Kieu's Lament: Chock Full of Allusions

This passage is from lines 1251-1264. It is a relatively short passage compared to what I normally translate, but it is rich with metaphorical language. If may seem a bit cryptic upon first reading, but if you parse through the allusions then you’ll see that the message is pretty straight forward. I’ve included a few explanatory notes at the end.

Can be found here

                Kieu has already become fully acclimated with her life as a prostitute and she feels her spirit being hollowed out. At this point in the story she is lamenting the fact that she can’t provide for her parents, and that the love of her life may have forgotten about her or she may not be worthy of him anymore. This passage, along with the few dozen lines that precede it, are basically a preamble to her meeting her next lover, Ky Tam,  which I will translate eventually.

Feelings within her heart

That seemed so far removed

Within her found a groove,

The pain was hardly bearable,

Tangled and terrible:

“I miss those who I owe nine debts,*

Day by day the sun sets,

Slanting behind mulberry trees.*

Home is across the seas,

Far away and out of my reach,

Which god’s law did I breach?

How could my destiny be this?

The sopohoras’re amiss, *

Naive, too young, and immature

Van Gogh's Mulberry Tree
Can be found here

To provide, to insure

Our parents a comfortable life.

In spite of my trying strife,

I hath not forgotten my pledge

Of three lifetimes. This wedge

Of vast distance ‘tween him and I...

Has he just said goodbye?

He’ll come to find the willow’s branch

Was given for a tranche*

Of mere silver and golden coin.

Can our love ever join?

Will that flower ever bloom

On this branch, in this womb?

*The “nine debts” that she is referring to here are toward her parents. In Vietnamese they consist of sinh (birth), cúc (nourishment/support), phủ (comfort), súc (rearing), trưởng (≈growing up), dục (education), cố (keep safe), phục (teach about respect), and phúc (happiness). The concept of “nine debts” comes from Confucian tradition and comes from the 202^nd poem of the Book of Odes. It’s important to keep in mind that Confucius did not write the Book of Odes; he only compiled and supposedly edited it.

I discovered my old copy of Ezra Pound’s translation of the Book of Odes and found the poem in question. It is titled “The Orphan” and details the despair of an orphan who has no familial support whatsoever. Here is a telling excerpt:

Weed or plant that gives no grain,

you two begat me in toil and pain,

Shamed the jug that fills no cup;

orphan’s life, proverb saith,

is worth less than early death.

Who sustaineth the fatherless?

Who stayeth the motherless?

Carry gagged grief beyond the court-yard wall,

In my house there is no one at all.

          It is a very gloomy poem. Confucius probably used it because it exemplifies why children with parents should be grateful. We can assume that Confucius codified the exact “nine debts” that we should be so concerned about.

*The reference to “mulberry trees” comes from Chiense proverbial sayings, mainly about patience. Mulberry trees are used to nourish silk worms and thus were very valuable. The image of the sun setting behind mulberry trees signifies the end of life. She is lamenting that while she is away in servitude her parent’s may be passing away.

Sophora Tree
Can be found here

*The mention of sophora trees harks back to an old story from Song Dynasty (960-1127 A.D.). The story was that a fellow named Wang Hu planted three sophora trees in his garden, one for each of his sons. The trees were meant to give his sons good luck. The metaphor is that if the “sophora trees” are growing well then the children of the family are successful and supporting their parents. In Kieu’s case her other sisters are still too young to support the family, and so she has anxiety that her parents are not being properly cared for.

Can be found here

*The willow’s branch refers to an old poem from the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) about a man who leaves his courtesan at home while he is out on a military campaign. His courtesan was named “Miss Willow” and lived on a street called Chang Terrace. On his return journey he wrote a poem addressed to her that included the line: “O Chang Terrace Willow/ Are you still fresh and green as you once were?” It turned out that she was already abducted by another general by the time he returned.

                Kieu is alluding to this because she has already given up her chastity and slept with so many men. Her purity, “willow’s branch”, was handed to other men for money. She is of course ashamed of this.

Tu Ba Explains to Kieu how to be a Whore

Can be found here

This passage comes from lines 1199-1226. Kieu is still recovering from So Khanh's betrayal and Tu Ba decides to give her some advice. Tu Ba has a vested interest in Kieu finally submitting to her new profession in the brothel and so she takes on a more conciliatory tone. Kieu listens attentively because at this point she has no other option.

The moon shown brilliantly

Through the mirror-like window,

Tu Ba came, not as foe,

But as one offering advice.

-“The lover’s craft isn't nice,

Tis not an easy, carefree life,

Fortune’ll cut with its knife

If ladies don’t know how to play.”

-“Storms have blown me astray,

Risk my dignity? My own head?

“So be it...” Kieu said.

“Men are all the same,”  Tu Ba explained.

“Before the night has waned

They’ll spend their gold on what they want.

Tricks of the dilettante,

There’re tricks for when your first kissed,

Tricks for late night trysts.

You must learn them, by heart know these,

You’ll keep them up your sleeves,

Seven seductions to bring them in,

Eight tricks to keep’em herein.

Play like the flowering willow,

Comfort them on your pillow,

Don’t be afraid to cast them aside

When they can’t be plied

With more liquor and merriment.

Flirt until they’re spent,

Smile with the corner of your eye,

With your eyebrows make them buy,

Extol praise with him to the moon,

Jokes and jest are your boon.

Now you know the tricks of the house!

Go ahead and lift that blouse,

Become a master of this trade!”

Can be found here

Kieu heard the tirade,

And noted every last detail,

Her rosy cheeks went pale,

Pearly tears rolled off her face.

This life of lust and lace

Made her feel ashamed and shy,

How was she to get by

In such awful and frightening plight?

Pity the girl you might,

She has fallen from nobility,

Gone is her humility,

Now an apprentice to a whore.

How long is it, pore by pore,

For the shamelessness to crease

A youthful face,  feast by feast?

Is this what it has come to?

What window did she go through,

Alas, to be so lost and alone?

Sở Khanh's Treachery and Kiều's Broken Spirit

Can be found here

This next passage of the Tale of Kieu comes from lines 1105-1148. At this point in the story So Khanh has convinced Kieu that he is trustworthy and will rescue her from being a sex slave at the brothel. They will depart clandestinely by horseback under the nose of her evil madam: Tu ba. 

I am also experimenting with a new format by having the Vietnamese text and English text side by side. I think it looks a bit better and is generally a better look for the blog. Let me know what you think. The whole passage is continuous. I just broke it up into two parts since it is broken up in the tale that way.

“I’m in your hands,” she said.

“Quickly, Please decide on a plan!”

“There are horses well ran,

They’re just outside,” He replied.

“A man whom I've relied,

Is also just around the bend.

Let’s go my lovely friend,

There’s no way but to leave,

By stealth we will achieve.

Although there may be gales, snow flurry,

I’ll be there, Don’t worry.”

Hearing his words she was chary,

Hoping she won’t be sorry,

She knew she was in too deep.

She resisted to weep,

Closed her eyes, and ventured on.

She’s in Fate’s hands now, a pawn.

Can be found here

They furtively escaped,

Fled on their horses single file.

They rode mile after mile,

The autumn night, began to fade,

The morning, to cascade.

Trees fell victim to thrashing gales,

Leaves scattered on the trails,

The moon was swallowed by the copse.

The grass was pale with drops,

Of dew. Kieu’s heart pined for one road,

To her home, her abode.

In harsh tones, the roosters crowed dawn,

A cry! Perhaps a yawn?

Behind, others were in hot pursuit!

With dark hunters en-route

Kieu’s soft heart pounded in her chest,

Feeling a tinge in his breast,

He grasped his bridle to flee,

So Khanh gave up this spree.

Kieu, alone, knew not what to do,

She trembled, her path askew,

Through the forest her mare dashed.

Heaven! Why've you thrashed?

How could you have such a cold heart?

Crumbled rose, fell apart...

A gang surrounded her on all sides,

There was nowhere to hide,

She couldn’t burrow into the ground,

Couldn’t fly, to the earth bound.

Madam Tu Ba swiftly descended,

She couldn't have defended.

Kieu was whisked back to her prison,

Tu ba’s fury had risen.

She asked no questions, no query,

Flailed Kieu ‘til her arm was weary.

Like a ragged tree branch, she beat her.

We’re all human, there’s no blur.

Flesh and bone, blood through our veins,

What rose feels no pain,

When one by one its petals’re torn off?

Can be found here

Kieu’s cries made Tu Ba scoff,

She lowered her bloodied head,

Begged her, for her life pled.

“My modesty as a woman...

Is gone, C’est fin.

My wish to return to my land...

Is gone, as you demand:

Now, here is home, always’ll be.

My existence is thee,

I am resigned to my lot,

Care for myself? Cannot.

How can an eel mind muddying its head?

My chastity is dead.”

Kieu has essentially given up on life, or at least is projecting that impression to placate Tu Ba. 

Also, the passage: "How can an eel mind muddying its head?" (Thân lươn bao quản lấm đầu) is a Vietnamese proverb which according to Huynh Sanh Thong is "meaning that a poor, helpless person my have to endure humiliation and degradation in order to save himself or herself and survive." I had to pretty much copy his translation for that one since the proverb is a bit cryptic for me and I thought it was good to go by his judgment. 

She will eventually escape from her servitude but it will be because of different man, who although is better than So Khanh, does have some serious short-comings.

Kieu meets Sở Khanh

These next passages detail more of Kieu's laments and introduce a new character: Sở Khanh. Kieu is still languishing in the brothel and is becoming more and more morose. Sở Khanh happens to be walking by and sees her silhouette. He hears some of her poetic laments and is extremely moved. Sở Khanh's arrival appears to be the first good news for Kieu after she's been imprisoned. But we'll see later just how objectionable he really is.

Can be found here

This first part is a sort of sad soliloquy by Kieu where Nguyễn Du uses imagery to describe her inner feelings. Each couplet starts with the words "Buồn trông....." which means either "Sadly looking..." or it could possible mean "Looking sad as though..." I translated it as "Sadly she gazed out," I interpreted it to mean she was gazing out at the scenery while in the depths of melancholy. I think this passage is quite nice and moving. 

Lines: 1047-1054

Buồn trông cửa bể chiều hôm,

Thuyền ai thấp thoáng cánh buồm xa xa?

Buồn trông ngọn nước mới sa,

Hoa trôi man mác biết là về đâu?

Buồn trông nội cỏ dàu dàu,

Chân mây mặt đất một màu xanh xanh.

Buồn trông gió cuốn mặt duềnh,

Ầm ầm tiếng sóng kêu quanh ghế ngồi.

Sadly she gazed out

Can be found here

Toward the lonely docks at dusk,

Was there a sailor brusque,

Was that a ships sail in the fog?

Sadly she gazed out

At the mountains of this new country,

Drifting flowers at sea,

How do they know their way back home?

Sadly she gazed out

At withering grass atop the mound,

The cloud banks and the ground

Blend in the distance to a pale green.

Sadly she gazed out,

The rolling waves , pushed by the wind

Roared! And would not rescind,

She dwelled amidst the tortuous sound.

I separated this couplet from the others because I felt like it to be more of an opening lament to which the passage follows. 

Lines: 1055-1056

Chung quanh những nước non người,

Đau lòng lưu lạc nên vài bốn câu.

In this world of ours

Those with a bleeding heart wander,

And only stop to ponder:

Why there should be so few of them?

This next passage describes the improbable meeting of Sở Khanh and Kieu. He is completely enamored with her and immediately "falls in love". We only here his side of the story at this point but Kieu does fall victim to his charm and in my next post I'll translate the scene which shows what kind of man he really is.

Lines: 1057-1072

Ngậm ngùi rủ bức rèm châu,

Cách tường nghe có tiếng đâu họa vần.

Một chàng vừa trạc thanh xuân,

Hình dong chải chốt, áo khăn dịu dàng.

Nghĩ rằng cũng mạch thư hương,

Hỏi ra mới biết rằng chàng Sở Khanh.

Bóng nga thấp thoáng dưới mành,

Trông nàng, chàng cũng ra tình đeo đai:

-“Than ôi sắc nước hương trời!

Tiếc cho đâu bỗng lạc loài đến đây!

Giá đành trong nguyệt trên mây,

Hoa sao hoa khéo đọa đày bấy hoa!

Tức gan riêng giận trời già,

Lóng này ai tỏ cho ta hỡi lòng?

Thuyền quyên ví biết anh hùng,

Ra tay tháo cũi sổ lồng như chơi”.

Can be found here

Drop by drop, pearls rolled

From her grieving eyes to the floor,

He heard her out-pour

And finished her sorrowful verse.

A young man he was first,

His appearance graceful,refined.

A scholar he seemed and kind,

She wished to know how he was called,

Sở Khanh, he replied enthralled.

Bathed in moonlight he stole a glance,

Their hearts began the dance

Of two lovers struck by Cupid’s arrow.

-“Alas! Struck to the marrow

I am! What a beauty you are!

Fit for a god, for a tsar,

How could you come to this pitiful place?

Her dignity, her grace...

Be a denizen of the moon, she should,

Delicate rose, treated like wood.

Heaven of old, showing its wrath!

What a terrible path!

Who can reveal the pain within

Your heart, which no one can win?

If only she knew that I’m that man

Who has a plan, save her I can.

I’ll set this caged bird free, I will!”

Kieu Languishing

This next passage is from lines 1033-1038 and happens shortly after her suicide attempt. She has been living as a prostitute in Tu Ba's terrible establishment. She is basically a sex slave at this point. Her constant preoccupation has been her family and her long lost lover Kim Trong. The following passage is a short one but I think captures her mood well.

I took more liberties with the translation and refrained from imposing any syllable restrictions on myself. I did try to keep a consistent rhyming scheme though. The painting is from Ngoc Mai and her collection depicting scenes in Truyen Kieu.

Trước lầu Ngưng Bích khóa xuân,

Vẻ non xa, tấm trăng gần, ở chung.

Bốn bề bát ngát xa trông,

Cát vàng cồn nọ, bụi hồng dặm kia.

Bẽ bàng mây sớm đèn khuya,

Nửa tình nửa cảnh như chia tấm lòng.

In her cloistered quarters

Known as the “Sapphire Wing”

She spent the Spring,

Where her innocence felt far away

Yet only the white sheets in which she lay

Felt close to her.

The immense four oceans, as far as they were,

The yellow sand dunes,

Felt closer and more in tune

With her, than this wretched, floating world.

Everyday, she felt ashamed as the days unfurled,

And the early clouds spread across the sky.

Her heart was divided between alarm and the affection’s lie.

Kieu Attempts Suicide

Painting by Ngoc Mai

At this point in the story Kieu has finally realized that she has been sold to a brothel. She has a lot of things weighing on her mind right now. She was already feeling devastated because she was separated from her true love Kim Trong. Now she's realized that there is no way she can live a respectable life. For Kieu, suicide is the only option to preserve her dignity.

Nàng rằng- “Trời thẳm đất dày!

Thân này đã bỏ những ngày ra đi.

Sẵn dao tay áo, tức thì giở ra.

Sợ gan nát ngọc liều hoa,

Mụ còn trông mặt, nàng đà quá tay.

Thương ôi! Tài sắc bậc này,

Một dao oan nghiệt, đứt dây phong trần?

“Oh high Heaven! Depths of the Earth!” Exclaimed Kieu.

“I have given up...This body must be sacrificed, now and forever.

Alas! I have no regrets, none whatsoever!”

Tucked in her sleeve she had a knife ready, she swiftly took it out,

Shattered jade, wasting water in a drought.*

Tu Ba’s face was a pale, blank slate, Kieu bolted out of her way.

Alas! Beauty and talent, slaves to Heaven’s sway,

That wicked blade, can it cut the cord tying her to this life of adversity?

*The original Vietnamese line: nát ngọc liều hoa,literally means something like "smashing jade, tearing up flowers". It refers to someone who has no fear of death.

Kieu is then quickly rushed to a doctor who saves her life. In her stupor of despair and shame, a spirit/ghost visits her. This is the spirit Dam Tien who visited her in the beginning of the story. Dam Tien was another beautiful women who had a terrible life. They are kindred spirits apparently. 

Rỉ rằng: “Nhân quả dở dang,

Đã toan trốn nợ đoạn trường được sao!

Số còn nặng nghiệp má đào,

Người dù muốn quyết, trời nào đã cho?

Hãy xin hết kiếp liễu bồ,

Sông Tiền Đường, sẽ hẹn hò về sau.”

“Your destiny is unfinished.”A small voice said to Kieu. “You cannot escape your mortal debt!

The fate of a woman is heavy, full of strife, and yet

Can people merely choose a fortunate life? How could Heaven allow it?

You are not the willow tree, the yielding reed, don’t quit!*

We will meet again at Tien Duong River...”

*Willow tree's soft and reeds are yielding and according to my research, it is an old Vietnamese saying referring to a woman. Basically Dam Tien is trying to tell her to toughen up.

This is a passage heavy with Buddhist fatalism. Kieu supposedly is having such a hard time because of her bad karma. I think this kind of fatalism is pretty cheesy but it is very interesting and quite moving. 

Kieu Meets Tu Ba

In the last post we saw how Ma had taken Kieu under the pretext of marrying her but was actually trafficking her to the brothel owned by him and his actual wife, Tu Ba. After that passage, Kieu and Ma have their official wedding ceremony and Kieu laments to her parents. In between the last post and this one, not much happens plot-wise but we see Kieu and Kieu's parent's numerous lamentations and regrets. It's a very sad and sometimes profound part of the story but ultimately very depressing (like most of this tale). 

Ngoc Mai's painting depicting this scene. Can be
found here

By this point in the story Kieu has arrived at Ma and Tu Ba's brothel and is meeting Tu Ba for the first time. Their interaction is short but telling. Tu Ba is the archetypal evil bitch who has zero morals. She is laying the law down for Kieu and Kieu is understandably confused. In the following posts we will see Kieu's reaction and trust me, it's intense.

This time I decided to translated them in 12-16 syllable couplets because I found the 6-8 couplet structure a bit too difficult. I think this flows a bit better. I also kept the original rhyming scheme. I hope you enjoy this short passage.

951~960

Dạy rằng:- “Con lạy mẹ đây,

Lạy rồi sang lạy cậu mày bên kia!”

Nàng rằng:-“Phải bước lưu ly,

Phận hèn vâng đã cam bề tiểu tinh.

Điều đâu lấy yến làm anh,

Ngây thơ chẳng biết là danh phận gì.

Đủ điều nạp thái, vu quy,

Đã khi chung chạ, lại khi đứng ngồi.

Giờ ra thay bậc đổi ngôi,

Dám xin gửi lại một lời cho minh.”

Tu Ba gazed at Kieu: “Kneel before your mother!

Once you’ve paid homage, ‘fore your uncle bow your head!”

“I was torn from my family, my rightful homestead,

I’ve obeyed my humble fate, resigned myself a concubine.

Ma and I’ve married and together we did dine,

Perhaps in my naivety I don’t understand my standing.

He supplied the wedding gifts, gave the offering,

We mingled together, lay intimately as those married do.

After all that, you would change my rank, my value,

Please explain to me what sordid affair I’m in now!” Replied Kieu.

Ma Decides to Rape Kieu

As you can tell by the title, this section is about Ma contemplating raping Kieu. At this point he has already taken her from her house and they are en-route to his home. You find out in this passage that Ma already has a wife and that they run a brothel together. They are both quite despicable people but this passage is only the beginning. Ma seems like a really terrible guy but wait until you meet his wife. That'll be the next thing I translate.

Nguyen Du, as the Vietnamese frequently are, was a cultured man. Towards the end of the passage Ma is discussing Kieu's virginity, but Nguyen Du utilized a lot of metaphors involving fruit and flowers. Just keep in mind that he is talking about raping and deflowering Kieu. This passage is pretty sad and cruel but it doesn't feature Kieu at all. She will definitely be in the next passage I translate. 

I stuck with the poetic meter that I discussed in the last post, except I altered it a bit. Instead of 6-8 syllable couplets, I wrote it in 6-8-6 triplets with a similar rhyming scheme to the original. I used the same stress pattern of two dactyls in the 6 syllable lines and two dactyls followed by a trochee in the 8 syllable line. I think for the next passage I'm going to try 12-16 syllable couplets with the original rhyming scheme because it is really difficult to fit a complete thought in English in just six syllable. Nguyen Du was lucky that all Vietnamese words are one syllable. 

I took the pictures a at misty Ha Long Bay. I thought they were kind of ominous...

Enjoy!

Still unsuspecting of Ma,

Scoundrel that he is, pure evil,

Pleasure houses, he knows well.

Dark luck for the feeble.

This marriage will make Ma quite rich.

Tu-ba, her brothel in,

Waiting for Ma and bitch.

Prostitute Tu Ba was, now old,

Grace and charm passed her by.

By chance they met, once bold

Yet now the pair are cruel, harsh crooks.

Sawdust and bitter melons.*

They didn’t have the looks,

Yet together, cash they acquired,

Opened a store they did.

All year, girls were hired,

Selling their perfumed body,

Ma would go to the towns,

Looking for girls to lobby,

Pose as a suitor, whisk them home.

Instruct them in the ways

To please men, never roam.

Fortune and despair, we can’t choose,

Just Heaven knows our path.

Bitter! Like those damn shrews,

Misery demands another.

Pity the young ladies,

Bring a rose, and smother

The poor girl with your lust, your choice.

Caught in his web of lies

Kieu, nothing to rejoice,

Small price paid, fake rites played.

Delighted! Drunk with greed,

Money, gold! All that jade!

                "The flag is in my hand! All mine!*

Awesome beauty she is,

One smile’ll make the men pine,

No joke! She, Kieu is my ticket

To the riches of the world.

She won’t’ve heard one cricket,

Before princes, rich fellows

Bid to pluck her flower.

Mine, best of bordellos,

Three hundred taels at least I’ll get.

That’s just the beginning!

Later I’ll never fret,

For she is my cash cow, my jade.”

A tasty morsel hangs,

Will he take a bite? Morals fade,

Greed is all, he has nothing more.

                “A peach branch, ripe with fruit,

I’ll pull that branch to the fore,

Savor all the earthly delights,

Countless men and playboys

Are looking for that bite,

How many men can really tell

A ripe peach, from one just

A few days past its swell?

Pomegranate juice ‘n rind will do,

And some cockscomb up there.

She will look as new,

A virgin on her wedding day.

It’s easy to deceive

A man under the sway

Of a woman’s touch; in dim light.

She’ll fetch a tidy sum,

My wife may see Kieu’s plight,

She’s keen to know something’s amiss.

She would make my life hell.

I can take my wife’s hiss!

I’m a man! She’s just an old hag.

Besides, home is far,

The long road, such a drag...

Certainly Kieu’ll suspect something

If I do nothing...

I’ll go have my fill, like a king!”

*Sawdust and bitter melons: The original Vietnamese for this line is: Mạt cưa mướp đắng which literally means "Sawdust  and bitter melon". This goes back to an old Vietnamese story about two crooks. One would sell sawdust but say it was grain, and another would sell bitter melons but say it was a cucumber. One day they met and ripped each other off without knowing it. The implication is that Ma and Tu Ba are both crooks, bad people, and belong together.

*The flag is in my hand! All mine!: The original Vietnamese also mentions a flag and the implication is that Ma has an opportunity and he should press his advantage.

Chẳng ngờ gã Mã Giám Sinh,

Vẫn là một đứa phong tình đã quen.

Quá chơi lại gặp hồi đen,

Quen mồi lại kiếm ăn miền nguyệt hoa.

Lầu xanh có mụ Tú Bà,

Làng chơi đã trở về già hết duyên.

Tình cờ chẳng hẹn mà nên,

Mạt cưa mướp đắng, đôi bên một phường.

Chung lưng mở một ngôi hàng

Quanh năm buôn phấn bán hương đã lề.

Dạo tìm khắp chợ thì quê,

Giả danh hầu hạ, dạy nghề ăn chơi.

Rủi may âu cũng sự trời,

Đoạn trường lại chọn mặt người vô duyên!

Xót nàng chút phận thuyền quyên,

Cành hoa đem bán vào thuyền lái buôn,

Mẹo lừa đã mắc vào khuôn,

Sính nghi rẽ giá, nghinh hôn sẵn ngày.

Mừng thầm cờ đã đến tay,

Càng nhìn vẻ ngọc càng say khúc vàng;

                “Đã nên quốc sắc thiên hương

Một cười này, hẳn nghìn vàng chẳng ngoa.

Về đây nước trước bẻ hoa,

Vương tôn quý khách ắt là đua nhau.

Hẳn ba trăm lạng kém đâu,

Cũng đà vừa vốn, còn sau thì lời!”

Miếng ngon kề đến tân nơi,

Vốn nhà cũng tiếc, của trời cũng tham:

“Đào tiên đã bén tay phàm,

Thì vin cành quýt cho cam sự đời!

Dưới trần mấy người biết hoa?

Nước vỏ lựu, máu mào gà,

Mượn màu chiêu tập lại là còn nguyên.

Mập mờ đánh lận con đen,

Bao nhiều cũng bấy nhiêu tiền, mất chi.

Mụ già hoặc có điều gì,

Liều công mất một buổi quỳ mà thôi.

Vả đây đường sá xa xôi,

Mà ta bất động nữa người sinh nghi.”

Kieu in Dactyls, maybe Trochees

Up until this point I've hid behind the excuse that translating the Tale of Kieu in its original meter and with the original rhyming scheme was too difficult. I'm going to finally give it a shot. I did some research and discovered that the Tale of Kieu is actually apart of a larger tradition of Vietnamese lyric poetry going back a thousand years. The Tale of Kieu is actually a very long ca dao. Ca dao are Vietnamese folk poems that were meant to be sung. They had a strict meter and rhyming scheme so they would be easier to remember. So similar to the Illiad the Tale of Kieu was meant to be memorized and recited.
The poetry in Kieu is broken up into 6-8 syllable couplets with an interesting rhyming scheme. For example:

Thương tình con trẻ thơ ngây,                                 6

Gặp cơn vạ gió tai bay bất kỳ.                                8

Đau lòng tư biết sinh ly,                                          6

Thân còn chẳng tiếc, tiếc gì đến duyên?                  8

The interesting thing about the rhyming scheme is that it is not in line with the couplets; the bottom 8 syllable couplet rhymes with the next top 6 syllable couplet. The rhyming threads the couplets together, holding the whole poem together.

Aside from meter and rhyming, the next important thing is where the stressed and unstressed syllables fall. Unlike English, Vietnamese is a tonal language but that doesn't mean it is a fundamentally different system. This reminds me of when I was talking to a Vietnamese guy and he told me that English had tones like Vietnamese. I was skeptical at first but he explained to me something which should have been obvious to an English teacher like myself. After you learn the pronunciation, vowel and constant sounds, you have to learn which syllable is stressed. This is not something I have to think about, but for someone learning English it is very important. So according to my friend, stressed and unstressed syllables in English words are similar to the Vietnamese system of tones. I would agree with him to a certain extent but I would say the tones in Vietnamese are more complicated.

I've been reading a book of translations of  ca dao by John Balaban. According to his research the stress pattern of ca dao is the second, sixth, and eighth syllable must be "even tones" (flat or falling) and the fourth syllable must be a "sharp tone" (any of the other tones). To translate this to English I decided that "even tones" were most like unstressed syllables and the "sharp tones" were most like stressed syllables. Take a look at the same example:

Thương tình con trẻ thơ ngây,                                

Gặp cơn vạ gió tai bay bất kỳ.                                

Đau lòng tư biết sinh ly,                                          

Thân còn chẳng tiếc, tiếc gì đến duyên?                  

Those are all the "even tones" and the following shows the "sharp tones":

Thương tình con trẻ thơ ngây,                                

Gặp cơn vạ gió tai bay bất kỳ.                                

Đau lòng tư biết sinh ly,                                          

Thân còn chẳng tiếc, tiếc gì đến duyên?                  

I'm still experimenting but I tried to adjust English poetic conventions to the rules of ca dao, and my idea at the moment is to maintain the 6-8 syllable couplet structure along with the rhyming scheme. As for the stress patterns, I used two dactyls (Stress-Unstressed-Unstressed) for the six syllable line, and two dactyls plus a trochee (Stressed-Unstressed) for the 8 syllable line. I thought this best maintained the rules spelled out to me by Mr. Balaban. This is my first shot at translating this way. I couldn't keep the same number of lines but I did my best to keep the translation true to the original. As Nguyễn Khắc Viện said about translating ca dao: "...like drawing a bucket of water from a well where the moon is mirrored and unavoidable losing the silvery shine of her light." (also from Balaban).

Here is the Vietnamese:

615-620 

Thương tình con trẻ thơ ngây,

Gặp cơn vạ gió tai bay bất kỳ,

Đau lòng tư biết sinh ly,

Thân còn chẳng tiếc, tiếc gì đến duyên?

Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn,

Liệu đem tấc cỏ quyết đền ba xuân.

Here is my new translation followed by my old translation:

Pity the young, alas...

Gusts of wind bring calamity.

Her heart bleeds insanity,

Kim, so far away, feels like death.

Kieu’s life fades in a breath,

Pain and regret, she must accept.

Drops of rain, haven’t yet wept

O’er the short life they encompass.

Grateful are blades of grass,

For the three beautiful spring months.

There can only be sympathy for the innocence of youth,

The winds of calamity blow so unexpectedly.

Separation from Kim tortured Kieu’s heart like a death in the family,

Can she still live without regret, even consider an amorous future?

A drop of rain doesn't dwell on its humble fate,

A blade of grass is grateful for the three months of spring.

Kieu and her Father's Mournful Goodbye

This passage is right after Kieu has pledged herself to marry Ma so she can get some money to pay her family's debt. She has already met Ma and knows that he is bad man. Kieu's father is lamenting that his daughter, who is just becoming a woman must be sent away with a strange man to an uncertain future. This is where I think Nguyen Du's real philosophical critique of his society and Confucianism in general comes out. 

In Confucius's mind, family is the most important aspect of someone's life and it is vital that the hierarchy of the family is maintained so they can live harmoniously. In the Confucian hierarchy, the father is the head of the family and a family without a patriarch is a recipe for disaster. This scene would be a good conundrum for Confucius to explain. I'm not sure if a similar situation is discussed in the Analects.

In this scene, Kieu's father is so distraught that he is losing his daughter that he even contemplates killing himself. He let his emotions run wild to the extent that he might have even hurt himself and his family for the sake of his daughter. His anguish is understandable but in the Tale of Kieu; Kieu is the example of virtue and so she cannot give into fear. In an interesting twist, she is forced to explain to her father about the moral debt she owes to him for bringing her into this life. She seemingly is calm about sacrificing herself to keep her father out of prison and protect her family. I think it can assumed that if her father and brother were in prison then her and the rest of her family would be killed, or worse, by bandits and other archetypal "bad men". 

In the passage there is mention of a "Lady Oanh" and somebody called "Ly". According to what I read, they are women from old tales that exemplify filial piety. There is one metaphor towards the end of the passage that I want to bring up:

"Consider me to be a flower bud, everlastingly green."

What I understood from this is that she wants her father to always think of her as a young child, someone who never matured or "blossomed". Kieu is continually referred to as a flower in the story. Perhaps she wants him to think of her as always innocent and young so that his memory of her will be frozen in time; as if she died as a child. Even if she does ever return home, which she doubts will ever happen, she won't be the same daughter that he remembered.

It's a very tragic scene, but I like it because unlike a lot of old Asian tales depicting filial piety, Nguyen Du really tried to bring the humanity of the characters to the surface. He didn't just wash the situation with some allusions to Confucian aphorisms and I like the irony that Kieu has to disobey her father to save him. 

655~684

Thương tình con trẻ cha già,

Nhìn nàng ông những máu sa ruột ràu

-“Nuôi con những ước về sau,

Trao tơ phải lứa, gieo cầu đáng nơi.

Trơi làm chi cực bấy trời!

Này ai vu thác cho người hợp tan.

Búa rìu bao quản thân tàn,

Nỡ đày đọa trẻ, càng oan khốc già.

Một lần sau trước cũng là,

Thôi thì mặt khuất, chẳng thà lòng đau.

Theo lời càng chảy dòng châu,

Liều mình ông rắp gieo đầu tường vôi.

Vội vàng kẻ giữ người coi,

Nhỏ to nàng lại tìm lời khuyên can:

-“Vẻ chi một mảnh hồng nhan,

Tóc tơ chưa chút đền ơn sinh thành.

Dâng thơ đã thẹn nàng Oanh,

Lại thua ả Lý bán mình hay sao?

Cội xuân tuổi hạc càng cao,

Một cây gánh vác biết bao nhiều cành.

Lòng tơ dù chẳng dứt tình,

Gió mưa âu hẳn tan tành nước non.

Thà rằng liều một thân con,

Hoa dù rã cánh, lá còn xanh cây.

Phận sao đành vậy cũng vầy,

Cầm như chẳng đậu những ngày còn xanh.

Cũng đừng tính quẩn lo quanh,

Tan nhà là một, thiệt mình là hai.”

Phải lời ông cũng em tai,

Nhìn nhau giọt ngắn giọt dài ngổn ngang.

655~684

You have to pity the father and child,

He gazed at her, felt his blood sink and his heart mourned.

“You raise a daughter, giving her everything,

You hope she will find a nice man, one that deserves her.

Oh Heaven! Why have you punished us so harshly?

Who slandered us to break up our happy home?

This withered body could face the executioner’s ax!

Heaven ill-treats the young, while condemning the old to tears.

 There will be a day, sooner or later, when I will die,

If only I could die, it would be better than this heart wrenching pain!”

Following his speech, as tears streamed down his face,

Caution was lost to him and he went to smash his skull against the limestone wall.

The guards and servants rushed to stop him,

Kieu went to her father and put her mouth to his ear,

She searched for the right words to soothe him:

“What is the beauty of a woman?

This small promise of marriage does not even come close

To the debt I owe you for bringing me into this world.

I would be ashamed if I couldn’t live up to Lady Oanh’s filial piety,

Am I not as worthy as Ly who sold herself?

Father, you are like an aged spring tree that as it grows

Shoulders the burden of so many branches.

Even though the tenderness of my heart pulls me towards you,

I won’t break off the engagement,

For it would bring a disastrous storm upon our home.

Rather, I will sacrifice my young body,

One withered flower petal will fall,

But the leaves on the branch will stay green.

I am resigned to my fate, bound to it,

Consider me to be a flower bud, everlastingly green.

Don’t wallow in worry, don’t fret over me,

Or our family will fade away and you will suffer in dismay.”

He let her wise words sink into his ear,

They gazed at each other with tear-filled eyes,

And wept so hard it could be heard far and near.

Wooden Statue of Confucius in the Temple of Literature, Hanoi

Kiều gặp Mã Giám Sinh (Kieu meets Ma)

Đoạn văn này là về khi Kiều gặp Mã Giám Sinh. Mã là người rất xáu. Khi Kiều đang đi bộ đền trước anh Mã, với mỗi bước, Kiều càng gần càng buồn. Kiều khóc quá. Từ đoạn này Truyện Kiều rất buồn. Tôi thích thơ này: 

"Ngại ngùng rợn gió e sương,

Nhìn hoa bóng thẹn, trông gương mặt dày.

Mối càng vén tóc bắt tay,

Nét buồn như cúc, điệu gầy như mai."

Thơ này rất cảm động và tôi muốn dịch tốt nhưng vậy dịch khó. Nều bạn có thể dịch thơ này tốt hơn thì nói đi! Cảm ơn :) 

This passage details the first interaction between Kieu and Ma, the scholar. He is buying Kieu as a wife. This was a fairly common practice in pre-modern times. Ma is portrayed as a scoundrel and as you will see later, is exactly that. There is some nice imagery and metaphorical language towards the end which I found difficult to translate. I gave it my best shot. I hope you enjoy it. 

616~638

Gần miền có một mụ nào,

Đưa ngưòi viễn khách tìm vào vấn danh.

Hỏi tên, rằng: “Mã Giám sinh.”

Hỏi quê, rằng: “Huyện Lâm Thanh cũng gần.”

Quá niên trạc ngoại tứ tuần,

Mày râu nhẵn nhụi, áo quần bảnh bao.

Trước thầy sau tớ lao xao,

Nhà băng đưa mối rước vào lầu.

Ghế trên ngồi tót sỗ sang,

Buồng trong mối đã giục nàng kíp ra.

Nỗi mình thêm tức nỗi nhà,

Thềm hoa một bước, lệ hoa mấy hàng.

Ngại ngùng rợn gió e sương,

Nhìn hoa bóng thẹn, trông gương mặt dày.

Mối càng vén tóc bắt tay,

Nét buồn như cúc, điệu gầy như mai.  

Wilted Chrysanthemum
Can be found at this website.

Trong Tiếng Anh:

616~638

There was an old woman living nearby,

She found a suitor and brought him in,

A complete stranger no less!

When asked for his name he responded:

“I am Ma, distinguished scholar.”

When asked about his origins he replied:

“I am from Linqing, quite close by.”

He was advanced in his years, at least 40,

Clean shaven and smartly dressed.

The suitor entered with an uproar, followed by his entourage.

The old woman welcomed him upstairs.

He, lacking all courtesy

Chose the best seat in the house for himself,

The old woman urged Kieu to come out of her cloistered chamber.

Her sadness and the woe of her family ever increasing weighed on her,

With each painful step she took towards him,

Her tears fell like countless flower petals.

She hesitated and quivered,

Shame coated her like frosty dew,

Even seeing the shadow of a flower made her feel ashamed,

She could not look at herself in the mirror.

The old woman coaxed her,

Stroked her hair and rubbed her hands,

The sadness in her face resembled a wilted chrysanthemum,

She seemed as gaunt as a dried apricot.  

Misty mountains,
Taken at Ba Vi

Kieu's Decision

This section does not make a lot of sense without knowing the background to what happened. I didn't translate the whole thing because it was a bit long and tedious. After Kim left Kieu behind she brooded for awhile and wallowed in sadness. It didn't take long however for Kieu's life to get even worse. Some bad men accused her father of owing a large debt (this debt doesn't actually exist and it is merely a scam). Even if the debt is a hoax Kieu's father is powerless to fight back against these guys and he along with Kieu's brother are imprisoned. Kieu decides that the only thing she can do is sell herself off as a wife or concubine to a rich man and that's where we are now.
The paintings are from the artist Ngoc Mai and her artwork about the Tale of Kieu can be found here. You can read more about her here.

Kieu and Kim Trong

615~623

Thương tinh cơn trẻ thơ ngây,

Gặp cơn vạ gió tai bay bất kỳ.

Đau lòng tử biệt sinh ly,

Thân còn chẳng tiếc, tiếc gì đến duyên?

Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn,

Liệu đem tấc cỏ quyết đền ba xuân.

Sự long ngỏ với bang nhân,

Tin sương đồn đại xa gần xôn xao.

There can only be sympathy for the innocence of youth,

The winds of calamity blow so unexpectedly.

Separation from Kim tortured Kieu’s heart as if he had passed away,

Can she still live without regret, even consider an amorous future?

A drop of rain doesn't dwell on its humble fate,

A blade of grass is grateful for the three months of spring.

She made her wishes clear to the matchmakers,

Rumors spread far and wide like morning frost.

Kieu giving herself up to the matchmaker

The beginning of this passage is meant to evoke sympathy from the reader. Kieu is already downtrodden and in a pathetic state. She made her decision to sell herself already and this passage is her coming to terms with what she must do. The first several lines bring up the fact that without Kim in her life she considers herself impoverished and not of much worth. She has essentially given up on herself. The part that I find interesting is this:

Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn,

Liệu đem tấc cỏ quyết đền ba xuân

I don't know if I did a good job translating it but the first line alludes to something along the lines that Kieu's fate is fragile and hopeless like a drop of rain. The second line uses a play on words with tấc cỏ which together mean gratitude or gratefulness but cỏ by itself is a blade of grass. I'm still a beginner in Vietnamese poetic language so don't expect me to have a clever answer to the grammatical nuances in Vietnamese poetry. 

What I get out of those two lines is that the imagery of the raindrops, blade of grass, and of course spring is nice and provocative. It's interesting that he would use spring seasonal imagery since this is a very dark passage of the book and spring is usually portrayed as an optimistic season. 

More importantly however, the emphasis on Kieu accepting her dark destiny definitely has the gleam of Buddhist fatalism, while second line has a strong Confucian ring to it. She must accept her fate and at the end of the day be also grateful for her father raising her just as the blade of grass is grateful to spring. The passage begins with a strong sense of pathos and ends with a rigid, self-sacrificing proclamation. I think it goes well with the overall theme of the story.