The story of a centenarian

(Baonghean) - A village nestled on the left bank of the Lam River in Vinh Son Commune (Anh Son) has an old man who has passed the age of 100 this year but is still lucid, even composing humorous poems every day, full of life and fully participating in the regular activities of the local poetry club. That is Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung (born in 1912), who was honored by the people of Vinh Son Commune and his descendants as "the artist of the village".

With long, white hair and beard, high forehead, kind eyes, strong body, back leaning on a stool, next to a table full of books, Mr. Tung looks like a fairy. On the table, we saw a "Vietnamese Dictionary", "Chinese-Vietnamese Dictionary", a few cultural research books and a "Poetry Magazine" of the Vietnam Writers Association. In the middle is an open black-covered notebook. Mrs. Tu - Mr. Tung's eldest daughter-in-law said that every day Mr. Tung often sits at the table to read books and compose poems. Mr. Tung said: "I have written more than 10 books like this. My children and grandchildren who come from far away often encourage me and ask for permission to print them into books to keep, but I don't like it". The poems Mr. Tung composed are in the form of continuous poems, that is, the poems do not have titles but are only numbered in order, each poem is connected to the previous poem through the system of words. These are poems that he composed with his fellow poets, and sometimes through them he expressed his contemplations about life. Let us enjoy the verses of a hundred-year-old man: “Long beard sweeping the wind, dancing with poetry/ Not getting anywhere, just wandering/ Reading and remembering, searching without exhausting the idea/ Thinking that it is a little far away, just indifferent/ Changing direction, twisting the words/ Enjoying the silkworm pulling out no silk/ Returning to create love following the old music/ Killing the idle hour to be less foolish”.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung

Before the August Revolution, Mr. Tung worked as a teacher at French schools. Having some artistic qualities and a wanderlust, he traveled all over the country during that time, his footprints left their mark everywhere from the North to the South, from the highlands to the lowlands. He said that once he traveled all the way to Hai Phong, met Tan Da and sang a dao with this famous poet from Doai...

After the revolution, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung eagerly returned to his hometown to teach popular education. When the National Resistance War broke out (December 19, 1946), he enthusiastically joined the army and carried out the task of producing gunpowder to meet some of the needs from the battlefields. During the anti-American period, he was still a soldier of Military Region 4, assigned by his superiors to carry out important and secret tasks.

Old age, no longer having enough energy to play and enjoy the fields and gardens, Mr. Tung finds joy in every page of a book and verse of poetry. Every day after waking up, eating, he sits at the table, reads, thinks, and writes... He shares: "My hands and feet are still moving, my eyes can still see clearly, my head can still think, so there is no reason to rest. On the contrary, I have to be active to keep my blood vessels clear, to keep my mind from becoming paralyzed."

While having lunch with him, we asked: "Do you have any secret to living a long and healthy life, clear-minded?" After finishing his glass of wine, he leisurely replied: "There is no secret. I just work hard, eat and drink moderately, and ignore the competition for fame and fortune to have a peaceful mind. When the mind is peaceful, you will certainly live a long life." After saying that, he pointed to a scroll with a few verses written by his children and grandchildren on the occasion of his 100th birthday (Spring 2011): "The great tree has lush flowers and fruits/ The high mountains of the South have longevity and brilliance/ Reflecting on how rare it is to live a hundred years/ In the world, few people can reach that...".

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