Ho Chi Minh - The character of an immortal descended to earth

(Baonghean.vn) - During the resistance war against the French colonialists, Uncle Ho and his leaders were still active in the Viet Bac resistance base. There were many hardships and sacrifices, but also much optimism, joy, and innocence, to the point of being romantic!

Uncle Ho reads Nhan Dan Newspaper

In 1950, approaching May 19, Uncle Ho turned 60 years old. According to Eastern tradition, when people reach old age, they often hold celebrations and birthday wishes. The Central Party Standing Committee at that time asked Uncle Ho to hold a celebration to celebrate his 60th birthday. But, like many times before, Uncle Ho refused. And this time, Uncle Ho recited the poem "Untitled" written on May 19, 1949:

Because of the country, do not think about home,

Fifty-nine is not old.

Wait for the resistance to succeed,

You will celebrate my birthday!

Uncle Ho's refusal was his business, the Central Standing Committee - the National Assembly Standing Committee - the Government and the Front still persisted in continuing to make the request. Knowing that he could no longer refuse, he had to "give in", but made a small request, that after the meeting of the Government Council on May 21, in the afternoon, there would be time to receive guests from the military, civilian and political parties.

A little late, but everyone is happy to have the opportunity to express their respect to Uncle Ho on his birthday.

So on May 21, in a thatched house called the hall, many delegates gathered. The organizers ran the generator, with only a few light bulbs but it lit up a corner of the forest. Mr. Tran Duy Hung, then Deputy Minister of the Interior, had just said a few words of introduction when Uncle Ho arrived. He raised his two hands high, then lowered them, indicating that everyone should be quiet again. "Let me receive the guests myself," Uncle Ho said to Mr. Hung, then turned to everyone to talk about domestic and international news... Those present that day were even more confident in the victory of the resistance when Uncle Ho recounted his "secret" trip that lasted for 3 months to China and the Soviet Union to make the two friendly countries understand us, support and help the Vietnamese revolution.

While Uncle Ho stopped speaking, priest Pham Ba Truc, then Deputy Head of the National Assembly Standing Committee, on behalf of the entire audience, read the birthday wishes for Uncle Ho. As soon as Mr. Truc finished speaking, Uncle Ho smiled and thanked him, and also recited a poem:

- I have some poems that are just random, please let me read them here:

Sixty years old is still young,

Compared to Mr. Bang is still a teenager.

Eat well, sleep well, work well,

A mortal like that is no less than a fairy!

After the poem, the solemn rituals of a celebration for the President seemed to disappear, replaced by openness, harmony, and warmth of human love and comradeship.

The main inspiration of that “off-the-cuff” poem by Uncle Ho, both realistic and containing elements of revolutionary romance mixed with a bit of humor, is clearly and naturally expressed. Uncle Ho at the age of 60 is still young, “still young enough”, compared to Mr. Peng who is 800 years old in China, he is only worthy of being a teenager. The reason why he is still young is because he has 3 factors: eating well, sleeping well, and working well (in Uncle Ho’s case, he wholeheartedly serves the revolution). Thus, material and spiritual, public and private, worldly and spiritual… are all here.

Remember, the Vietnamese revolution in the 1950s of the last century was facing many difficulties and challenges. In his appeal on the occasion of the anniversary of the August Revolution and Independence Day in 1950, Uncle Ho reminded us that: The enemy will be more reckless, more ferocious, they can spread further, before they are destroyed; we still have to go through more hardships than before, still have to overcome more dangers and hardships than before to reach complete victory... Looking at the documentary photos of Uncle Ho, many people still remember the photo of Uncle Ho looking far away from the Dong Khe front observation post, Border campaign in 1950. In such a complicated context of the country and the world, the two verses:

Eat well, sleep well, work well,

A mortal like that is no less than a fairy!

Demonstrates an ordinary yet extraordinary character in the personality and character of Ho Chi Minh!

Nguyen Van Hung