The Tale of Kiều
by Nguyễn Du
Ch. 26: Kiều Met Thúc Sinh
Translated by Vuong Thanh 

Chapter 26: Kiều Met Thúc Sinh  

Of the brothel’s patrons, there was a man: 

Kỳ Tâm with surname Thúc, who came from a lineage of scholars.

Originally from Hsi district in Ch’ang county,

he went with his father to open a shop in Lin-tzu.

Kiều’s fame as a young queen among flowers attracted him.

He arranged to have his card sent to her chamber. 

Behind the drapes, he saw the peach blossom flower.

Her looks and charms, he found them all lovely and enchanting. 

The red camellia exuded desirability with its youthful bloom.

The windier, the rainier the spring day, the more desirable it was.

The delicate flower shimmered under the soft moonlight, looking so vulnerable.

Who could hold back his heart on such a spring night?

Nothing strange that when two kindred spirits meet, 

they’d be bounded together by a tie that none can separate.

At first, it started out as an affair of seduction and lust.

After being together for some time, it turned into love and trust. 

The god of fortune has smiled on his destiny. 

As luck would have it, his father went on a homebound journey.

Now, he became one part alert and nine part bewitched.

On these spring days, he would often to her place visit. 

Sometimes on the breezy balconies, 

sometimes in the moonlit yards, 

they’d pour wine for each other, speak in linked verses.

With incense burned in the morning, tea in the afternoon,

they’d play games of chess, and perform guzheng and lute duets.

Both were deeply immersed in the round of pleasures.

The more they know of each other’s disposition, the greater their attachments.

Is it not strange that a beautiful woman’s waves of attraction, 

can topple houses and pavilions as if they were just playthings.

Young Thúc, used to spending money lavishly,

would throw out thousands for her laughter in a fit of gaiety. 

The bawd then would make Kieu even more desirable,

adorning her with beautiful dresses, cosmetics, and all.

Excited with smell of money, her greedy blood wants much more. 

Beneath the moon, the cuckoos cried for summer.

On the wall, flames danced with pomegranates’ red flowers. 

In her chamber, on a day with some leisure, 

she dropped the pink curtains to take a bath perfumed with flowers.

Behold! Such clear jade, such white ivory!

Nature’s masterpiece in all its glory.

Thúc gazed and gazed, then praised her beauty

with an eight-lines-seven-words poem that he just wrote,

 the elaborate form of which came from the Tang dynasty.

She said, “I’m happy to know your feelings.

Each word is jade, each line is brocade. 

Good or bad, I should write a poem in reply.

But homesickness’s occupying my mind. 

My heart’s still with the homeward-drifting golden clouds.

My rhyming reply verse, I will owe you for another time. 

He said, “You’re talking very strangely!

Aren’t you the daughter of this place’s owner?

On hearing this, more gloom’s reflected in her autumn eyes.

She thought of the past heart-rending events, and felt very sad.

She said, “I’m like a flower, fallen from its branch.

You’re like a butterfly flirting about just to have fun.

My lord, you already have a wedded wife.

The day’s short, let’s not talk any more on this subject.”

Thúc Sinh said, “Since we have known each other,

my heart has nurtured a love for you,  a love that endures

with the mountains and  rivers. 

Wanting to live with you as husband and wife,

I need to know all about your situation and your past life.  

She replied, “I’m humbly and deeply grateful for your intention,

but I’m afraid it won’t be easy with your wife.

I have lived in this neighborhood of pleasure for quite a while.

I have known men to love flowers just for their make-up colors .

But when the hue and the fragrance fade, 

will one’s heart still keeps its love?”

Besides, within the moon palace,

there’s already the Moon Lady who rules the place.

Till now, with sacred bonds of matrimony, you two are very close.

But another woman in the house will divide your love.

What am I  – a drifting duckweed, a wandering cloud

to lessen the love and affection that you have for your spouse?

Should things go wrong, they will all fall on my head.

On whom will the punishment be given, but me?

But if you keep a firm controlling hand,

then you can protect me now and then.

But if the wife is the one who set the laws,

I will be at the mercy of the lioness’s jaws.

Under your roof, I will always have to bow my head.

Sour vinegar (jealousy) will be three times worse than blazing fire.

Besides your wife, there’s also your father.

Will his heart hold some compassion for this poor girl?

Would he think that, ‘What does it matter – 

the fate of a flower blooming by the wall.

From the whorehouse, let it go back to the whorehouse.’

Then I would feel even more dirty and ashamed. 

I’m resigned to my lot, just afraid for your reputation. 

Love me in a way that makes our lives go smooth. 

Plan everything well with no loose ends, and I’ll gladly obey.”

He said, “You speak with so much caution!

My heart and yours, are they still strangers to each other?

Don’t worry about far-off things that may not happen.

Depend on me to work everything out. 

I’m right by your side. What does it matter, the remote difficulties?

I’m determined to marry you, and will brave all the storms that come our way.”

The two confided in each other all the secrets in their hearts.

They swore love oaths by the mountains and the sea.

The night, however, was too short for their love talks.

Outside, the moon had sunk behind the west hills. 

Using an excuse of taking her out for some fresh air

around the bamboo pavilion, he hid her at a place.

War or peace? He prepared for both routes.

He got advices from a strategist, and used information from spies.  

Then he sent word to Dame Tú.

Outmaneuvered, she had no choice but to settle a deal.

He paid the ransom money into the bawd’s hands.

And notified the law of Kieu’s return to an honest life. 

Now that both the legal system and men had been dealt with, 

Kiều was immediately freed from her infamous prison. 

Like bamboo and plum flower, they lived together under one roof.

Their love grew wider and deeper than the rivers and the seas.

Like fire and incense, their passions burned hotly in the night. 

Her jade-and-lotus beauty glowed brighter and brighter with happiness and delight. 

For half a year, they lived together as lovers.

In the courtyard, plane trees mixed green with yellow leaves.

Along the autumn hedge, the mums had just shown their buds.

Then Thúc Sinh saw his father came riding back.