language having its root from Chinese. In reading a foreign language masterpiece, reader’s enjoyment is doubled: the joy of discovery in unfamiliar surroundings and that of finding himself in a familiar land since every great literary work is at the same time both universal and typically national. Any good translation aims at unveiling unknown beauties of foreign lands, mountains, seas, and rivers without bombarding the reader with a landslide of strange details. A good translation resembles the original but also differs from it because it is a new work that contains something creative from the translator. It might be said without any exaggeration that the translator is the surrogate mother of his translation that he nourishes with his own blood, brain, and heart.

Accuracy, of course, remains the first quality of any good translation. Once this principle is admitted, comes immediately with this question: Is it literal accuracy or content accuracy? Before doing his work, a conscientious translator should make a decision about the priority of accuracy. Sometimes accuracy is much worse than misinterpretation since the translation then fails to communicate the emotions and sentiments that animate a treat literary work. Kieu abounds in special expressions and turns of phrases, in allusions to legends, proverbs, saying, ancient stories, and classic poems that lure translators into some form of literal translation. Let’s take a few examples to illustrate this point of view:

Original:

Khen: “Tài nhả ngọc phun châu

Nàng Ban ả Tạ cũng đâu thế nầy.”
A literal translation of the two above verses reads:

“Wonderful!” Exclaim Kim. “You really have the talent of emitting jade and pearls!

Even the famous Pan or the young poetess Tsie could not write better than this.”
The phrase “the talent of emitting jade and pearls” is the literal translation of the Vietnamese phrase “Tài

nhả ngọc phun châu”.

The literal translation evokes in the Western readers’ mind the picture of a witch with a magic power of conjuring jade and pearls. But is it the same picture Nguyen Du wanted to create in the minds of the readers? Of course, not. The phrase “Tài nhả ngọc phun châu” does not evoke in the mind of a Vietnamese reader the picture of a sorceress with black magic because it simply means “to have a great poetic talent”. It goes without saying that in this case, a literal translation fails to convey the real meaning of the original verse.

We propose the following translation in verses:
“How great your poetic talent is! He praised her

Your poem sounds like a pearl-and-jade shower!
I doubt the renowned poetesses Ban and Ta could do any better.”

We added one more verse to retain the beautiful “pearl and jade” expression of the original. Original:

Nào người phượng chạ loan chung

Nào người tích lục tham hồng là ai? The translation in prose of these two verses reads:

Where are her former lovers, phoenixes attentive to her?

Where are the wooers of her green youth, those who lusted after her rosy complexion?

The Vietnamese words “chung” and “chạ” evoke in the Vietnamese readers’ mind the idea of carnal love, lovemaking, sharing the bed and the words “phượng” (the Phoenix) and “loan” (the she-Phoenix) are understood by the Vietnamese readers as a beautiful couple of lovers, not those mythical birds that were reborn from their ashes each morning. That’s why we prefer the following English version of the above two verses:

Where are those who her voluptuousness did share?

And where are those who adored her peachy cheeks and rich hair? Another example: Hạt mưa xá nghĩ phận hèn

Liều đem tấc cỏ báo đền ba xuân Translation in pose:

My body is worth only a drop of water and I must sacrifice my blade of grass to pay my debt to the three months of spring.

The first verse is derived from a Vietnamese popular song about the destiny of girls, which reads: As a young girl, my destiny is like a drop of rain falling

It may fall into a well or onto a flower garden that is blooming.

So the verse evokes the idea of resignation by a girl to her fate or destiny because she feels that she can do nothing to change things predetermined by God for her. The second verse is a metaphor derived from an ancient Chinese verse expressing the idea of sacrifice on the part of a child to pay his or her debt of existence to his or her parents. We suggest the following English translation of the above Vietnamese verses:

Original:

What did it matter her humble destiny? Just a drop of rain falling! To pay her debt of existence due to her father, she was willing.

Vân xem trang trọng khác vời
Khuông trăng đầy đặn, nét ngài nở nang Hoa cười ngọc thốt đoan trang
Mây thua nước tóc tuyết nhường màu da.

Nguyen Du used the four verses above to describe the beauty of Van, Kieu’s younger sister. The translation in pose of the four verses reads:

Van’s moon like round face, and her brows like two unrolled silkworms, gave her a very imposing beauty.

Her smile like a blooming flower and her voice of jade were indeed very comely.

And what were clouds, compared to her hair, snow compared to her complexion?

To English readers, Van was not beautiful at all with her face as round as the full moon and her brows looked like two unrolled silkworms above her eyes.

And this is our English version of the same verses:

Van commanded a not so common dignity
Her harmonious face with delicate bold eyebrows radiated generosity. Her decency was enhanced by her voice of jade and her smile of flower. Snow yielded to her complexion, and clouds to her hair splendor.

Now, Van looked much better.

From the above considerations I arrived at this process:

1) Before translating, read several times two verses at a time until they are memorized and make sure that they are correctly understood.

2) Think in English to express the ideas contained in the verses already memorized to make the translation as if it were originally written in English.

3) Try to follow the content and ideas of the original verses so as to convey to the readers the original Vietnamese expressions and emotions.

4) Try to keep all the symbols, allusions, metaphors, allegories, and hyperboles that may bring to the English-speaking readers new images and original ways of seeing life and emotions.

5) Eliminate any original language artifice or ornament that, when translated literally into English, may lead to ambiguity or ruin the original picture intended by the Vietnamese poet.

I am profoundly grateful to America, this wonderful land that provided me and my seven children the opportunity to enjoy the freedom and have a better life. I feel it’s my duty to contribute to the enrichment of the spiritual life and culture of this marvelous country which is often called “the melting pot”. This English version of Kieu is offered as one of my contributions. I do hope that it will bring you some spiritual entertainment and a better understanding of the Vietnamese culture as well as the Vietnamese community in America.

Hoài Văn Tử

NGUYEN DU & KIEU, his MASTERPIECE

Nguyen Du was born in 1765 in Thang Long (now Hanoi) to a noble and illustrious family. His father was a Chief Mandarin in the Le Dynasty and his mother a Beauty Queen. All his older brothers were high-ranking mandarins. His father died when he was only ten and three years later, he lost his mother. He lived with his brother Nguyen Khan, then Minister of the Interior in Thang Long capital, until the “Proud Soldier Uprising” (similar to the recent “Cultural Revolution” in Communist China). Nguyen Khan, whose yamen was totally destroyed by the uprising, had to flee for safety. Nguyen Du, also for his own security, fled the capital taking refuge in his wife’s native village in Thai Binh province and his “ten years of misery” – to borrow his own words – began. During this period, he suffered tremendously from poverty, sickness, and frustration over his inability to restore the Le Dynasty.

In 1789, a great historic event occurred: Le Chieu Thong, the last emperor of the Le Dynasty, in an effort to save his dynasty from being destroyed by the military uprising, appealed to China to intervene on his behalf. On that pretext, China sent an expeditionary corps to invade Vietnam. Nguyen Hue, a popular military hero, completely destroyed the Chinese army of 200,000 men in a short but very fierce battle. Right before his astounding military victory over the Chinese troops, a victory that startled not only the Chinese Emperor and his court but also all the monarchs in Southeast Asia, he proclaimed himself Emperor of Vietnam and founded the Tay Son Dynasty. In spite of his miserable economic condition, Nguyen Du refused to cooperate with the new dynasty. As an orthodox Confucianist, he wanted to be faithful to the Le Dynasty even though he had served it for only a short period of time. In his eye, the founder of the new dynasty was nothing but a usurper.

In 1796, he left his father’s native village, where his miserable living conditions remained sorrowful. Although only in his early thirties, he saw his hair turn all white and his health lamentably deteriorate. Meanwhile, Emperor Nguyen Hue died, leaving the Tay Son Dynasty in the hands of his teen-aged son who was incapable of saving the dynasty from falling into decadence. In 1802, Nguyen Anh, a warlord, defeated the Tay Son troops and became Emperor Gia Long, the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. This political and military event brought a radical change in poet Nguyen Du’s life.

Emperor Gia Long adopted the new policy of using people still faithful to the Le Dynasty and offered Nguyen Du a position of mandarin in the royal administration. At the time, after ten years of exile in his wife’s native village and six years of abject poverty in his father’s hometown, Nguyen Du had lost all hope to restore the Le Dynasty and all desires for honors. He reluctantly accepted the emperor’s offer, most likely because he realized he could never reverse the course of history and needed a steady income for his needy family (three wives and eighteen children).

During the sixteen years he served the Nguyen Dynasty, he resigned three times: in 1804, 1808, and again in 1812. But each time the Emperor refused his resignation and promoted him to a higher position. Three different times he was appointed Vietnamese Ambassador to Peking, China. Upon his return from China in 1814, he was promoted to the position of Minister of Protocols. In 1820, he became seriously ill but refused all medical treatments and died at the age of fifty-five.

Nguyen Du was a brilliant scholar, well versed in Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and also had some military training. He was extremely intelligent and had great poetic and musical talents. In addition to Kieu, his masterpiece, he left the Vietnamese literature numerous poetic works in both Vietnamese and classic Chinese. At that time, Chinese scripts were still commonly used by scholars in their literary works,

especially in the domain of poetry. It should be noted, however, that although the Vietnamese used Chinese scripts, they had their own pronunciation.

Nguyen Du apparently was not interested in worldly wealth, nor did he accumulate it. Even when he was a mandarin under the Nguyen Dynasty, he had difficulty making ends meet. While living with his brother in the capital, he was a reveler himself and developed a compassion for prostitutes, singers, and call girls. During his sixteen years of exile and abject poverty, he witnessed the sufferings of the populace, who had to toil from morn ‘till eve but still suffered from want and from the oppression by the feudal administration system in which self-serving mandarins could do whatever they wanted to build up their wealth to the detriment of the populace. He was well aware of the fact that he was difficult to understand as revealed by the following verses of his:

I wonder, more than three hundred years after I die,

Whether anyone would understand me and cry.

He was also an emotional type of person. During a cabinet meeting where state affairs were being discussed, Nguyen Du burst into tears, to the surprise of the Emperor who presided at the meeting and of all the mandarins present. Being a true Confucianist, he should have controlled his emotions. Is it true that strong emotions make great poets?

Kieu, the greatest masterpiece of the Vietnamese literature and probably the longest poem on earth, consisting of 3,254 verses, borrowed its theme from a second-class Chinese novel by Thanh Tam Tai Nhan, an almost unknown Chinese author. Why did a great poet like Nguyen Du have to use another author’s theme for his masterpiece? Probably he wanted to use a Chinese story as an alibi. Should there be anything in his work that could be interpreted as critical of the dynasty he was serving, he could easily reject any critic by saying that the story he told happened in China hundreds of years ago, not in Vietnam. Apparently, he wanted to confide in his work an aspiration dear to him but not in favor of the emperor he was serving, to launch an outcry against the injustice to which he and his countrymen were submitted, and to depict the miseries and harrowing ordeals of the populace under the oppressing monarchy. Probably that’s why he warned the readers right at the beginning of his work that the story he was going to tell took place in China

under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1566) hundreds of years before, not in Vietnam.

Under the reign of Gia Tinh Emperor (1522-1566) of the Ming Dynasty, there lived a small bourgeois, Mr. Vuong, who had two girls and a boy. The eldest child, a girl named Thuy Kieu, the heroine of the poem, was a great beauty endowed with exceptional poetic and musical talents. On a festival day, when people went out to visit and clean graves as well as to enjoy the green and clean air of springtime, Kieu cried over the abandoned grave of Dam Tien, a singer, and courtesan. On the same day, she had an unexpected encounter with a handsome young man, a former schoolmate of her younger brother Vuong Quan. They were irresistibly attracted to each other. That night, Kieu dreamed of the ghost of Dam Tien, who informed her that she belonged to the corporation of “Rent Trails Girls” or courtesans. Kim Trong succeeded in seeing Kieu again, and the two exchanged a solemn love oath, disregarding the Confucianist ethic prevalent at the time. Unfortunately, Kim Trong’s uncle died, leaving no descendants, and he had to return to his native place to conduct the funeral as dictated by tradition. This terribly agonized the two lovers, who had just begun to know each other.

After Kim Trong’s departure, a catastrophe fell upon the Vuong family: Mr. Vuong, a victim of a slanderous denunciation, was arrested, and Kieu had to sell herself for a large sum of money needed to bribe the authorities and save her father. Thus, she became the concubine of a certain Ma Giam Sinh. Before

leaving the paternal home, she pleaded with her sister Thuy Van to take her place and marry Kim Trong to pay her love debt to him.

Kieu discovered later on, that she fell into the hands of a trafficker of women and suffered terribly while being forced to ply the trade of prostitution. She met Thuc, a young reveler, and became his concubine. She underwent the harrowing punishments by Hoan Thu, the legitimate and jealous wife of Thuc Sinh, and finally had to flee. Mishap after mishap, she found herself again in the world of prostitution. This time a rebel chief named Tu Hai redeemed her from the house of pleasure and married her. A few years later, Tu Hai became a victim of a perfidy and was killed in an ambush by an imperial thug. Kieu jumped into the Tien Duong River in order not to survive her husband. Fortunately, she was rescued by a bonzess and joined the Buddhist order.

Meanwhile, Kim Trong wedded Thuy Van as Kieu had wished but still loved Kieu and kept her image at the bottom of his heart. He spent fifteen years searching for her and finally found her at a Buddhist temple. He entreated her to come back to him, but she categorically refused, saying that after so many humiliating adventures and degrading misfortunes, she was unworthy to marry him, although polygamy was legal and very common at that time. Upon entreaties from her parents, her sister, and Kim Trong himself, Kieu finally agreed to unite in an unconsummated marriage with him whom she never ceased to love.

The Vietnamese People have wondered, still wonder, and will continue to wonder why the theme of a second-class Chinese novel was used as raw material to weave the most illustrious poem, the most beautiful diamond of the Vietnamese literary treasure and probably the longest poem in the universal poetry. But this really doesn’t matter much. No matter the reason, the poet offered the Vietnamese People a wonderful masterpiece, entirely new, profoundly original, typically Vietnamese both in form and spirit, that has moved, is moving and will move for centuries to come, the sensible and sensitive heart of the Vietnamese People. Since its publication almost two centuries ago, generation after generation, the Vietnamese People have been enjoying the exquisite beauty of the poem, so much that almost every Vietnamese knows by heart some of Kieu’s beautiful verses, that Kieu is included in the literary columns of all schools from middle schools to universities.

Nguyen Du, thanks to his poetic genius, has proven that his mother tongue, Vietnamese, is a very poetic language, extremely rich, delicate, and powerful. He combined the poetic and novel forms to give Kieu a dual character: scholarly and popular at the same time. He united the best of classic poetry with realism in his best beautiful literary style to give Kieu an appealing charm not previously known. In Kieu, all Chinese classic metaphors, images, symbols, and hyperboles were Vietnamized and mingled with those of Vietnamese language, proverbs, and sayings so skillfully that they have been integrated into the everyday language.

The poetic language of Kieu is colorful, expressive, very musical, and able to paint not only landscapes and portraits but also the states of mind, feelings, and emotions in just a few verses that vibrate every fiber of the Vietnamese heart and soul.

The mode of versification used in Kieu is typically Vietnamese; the six-eight meter: a six-syllable verse followed by an eight-syllable verse. This six-eight meter is undoubtedly more musical and more versatile than the classic pentasyllabic and heptasyllabic meters but requires more rimes. The last word or syllable (Vietnamese is monosyllabic, each syllable forms one word) of each verse rhymes with the sixth word or

syllable of the following verse. For a better picture of this type of rhyming, let us borrow the first four verses of Kieu to see how it works:

Trăm năm trong cõi người ta 1 2 3 4 5 (R)

Chữ tài chữ mệnh khéo là ghét nhau 1 2 3 4 5 (R) 7 (R)

Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu 1 2 3 4 5 (R)

Những điều trông thấy mà đau đớn lòng 1 2 3 4 5 (R) 7 (R)

The rhythm is very simple: two horizontal tones are followed by two oblique ones, except the eight one that makes the rime and must be horizontal. In addition, the rule does not apply to the first, third, and fifth words, which can be either horizontal or oblique. Each Vietnamese word or syllable has six different tones, depending on the mark that goes with it.

Example Meaning

Ma (Ghost)
Mà (That)
Má (Mother)
Mả (Grave)
Mã (Horse)
Mạ (Rice seedling)

Changing the tone mark creates a different word with the same spelling. The first two words have horizontal tones, and the remaining four words oblique tones.

To better understand the states of mind of Kieu’s character, let’s briefly review Confucianism and Buddhism, since they were predominant in Vietnam before the arrival of the Europeans, and have molded the Vietnamese traditions, beliefs, and philosophies of life.

Confucianism, a doctrine formulated in China by Confucius (551-479 BC), was intended to create a harmonious order in society by regulating the ethics of relations between individuals within the family and society. It is not a religion in the strict sense of the word, but rather a canon for family and social behavior. In the family, Confucianism insists on filial piety, the duties of a child towards his/her parents, which serves as the regulator of family unity and morality. In society, loyalty, respect, and absolute obedience to the king or emperor are the first duties of anyone. The hierarchy begins with the emperor, then the teacher, and finally the father. Followings are the most common Confucian rules of behavior:

- If the emperor wants a subject to die, but the subject refuses to do so, he or she is a disloyal subject. - If the father wants the son to die, but the son refuses to comply, he is an undutiful son.
- A superior man (ideal man in Confucianism) never serves two dynasties.

- The most important virtue of a woman is to be virgin on her wedding day and to be faithful to her husband until death.

- As a girl, she must obey her parents; once married, she must obey her husband; when widowed, she must follow the advice of her son.

Buddhism is the predominant religion in Vietnam. Ninety percent of the Vietnamese population is Buddhists. Originally founded in India by Prince Siddhartha, Buddhism was introduced into Vietnam from China since the early days of her independence (early 9th century), and as the national religion, it played an important role in the Vietnamese society. The Buddhist doctrine is based on these Four Noble Truths:

1. Man is destined for suffering.
2. Suffering has its roots in desires and lust.
3. Desires and lust can be neutralized by non-attachment to worldly things. 4. Non-attachment is realized through the Eight-fold path:

       

Right Understanding, Right Intent,
Right Speech,
Right Action,

Right Livelihood, Right Effort,
Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.

Buddhists believe the
determined by karma or the law of cause and effect. The effect or fruit of a man’s good or evil deeds in previous existences determines his destiny. If he did good things in his previous life, he has happiness as a reward but if he did evil things, he has to pay for it by suffering from misfortune, bad luck, and catastrophe. If for some reason he cannot pay his debt in full in the existence, the balance due will be carried over to his next life. If while paying his debt contracted in previous existences, he also does good things, these good deeds have the effect of diminishing the amount of the debt he has to pay in this life.

TRUYEN KIEU

Friday, January 26, 2024

TRUYEN KIEU mo dau

TRUYEN KIEU’S CHARACTERS

TRANSLATION CONCEPT

NGUYEN DU & KIEU, his MASTERPIECE

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