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.”
