Nguyễn Du
early 19th century · Vietnam · The poem was written in chữ Nôm, the Vietnamese character script. This is the spelling of Trương Vĩnh Ký's edition in the Latin alphabet.
Within the hundred years of a human life, how talent and fate do hate each other! Having lived through a time when seas turned to mulberry fields, the things I have seen wring my heart!
Trăm năm, trong cõi người-ta, chữ tài chữ mạng khéo là ghét nhau! Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu, những điều trông thấy đã đau-đớn lòng!
The Tale of Kieu (Truyện Kiều), opening lines · Trương Vĩnh Ký's romanized edition (1911)
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Hồ Xuân Hương
early 19th century · Vietnam · A woman's lot, spoken through a white rice dumpling with red sugar inside, boiled floating in water. The wording of the third and fourth lines varies between editions.
My body is white, and it is round; seven times up, three times down, I drift in the water. Big or small, that is up to the hand that shapes me, but still I keep my heart of red.
Thân em vừa trắng lại vừa tròn, Bảy nổi ba chìm với nước non. Lớn nhỏ mặc dầu tay kẻ nặn, Nhưng em vẫn giữ tấm lòng son.
“Bánh trôi nước” (The Floating Dumpling) · in Dương Quảng Hàm, Quốc văn trích diễm (1925)
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us