Vietnamese Stories & Myths

The Distant Stars (Written by Lê Minh Khuê)

I own nothing of this. Please support the original. It's just that I saw that a lot of countries have their myths and fairytales and stories translated into other languages for people to read and Vietnam doesn't have any stories which have been translated and posted (or printed and sold) somewhere a lot of people know, except maybe 'Kiều Story', pretty sure that one's famous enough though probably still not that famous. So I thought why the heck don't I translate them? And I did... Well, am doing unless you're reading this some time in the future when I will have already marked this book as complete.

Now, you might be wondering why I didn't start with myths and legends, specifically, the one in which the world or at least the country is created. Well, the answer is that this is one of the stories I have to study for the entrance exam so this is a form of revision. Sorta. The story itself it's pretty good, too. Also, it's about the Vietnam war so it isn't as far from now as the creation of Vietnam is. Also, this is just the version in my Literature text book so there are a couple parts that were cut out. Whenever you see [...] means that there was a part in the original story that was cut out.

Due to things like tradition, culture, lack of better words,... there are some parts I think will need to be further explained. I numbered those part. Please check the notes at the end of the story for a better understanding.

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We had three people. Three girls. We live in a cave at the bottom of the hill. The road runs in front of the cave, pulls up the hill and goes somewhere, far! The road is full of craters, red & white mixed. There are no green leaves on the sides road. Only the burned tree trunks remains. The trees were lying all over the place. Big rocks. Some rusty, mended and distorted gas tanks or cars lie in the soil.

Our job is to sit here. When the bombs explode, we run up, measure the volume of land to fill the bomb pit, count the unexploded bombs and, if necessary, we dispose of those bombs. They called us the roadside scout. The name which suggested our will to do the heroic. Therefore, the work is not simple. We are always bombed. Sometimes we crawl to higher ground only see two eyes sparkling. Laughing, our teeth seemed to flash in white, in contrast to our dirty faces. At that time, we called each other "the dark-eyed monsters".

The unit seriously takes care of us. If there's ever anything, they say "Let the scouts do it, they have quite a lot of free time."

That is understandable. The unit is usually on the road at sunset. And most likely works all night.

And we run on the high grounds during daytime. But running on the high grounds during daytime is not a game. Death is not a joker. He lurks inside the bombs. I have still have a wound in my thigh that has yet to be fully healed. Of course, I did not go to the military hospital. Everything has its own charm. There is no place like this: The fuming land, the dazed air, the planes flying away. Nerves so tight, hearts beating without rhythm, legs running while knowing that there are still many unexploded bombs around. They may explode right now, or they may do later. But they will explode... Then when all is finished, turning to look at the road again, exhaling and running back to the cave. While the outside is above 30 degrees, going back into the cave is like going to another world. The cool shakes the whole body immediately. Then go drink water in from a cup or a canteen. Stream water mixed with some sugar. Then lie on a humid background, eyes narrowing lazily and listen to music from the small semiconductor radio that always has a full battery. You can listen, can think about random things...

Looks like we're about to launch a big campaign. Every night the cars run constantly on the road. At night, we sleep. But not these nights. Everybody was climbing up the key points, holding shovels, saying some funny sentences with some certain driver. Fun. It's kinda sad for the one who has to stay inside the cave to watch the phone.