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.