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The Tale of Kieu – Through the Eyes of Mindfulness, Part 4
Half a year in poetry turns out to be more than a year; Thuy Kieu truly lived with Thuc Sinh for a full year of happiness, from summer to autumn. When Thuc Sinh returned to visit his family, his father insisted on casting Kieu out, fearing the power of the first wife and the law of “family punishment,” causing Thuc Sinh to rather die than be separated. The district magistrate judged the case, issuing a pink warrant, stern as an iron face, forcing Kieu either to return to the brothel or to endure shackles; Kieu would rather bear the threefold iron yoke, her hands and feet bound, yet firmly declared she would not return to the path of flowers.
Hoan Thu, hearing rumors that her husband had rekindled his love with Kieu, devised a scheme of Lam Tri by land and sea, sending thugs by boat to capture Kieu and bring her home for a humiliating plot; she burned the upper chamber to hide her crime, creating the scene that Kieu had been tragically burned to death. When Thuc Sinh returned, he found only ashes and the memorial tablet “Vuong Thuy Kieu” in the shroud, lamenting his heartbroken love. Kieu was torn from the library, her body burdened with injustice; when a Taoist priest tried to summon her spirit, it did not appear, saying they must wait another year for news, and even if they met again, “they would wish to look but dare not look.”
Special terms and expressions:
- summer (Thuc Sinh enjoying the coolness in the bamboo pavilion) and autumn (yellow corn leaves mingling with green branches)
- family punishment (the threefold yoke: niệu, già, giới)
- pink warrant (the magistrate’s order)
- the crescent moon and three stars in the sky (the mood of autumn)
- Lam Tri by land and sea (a month by land, quickly by sea)
- black stain (a flyspeck on white paper, a blemish on black cloth)
The Tale of Kieu – Through the Eyes of Mindfulness, Part 2