VIETNAMESE FOLK BALLADS (CA DAO VIỆT NAM) (Compiled by Pham Van Binh)
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VIETNAMESE FOLK BALLADS
INTRODUCTION
In the folklore – a precious treasure of our national culture – the folk ballad takes a very important role. The Vietnamese working people’s sentiment, lifestyle, ways of thinking and feeling as well as wording are expressed very abundantly and vividly, concisely and precisely. Studying the Vietnamese folk ballad more deeply, we can understand many things about the Vietnamese people and society in the old time as well as our ancestors’ world outlook and life outlook. The nature appears in the folk ballad lines very beautifully and lyrically causing us, chiefly the overseas ones to deeply love our motherland. The deep love between parents and their children, among married couples and among courting couples are expressed in the folk ballad lines very simply and movingly like the first lessons to many generations of Vietnamese people in the family and social relations. The heroic historical events and national celebrities’ names are also handed down from generation to generation through the folk ballad lines praising our fighting history for national foundation and defence. The indomitable stamp and resistance will to the unjustices in the society are also deeply expressed in the folk ballad lines of anti-feudalism and anti-imperialism.
It can be said that the Vietnamese folk ballad is a very precious cultural heritage made and preserved by our ancestors with a romantic and lyrical soul, with an indomitable stamp through numerous generations so that it can be handed down to us today.
Being Vietnamese people, from a normal working man to the State’s Head, from a domestic resident to an overseas resident, any of us can know by heart some Vietnamese folk ballad lines for they are the Vietnamese people’s souls and flesh.
We hope that this book can give a little help to the readers
We sincerely hope to receive an idea contribution from all the eldely and scholars on the unavoidable errors in this book so that in the future editions, it will be better
Compiler
SOME OUTLINES ON
THE VIETNAMESE FOLK BALLADS
I. THE CONTENT REFLECTED IN THE FOLK BALLAD
1. THE LOVE TO THE MOTHERLAND
In the folk ballad, the Vietnamese people’s love to their motherland is expressed very deeply with a great number of lines extolling the beautiful spots of all the areas from the North to the South together with their local folks and specialities. For example, the following lines :
- The road to the region of Hue is winding up and down
With lots of green mountains and blue rivers like a landscape painting
- The wind is swinging bamboo twigs gently
While The Tran Vo pagoda’s bell is tolling and Tho Xuong village’s cocks are crowing
In the mist arising and covering everything early at dawn
I can hear clearly the sounds of pestle strokes from Yen Thai village flying over the West Lake
- No chickens are better than the chickens of Cao Lanh
No lasses are as beautiful as the lasses of Tan Chau
As I love you, I am not afraid of your family’s riches and fame
So I bring here some hundred grams of sugar-preserved persimmon and some kilos of tea as my gift of marriage proposal
2. THE PRIDE TO THE HEROIC HISTORY
The number of folk ballad lines extolling the historical
events, the glorious feat of arms and celebrities, heroes takes a fairly big part. Our national pride is hereby consolidated and handed down from generation to generation so that today any of us can remember historic geographical names and ancestors through the following folk ballads :
- My child, sleep safe and sound
For me to carry water for cleaning the elephant’s howdah
Villagers, if you want to see it, please go up the mountain
Then you can see Female General Trieu ride on the elephant beating a gong
Women, prepare both brocade and silk purses
To contain betel quids for our husbands to join her army
- The Bach Dang river is a pass one
Whereas Ha Nam canton is a battlefield
- Oh, God ! Raise the wind as fiercely as you can
So that King of Pacification’s flags can wave over the capital
- My dear ! I should follow Lords of Tay Son now
So you should stay at home and do the farming work to take care of our old mother
- There once appeared a valiant named Dinh Cong Trang
Who built up the Ba Dinh fort to resist against the French invasive army
3. YOUNG PEOLE’S PURE AND FAITHFUL LOVE
Young peole’s love is the key subject in the folk ballad mentioned with many different tones from the longing and love to sulks and anger but prevailing over all is courting couples’ pure and faithful love. Many folk ballad lines on young people’s love have entered music to become very lyrical folk songs such as the following lines :
- My darling ! Whenever I pass the communal house, I put my conical hat off to look at it more clearly
For my love to you is as the same as the number of tiles on its roof
- Darling ! Please put off your robe to change for mine now
And we may tell our parents that they were blown away by the wind when we were passing the bridge
- Oh, my darling ! We have taken the silkworm’s life
So we are still lying in cocoons though we have no more silk to let out
4. LOVE OF LABOUR
The Vietnamese working people often create folk ballads in the fields. Therefore, many folk ballads mention their trades and farming work expressing the Vietnamese people’s love of labour. It is very moved for us to read the following folk ballad lines :
- When ploughing the field at noon
The farmer’s sweat drops as continuously as rain onto the
furrows
People, do you know that in your bowl full of rice
Every single soft and fragrant grain is all produced from a lot of hardships !
- Dear buffalo, kindly take my advice
To go ploughing in the field with me now
For the farming is a farmer’s profession
You and I never hesitate to exert ourselves
Whenever riceplants still produce ears of paddy
There is still grass in the pasture for you to graze
And we also greatly respect the toil of the working people who have to work very hard in the field to produce rice and other cereals or in the waters to catch fish and shrimps for people’s living in the following folk ballads :
- Early in the morning I go to the field with a plough on the shoulder
One of my hands holds a straw wisp and the other holds a rope leading my buffalo
In the low field full of water and mud
I have to plough and harrow with my buffalo all day long
- While the parents are drawing and throwing a casting net, their small children ish with rods
Meantime their eldest son is bailing the water out for their daughter-in-law gropes for fish
5. THE WILL OF RESISTING SOCIAL INJUSTICES
In the Vietnamese folk ballads, the will of resisting social injustices is mentioned a great deal for the working people, chiefly the woman were bound and compressed not only by the feudal kings and madarins’ greed and cruelty but also by many unsound customs in the old society. The people’s confidence of writhe when compressed, complaints on poverty or illogic love and will of resisting social injustices are entrusted in the plaintitive or drastic folk ballad lines as the following ones :
- Who is a beggar ? A beggar may be any of us
For being in rags and hunger, we’ll turn into beggars
- The king’s son will succeed to the throne
Whereas the pagoda’s warden’s son will sweep the banian leaves
When the mass raise a war fire
The defeated king’s son will go to the banian leaves at the pagoda
- Children ! Do remember this sentence :
Night robbers are enemies but day robbers are mandarins!
II. THE ART FORM IN THE FOLK BALLAD
1. GENRE :
Vietnamese folk ballads are often created in the six-eight footed style though beside it, there are the double seven and six-eight footed style, and the four-word style etc but not many. And they are often short : two lines, four lines, six lines or eight lines. There are some folk ballads having a greater number of lines but they are not numerous.
2. MODE :
In The Vietnamese folk ballad, three main modes are often used. They are the mode of poetic essay, the mode of comparison and the mode of inspiration
The mode of poetic essay is to present and describe so that the hearer can imagine the issue that the author wants to refer to. For example, the following lines :
- The Nha Be river flows downwards with two affluents
Those who want to go to Gia Dinh and Dong Nai can travel by the waterway
- In Bac Can there are streams in which people can sieve sand for gold
There is also lake Ba Be and lassies in blue dresses
The mode of comparison is to compare so that the ballad lines are more delicate, lovable and pressing. The comparison can be direct as in the following lines :
- Oh, love ! Your wrists are as white as the ivory
Your eyes are as sharp as a knife cutting areca nuts
- Oh, lass ! I see you swinging like a conical hat without a
strap
And like a boat witthout a rudder or a woman without a husband
A married woman is like a person with a cang on the neck
An unmarried woman is like a wooden bed with loosened nails
Or indirect as in the following lines :
- Oh, God ! I think forth and then think back
How many times a spider lets out its thread
I am not sure which source of water is clear and which is turbid to choose and wait for
Like a withered flower, who can I rely on now ?
- Oh, love ! In the present life, I have to break our appointment
For the wharf with a banian tree on it is the former one but the boat is not
The mode of inspiration is to expose emotion due to surroundings. The surroundings are agents to make the author’s sentiment sprout. For example, the following lines:
- Oh, mountain ! Why are you so high
That you hide the sun and my range of vision from my darling
- My dear, our boat’s sail is small
And the wind is blowing gently
The hightide is appearing today
And it will appear again tomorrow
The river is deep and roughly wavy now
So we should wait until it calms down
Then we’ll turn the sail to the windward to navigate the boat
As we have placed our lives into the fisherman’s life
We should love each other to overcome all waterfalls and whirlpools
However, in the fact, these modes are often mingled together in the same ballad, rarely separated. For example, the following lines :
- My darling ! Whenever I go across the bridge, I put my conical hat off to look at it more clearly
For the more span it has, the more sorrowful I am
(Both having the mode of poetic essay – line 1 and the mode of comparison – line 2)
- Oh, love ! I would rather not have known you than have
known you
For I have to cut off my love to you after having made your acquaintance
By the river one side of which is caved in while the other side is extended with deposits of silt
Several people drop their fishing lines to catch only one fish
(Both having the mode of poetic essay – lines 1 and 2 and the mode of both inspiration and comparison – line 3, the mode of comparison – line 4 )
3. STYLE OF WRITING :
Romantic but not lacking humour and fun. For examples, the following lines :
- Oh, God ! The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice
They all have the same plot to press my daughter’s breasts
- A man should do the washing-up and house sweeping
And reply : “Yeah, I’m coming now, madam !” whenever his wife calls him up
- That lady’s nostrils own eighteen loads of hairs
But in his love to her, her husband says they are God-sent
dragon’s ones
At night, in the sleep she often snores noisily
But in his love to her, her husband says her snore can stir the home’s dull atmosphere
When going to market, she often takes noshes
But in his love to her, her husband says it can save the rice at home
Her hair is always full of straws and rubbish
But in his love to her, her husband says they are flowers adorning her head
III.. CONCLUSION
The Vietnamese folk ballad is a precious cultural heritage handed over to us by our ancestors. We should respect, preserve and uphold it in the present modern life.
VIETNAMESE FOLK BALLADS
CA DAO VIỆT NAM
- A -
BALLADS IN THE FEUDAL TIME
CA DAO THỜI KÌ PHONG KIẾN
I. LABOUR AND TRADES
(LAO ĐỘNG VÀ CÁC NGHỀ NGHIỆP)
Oh, God ! Send rain down here for me
So that I can have water to drink
And I can plough my ricefield
To get a bowlful of rice to eat
And straw for cooking
Lạy trời mưa xuống
Lấy nước tôi uống
Lấy ruộng tôi cày
Lấy đầy bát cơm
Lấy rơm đun bếp
Oh, Sun ! Send your light down here
For children to play
For old people to catch lice
And for me to go ploughing
Lạy ông nắng lên
Cho trẻ nó chơi
Cho già bắt rận
Cho tôi đi cày
I am holding a knife
Which I have ground sharp
For my easy cutting
For my easy chopping
Of the twigs and branches
I climb up to the forest
And run about the mountain sides
In my absolute loneliness
To chop fire wood
And after that I look for a windy place
For a comfortable rest…
Tay cầm con dao
Làm sao cho sắc
Để mà dễ cắt
Để mà dễ chặt
Chặt lấy củi cành
Trèo lên rừng xanh
Chạy quanh sườn núi
Một mình thui thủi
Chặt cây chặt củi
Tìm chốn ta ngồi
Ta ngồi gió mát thảnh thơi…
Look ! There fly up here a flock of birds
From a certain place that I don’t know
Some of them are holding fruit in their beaks
And some of them are carrying food
To that path to eat …
Kìa một đàn chim
Ở đâu bay đến ?
Ở đâu bay lại ?
Con đang cắn trái
Con đang tha mồi
Qua lối nọ nó ăn…
Oh, deer who is standing over there !
You are eating buds
Of fig and sycamore
You have already seen me
But I’ll not chase you
What do you go to that path for ?
Cái con hươu kia
Mày đang ăn lộc
Lộc vả lộc sung
Mày trông thấy tớ
Tớ không đuổi mày
Mày qua lối nọ làm chi ?
December is the month in which sweet potatoes are planted
January is the month for pea planting and Feb is for egg-plants
In March, the pea pods have already been ripe
It is time for me to pick them off for drying
April is the right time for me to purchase cattle
For my rice farming preparation in May
Early in the morning I soak rice seeds in water
When they sprout I’ll take them out
And then I’ll carry them to my ricefield for scatter
When they grow into rice seedlings, I’ll pull them up
And prepare money for rice planter employment
Only when the rice transplanting work is finished can I take a rest
The weeds in the ricefield have also already been cleared away
And the water in the ricefield is almost dried up
So I have to prepare a four-stringed bucket for a low field
And two long-handle buckets for a high field
When the rice plants are already in ear
I’ll pay the rice planter for her toil
And when September and October come
I’ll go to the field with a sickle
To harvest and carry paddy home
When it is dried and made clean, my work will be completed.
Tháng chạp là tháng giồng khoai
Tháng giêng trồng đậu, tháng hai trồng cà
Tháng ba thì đậu đã già
Ta đi ta hái về nhà phơi khô
Tháng tư đi tậu trâu bò
Để ta sắm sửa làm mùa tháng năm
Sớm ngày đem lúa ra ngâm
Bao giờ mọc mầm ta sẽ vớt ra
Gánh đi ta ném ruộng ta
Đến khi lên mạ thì ta nhổ về
Sắp tiền mượn kẻ cấy thuê
Cấy xong rồi mới trở về nghỉ ngơi
Cỏ lúa đã dọn sạch rồi
Nước ruộng vơi mười còn độ một hai
Ruộng thấp đóng một gầu dai
Ruộng cao thì phải đóng hai gầu sòng
Chờ cho lúa có đòng đòng
Bấy giờ ta sẽ trả công cho người
Bao giờ cho đến tháng mười
Ta đem liềm hái ra ngoài ruộng ta
Gặt hái ta đem về nhà
Phơi khô quạt sạch ấy là xong công
One year is divided into twelve periods
It is not difficult for me to point them out
In January, I enjoyed the New Year Festival at home
In February, I raised silkworms to kill away idleness
In March, I traded in black cloth
I harvested rice in April and returned home in May
In June I did business by boat
And returned home to buy corn in July and August
In September and October, I cut rice stubble
In November and December, I caught a long-back scholar
He just knows how to eat and sleep
So that I have to be in worry all year round
I would rather marry a hefty peasant
Then I would not have worries but silos of rice and paddy
Một năm chia mười hai kì
Thiếp ngồi thiếp tính khó gì chẳng ra
Tháng giêng ăn tết ở nhà
Tháng hai rỗi rãi quay ra nuôi tằm
Tháng ba đi buôn vải thâm
Tháng tư đi gặt, tháng năm trở về
Tháng sáu em đi buôn bè
Tháng bảy, tháng tám trở về đong ngô
Chín, mười cắt rạ đồng mùa
Một, chạp vớ được anh đồ dài lưng
Anh ăn rồi anh lại nằm
Làm cho thiếp phải quanh năm lo phiền
Chẳng thà lấy chú lực điền
Gạo bồ, thóc đống còn phiền nỗi chi ?
How hard the farmer’s work is !
We don’t dare to do it lazily at any moment
We are busy planting sweet potatoes in December
And planting the pea in Jan, the egg-plant in Feb
In March, we plough the field for the first time
And we sow rice seeds to fit in the weather in April
In May, we carry out the rice harvest
So in June, the field is full of water
We, the old and the young, united in family units
All work on the field so hard that we even forget lunch
In June and July, it is time to cultivate riceplants and do away with grass
In August, the riceplants are in ear
And we have to harvest the rice to keep pace with others
We have had to work hard for some months
With a lot of sudden acts of God
Only after the harvest and rent payment
Can we get no more anxiety
Khéo thay công việc nhà quê
Quanh năm khó nhọc dám bề khoan thai
Tháng chạp thời mắc trồng khoai
Tháng giêng trồng đậu tháng hai trồng cà
Tháng ba cày vỡ ruộng ra
Tháng tư rắc mạ thuận hòa mọi nơi
Tháng năm gặt hái vừa rồi
Bước sang tháng sáu nước trôi đầy đồng
Nhà nhà vợ vợ chồng chồng
Đi làm ngoài đồng sá kể cơm trưa
Tháng sáu tháng bảy đang vừa
Vun trồng giống lúa bỏ chừa cỏ tranh
Tháng tám lúa trỗ đã đành
Tháng mười cắt hái cho nhanh kịp người
Khó khăn làm mấy tháng trời
Lại còn mưa nắng bất thời chờ trông
Cắt rồi nộp thuế nhà công
Từ rày mới được yên lòng ấm no.
I grow mustard greens and water dropwort by the end of Autumn
For daily meals within six months until the end of Spring
Then bindweed has been in full development
I’ll use it for my meals until the end of Autumn
You see, I just take vegetables in their right seasons one after the other.
And never buy them from others
All year round I do the ploughing, harrowing, transplantation and harvest
The fifth-month crop is in Summer and the tenth-month crop is in Winter
Ladies and gentlemen, if you return home, please tell the
villagers that
To have a happy life, they shouldn’t abandon the farming
Cuối thu trồng cải trồng cần
Ăn đong sáu tháng, cuối xuân thì tàn
Bấy giờ rau muống thì lan
Lại ăn cho đến thu tàn thì thôi
Mùa nào thức ấy lần hồi
Lọ là phải chuốc của người đâu xa
Quanh năm cấy hái cày bừa
Vụ chiêm thì hạ vụ mùa thì đông
Ai về nhắn chị em cùng
Muốn cho sung sướng nghề nông phải cần
We should grow cassaba melon in November and December
And transplant fifth-month rice seedlings to avoid anxiety prior to the New Year Festival
In February, we should go purchasing beasts of draught
To plough the field loose for sowing tenth-month rice seeds
Dưa gang một, chạp thì trồng
Chiêm cấy trước tết thì lòng đỡ lo
Tháng hai đi tậu trâu bò
Cày đất cho ải, mạ mùa ta gieo
I would rather stay and carry my baby at home
Than transplant old rice seedlings in June
And I would rather do the same thing
Than transplant in December too young rice seedlings
Tháng sáu mà cấy mạ già
Thà rằng công ấy ở nhà ẵm con
Tháng chạp mà cấy mạ non
Thà rằng công ấy ẵm con ở nhà
In case of bright stars and high clouds at midnight
Next day, it will be very hot and sunny
Villagers, go bailing water into your ricefields and don’t sit waiting for rain
While your rice fields are dry and your riceplants are thirsty
Nửa đêm sao sáng mây cao
Triệu trời nắng gắt nắng gào chẳng sai
Lúa khô nước cạn ai ơi
Rủ nhau tát nước chờ trời còn lâu.
In the sky, there is the star named God of Farming
Who show the way of cultivation to farmers all year round
In Spring, the God stands with his back bent down
Villagers, do you know that it’s time to grow beans ?
In September when the moon is full and the God’s back is straight up a bit
It is time for a rice harvest
Trên trời có ông sao Thần
Bốn mùa chỉ lối cho dân ăn làm
Sang xuân Thần cúi lom khom
Là mùa trồng đậu, dân làng biết chăng ?
Bước sang tháng chín rõ trăng
Lưng Thần hơi đứng là đang gặt mùa
Whenever the Pleiades appear, it’s time to sow tenth-month rice seeds
And in the first-heat period one should go harrowing the field and transplanting rice seedlings
When the cold dew period comes, the riceplants are in full ear
One should come back home from everywhere for the harvest by the beginning of Winter.
Tua rua đi rắc mạ mùa
Tiểu thử đi bừa, cấy ruộng rất sâu
Hàn lộ lúa trổ bằng đầu
Lập đông ta quyết về mau gặt mùa
During the Pleiades’s one-month-and-ten-day existence
One can get a good crop even though he ploughs carelessly
Whenever seeing Chinese fig peels dropped on the road
And the Pleiades are doubled up, one should stop his rice transplantation
But one can ignore the Pleiades’ existence
For his old rice seedlings and well-prepared field can give him a good crop as others.
Tua rua một tháng mười ngày
Cấy trốc luống cày cũng được lúa xơi
Ra đường thấy vỏ thị rơi
Tua rua quặt lại thì thôi cấy mùa
Tua rua thì mặc tua rua
Mạ già ruộng ngấu không thua bạn điền
Villagers, eat potatoes and taros if you are hungry
But don’t feel glad when seeing the riceplants are in ear in February1
Đói thì ăn ráy ăn khoai
Chớ thấy lúa trỗ tháng hai mà mừng2
Whenever the Pleiades appear
One should sow rice seeds after ploughing and harrowing the field carefully
Bao giờ mang hiện đến ngày
Cày bừa cho chín mạ này đem gieo
I use peck-wood to make ploughs
And use ironwood to make harrows
It will be thin if a harrow has only eight teeth
And it will be good for big furrows if a ploughshare is
eight decimetre long
Villagers, if you want your rice plants to have big and plump ears
You should plough and harrow the field carefully and put down a lot of fertilizer
Gỗ kiền anh để đóng bừa
Gỗ lim gỗ sến anh nay đóng bừa
Răng bừa tám cái còn thưa
Lưỡi cày tám tấc đã vừa luống to
Muốn cho lúa mẩy bông to
Cày sâu bừa kĩ phân gio cho nhiều
Villagers, let’s go ploughing and harrowing toghether
We are working hard now but in the future we’ll certainly have a good life
In both of the high and low fields
Men are doing the ploughing, their wives are doing the rice transplantation and their buffaloes are doing the harrowing
Rủ nhau đi cấy đi cày
Bây giờ khó nhọc có ngày phong lưu
Trên đồng cạn dưới đồng sâu
Chồng cày vợ cấy con trâu đi bừa
When ploughing the field at noon
The farmer’s sweat drops as continuously as rain onto the
furrows
People, do you know that in your bowl full of rice
Every single soft and fragrant grain is all produced from a lot of hardships !
Cày đồng đang buổi ban trưa
Mồ hôi thánh thót như mưa ruộng cày
Ai ơi bưng bát cơm đầy
Dẻo thơm một hạt đắng cay muôn phần !
Early in the morning I go to the field with a plough on the shoulder
One of my hands holds a straw wisp and the other holds a rope leading my buffalo
In the low field full of water and mud
I have to plough and harrow with my buffalo all day long
Rạng ngày vác cày ra đồng
Tay cầm mồi lửa tay dòng thừng trâu
Ruộng đầm nước cả bùn sâu
Suốt ngày cùng với con trâu cày bừa
We do the farming work in spite of rain and sunshine
But we just have salt and pickle for our daily meals
People, whenever you take hold of a bow full of rice
Please, remember the toil of us, the farmers !
Việc làm chẳng quản nắng mưa
Cơm ăn đắp đổi muối dưa qua ngày
Ai ơi bưng bát cơm đầy
Biết công kẻ cấy, người cày mấy nao !
I am not good at both prose and poetry at all
So I return to my home village to follow the farming work
Every morning, I visit the field with a hoe on the shoulder
If the field is dry, I’ll bail water in it with a long-handle bucket
If the rice seedlings run out, I’ll carry them more to the field
If I am short of paddy, I’ll carry money to buy it
To wait until the rice plants become ripe all over the field
Then I’ll harvest them to be worth my toil of farming
Văn chương phú lục chẳng hay
Trở về làng cũ học cày cho xong
Sớm ngày vác cuốc thăm đồng
Hết nước thì lấy gầu sòng tát lên
Hết mạ ta lại quẩy thêm
Hết lúa ta lại mang tiền đi đong
Nữa mai lúa chín đầy đồng
Gặt về đập sẩy bõ công cấy cày
Thanks to the moderate rain and sunshine in time
We can harrow in the high field and plough in the low
field
We don’t care how much toil we have done
The field is full of white water today and full of yellow paddy in the future
Villagers, don’t let your fields uncultivated
For each inch of land is equal to each inch of gold
Ơn trời mưa nắng phải thì
Nơi thì bừa cạn nơi thì cày sâu
Công lênh chẳng quản bao lâu
Ngày nay nước bạc, ngày sau cơm vàng
Ai ơi đừng bỏ ruộng hoang
Bao nhiêu tấc đất, tấc vàng bấy nhiêu
My dear, get up and go to the field to work or you’ll be late
For the day has already broken
We are in a poor lot so we can’t be afraid of rain and sunshine
If we plough and harrow carefully, we may once have a good crop.
Mặt trời tang tảng rạng đông
Chàng ơi trở dậy ra đồng kẻo trưa
Phận hèn bao quản nắng mưa
Cày sâu bừa kĩ được mùa có phen
Thanks to good weather
Farmers, old and young, compete with one another in the
farming
For us, chickens and eels are the best foods and areca gardens are nice scenery
It is the best for us to have foods in their right seasons in our rural life
Nhờ trời mưa thuận gió hòa
Nào cày nào cấy trẻ già đua nhau
Chim : gà, cá : nhệch, cảnh : cau
Mùa nào thức ấy giữ màu cảnh quê
Dear buffalo, kindly take my advice
To go ploughing in the field with me now
For the farming is a farmer’s profession
You and I never hesitate to exert ourselves
Whenever riceplants still produce ears of paddy
There is still grass in the pasture for you to graze
Trâu ơi, ta bảo trâu này
Trâu ra ngoài ruộng trâu cày với ta
Cấy cày vốn nghiệp nông gia
Ta đây trâu đấy ai mà quản công
Bao giờ cây lúa còn bông
Thì còn ngọn cỏ ngoài đồng trâu ăn.
Dear buffalo calf, kindly take my advice
To graze much grass to be fat and plough deep
For none of the people in life are wiser than others
But they are richer than others just due to their
laboriousness
Nghé ơi ta bảo nghé này
Nghé ăn cho béo, nghé cày cho sâu
Ở đời không khéo chi đâu
Chẳng qua cũng chỉ hơn nhau chữ cần
While the parents are drawing and throwing a casting net, their small children ish with rods
Meantime their eldest son is bailing the water out for their daughter-in-law gropes for fish
Cha chài, mẹ lưới, con câu
Con trai tát nước, nàng dâu đi mò
Looking at the sea, I just see fog and water
So I am full of pity for you who are fishing alone overthere.
Nom ra ngoài bể mù mù
Thấy anh câu đục, câu đù mà thương
What do you stand there for, dear ?
Please, go to the coastal area to draw a fishing net with me!
For my family is following the fishery
When the sea is calm, my house will be full of fish and shrimps
From the white-scaled fish to the soft-flesh fish
While the anchovy and macropodus are also numerous
If you also fall in love with me
We’ll have a lot of chance to meet each other
Please, go home and inform your parents of our love
So see if they agree to it or not, dear !
Nàng đứng ở đó làm chi
Nàng về kẻ bể mà đi kéo rùng
Nhà tôi nghề giã nghề sông
Lặng thì tôm cá đầy trong đầy ngoài
Cá trắng cho chí cá khoai
Còn như cá lẹp cá mai cũng nhiều
Quí hồ nàng có lòng yêu
Cái đường đi lại còn nhiều khi ta
Nàng về thưa với ông bà
Có cho nàng lấy chồng xa hay đừng ?
Dear son, remember my words
That on the fifth of September there will be a strong storm
And you should wait until October
Then you can go fishing offshore as freely as you like
Con ơi nhớ lấy lời cha
Mồng năm tháng chín thật là bão rươi
Bao giờ cho đến tháng mười
Thì con vào lộng ra khơi mặc lòng
Hey, fishermen at sea
Sail back to the shore at once whenever you see a strong current appearing
For it is the sign of a rough sea with high waves
And a storm will come soon with hard rain
Những người đi biển làm nghề
Thấy dòng nước lớn thì về đừng đi
Sóng lừng bụng biển ầm ì
Bão mưa ta tránh chớ hề ra khơi.
My friend ! If the fish don’t bite your bait
Don’t waste your health and time by catching them with all your best
Câu cá, cá chẳng ăn mồi
Đừng câu mà mệt, đừng ngồi mà trưa
I have a silver fishing rod with a silk fishing line
So I never go fishing in a dark but moon-lit night
The river is deep and the sea is also deep
One should drop a long line if he wants to catch a big fish
Cần câu bạc, cột chạc dây tơ
Sáng trăng câu nhởi, trăng mờ không câu
Sông sâu mà biển cũng sâu
Muốn ăn cá lớn giong câu cho dài
Fellow-travellers ! Please, row the boat with me now
If you want to eat bamboo shoots of all kinds with bamboo-tube rice
In our up-and-down journey on the mountainous route.
We can enjoy the birds’ songs on this side and the monkeys’ jump on that one.
Muốn ăn măng trúc măng giang
Măng tre măng nứa cơm lam thì chèo
Ngược xuôi lên thác xuống đèo
Chim kêu bên nọ, vượn trèo bên kia
Fellows, don’t show your talent in a hurry now
For the river is deep, the sea is boundless but your poles are too short
Nobody can foresee anything in a high tide and big waves
So you shouldn’t be weak whenever you fling yourself into danger
Giỏi giang chớ vội khoe tài
Sông sâu sào vắn bể trời mênh mông
Nước to sóng cả khôn chừng
Đã vào gian hiểm xin đừng non tay
Whenever one can successfully raise three successive broods of silkworms
He’ll become rich with a lot of money and rice
Tằm chăn ba lứa thuận hòa
Tiền dư thóc tích cửa nhà cao sang
The silkworm usually nibbles mulberry leaves
But it may sometimes swallow up both buffaloes and oxen
Con tằm nó ăn lá dâu
Có khi ăn mất cả trâu lẫn bò
There should be mulberry leaves for raising silkworms
And to have good mulberry trees, one should take a good
care of them
First, one should makes beds in the garden
And then plant mulberry cuttings in a space of two metres
Remember that the mulberry always needs a lot of water
But mulberry trees will die if the garden gets a flood
Nuôi tằm cần phải có dâu
Muốn cho dâu tốt phải mau vun trồng
Vườn thì cuốc rãnh thong dong
Cách nhau hai thước đặt hông cho đầy
Giống dâu ưa nước xưa nay
Nhưng khi ngập hết thì cây cũng già
The rain is spattering down on the mulberry field
Wearing a conical hat and carrying a basket by the side
I get down the field and pick mulberry leaves
To raise my silkworms for the day they’ll give me their silk cords
Oh, lad ! I am an innocent young girl
But I have experienced a lot of hardships and sunshine and
rain
Living far from me, do you know my situation
I’ll just hope that we’ll never forget each other in the life full of difficulties
Trời mưa lác đác ruộng dâu
Cái nón đội đầu, cái thúng cắp tay
Bước chân xuống hái dâu này
Nuôi tằm cho lớn mong ngày ươm tơ
Thương em chút phận ngây thơ
Lầm than đã trải, nắng mưa đã từng
Xa xôi ai có tỏ chừng
Gian nan tân khổ ta đừng quên nhau
Yesterday when I was weaving with a golden shuttle
I suddenly longed to see you so that the shuttle had to stop
My dear, the loom also felt sad then
And I saw your image appearing in the lamp’s light
Hôm qua dệt cửi thoi vàng
Sực nhớ đến chàng cửi lại dừng thoi
Cửi rầu, cửi tủi chàng ơi
Ngọn đèn sáng tỏ bóng người đằng xa
I’ll come back to weave cloth on the loom
So that you can read books in the same light with me
I’ll sell this cloth for some money
So that I can buy silk to cut a robe for you, dear
For the inside of the robe, I’ll sew a violet and green lining
And for its outside, I’ll embroider a couple of butterflies circling over a twig of cotton rose hibiscus
Em về dệt cửi trên khung
Để anh đọc sách cùng chung một đèn
Vải này em bán lấy tiền
Em mua lụa liền may áo cho anh
Trong thì lót tím lót xanh
Ngoài thêu đôi bướm lượn cành phù dung
In a summer night full of breeze and moonlight
I weave cloth while you are mending the fishing net
My first love is the jasmine flower
And my second love is you who often wear a long robe
I have met you only once , dear
But I miss you so much that I feel haggard all year round
Đêm hè gió mát trăng thanh
Em ngồi canh cửi còn anh vá chài
Nhất thương là cái hoa lài
Nhì thương ai đó áo dài lấm thân
Gặp người sao có một lần
Để em thương nhớ tần ngần suốt năm
I am a carpenter from Thanh Hoa province
So I am very good at building bridges, pavilions and houses
I select columns to connect purlins with them
And then I plane them smooth and chisel tight mortises for
their good connection
On the four doors, I’ll carve four goat images
That are attending upon their ancestors
On the four doors, I’ll carve four dragon images
Some of them hatch eggs above and some are climbing below
On the four doors, I’ll carve four cat images
Some of them are hunting mice and some are climbing on
the roof beams
On the four doors, I’ll carve four chicken images
They crow at night and work in the garden by day
On the four doors, I’ll carve four eel images
Some of them are coiling and some are crawling away
On the four doors, I’ll carve four flower images
The flowers above are cholorantuses and the flowers below are lotuses
On the four doors, I’ll carve four lamp images
One lamp is for weaving, one lamp is for spinning
One lamp is for reading books and chanting poems
And one lamp is spent in my waiting for your coming.
Anh làm thợ mộc Thanh Hoa
Làm cầu làm quán làm nhà khéo thay
Lựa cột anh dựng đòn tay
Bào trơn đóng bén nó ngay một bề
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn dê
Bốn con dê đực chầu về tổ tông
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn rồng
Trên thì rồng ấp dưới thì rồng leo
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn mèo
Con thì bắt chuột con leo xà nhà
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn gà
Đêm thì gà gáy ngày ra làm vườn
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn lươn
Con thì thắt khúc, con trườn ra xa
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn hoa
Trên là hoa sói, dưới là hoa sen
Bốn cửa anh chạm bốn đèn
Một đèn dệt cửi, một đèn quay tơ
Một đèn đọc sách ngâm thơ
Một đèn anh để đợi chờ nàng đây.
At leisure before the harvest time in my home village
Villagers all weave eelpots and fish-pots for sale
Thanks to the good weather
Our eelpots and fish-pots are well consumed so we all feel happier
Quê anh ngày tám tháng ba
Quay vào làm rọ quay ra đan lờ
Nhờ trời mưa thuận gió hòa
Lờ rọ bán được, cửa nhà thêm vui
I split bamboo and weave baskets only by myself
So I can’t complain to anyone whenever I make a mistake
Một mình vừa chẻ vừa đan
Lỗi lầm thì chịu phàn nàn cùng ai
I should grind coconut pulp and take it out as fast as I can
To press it into oil to polish my hair and yours
I should grind coconut pulp in the moonlight
To press it into oil to polish your hair and mine
Mài dừa đạp cám cho nhanh
Ép dầu mà chải tóc anh tóc nàng
Mài dừa dưới ánh trăng vàng
Ép dầu mà chải tóc nàng tóc anh
If you marry me, you’ll be happier than a king
For I often catch big crabs when going fishing
Then I’ll bring them home for your cookery
We’ll enjoy a bigger feast than a king’s meal
Lấy anh thì sướng hơn vua
Anh đi xúc giậm được cua kềnh càng
Đem về nấu nấu rang rang
Chồng chan vợ húp lại càng hơn vua
In April, I’ll make riceballs for a trip to Chong islet
For one has to crawl into Mai cave if he wants to gather swallow eggs
January is the month for pleasure and amusement
But I have to lie in wait for sea turtles on Khoi islet alone then1
Tháng tư cơm gói ra hòn
Muốn ăn trứng nhạn phải lòn hang Mai
Tháng giêng là tháng ăn chơi
Anh đi nằm bãi hòn Khơi một mình2
I spare old bamboos for the lath splitting
The big ones are for broad flat drying baskets while the small ones are for sieves
As to their butts, I’ll use them as blocks for beds
While I use their tops as trellis-works for the betel and melon
Tre già anh để pha nan
Lớn đan nong né, bé đan giần sàng
Gốc thì anh để kê giường
Ngọn ngành anh để cắm giàn trầu, dưa.
This hammock is made of old jute fibers
I have approved it after three long years of choice
From now on, we’ll have joint parents
And share the same hammock together in moonlit nights for ever
Võng này đan sợi đay già
Em đi kén võng đã ba năm chầy
Đôi ta chung mẹ chung thầy
Đêm trăng chung võng vơi đầy thủy chung
In the area of Van Van, there is a wharf named Tho Ha1
Van Van is famous of the rice wine distilling while Tho Ha is famous of the limestone baking
One thinks that broken stones are just waste
Unexpectedly, they become good lime after being baked
Vạn Vân có bến Thổ Hà2
Vạn Vân nấu rượu, Thổ Hà nung vôi
Nghĩ rằng đá nát thì thôi
Ai ngờ đá nát nung vôi lại nồng
My dear, go back home to open a tea house
So that I can drop in it whenever I pass there as a traveller
Em về dọn quán bán hàng
Để anh là khách qua đàng trú chân
Those girls have white complexion because they have applied powder
I am black because I have to do the selling in the sun at the market
Trắng da là bởi phấn dồi
Da đen là bởi em ngồi chợ trưa
Oh, salesgirl ! Do your selling early in the morning
And don’t make any more offer in the market at noon
Bán hàng thì bán sớm mai
Chợ trưa người vẫn còn nài làm chi.
In our trading, we should have trust in one another first
And keep our words even when getting losses
For defraudation for interests is blamable
The duper himself has to bear all the sins for the gains he has brought to his family members
Dishonesty and greed are not worth imitating
For dishones and greedy people just try their best to cheat one another
Ill-gotten gains never bring about long-lasting riches
While only honestly-gotten ones can
Tin nhau buôn bán cùng nhau
Thiệt hơn hơn thiệt trước sau như lời
Hay gì lừa đảo kiếm lời
Một nhà ăn uống tội trời riêng mang
Theo chi những thói gian tham
Pha phôi thực giả tìm đường dối nhau
Của phi nghĩa có giàu đâu
Ở cho ngay thật giàu sau mới bền
My dear, remember not to marry a merchant
For he just stays in fortune but leaves in misfortune
Em ơi, chớ lấy quân buôn
Hồi vui nó ở, hồi buồn nó đi.
In the childhood, one knows nothing at all
But at the age of school, one should be laborious in learning
For in the field of studies
One should feel ashamed if he is inferior to his classmates
Nhỏ còn thơ dại biết chi
Lớn rồi đi học, học thì phải siêng
Theo đòi cũng thể bút nghiên
Thua em kém chị cũng nên hổ mình
In the whole village there is only one teacher
Who does the teaching much less than the crab groping
In my pity on the teacher, I intend to follow him
But I am just afraid that he’ll sell me off to earn his living
Cả làng có một thầy đồ
Dạy học thì ít, bắt cua thì nhiều
Thương thầy, trò cũng muốn theo
Chỉ sợ thầy nghèo, bán cả trò đi
One can have an easy life when his parents are rich
But one has to lead a hard life when his parents are poor
Early in the morning, he has to burn wood for coal on the mountain
And go digging for small crabs on the seashore in the afternoon
Cha mẹ giầu, con thong thả
Cha mẹ nghèo, con vất vả gian nan
Sớm mai lên núi đốt than
Chiều về xuống biển đào hang bắt còng
In Thot Not market there is a ring of boxing
While Co Do1 market is too crowded thought it is smal
Let me work for someone to earn each coin for your living
As seeing you do the selling there, I feel discontented
Chợ Thốt Nốt có lập đài khán võ
Chợ Cờ Đổ2 tuy nhỏ mà đông
Thấy em buôn bán anh chẳng vừa lòng
Để anh làm mướn kiếm từng đồng nuôi em
My dear, come back to Hue city to make broad-brimmed pot-holders
And send them here so that I can sell them for you
Anh về ngoài Huế thắt rế tai bèo
Gửi vô em bán đỡ nghèo nuôi anh
Though other people compete with one another in big business
I am still carrying out my petty paper production in optimism
Ladies and gentlemen, don’t laugh at me
When I carry out my paper production just for editions of poems
Người ta bán vạn buôn ngàn
Em đây làm giấy cơ hàn vẫn tươi
Dám xin ai đó đừng cười
Vì em làm giấy cho người viết thơ
Paper mulberries ! I have to pound you day after day
So that my legs are getting numb and tired now
I have to lift you up day and night, paper sheets !
So that I always feel painful in my legs
Giã nay rồi lại giã mai
Đôi chân tê mỏi dó ơi vì mày
Seo đêm rồi lại seo ngày
Đôi chân nhức buốt vì mày giấy ơi
My dear, tell me where you’ll go to earn your living
So that I can carry your chisels and planes to accompany you
Hỏi anh làm thợ nơi nao
Để em gánh đục gánh bào đi theo
A woman will feel very happy when she marries a
carpenter
For she can have sawdust to damp down a fire and shavings for cooking
Shavings are much drier than straws
While sawdust is much more fragrant than aloe wood
Lấy chồng thợ mộc sướng sao
Mạt cưa rấm bếp, vỏ bào nấu cơm
Vỏ bào còn nỏ hơn rơm
Mạt cưa rấm bếp còn thơm hơn trầm
Oh, lassie ! If you want to eat white rice with fish
Please go to Da But1 to do a blacksmith’s work with me
Then you’ll have three meals a day
And fan me in the evening so that I can do a blacksmith’s work
Muốn ăn cơm trắng cá thèn
Thì về Đa Bút2 đi rèn với anh
Một ngày ba bữa cơm canh
Tối về quạt mát cho anh ngồi rèn
In a summer night full of cool breeze and moonlight
I’ll split bamboo into strings for you to plait ropes, dear !
Đêm hè gió mát trăng thanh
Em ngồi chẻ lại cho anh chắp thừng
- Oh, lad ! I’ll not waste myself by marrying a carver like you
Who saws all day long but earns no money at all
- Oh, lassie ! Only when your ancestors have been buried
in a dragon’s mouth1
Can you marry a carver like me.
- Hoài thân lấy chú thợ khay2
Cò cưa kí quéc cả ngày cơm không
- Nhà em mả táng hàm rồng
Thì em mới lấy được chồng thợ khay
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