Truyện Kiều – The Tale of Kieu (Verses 1055-1090)

Truyện Kiều (Câu 1055-1090)

1055.
Chung quanh những nước non người,
Đau lòng lưu lạc, nên vài bốn câu.
Ngậm ngùi rủ bước rèm châu,
Cách tường, nghe có tiếng đâu họa vần.
Một chàng vừa trạc thanh xuân,

1060.
Hình dong chải chuốt, 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.

1065.
“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!
Nổi gan riêng giận trời già,

1070.
Lòng này ai tỏ cho ta hỡi lòng?
Thuyền quyên ví biết anh hùng,
Ra tay tháo cũi, sổ lồng như chơi”.
Song thu đã khép cánh ngoài,
Tai còn đồng vọng mấy lời sắt đinh.

1075.
Nghĩ người thôi lại nghĩ mình,
Cám lòng chua xót, lạt tình chơ vơ.
Những là lần lữa nắng mưa,
Kiếp phong trần biết bao giờ là thôi?
Đánh liều nhắn một hai lời,

1080.
Nhờ tay tế độ vớt người trầm luân.
Mảnh tiên kể hết xa gần,
Nỗi nhà báo đáp, nỗi thân lạc loài.
Tan sương vừa rạng ngày mai,
Tiện hồng nàng mới nhắn lời gửi sang.

1085.
Trời tây lững đững bóng vàng,
Phúc thư đã thấy tin chàng đến nơi.
Mở xem một bức tiên mai,
Rành rành “Tích Việt” có hai chữ đề.
Lấy trong ý tứ mà suy:

(English Version)

The Tale of Kieu (Verses 1055-1090)

Author: Nguyễn Du
Translation: Đặng Hoàng Lan

1055. From her chamber she surveyed alien rivers and foreign hills,
Alone, as tho exiled, absently humming a tune of homesickness.
Drawing the curtain, she withdrew from the scene and thought
She heard a faint murmuring of her poems from the hallway.
She spied a young man through a crack in the wall.

1060.
He was in his prime, but perhaps his appearance was misleading.
Kieu reasoned that he must come from a literate family.
She soon learned that his name was So Khanh.
She was in silhouette as the moonlight shimmered thru the curtain
And he began to feign a great attraction toward her.

1065.
He laid on the flattery, thickly. “She is the very queen of beauty,
It is a pity for her to have drifted to this place, tsk tsk.
She is surely of heaven and lives on the moon or among the clouds!
A rose cannot be at home in a trash heap, surely she is suffering.
My blood boils deeply that all power has allowed this to happen!

1070. Alas, I’m sure she wouldn’t recognize my heart’s true desire for her.
If only she knew that I would instantly be her rescuer!
Nothing would be more pleasing than to spring her from this trap.”
Kiều turned the lock and walked away from the door,
She found his fanciful words intriguing and they rang in her ears.

1075. When she thought of him and acknowledged her lot,
She was uplifted by his interest and she felt less alone.
Days followed days, spent waiting and hoping, for what?
She still pined to leave this filthy and broken life.
So Kieu decided to take a chance, hastily scribbling a few lines,

1080.
And implored him to rescue her from these troubled seas.
She explained how she paid her father’s debts and
How she was brought to this house of shame.
As the sun broke through the morning mists at dawn,
She asked a messenger to bring her letter to the young man.

1085.
When the sun was setting to the western sky,
She received a response with what she hoped was his good tidings.
Kieu carefully unfolded the sheet, painted with an apricot flower,
And read the simple, confusing two words “Tich Viet.”
She guessed it was a cipher and set out to break it.