The Tale of Kiều
by Nguyễn Du
Ch. 2: Đạm Tiên's Grave
Translated by Vuong Thanh 

Chapter 2: Đạm Tiên’s Grave  

Like a sparrow moving back and forth on a spindle,

spring days came and went ever so quickly.

Already it was more than sixty days into the season.

Young grass stretched a fresh greenness to the far horizon.

On the pear branches, sprinkled a few white flowers.

It’s Qingming day in March when the tombs of loved ones

are visited and cleaned, and the festival,

“Treading on the Grass”, is a celebration of spring.

Near and far, young people were eager to go out on a walk.

The two sisters also prepared for their spring day outing.

The streets were full of well-dressed scholars and fair maidens.

Horses and carriages moved unceasingly like water.

The roads were jam-packed with people.

As the two sisters came up to the burial mounds,

ashes of golden rolls and paper money,

scattered by the wind, lay all over the grounds…

Gradually, the sun moved to the West.

The sisters wistfully headed for home.

Pacing leisurely alongside a streamlet,

the scenery was painting-like delicate.

Here, the water curved around a bend.

There, a little bridge across the waters, at the far end.

Suddenly, a lowly mound of earth on the trailside appeared,

where the sad-looking grass looked half yellow, and half green.

Kiều asked, “Why is it that in the Qingming festival,

there’s no incense for this burial grave?”

Vuong Quan, the youngest brother, replied:

“‘Tis the grave of Đạm Tiên, once a well-known songstress.

She’s renowned for her talents and beauty.

Outside her door, there was no lack of butterflies and bees.

But the fate of a beauteous woman has ever been fragile.

In the mid of her blooming youth, the heavenly fragrant flower

had departed from this world forever. 

There was a man from a faraway place.

Attracted by her fame, he wanted to meet her.

The love boat’d just arrived in the harbor,

but the brooch already broken, the vase shattered.

Her empty room, lifelessly cold and silent.

Green moss already started to cover

the traces of horses and carriages of her admirers.”

The man shed tears and cried:

“How regretful that we are not destined for each other.

If we cannot in this lifetime be together,

here’s a token of love to inspire Fate

to let us meet in some future lives and become heart-mates.”

He then bought a rosewood coffin and arranged a lavish funeral. 

Countless sunrises and sunsets since then had passed.

Her grave seldom saw any visitor as it was ownerless!

Kiều’s heart was already filled with some prior melancholy.

After hearing the story, her pearl teardrops  started to fall profusely.

“Alas! How painful is the destiny of a woman!

It’s said that an unhappy fate is our common lot.

Alas! How pitiless the Creator is!

To lay waste to a maiden’s youth and wither her beauty.

When alive, she’s the wife of many a man.

When dead, she becomes a ghost with not a single husband!

Where are her ardent lovers now? 

Where are those beauty-craving admirers? 

As there’s no one to think of her,

I will burn a few incense sticks.

Call it a meeting of sympathetic hearts on the road.

Hopefully, she in the underworld will know.”

She muttered prayers in tones high and low.
Then made a bow before leaving the grave.
Under the twilight, the grass was withered.
The wind blew lightly through the shivering weeds.
She pulled down a silver brooch from her hair.
And carved on the tree a four-line, three-rhyme stanza.
Then, as if falling into a state of enchantment,
she stood motionless and lost herself in thought.
Her lovely face turned sad and pensive.
Immersed in sorrow, streams of pearly tears kept falling.

Vân said, “My sister, you are ridiculous
to have spare teardrops to weep for people of long ago.”

Kiều replied, “Since time immemorial,

the cruelty of Fate has never spared any woman.

Just thinking of this makes me grieve.
Seeing her lying there, I wonder what’s in store for my future?”

Quan cut in, “My dear sister,
Each line you speak gets harder and harder on the ears.
The atmosphere here is spirit-heavy and gloomy.
Evening shadow descending and the way home still far.”

Kiều said: “Those talented elites,
Their bodies may perish, but their spiritual essences will persist.
Who knows if kindred souls will not together meet?
Wait a little while, she may show herself soon.”

The words barely spoken with no forthcoming reply
when a strong whirlwind suddenly from nowhere arose.
Violently, it shook the trees, causing flowers and leaves to fall.
And threw whiffs of perfume in the air.
Following the path the whirlwind took ,
they saw fresh and clear footprints on the moss.

On seeing this, everyone was a little terrified.
Kiều spoke: “This’s the power of true faith and trust.
Sympathetic souls are bound to meet each other.
If we’re to be sisters, care not that we are from different worlds.”
In heartfelt gratitude to Đạm Tiên for showing her presence,
Kiều added to the recent verses a few more lines.
Her sensitive heart was full of feelings and inspiration.
On the foot of the tree, an old-style poem was inscribed.