[LIT] A Short Story
VP...@us55.dnet.hac.com
Hoa`ng -Da.o
Va^n sat quietly so the calmness could seep through his
body. The half smoked cigarette on the china plate emitted
its blue, delicate smoke which slowly ascended and surrounded
the lamp's glass bulb.
In front of him, candle and incense smoke permeated and
clouded up the beautifully decorated altar. The gold
lettering on the pair of matching verses stood out against
the black painted background. Through the pink chiffon
screen, Va^n glanced at the black copper incense burner, the
crimson red throne, the antique candle holders, and two vases
holding branches full of peach blossoms as red as young
girls' lips.
Then his eyes fondly looked at a bowl holding the
narcissus bulbs with their snow white roots and bright green
leaves covering the tender bulbs. Va^n had carefully peeled
and pruned those narcissus bulbs himself for almost a month.
Today is the day he finally was going to enjoy the result of
his hard work. Those budding flowers seemed to wait for the
hands of an intimate friend to come and open. Va^n longed for
the minutes the flowers blossom, hopefully at the moment when
New Year's crackers began to crackle.
Va^n loved the narcissus flowers deeply. Every year, at
the end of January, he bought numerous narcissus bulbs and
displayed them all over his bedroom. Then he devoted his time
tending these bulbs. He peeled the large bulbs that had
several sprouts. Each day he woke up early, pruned, and
cleaned these bulbs despite the cold water which sometimes
numbed his fingers.
On New Year's day, Va^n counted each buds, and when all
of them bloomed into beautiful flowers, he certainly was the
happiest person.
Va^n's friends often said he loved the narcissus flowers
as much as he loved girls. He simply smiled every time he
thought of this. He fondly glanced at the buds as if he
wanted to tell them, "Please smile at me, my friends."
He felt in his heart an airy and sweet love. He softly blew a
kiss on one of the buds in the porcelain bowl and felt an
infinite affection for the delicate flowers and an admiration
for the pleasant fragrance. The soon-to-bloom flowers, Va^n
thought, once a year came into his life, bringing a strange,
eternal aroma, a lovable, essential beauty in life.
Va^n quietly awaited for time to pass, second by second,
and thought that the approaching moment, the instance that
would bring the world as well as the flowers a New Year.
However Va^n still felt his whole soul and spirit as well as
the objects around him, in the quietness of the night, were
all waiting for that wonderful moment, when his narcissus
flowers bloomed, and some magical things would happen and
disappear in an instance.
Va^n glanced at the flower bowl and suddenly felt tired.
He sat back on a chair, and immediately a peaceful and easy
feeling came to him.
Suddenly outside the dogs barked. Va^n remembered that
Dung, his friend, had asked him to be the first person to set
foot in her house on New Year's day. He put on his trench
coat and walked out of the house.
The cold wind made Va^n shudder. He buttoned up his coat
and walked along the empty streets to Dung's house. Passing
through the unlocked gate, Va^n did not see the two pots of
yellow orchids that he usually stopped to enjoy. Feeling a
little strange he took a closer look at the surrounding and
said, "May be I made a mistake. This is not Dung's house."
But studying the cobblestone walk, Va^n realized that he
had been here several times before. Through the small-leaved
rose bushes, he peered at the big white house which reflected
the half moon, turning the normal surrounding into a surreal
setting. Va^n recalled his frequent rose pickings, the dives
into the refreshing pool, to the creaking steps on the porch.
Walking pass the brick veranda, he was about to knock on the
door but it opened by itself. Somehow Va^n was not surprised,
he walked into the room, sat down on a chair, put down the
cigarette case and pulled one out, lit it and started smoking
as if he were used to do this for a long time. In the room,
things are simply decorated in a blue shade. There was
nobody, only a fresh scent faintly lingering in the air. Va^n
felt his mind floating like a trail of smoke. He tried to
recall where he was but could not. He only vaguely remembered
that he had seen this room once. Va^n looked at a painting on
the wall depicting a beautiful girl who was playing a flute;
there were two fawns next to her. The more he looked at the
painting the more it reminded him that he had seen it before.
He could not understand why. He turned around and suddenly
recognized his own bowl of narcissus buds next to the
painting. Just by glancing at the bowl, Va^n knew on the
porcelain there was a painting of a girl standing next to her
lover. The scene came out of a classical love story. He also
knew all the narcissus flowers would bloom when the clock
struck midnight. It was like he was in a dream, his mind
seemed to wander into a different world, a world he had lived
in the past but could not recall anymore. Suddenly from the
quietness of the night a clock struck twelve times. The
curtain gradually rolled up. Va^n tried to calm his mind,
telling himself that this could not happen. When the chiming
stopped, Va^n startled. The curtain was up, and ... from the
door, Va^n was overwhelmed, he stood up, bewildered, ...
stared at a beautiful girl who was smiling at him. Va^n felt
he had walked into a fairyland. But the girl's oval face, her
bright red lips were very familiar to Va^n. Especially her
clear, assured eyes indicated that she had known him for a
long time. Va^n hesitated, wanting to greet the girl but
thinking he was in a dream when the girl stepped into the
room. She wore a light green dress, the color of young rice
plants, showing her alabaster white arms. Wrapped around her
neck was a yellow scarf with its two ends hanging down from
her shoulders. She smiled, "Why did you come so late? We've
been waiting for some time."
The sentence ended, yet Va^n still heard echoing in his
heart a musical melody. He was still amazed when the girl
continued, "Please sit down and have a drink."
At that time the door opened. A maid in a green dress
stepped in and handed the girl a tea tray. She took a cup and
slowly raised it with both hands toward Va^n. Va^n held the
cup and noticed a pleasant aroma. He took a sip and felt
quite comfortable.
A while later, the girl said, "There are 12 of us, but
some were not quite ready when you came in. If you don't
mind, we would all like to greet you now."
She had not yet finished her sentence when the screen
rolled up, a sweet scent filled the room. Va^n saw 11 girls
wearing green dresses with striking yellow scarfs around
their necks. He was thrilled by the beautiful sight. He
stayed and talked for a long time, although he could not
recall what they had conversed but he knew it was a nice and
exciting discourse. Suddenly one of the girls said, "It's
already late!"
Then each of the girls cut out a piece of her yellow
scarf, gave it to Va^n and bade farewell. Va^n said goodbye
but he certainly felt an attachment to the beauties.
A cold wind passed by. Within a blink of an eye, all the
girls disappeared. Va^n realized that he was still at home,
leaning against a window. Only the sweet fragrance remained
in the air. He looked at the narcissus bowl; the picture of
the Chinese girl on the porcelain stood out in the night.
Inside the bowl amid the green leaves appeared some white
flowers. As he got closer he found exactly 12 full bloom
flowers with their fresh yellow stamens and a small bud still
in its green sheath.
Translated and edited by Pha.m Hoa`ng Lie^n (UCLA) from the
short story Thu?y Tie^n in the collection Tie^'ng -Da`n.
Tri'ch tu+` Non So^ng, so^' 41
To^?ng Ho^.i Sinh Vie^n Vie^.t Nam Mie^`n Nam California
_____________________________________________________________
Hello ... Help!
Non So^ng is a monthly bilingual magazine published by The
Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern
California. It is published once a month from March through
December, and a Spring Edition is published for January and
February. In order to preserve and promote Vietnamese
culture, it is mailed to the Vietnamese Student Associations
at American and Canadian colleges and universities free of
charge. In addition it serves as a forum through which
Vietnamese students and alumni can share feelings and
thoughts with their peers. If your VSA has not received Non
So^ng, please send us your association mailing address; and
the name, address, and phone number of the External Vice
President. To defer mailing cost, there is an annual charge
($12 - US, $24 - overseas) to send Non So^ng directly to other
readers' residential or business addresses.
Readers' input is vital to Non So^ng's success. It needs
your feedback. What subjects or issues would you like to see
covered in Non So^ng? Please send us your suggestions,
recommendations, or literary submissions on anything you deem
appropriate. We are open to all ideas.
Non So^ng currently needs voluntary staff writers,
translators, proof readers, and artists. If you're
interested, we would like to get in touch with you. Please
contact us at the following address:
Non So^ng
15111 Moran Street
Westminster, CA 92683 (USA)
Telephone: (714) 893-3139
Thank you,
Phan Vu~