1) đối & chiếu:
[1]trèo lên cây ổi [vô tư]
[2]hái huê [hớn hở]
[3]bươc xuống vườn huệ [huế]
[4]ngăt nụ xì tin [mực tím/tuổi mới lớn]
[5] nụ tì xin [mực xanh/tuổi mới ốm]
[6] thè ra mim mím [nhẹ nhàng]
[7] em bán mình rùi [cho ai, cho ai]
[8] anh… [?]
[9] tím tái thay! [dễ sợ]
[10] [ô hay] !!!!
[11] bao tiền một chiêc máy bay [du thuyền cũng đặng]
[12] sao anh không sắm [tậu]
[13] luc/thời còn nguyên [luyến tiếc]
[14] bi giừ em đã có tuyền [tiền]
[15] như con chim chuyền [khó nắm]
[16] như cá dưới sông [khó lội]
[17] cá dưới sông có khi còn băt [nói thăt]
[18] chớ cá dưới bể băt mần răng đây [nói thiệt]
[19] lại về trèo lên ngọn cây [hớn hở lần nữa]
[20] ngồi chờ huê nở [mong đợi]
[21] bàn tay rờ cành/& lá [ngậm ngùi]
2) To & Reference
[1] climb guava trees [impartial]
[2] Hai Hue [cheering] (two)
[3] walked down the garden lily [Hue]
[4] interrupt teenage buds [ink purple / adolescence]
[5] handmaid please [ink blue / new age ill]
[6] sticking out mim pursed [gently]
[7] they sell themselves rùi [to whom, for whom]
[8] he … [?]
[9] purple instead! [awful]
[10] [cell or] !!!!
[11] purse a plane [yacht also unto]
[12] why do not you purchase [bought]
[13] luc / time intact [nostalgia]
[14] detained children had pure [money]
[15] as the bird passed the [elusive]
[16] as the fish in the water [hard to wade]
[17] fish in the river are even starts [Furniture]
[18] Do not fish in the tank discontent teeth here [said damage]
[19] again to climb trees [cheerful again]
[20] Each bloom Hue [expect]
[21] hand and touched the branches / leaves & [pity]
Many issues arise from translating this poem. After posting it onto Google translate, this is what I get, and the problem is that it doesn’t make sense, the sentences don’t flow together. And so when translating each word individually, it brings out a different word completely. I even attempted to research about the poet, hoping it would help with the translation, however nothing came up, other than the fact that he was arrested for no reason, and was released a couple of days later.
3) After receiving the poem, I posted the whole thing on google translate to see what it would generate for me. Some words didn’t even translate, so I had to put that word on Google Translate on its own to see what word it would generate. After realizing that it doesn’t make sense, and the sentences don’t flow as regular poems usually would, I planned on changing around words, however I was afraid to lose important words, and the meaning of the poem, because I have not yet received a literal translation from a fluent Vietnamese speaker. This translation so far is a direct translation from the poem. I am still in the process of receiving the literal translation from a Vietnamese friend, which will hopefully be my “middle translation”. This relates to our project by the theme of hidden meanings, as well as nature, the poem talks about “guava trees” “garden lilies” and “rivers” so we thought of adding a sense of nature into our book. We also believe that there are many hidden meanings in this poem because there are a lot of things that we still do not understand, which we hope to do so in the future. However, this plays into the role of hidden meanings and so our book will have hidden slots and pockets that portray the poem.
