Monday, November 04, 2013

Leaving the Village - Ví dầu cầu ván đông đinh

Vietnamese Folk Poem, Ca Dao
Translated by John Balaban

Ví dầu cầu ván đông đinh,
Cầu tre lắc lẻo gập ghình khó đi.
Khó đi, khó đẩy, về rẫy ăn cồng;
Về sông ăn cá, về giồng ăn dưa.

Even when cross planks are nailed down,
bamboo bridges are shaky, unsound. Hard going.
Hard going, so push on home to tidal flats to catch crab,
to river for fish, to our sandy patch for melons.


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