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iutnam From Rice Paddies and Temple Yards - Refugee Educators ...

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Lg Chim Quyln<br />

" Song of the Nightingale"<br />

My family, although musicians, have long been farmers of rice <strong>and</strong> also fruit tree* orange, tangerine, banana,<br />

mango <strong>and</strong> others. Ourlruit orchard stretched over several acres. Sometimes in the afternoon people of<br />

allages wouldget together in the yardofour brickhouse <strong>and</strong>sing. When Iwm very young my tnother sometimes<br />

sang this to me while she did needlework. I remember thinking that she <strong>and</strong> my father must have learned the lesson<br />

in the sung, becaue they never divorced <strong>and</strong> had a solid marriage <strong>and</strong> strong family.<br />

The reference to the fighting fmh ir an interesting one. Usually rhese beaut$ully coloredfi.rh live in up&,<br />

river or lake. We u~ed to catch them. <strong>and</strong> raise them in glass cotalainers- one to a bowl. If they were placed<br />

together in one, they wouldfight like mortal enemies, even to death. After school, we wouldplace the bowls near<br />

each other with a sheet ofpaper between the bowls so the fish could not see each other <strong>and</strong> get aghated. Then<br />

we would put diflerent ones together. <strong>and</strong> watch the fighting to see which was the be.~t. Ifthe fight became too<br />

violent, we might separate them so they would not kill each other. They would calm down quickly when placed<br />

again in their own glass pot.<br />

"Lf Chim QuyEn" is a folk song sung by farmers during their leisure time. This song<br />

of comparison (see the text) originates from popular verse, which stressses the importance<br />

of love through familiarity <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing, rather than the idea of romantically falling into<br />

love or love at first sight, common themes in American songs. The nightingale is aprominent<br />

bird featured in Vietnamese literature, from folk tales to classical poetry. Its song is rumored<br />

to be among the most beautiful of birdsongs in the world. The poem compares the familiarity<br />

of the nightingale with its favorite yellow berry, with the deep-rooted familiarity between<br />

a husb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> wife. The suggestion (<strong>and</strong> the honored value inherent) is that we feel<br />

comfortable with people, places, <strong>and</strong> objects that we know <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> find<br />

fundamental sustenance <strong>and</strong> security in these people <strong>and</strong> things. Even the fierce fighting fish<br />

returns to the safe haven of its holding tank when the battle is over.<br />

The rhymed words at the sixth syllable of a pair of six-<strong>and</strong> eight-syllable phrases are<br />

chxriacteristic of certain Vietnamese poems:<br />

Chim quyEn in trhi nhZn I6ng<br />

1 2 3 4 5<br />

Lia thia quen chsu vd ch6np quen hdi<br />

1 2 3 4 5 7 8<br />

The scale used is specific to the Southern region of Vietnam.

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