Return to Village a Vietnamese Poem Explicated

Return  to the  Village

A Poem composed by Mai Van Phan in Vietnamese

Translted into English by Pompen Hantrakool

Explicated by  Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

 Return to the Village

A sound of sedge mat weaving

The moon over a river

Slow and slight

Let civilization do whatever it can let urbanization spread its wings man is ever haunted by nostalgia  a longing for returning home or for the village which is the antithesis of town.Town stands for an artificial life. Village stands for a life in close communion with Nature. In the city every man is an island. In the village there is community life.The present poem dwells on  the poets return to village. The poet is everyman who returns to village.He returns to the village .It is night and the Moon is up. Night stands for the disappearance of the world without.Naturally the world within is alight in the Moon . The Moon stands for imagination.While the senses directed  towards the outer world are restrained the imagination in the inner world shows up.The moon is over a river.What does the river stand for?Perhaps  the river stands for eternal flux.But while in the cities the change is fast the river in the village is slow. Changes do take place in villages as well. But they are slow in relation to the changes in the city.But the sound of the flowing river is heard. Mai Van Phan is often the poet of the ear. He has the ear for the sound of the silence too. The river is slow and its murmuring sound is slight and not audible to everyone. Everyone cannot hear the inaudible sound that leaps from the ceaseless changes everywhere in the multiverse. This is the primordial sound the Om that has baffled every interpretation through ages and aeons.The poet Mai Van Phan dares to decode it. With him the sound likens the weaving of sedge mat.Well  Vietnam grows lot  of sedge ,Thousands of people are engaged in weaving sedgemats.The sedgemat is exported to the US Germany and other countries. Thus the sound of weaving sedgemats which is heard in many a village in Vietnam stands for economic activity that could bring peace and prosperity. But this is not all. The bride and bridegroom during their marriage are seated on a sedge mat. Because that will bless them with peace prosperity and fertility. Thus in the primordial sound that runs through the multiverse the poet hears the prophecy of a brave  new Vietnam in the offing and of a brave new world in the making where peace prosperity and economic activity will rule

Vietnamese Folk Ballads compiled and translated by Pham Van Binh

 VIETNAMESE FOLK BALLADS (CA DAO VIỆT NAM) (Compiled by Pham Van Binh)

Pham Van Binh

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

Two Seasons by Mai Van Phan: A Vietnamese Poem Explicated

Translated into English by Pompen Hantrak

Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

I stand between

a cicadas chirp and

A chrysanthemum

Explication

The poet Mai Van Phan  positions the readers between two conflicting perceptions and impels the readers thereby to probe deeper into the koans of existence.The poet stands between  a cicadas chirp and a chrysanthemum.The cicadas chirp imples auditory perception. The chrysanthemum implies visual perception.While visual perception gives us the sense of space the auditory perception gives us the sense of time.Now a days it is posited that space and time go together they together constituting the fourth dimension. But Mai Van Phan asks  what if  there is an apparent conflict between space and time? Apparently sense perceptions take place somewhere beyond the sphere of consciousness.We have five senses in eyes ears smell tongue and touch. But when two sense perceptions are at war with one another our consciousness is impelled to rise up to the occasion.A fruit may look beautiful. But if its smell is repulsive consciousness is awake to the situation. It often vacillates—to eat the fruit or not to eat the fruit. That is how we can explain the vacillation of Macbeth who wavered from to do or not to do or vacillation of Hamlet who wavered from to be or not to be in Shakespeare.Each one of the five senses has its own object of love.And  the object of love of one sense might come in conflict with the object of love of another sense and the person who is decked with these different senses is at a loss what to do or what to make out of such a conflicting situation.Cicadas indicate summer. It is in summer that cicada males sing to invite their female counterparts. They sing together to invite their female counterparts.They can hibernate in the earth for years together and they can choose the time when they should be born.When they sing they sing in a group . Sometimes the sound of their songs wax and sometimes wane.But their song seems to have no ending because they can sing throughout the livelong day.They donot have any voice organ.They beat their bellies with their wings just as we beat drums.And there is droning sound may be reminiscent of the primordial sound Om.While towards the end of summer their songs continue the first autumnal flowers such as chrysanthemum wake up. The Bible says In the beginning there was the Word and God said Let there be Light and there was Light.Chrysanthemums stand for light ;they show up at the bidding of the cicada which stands for Word.True that Chrysanthemums are not  specific to any season.But in Vietnam they show up mainly in September and they continue till the Tet festival. In Vietnam they gather chrysanthemum particularly during the lunar new year , tao mo and cung gio.Tao mo speaks of the last day of every lunar year.It is on this day that the people visit the graves of their ancestors and clean them and decorate them . Cing gio is the anniversary of an ancestors death. It is during the Cung gio that the ancestors are worshipped. Chrysanthemums espied when cicadas sing might mean that the ancestors are hibernating,The poet does not see the cicadas but he can hear them. Similarly the poet cannot see the bodiless ancestors. But he can hear their inaudible somgs. This is not all. The cicadas stand for resurrection. Does not the poet Mai Van Phan position his readers between two seasons life and death? It is an unforgettable experience for any reader whatever.

One Story One Song - A Narrative by Bubua

“For how many more years will we lead a life like this? Trapped in the fringes of a half rotten liver and stone filled kidney? I’m sick and tired of the gastric juice! “, he exclaimed suddenly with a grunt, after a long fulfilling lunch.

Once upon a time when stories and songs were being passed onto generations verbally and not through the use of audio-books or torrent-downloaded films, there lived twin brothers namely Story and Song. Although they were pretty old then, age did not bother them much as they used to get transfer from one habitat to another and with each transfer, there used to be a renewed thirst for life as they were rewarded with new physical additions. Story and Song always used to fight amongst themselves regarding the fact that who is older amongst the two. But however much they fought, this remained a mystery as their creator was never to be found and they could only remember a chain transfer – from a generation to a generation. They had seen a lot of changes over the period; even in the manner people behave and think.


It was a winter afternoon, as far as they remember, when the blue-eyed mother decided to transfer them over to her teenage daughter, who has just reached puberty. Story was really excited about this transfer as over the period, he has enjoyed a certain form of superiority and smoothness in transfer when compared to Song, who has been complaining of body aches and rough landing often inflicting serious injuries during the last several transfer sessions. However, this time it was an enjoyable journey for both of them. Mother took immense care in passing them off while the daughter eagerly and willfully accepted them inside her.


“So we are the first ones to get inside her after puberty. Well she’s quite sexy! What do you say? “, said Story with a smile. “That’s really gross brother. If you need to express that, please do it in a more musical manner, more subtly. Otherwise, they’ll say we are not cultured enough.”

“Let them say so. I don’t care about what they say. If we start thinking about what they say, and start altering according to their definitions, then a time will come when they’ll question our existence.”


Years passed by in flashes and Story & Song started feeling like they are living in a jail. This was the first time they discovered the hard truth – they themselves have no existence; it is the process and art of transfer which makes them quantifiable entities. Their existence has always been decided by a mere process of extempore output, passed on as culture of periods. They thought they have the weapon which precisely and exclusively they own – time; they can create time. But alas! These entirely lie in the hands of someone else, whom they cannot control rather their fate depends on the decisions or whims of this other. Slowly but steadily a fear started gripping them. What will happen if one day Story is transferred but Song remains trapped? Is their brotherhood at threat? And the most important questions came up – Will such a long gap change their very existence and mold their personalities into different beings?


It was a winter afternoon. The daughter had a tiring day at work and she was taking a siesta after a stomach full lunch. Last few days, Song has been planning of finding a way to come out and take revenge on her. The weather seemed fine to make this the D-Day. Like all the afternoons, their jail space was getting contracted and expanded with each breath of the daughter but today, they were busy in measuring the streaks of light coming from the small hole few feet above them. Song found out after years of research that it is this whole which is their path to freedom, as it always has been. Earlier though there were other places as well, but for the last few transfers, which happened years ago, this has been mostly the pathway. The streaks of light beautifully lightened up the struggling upward path but the fluctuations were to be followed to receive freedom. “I’m going up, okay. You keep following the light. Remember, it is right at that moment when the area starts getting brighter, you’ll have to make the push. Then only you’ll be able to come out. Don’t worry if you get blinded by the light while taking the jump, because it is our light of independence.” explained Song carefully and took a jump and within minutes vanished out of eyesight. Now, it was time for Story to make the cut. He could hear Song shouting out, faintly,” Easy brother, easy. Keep watching, keep watching, your moment is coming… Jump… Jump….” For a moment it seemed they have lost each other forever. Story could not recall any of the instructions given by his brother, neither he could gauge head and tail of the opening and closing of pathway. He just jumped, trusting his intuition, and within moments his eyes were blinded by array of light. And then, the scary moment was gone, although it seemed like years. He could see his brother. Story and Song were once again free.


Freedom comes for a price. History has been proof of so many freedom movements, which has taken away a lot more than offered. But the taste of freedom is mysteriously delicious. And some often goes into a trance with it. This was particularly not the case with Story and Song though. They hugged each other tightly, for the first time they discovered themselves as entities independent of time, culture, period, generation and people. But the joy of freedom could not wipe out the horrors of years of being trapped. They thought they were in control of time, it is them whole can create time, but right at this moment they realized – they have fallen behind time. “We must not let her go so easily”, said Story holding onto his grudge. “Even though we are free, where will we go alone? It is ultimately the process of transfer, which gives us existence. We need to do something.”

“Revenge. Its time for revenge.” Shouted both of them together.

Story took the shape of a man’s boot and carefully placed himself at the entrance of the door. Song took the shape of a man’s coat and carefully placed himself at the wall hanger in the corner of the room. When the daughter woke up, she started doing her usual chores without realizing the chaos that had taken place while she was in sleep. She thought to herself about the extra hour she has slept that day, which was quite awkward considering the lazy day it has been. “Maybe because of the weather” she said to herself. It was twilight. The sun was setting behind the horizon, fog was setting in slowly and the whole atmosphere was filled with an enigma. She was sipping tea from her cup while finishing up the last chores before sunsets. The lush green fields were swaying with the breeze and there was a smell of mystery all over the village. It was time add some fuel and light up the diya. She remembers, her mother used to keep the diya light all the time she was awake and it was only before going to sleep at night, she put a stone on it to pass the fire onto the ground. “Diya gives you energy. And energy is never lost. When it is in the air, you take it to work and when you pass it onto ground, you take it to sleep peacefully. This is what our culture believes in.” mother used to say to her when she was a mere schoolgirl. She added some fuel to the diya to keep the energy alive and saw the doors and windows of neighbourhood closing by with the last rays of sun.

“Meera, open the door.” Her husband shouted from outside and she gracefully stepped ahead to open the door. In the light of the diya, the middle aged Meera looked as calm and composed and innocent as she was when she sat for the wedding.

“Who has come?” enquired Meera’s husband, in a hush-hush manner.

“You came right now. Who else will come?” Meera said astonishingly.

“I mean is your brother or some family member is here for visit?”

“No. None is here. Why are you suddenly asking?”

“Then whose boots are these?” husband pointed out at a pair of boots at the entrance.

“How would I know? Maybe someone has left them there”


Husband entered the house sceptically, not being very satisfied with Meera’s reply but certainly not wanting to question it any further. He washed off his face and drank a glass of water, still thinking about the weird pair of boots, which must be belonging to a man from city. He tried to imagine if he has seen anyone coming from city that day. He even tried to fit those boots mentally into Ravi babu’s feet, who would often visit the city for trade purposes. Ravi babu was a rich man and has been infamous in village for trying to befriend the wives of neighbours and then taking their advantage when the men of household were out for work. Even if Ravi babu tried to impress Meera, he would have gifted her something more precious rather than a pair of man’s boots, which are of no use to her. All these thoughts crossed over husband’s mind as he moved into the bedroom from courtyard. But as soon as he entered the room, a nightmare struck him.

“Meera.. Meera.. Come here immediately..” he shouted half in panic, half in the horrors of his previous thought. “Tell me, who has been here when I was at work?”

“I told you I was alone. None has been here”

“Do you think I’m a fool? Whose coat is that hanging at corner? That’s certainly not mine. What the hell have you been upto…..”

What started as a mere inquiry was quickly turned into a fight with both Meera and her husband holding onto their ground firmly. Sparks started flying and was spilling over to the neighbourhood as well. Story and Song were enjoying this moment thoroughly. They had waited for this revenge. Meera was hell-bent on the fact that she has been the only one in the house. Story made several gestures to song pointing out how foolish she was, she did not even feel the presence of one of the two; she could not even understand that they exist along with her. It has been this way for years. The only difference was, today she had to pay for her mistake. She had to answer to the questions raised after all these years. Who gave her the right to take away freedom from Story and Song? They have been transferred over generations. They have had their share of good and bad moments but what she was doing with them was just bodacious. So she had to face the outcome today. But such a situation gave just a momentary pleasure to Story and Song. They knew that their ultimate goal was to let her transfer them over. Their hope stuck to the fact that such a situation will soon arrive. Otherwise, there will be a breakdown of culture, breakdown of society, breakdown of time. Civilization cannot exist without the two of them. They are the foundation pillars. They have an omnipotent presence in each activity of world, in each decision of nature, in each creation, originality, ideation, repetition. They have created the state of equilibrium. They have quantized time and carry it on themselves.


Meera went to sleep alone as her husband decided to leave the house that night and sleep at the nearby temple, which served as the community sleeping centre for people having trouble to sleep at home. Meera was incredibly sad. She cried, she wept and even became angry at the unknown presence that created the whole rift. She forgot to have her dinner and slowly slipped in her sleep. Just before falling off to sleep, she put the stone over the diya and brought the fire to ground to provide her with the energy of a peaceful sleep. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, trying to gather the energy from ground and slipped into sleep unconsciously.


At the village temple, the everyday gathering had started by then. All the diyas from the neighbouring households had got together for their regular chitchat sessions. It was only at night that all of them could meet as it was only during this time, they were put to ground and thus they could travel. Everyone was waiting for the Meera Diya as she generally comes early but today she has been very much late. At last she came, tired after the long day she had had at work and left with very little energy for her own self. She was rushing down there, as she knew she would get a lot of attention today – she was carrying the lead gossip of the day.


“Meera Diya, why are you so late tonight? We have been waiting for so long.” said a fellow diya.

“My mistress was not getting me go easily. She had a fight with her husband and he left her alone at home. So she wept and cried and stayed awake for a long time.”

“That sounds really interesting. Why did they fight? ”,asked another fellow diya.

“When the husband came home, he saw a man’s boot and a man’s coat and when he enquired about these and how these came, she could not answer him. So a fight started eventually.”

“She really did not know how it came? ”,enquired a fellow diya.

“No. She still does not know.”

“Well, do you know how they came?”, asked an intelligent diya.

So Meera Diya started explaining the whole process of how Story and Song took a revenge on Meera after being trapped for so many years inside her. All the other diyas started listening in rapt attention, and the silence of the night was broken by the dramatic explanation of the events that occurred with Meera in afternoon.


Back at home Story and Song decided to get back into their natural habitat and decided it was time that they went back inside Meera. The night was the best time to slip in through slowly as none can notice their retreat. Both of them knew the path back well and this time around they were familiar with the exact time period of pathway opening as well. But after several failed attempts they started realizing that it was impossible to go back in. Soon they discovered that the way to get in was different. They had never paid attention towards the process of getting in. They had always looked towards the method of going out, as each transfer would transform them in terms of time and period. Story and Song came to tears. The questions came to their mind – Is this the end of their journey? Will they perish here? Will they die a death where none would ever remember them? With all these questions in mind Story and Song started proceeding towards the first rays of sun – Mayukh as it is called in Indian tradition. This is what which has given them life; this is the ultimate creator, the originator creating ripples with the ritual of each repetition.


The sunrise created a sort of grief among the diyas as it was time to go back home. The night was quite eventful, lots of gossips and analysis happened throughout. And in the middle of all these, lay Meera’s husband who came there to sleep. While trying to sleep in the middle of mosquito pricks and horrifying thoughts, he started over-hearing a conversation that was taking place towards his upper right side. He lay still and tried to hear sharply what was being discussed. Pretty soon he came to understand that it was his household chores which was the hot topic that night. He did show little bit of interest while the events of him with his wife were being repeated but he was shocked hearing the truth from there. He heard the whole conversation, often feeling the need to interrupt and question but then he held onto his desires and waited for the night to get over. With the first rays of sun, he ran back home to share the secret he has come to know of. As he entered the room, he found Meera lying down on floor, her hair all over the place, marks of tear drops on her cheeks and no sign of the boot or the coat.


It was a beautiful garden filled with fruits of hope, love, care. It was colourful. It was tempting. And then everything went blank. It seemed like a hollow space, devoid of language, culture, emotions. The space seemed to extent till eternity. It was hollow. It had no colour, yet it was not black. A sort of a place where you can breathe but it feels claustrophobic. It is enormous yet it cannot accommodate a small entity like you.


Suddenly Meera woke up. She opened her eyes in a flash as her husband was almost shaking her to wake her up. She looked at him closely. For a moment she had forgotten about all the fight they had last night but all she could remember that he was not there with her last night. She tried to listen to the words he was saying to her but the effects of the sleep was still continuing and she was taking some more time in trance. At last, she could make out what he was saying.


“Meera, I found out how that boot and coat came in here.” explained the husband joyfully.

Meera did not react much as she was still a bit angry with his behavior.

“Meera, you have a Story and a Song to tell. Tell me Meera, tell me.”

Meera was now surprised. She said, “I can’t understand. What are you talking about?”

“The Story and Song, Meera. The Story and Song you have. Tell me.”

“What Story are you talking about? What Song?”

“You will have to tell me Meera. You need to tell me. You need to pass it on. That’s the law of civilization. Tell me Meera, say”


Meera stared blankly at her husband’s face. She tried hard to think of what to say but at last she just said, “What Story? What Song? What Story? What Song? What Story? What Song?”

A Ringing Bell: A Vietnamese Poem Explicated

By Pompen Hantralkool
Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

A Ringing Bell
A waterfall drops 

A gibbon howls 

An insect
The echo goes on
Only in memory


A waterfall drops. It is a river or a stream suddenly falling from a steep height. May be the poet does not see the waterfall but hears its thundering noise. For example the waterfall named Ban Gioc in Vietnam hitting the rocks can be heard from afar. May be a waterfall is drizzling on to the rocks or pounding the rocks with soft intermittent bursts. The white noise of the waterfall masks distracting sounds and lulls ones brain to sleep or meditation. While a waterfall is being heard gibbons voices could be there. Gibbons are found all over Vietnam in the most northerly subtropical forests as well as in the lowland forests of the south. And their voices are mostly duets between a male gibbon and female gibbon. While the sound of the waterfall is continuous the voice of the gibbons on the background of the waterfall is discrete.. While the sound of the waterfall might suggest of one reality permeating the differences of the existence, the sound of the duet of gibbons suggests the dichotomy of the existence dangling from the tree of the one reality .While the monotony radiated by the waterfall or one reality speaks of an existence which is cold and where there is no diversity and variety, the voice of gibbons speak of the existence of two souls exchanging warm love between them. And now the poet hears an insect.. It might be the cricket the bee the bumblebee the ant the mosquito the locust and so on. We hear as it were bass or low pitch sound in the waterfall and midrange pitch in the voice of the gibbons and high pitch in the insect and they together constitute timbre. The vibrations in turn set in motion frequency waves called harmonics. Here is a poem that approximates harmonics where different sounds mingle into a complex and wonderful pattern.May be the harmonics enthralls the poet during his sojourns in the woodlands far from the madding crowds ignoble strifes .When the poet leaves the woodland the sounds are no longer heard. But the echo goes on in memory. Memory is the faculty of the mind which stores and remembers information.The sounds heard in Nature sink deep in the poets mind. Back from the clutch of Nature the poet perhaps being pent up in a city like Hanoi plunges into his subconscious. Or else the subconscious all of a sudden shows up suspending the conscious mind of the poet for a time.The subconscious mind could be likened to a forest where waterfalls and apes and insects are heard. They only evoke the silence created by the waterfall or the gibbons in the being of the poet. The waterfall and the gibbons and the insects are the voice of silence.Thus a silence fills the mind of the poet. And amidst that silence the poet can hear the overmind rhythm in which the water fall the song of the gibbon or the sound of the insect are sublated ever rolling on in the existence impelling all thinking things and all objects of all thought. Read in the Indian context the poem evokes in us the creative logos or the Om that presently calms our restless minds and lifts them to some supramundane plane

Ripe Fruit: A Vietnamese Poem by Mai Van Phan Explicated

Translated into English by Pompen Hantrakool
Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

Ripe Fruit

Who bakes
In the trunk of a tree
By another flame

Explication

Baking is so important in our everyday life.Heat transforms raw material of food for our consumption.Take finely ground whole wheat flour in a mixer. Add a little salt to it and mix it with the flour thoroughly.Next add clarified butter to the same and mix it with flour thoroughly. Now slowly add a little water to the flour. Don’t add all the water at a time. The palms should be oiled a little so that the flour does not stick to the palms or fingers.Now flour and the water and the clarified butter should be mixed to a manageable dough with the hand.Now knead the dough so that it is pliable and stretchy. The dough should rest a while.Then it should be divided into balls. Each ball should be rolled on a rolling surface with a wooden roller so that each ball turns into a flat circle. The cooking surface should be heated in the meantime. Place the flattened dough on it and keep it for 30 seconds. Then flip it and heat the other side for 30 seconds. Now enjoy the baked product.This is how a kind of flour bread is prepared in India which constitutes the main food of an Indian The bread thus made is very tasty and nutritious.. We wouldnot live without food. And baking is the art of arts that prepares food for us so that we liveWe have studied how they bake wheat flower to make a kind of bread in India rather in details.It shows how complicated and yet simple the art of baking is. Just as the food we consume is often made by way of baking so are the foods prepared through plants by way of baking as well .Indeed whatever food we consume is prepared through plants. Sometimes we consume directly what is prepared through plant such as a guava or a pomello. Otherwise we take the food prepared througha plant as the raw material such as flour from wheat plants for the food we prepare for our consumption and there baking is rather a must. The baking in plants is also a complicated process. The baking in plants needs chlorophyll or green pigments found in the leaves of plants, natural sunlight or artificial light, carbon dioxide gases from the air exhaled by men and animals ,water and nutrients and minerals which the plants collect through roots from soil. Food is made through the plant by way of the process of photosynthesis with the help of light energy . Light energy helps to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water. Thus photosynthesis is the process in plants that convert light energy to sugar energy. As it is obvious from our description the making of food in the plants for the sustenance of itself as well as for sustaining all life in the earth is quite complicated . The making of food in plants needs lot of hard work and proper understanding of the aforesaid complicated process.It is our mother who works hard in the kitchen and bakes food materials on the oven for us to consume and live.The poet asks- who bakes in the plant? This is a question put forward by a sphinx and no Oedipus has yet showed up to answer it. Had there been no plants there would be no life on earth. We see the plants through which food is prepared. We see ovens as it were. But ovens do not cook Mother cooks food with the help of the ovens Similarly plants do not cook. Someone surely cooks using the plants.This is simple logic. But who cooks using the plants? Who ?Who?Who? Because cooking cannot be done on its own . Different materials and diverse ingredients are needed for cooking and it needs intelligence to properly combine those materials and ingredients.The chefs are the greatest among men in the world and cooking is the greatest art that man can ever imagine of because it sustains life.Should we then imagine a dryad in every tree in chefs attire and be pagans worshipping trees. Yes trees must not be felled to raise built space.We must learn to worship trees. We must go to our less civilized brethren who live in the neighbourhood of Nature and forests to learn the true essence of civilization and to worship trees. Again may be there is one supreme power which has created the Sun and which has created the earth and water at whose biddings the multitudinous dryads bake in the trees. There is no conclusive answer to the question—Who bakes in the trees.Mankind has been circumambulating the existence with the question since man first appeared in the world. We have no answer to this question even today. It is often claimed that poetry reveals eternal truths.May be. But the poet Mai Van reveals before us questions that man will ever be asking.