On The Way Home
One day, I left the city and went back,
to see the hills and streams of my Cham race.
Worn thin with longing, here are my Cham towers;
old temples crushed beneath the weight of time;
deserted rivers crawling through the night;
Cham statues moaning their foul sores of rust.
Here are deep woods, where treetops droops-Cham ghosts
prowl them together, groping in the dark;
dense forests where, pell-mell, weird twilight spreads,
redolent of earth, alive with sad adieus.
Often, both sides joined battle on this field;
dead fighters souls roam all forlorn and howl.
Cham blood still churns with anger as time flows;
Cham bones still carry memories of hate.
Here are the sights of Champaland at peace;
lone hamlets bathed in streams of sunset gold;
Cham lasses nimbly sauntering, homeward bound,
and gaily chatting, wrapped in brown red smocks.
Here are resplendent mansions in the sun
and gorgeous palaces beneath blue skies,
proud warboats sleeping on the quiet stream,
huge elephants calmly walking by the wall.
In the ethereal glow of pearls, here are
Cham kings and courtiers drunk on ivory flesh.
Cham beauties lulled to dream by songs of flutes,
swaying in rhythm, bodies fair as flowers.
Ill see them all, those scenes, on my way home-
theyve haunted me as days and months pass by;
and ever since, my heart has overflown
with sorrow and regret for my Cham race.
from Dieu Tan collection by Che Lan Vien (1920-1992)
translated by Huynh Sanh Thong
excerpted from The Viet Nam Review, No. 2,
Spring/Summer 1997
Tren Duong Ve
Mot ngay biec thi thanh ta roi bo
quay ve xem non nuoc giong dan Hoi
.
.
Day, nhung thap gay mon vi mong doi
nhung den xua do nat duoi thoi gian,
nhung song vang le minh trong bong toi,
nhung tuong Cham lo loi ri ren than.
Day, nhung canh ngan sau cay la ngon,
muon ma Hoi so soang dat nhau di,
nhung rung tham bong chieu lan hon don,
lung dua huong, ron ra tieng tu qui.
Day, chien dia, noi doi ben giao tran,
muon co hon tu si het gam vang,
Mau Cham cuon thang ngay niem oan han,
xuong Cham luon rao rat noi cam hon.
Day, nhung canh thai binh trong Chiem Quoc,
nhung co hon vang nhuom nang chieu tuoi,
nhung Chiem nu nhe nhang quay lai ap,
ao hong nau phu phat xoa loi vui.
Day, dien cat huy hoang trong anh nang,
nhung den dai tuyet my duoi troi xanh,
Day, chien thuyen nam mo tren song lang,
bay voi thieng tram mac dao ben thanh.
Day, trong anh ngoc luu li mo ao,
vua quan Chiem say dam thit da nga,
nhung Chiem nu mo mang trong tieng sao,
cung nhip nhang uyen chuyen uon minh hoa.
Nhung canh ay tren duoung ve ta da gap,
thang ngay qua am anh mai khong thoi,
va tu day long ta luon tran ngap
noi buon thuong, nho tiec gion dan Hoi.
