Difficult circumstances

Short stories byNguyen Thi Hoe(Quynh Luu)

The couple had five children, each of whom married and moved out. They each fended for themselves and couldn't offer much help to their parents. The couple hadn't been able to repair their house, and old age was catching up with them. Their fields were almost entirely divided among their children, leaving them with only a few plots of land, and the rice harvest wasn't enough to last the whole season!

He used to hunt egrets twice a year, in March-April and July-August. He hunted swallows in January and February, trapped sparrows in late spring-early summer, and caught shrimp and fish during the flood season... He spent year after year toiling in the rivers and canals. He knew he had wronged the land and the birds, so he decided to retire. People had forgotten his real name and simply called him Mr. Baldy, and his wife also took her name: Mrs. Baldy.

She had a vegetable garden, and she devoted herself to tending it every day to earn a living. The small, barren plot eventually paid off. Water spinach, jute mallow, amaranth, cabbage... each season brought forth lush, green vegetables. Selling the vegetables provided her with extra money for betel nuts, fish sauce, and other necessities.

At that time, the eldest son was doing very well financially. Seeing his parents struggling, he asked his father's permission to bring his wife to stay for a few days. His siblings and children discussed it for a long time before he reluctantly agreed, watching his wife get into the car with his son. But after only a few days, people saw him standing at the gate, pacing back and forth, weeping like a child, before suddenly falling ill. His son didn't know what to do and had to send her back to her father!

Illustration: Nam Phong

People say, "Raising pigs means eating and lying down to sleep," but it's not that easy! The couple didn't have a large capital to buy a pair of pigs from the villagers to raise, nor did they have the money to fatten them up. But raising chickens required little capital, and during times of scarcity, they had plenty of bananas and duckweed. So they turned to chickens. Some years they got five or ten; other years they got a few dozen; some years they all died from severe cold and disease. This year, only two chickens survived, one hen and one rooster. They're always clinging to each other like husband and wife. The husband took a bamboo tube, split it into three sections, set aside a piece for the top and handle, then wrapped it around the body several times, making it look like a funnel placed over the two chickens.

She loved them very much! She knew that because of hunger, the rooster sometimes ventured into her vegetable garden to dig for worms. She only chased it away, never throwing stones or dirt. Every morning and evening, she called the pair of roosters home and gave them a handful of rice. The rooster was overjoyed, but only made a few clucking sounds in its throat, then stood guard watching the sparrows feeding the hen, occasionally bending down to pick up a few grains.

On the evening of the 30th of Tet (Lunar New Year's Eve), she was cooking banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) in the kitchen when she suddenly heard a chicken squawking loudly, "cheep cheep." Hearing the commotion, she immediately ran out and was horrified:

"Sir, someone stole our two chickens!"

Mr. Hoi rushed down from the upstairs, stood愣 for a moment, then slowly said:

- Just recently I heard a rooster crowing... and now... no wonder I kept...
I have a feeling something bad is going to happen.

Then he turned to her and blamed her.

- I told you, slaughter it, first for the New Year's Eve offering, and then for our children and grandchildren to eat when they come back.

- I had no idea things would turn out like this!

Mrs. Hoi stood motionless at the doorway, looking at the overturned chicken coop, the remaining rice and grain mixed with straw, rubbish, and drinking water. Suddenly, her eyes blinked, a few salty tears falling, her nose stung, and her breathing became heavy. She spoke through sobs.

Oh my God! Thieves have no mercy on the poor!

- Oh well! Better to lose possessions than lose a life; as long as the person is alive, the possessions remain. Just let it go, woman!

Both of them sat in silence, watching the pot of cakes, not saying a word. Outside, it began to rain, the wind was biting, and the cold was bone-chilling. The dogs barked aimlessly, as if trying to tear through the thick darkness of the night. After a while, suddenly, a speckled hen, seemingly out of nowhere, rushed frantically into the kitchen.

Both of them were overjoyed, and Mrs. Hoi exclaimed:

- How did you escape and run back here, kid! Oh dear, maybe the thief took pity on us?

Mr. Hoi was stunned for a moment, then hurried to get a handful of rice for the chicken, but it didn't bother to eat, just kept clucking "tuck tuck ta tuck tack" incessantly, jumping up and down from the sack of chaff to the pile of firewood... constantly looking around as if searching for something. He still couldn't take his eyes off the chicken, wondering:

- Or is it looking for the rooster, Grandma?

Wait a minute!

She watched intently and noticed that it often came to the bundle of straw she used to start a fire, stood around awkwardly, then lay down, making clucking sounds and jumping around erratically.

- That's right, it wants to hatch eggs! We still have about twenty eggs, let me make a nest for it.
Those were the eggs she had saved up; she didn't dare sell them when she was in need, and she didn't dare eat them when she was sick.

- Wow! We'll have a whole flock of chickens soon, Grandma! Let's see!

He counted on his fingers and muttered to himself for a moment:

Exactly twenty days from now!

The speckled hen lay still on her newly made nest, her round eyes darting from the fire to her owner. Occasionally, she would bend down and gently push each egg towards herself with her beak to keep them warm.

Bald Man tilted his head back and downed the entire bottle of liquor in one gulp, his face flushed red. Then, in high spirits, he recited an old folk song:

Don't worry about your difficult circumstances, my friend.

As long as there is skin and hair, there will be growth, and as long as there are shoots, there will be trees...

The old couple looked at the potholes, then at each other and smiled. Wrinkles gathered around their eyes. The fire crackled and flickered, casting patches of light and shadow on the wall. The clock struck midnight. Both felt young again, as if they had forgotten all their recent losses. She spoke almost in a whisper:

- We've both turned another year older!

- YES!

They sat there until morning. Occasionally, the faint sound of roosters crowing echoed in the distance...

N..TH