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by Doan Le Now, I am nearly forty years of age. Of course, I will not be able to live 120 more years until 2132 to witness the next total-solar eclipse like the one today. I got up fairly early to contemplate this natural phenomenon, but it had no real impact on my life.
However, the rumour of the total-solar eclipse made me too anxious, while the image of my sweetheart Hoa continues to haunt me. "Honey, a partial-solar eclipse is going to happen today!" I reminded her. Before dying earlier that year, she only saw one partial-solar eclipse. I still remember how eager she was! She made up her mind to wait for the coming of the bright, crescent figure in the sky. In order to please her, I left my work unfinished, fetched her a basin of water and put a mirror in the bottom of it for her to watch. "Strangely enough, it seems that this will be the first solar eclipse of your lifetime," I grunted. "Why do you insist on watching it today? Partial eclipses may occur just a few times in a decade. Sometimes, a total-solar eclipse happens as well," I added. She was surprised. The eyes of this pretty girl in her late teens looked so pitiful that I was unable to nag at her any further. "A total solar eclipse? Does that mean that the sun would vanish completely….? Not quite! It means that there’ll be black sun in the sky. I would be so happy, if I could see this just once in my life!" she exclaimed. I left her alone on the balcony to resume my half-finished essay about an ancient, mysterious stone mass. Two months later, she was stung to death by wasps while on a field trip in the primeval jungles of Cat Ba Island with her classmates. She was found unconscious on the ground, but it was too late! She would never see another solar eclipse. Although she was found under the canopy of ancient trees near a crowded wasp nest, I refused to believe that wasps caused her demise. How could a few stings on her arms cause certain death? Although all medical tests have confirmed the cause of death, I am still dubious about their conclusions. My memory about that year’s partial-solar eclipse continues to ravage my heart. Why did I nag at her as she observed an eclipse for the first and last time in her life? I have never been a painter. I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the palette, brushes and oil tubes. But one day, on an impulse with tears in my eyes, I tried to paint the picture of the black sun left unfinished by Hoa. I remember, after she brushed the first stroke on the canvas, she whispered in my ears, "I’ll finish my painting of the black sun, soon. But I must visit the Cat Ba Island first." Now, she’s no more! I named the painting, "Virgin Black Sun." The background of the canvas is covered with a dark sky with flaming trees. Clouds surround the stagnant sun, while a few white storks soar up from the desolate expanses of reeds. I dedicated the word, "virginity", to the purity she maintained until death. I kept my promise to her mother that I would set aside everything until our wedding day, after her graduation. She did not know that my sacred promise would bind us together for a long time. I admired her, as Don Quixote adored his noble Dulcinea. Yet, there was a minor difference between this Spanish knight and myself: my thirst for her body was remarkably restrained. On several occasions, I thought I would not be able to keep my promise. I came close to breaking it, while she kept silent, but bad things did not conspire. She was like an innocent prey with tears in her eyes on the verge of being devoured. At once I regained control. I hugged her tightly and apologised for my bad intentions. After those crazed moments, she loved me even more with profound gratitude. I was well aware of her virginity. It was both noble and crazy. However I remained bound to my promise. Once she took me to her mother’s place, an ancient pagoda in Huong Son. She had been a secondary teacher, but was widowed when Hoa was only two years old. In order to evade the advances of the numerous young men in the locality, she became a nun. I had a secret talk with her amid the fragrant joss sticks coming from the altar dedicated to the Three Gems. "I know that Hoa has been in love with you for nearly two years," observed the respectful nun. "I think highly of your lofty sentiments. You see, I’ve got only one child, Hoa. I entrust her to you and regard you as my son-in-law. You’re nearly thirty, experienced and serious, while my daughter is still very young and just a sophomore in the College of Arts. I expect you to take care of her until your marriage. Only then, would I not be regarded as an irresponsible woman. God bless you!" she implored. She sobbed bitterly. I held her hands and vowed that I would do as I had promised. Amid the perfume of incense, I felt as if I had taken the oath for the ten precepts of the Buddhist faith. Oddly enough, since that day my behaviour towards Hoa felt more sacred, attached and solicitous. Hoa was a valuable that I would enshrine. Because of this promise, she became more beautiful and attractive to my eyes. *** I lost her almost ten years later. I cannot imagine how I lived during that critical period. Several pretty girls had approached me, but they soon said left without saying a word. "Is this because of my humble destiny?" I would often ask myself. My dear "Virgin Black Sun"! I made a basin of water mixed with a little blue ink, put a mirror at its bottom, burnt a few joss sticks and planted them in the incense burner. "Honey, at ten past eight, please come home to watch the total-solar eclipse," I prayed. Meanwhile, I believed that she would return to my dwelling and appear on the water surface to inform me of her presence. The fragrance of the joss sticks made me remember a few pictures of an ancient grave that my friend had just taken at Quang Thanh, Phu Luong A Village, during his trip to the ancient capital of Hue the week before. After picking them up, I looked at each through a magnifying glass to get a better view of the photograph. Although they were taken a long time ago with a cheap camera, I recognised the image of a beautiful young lady. She was covered with silk and satin. Beside her laid a sword. "Who is she?" I asked myself. Later, an archaeologist told me that she came from an aristocratic clan and that she died at the age of 20. The grave dates back to the 14th century. Historically, it coincided with the time that Princess Tran Huyen Tran, the younger sister of King Tran Anh Tong (1276-1320) of the Viet land, became the queen of the Kingdom of Champa, in exchange for the two counties of O and Ly. It seemed to me that the noble lady was a beloved daughter of a high-ranking military mandarin of the Viet Court, who was probably good at martial arts. Her temple can be found standing in Quang Dien today. Suddenly, I was afraid that the photo, taken a long time before, might soon decompose due to its exposure to air. She must have had an oval-shaped face with long hair rolled up in a chignon with its tail spread over her breast. She had been in charge of safeguarding the princess in the foreign land. Six months after their nuptials, Cham King Jaya Sinhavarman III (usually called Che Man by Vietnamese historians) died. According to a Cham custom, the queen had to join her husband in death. Out of pity for his sister, Kinh Tran Anh Tong carried out a daring act to take her back to her homeland with the help of General Tran Khac Chung, while the blue-blooded, young lady that escorted the princess stayed behind as a hostage. When she was certain that the princess had escaped to safety, she committed suicide by stabbing a sword into her heart in order to avoid the wrath of the Cham Court. I once made an excursion to the Dau Pagoda in Ninh Binh Province, where Princess Tran Huyen Tran prayed for her ill-fated imperial maid. I imagined that the souls of virgins had a superb abode abound with white sweet-smelling flowers in Shangri-La. I thought of the account of the womans’s life, while I was indulging in her photos. The story of the woman went as follows: You’re very poetic and the prince of my heart! Before killing myself in your deserted royal palace, while everybody was attending the funeral of your sovereign father, I only hoped to meet you again in order to say farewell to you. Princess Tran Huyen Tran may return to our homeland with her lover, General Tran Khac Trung, and I hope that she will enjoy happiness in his arms. My soul will be enshrined in a Buddhist pagoda, as she had promised. She will also burn incense in my memory. I expect nobody to pity my fate because I voluntarily stayed behind to divert the watch of the Cham Courtiers. Now my mission has been achieved and I say farewell to my compatriots with my heart at ease. However, I am ashamed of your devotion to me, my beloved prince. Thanks to the Princess’s support of our love, I was able to meet you in the forbidden royal garden that night. I’m grateful to your promise to keep me pure until our wedding day, when we would kneel down before Vishnu with the permission of your father the King. Nevertheless, I was greatly surprised when I discovered the several red spots on your chest that were revealed by the moonlight. "Dear me! Why do you have several red spots like a Great Bear on your chest?" I asked you. "No one has ever noticed them, but my mother the Queen. Besides her, you’re the first to know the truth," you replied. "So, from now on, I’ll call you "The – Great – Bear – of – Mine". Is that all right?" I asked "Of course, you can, my dear," you answered. I was so happy when I hugged the Great Bear in my arms! My days of happiness did not last long after your Father, the Cham King, violently died. To the best of my knowledge, his Queen, namely the former Princess Tran Huyen Tran of the Viet land, was to be cremated and would then join her husband in death. What can I do now? I’ve managed to prevent her from jumping into the well several times already. I’ve also secretly and urgently informed the Tran Sovereign of his endangered sister in the kingdom of Champa. During that time I’ve been waiting for you anxiously. From the bottom of my heart, I know that as a pious prince, you must stay beside the King’s coffin. Luckily, an envoy from the Tran Court arrived in Champa in time to pay floral tribute to the deceased Cham King. A scheme to liberate the Viet princess had been previously planned. Princess Tran Huyen Tran declared that before going to the underworld together with her husband, she must comply with the Viet customs and manners. She will have a dais built by the riverside so that she may, turning to the north, out of respect to her royal parents and ancestors before dying. Her proposal was approved and carried out. After the rite, she quickly got into the waiting boat to return home. With a sword of invaluable worth given to me by the King, I killed myself to avoid being arrested and tortured by the Chams. Here in this foreign land, except for you and the Princess, I had no friends. You have protected me from being encroached upon by Cham courtiers. You also tried to keep me pure. I’ll be grateful to you forever. Before I take my last breath, I pray that in the next life you’ll be compensated appropriately. In fact, you are unaware that I’ve searched for you for ages. Did you know that? In loyalty to you, I thank heaven that I was born again. My name is Hoa and like the previous generations, I only lived to the age of 19. Now, I have resorted to wasp stings in order to leave this world. So, don’t grieve for this ill-fated virgin of yours. Death was my fate, Great Bear. I’m sure we will continue to long for each other in the metaphysical journey of life. "Alas, my dear Hoa!", I screamed when I awoke. I saw your silhouette step slowly back to the balcony and disappear into the crisp, night air. How did I fall asleep with these photos so easily? Suddenly, I remembered the total-solar eclipse. I darted to the balcony in order to look into the basin of water. The dark sun encircled in light appeared in the bottom of the basin. In 2132, another black sun like this will fill the sky. Maybe in another 120 years, Hoa and I will sit together waiting for the eclipse. Translated by Van Minh Nguồn: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/
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