The Tale of Kieu
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The Tale of Kieu is an epic poem in Vietnamese written by the 18th century writer Nguyễn Du (1766-1820). The original title in Vietnamese is Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (斷腸新聲, lit. painful new voices), but it is better known as 'Truyện Kiều' (lit. Kieu story). Nguyen Du made use of the plot of Kim Vân Kiều, a story written in classical Chinese, to convey the situation at the end of the 18th century. The ruling Le dynasty was controlled by the Trinh lords in the north and the Nguyen lords in the south. While the Trinh and the Nguyen where fighting against each other the Tay Son rebels overthrew the Le dynasty in 1778. Nguyen Du was truely loyal to the Le dynasty and hoped for the return of the Le king. In 1802 the Nguyen lord Nguyen Anh made an end to the Tay Son reign forming the new Nguyen dynasty. Nguyen Anh, now king Gia Long, wanted Nguyen Du to join the new government. He had no choice, though he was still loyal to the Le dynasty. His situation is analogous to the situation of the main character in The Tale of Kieu.
In 3,254 verses, written in 6/8 meter, it recounts the life, trials and tribulations of Thúy Kiều, a beautiful and talented girl, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family. She sold herself as a prostitute to save her father and younger brother from jail.
The original text was written in Vietnamese using the vernacular Chu Nom script. Below are the first 6 lines of the prologue translated to English and written in Vietnamese Quoc ngu.
Hundred years in a humans life span,
Talent and Destiny are poised in bitter conflict.
Leaving behind you a mulberry field,
What you hope to see, it hurts so much.
It is natural that losses balance gains,
When the sky lightens, brightness makes you jealous.
Trăm năm trong cõi người ta,
Chữ tài chữ mệnh khéo là ghét nhau.
Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu,
Những điều trông thấy mà đau đớn lòng.
Lạ gì bỉ sắc tư phong,
Trời xanh quen thói má hồng đánh ghen,
External Links
- Complete text and images of the poem written in Chu Nom (http://vhvn.com/Kieu/kieu.html) (Quoc ngu text in VIQR convention)
- Complete text in proper quoc ngu text (http://vnthuquan.net/truyen/truyen.aspx?tid=2qtqv3m3237nvn1n2n31n343tq83a3q3m3237nvn)
- The Tale of Kieu, Vietnam's Epic National Poem (http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/kieu.html)nl:Kim Van Kieu