Truyện Kiều – The Tale of Kieu (Verses 1685-1720)

Truyện Kiều (Câu 1685-1720)

Nguyễn Du

1685.
Trên tam đảo, dưới cửu tuyền,
Tìm đâu thì cũng biết tin rõ ràng.
Sắm sanh lễ vật rước sang,
Xin tìm cho thấy mặt nàng hỏi han.
Đạo nhân phục trước tĩnh đàn,

1690.
Xuất thần giây phút chưa tàn nén hương.
Trở về minh bạch nói tường:
“Mặt nàng chẳng thấy,việc nàng đã tra.
Người này nặng kiếp oan gia,
Còn nhiều nợ lắm, sao đà thác cho!

1695.
Mệnh cung đang mắc nạn to,
Một năm nữa, mới thăm dò được tin.
Hai bên giáp mặt chiền chiền,
Muốn nhìn mà chẳng dám nhìn lạ thay!”
Nghe lời nói, lạ dường này,

1700.
Sự nàng đã thế lời thầy dám tin?
Chẳng qua đồng cốt quàng xiên,
Người đâu mà lại thấy trên cõi trần?
Tiếc hoa, những ngậm ngùi xuân,
Thân này dễ lại mấy lần gặp tiên?

1705.
Nước trôi, hoa rụng đã yên,
Hay đâu địa ngục ở miền nhân gian.
Khuyển, Ưng đã đắt mưu gian,
Vực nàng, đưa xuống để an dưới thuyền.
Buồm cao, lèo thẳng cánh xuyền,

1710.
Đè chừng huyện Tích băng miền vượt sang.
Dỡ đò lên trước sảnh đường,
Khuyển, Ưng hai đứa nộp nàng dâng công.
Vực nàng tạm xuống môn phòng,
Hãy còn thiêm thiếp giấc nồng chưa phai.

1715.
Hoàng lương chợt tỉnh hồn mai,
Cửa nhà đâu tá? Lâu đài nào đây?
Bàng hoàng dở tỉnh dở say,
Sảnh đường mảng tiếng, đòi ngay lên hầu.
A hoàn liền xuống giục mau,

(English Version)

The Tale of Kieu (Verses 1685-1720)

Author: Nguyễn Du
Translation: Chamberlain Kim Anh Ellen and Đặng Hoàng Lan

1685. If such magic exists, of course he’d demand a report directly
From Hell’s Nine Fountains and the Triple Peaks of Paradise!
With highly valued and extravagant gifts, Thuc sought him out!
He begged the sorcerer to invoke her soul for questioning.
The man agreed, and knelt at the outdoor altar, lighting the incense.

1690.
Before the incense could even burn down he fell into a trance.
A few minutes later he seemed revived and made a clear statement.
“I didn’t meet the one you seek, but the spirits told me of her fate.
It seems this girl was weighed down by a lingering and dire karma.
It isn’t practical that with such outstanding debt she’d die so easily?

1695.
Her horoscope is reading that an accident has befallen her!
You will need to wait for a year to pass to learn more of her fate.
I can see that you will meet once again, in the flesh, but strangely,
It appears you each will turn away and dare not look at each other.”
These mysterious words fell upon Thuc’s ears and he was dazed.

1700. Collecting each word from the sorcerer, could he believe it?
Should he trust what the mystic said!? Was it sheer lunacy?
How could it be possible to meet the dead in this world again?
Thuc’s mourning plunged him into a devastating confusion.
He realized it impossible and rare to have met a fairy such as Kieu!

1705. He thought that she, the fragile flower, must surely be at rest, now.
It would have never occurred to him she was alive, in a hellish life.
After Hound and Hawk had fulfilled their instructions, the evil plan,
They took her aboard the ship and stowed her for the journey ahead.
They set the sails high, tying them up tight, and set into the wind.

1710. Sturdily lurching forward, surfing the waves towards Tich district,
They eventually docked and searched out Hoan’s parent’s home.
They arrived and delivered Kieu to the servant’s quarters,
Proudly expecting to claim their promised reward.
Meanwhile, Kieu remained unconscious, still in a stuporous sleep.

1715. Finally, she woke with a start and a jolt to her senses,
Utterly bewildered as to her location, in what seemed a palace.
While it seemed surreal, and her body so stiff, she thought she heard
A jarring command, ordering her to immediately report to… where?
The room filled with servants surrounding her, insisting she follow.