VĨ THANH BÀI THƠ
XUỐNG NÚI
HUỆ KHẢI
Thứ Bảy
27-3-2021, tôi gởi anh Nguyễn Văn Danh (cựu học sinh trung học Hồ Ngọc Cẩn) “Bài Thơ Xuống Núi” đã đăng nguyệt san Công Giáo Và
Dân Tộc. Hôm sau, Chủ Nhật 28, anh Danh cho đăng trọn bài trên FB Trung Học Hồ
Ngọc Cẩn Gia Định.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/trunghochnc/permalink/3961423127255243/
Thứ Ba 08-11-2022, anh Danh gởi tôi hai trang trích từ “Xuân Châu Văn Tiếp 1994”, gồm trang 10 đăng trọn bài thơ “Hạ Sơn” (hai cột); cuối trang cho biết bài thơ này thầy Hiếu “sáng tác năm 1962”, và một trang tiếng Anh (hai cột) nhan đề “Descending the Mountain” do chính “thầy Bảo Nhất Nguyễn Đức Hiếu” dịch. Trang này in “Bảo” (dấu hỏi). Anh Danh rất chu đáo, đã gõ lại trọn bản tiếng Anh và gởi file “word.doc” cho tôi tiện sử dụng, khỏi mất công gõ phím. Tôi thật cảm kích tấm lòng của anh, một đồng môn khóa 1965-1972, trước tôi một năm.
1. So sánh “Hạ Sơn (b)” với bản in 1994 – tức là “Hạ Sơn (c)” – tôi
thấy có sai khác như sau:
|
Hạ Sơn (b) |
Hạ Sơn (c) |
|
Và cặp mắt trông bên dòng suối |
Và cặp mắt trông êm như dòng suối |
|
Sự từ đó, tại sao không dám biết |
Rồi từ đó, tại sao không dám biết |
|
Con vẫn
muốn buộc đời con vào đời nó. |
Con cũng
muốn buộc đời con vào đời nó. |
|
Thôi từ nay giã biệt đôi đàng |
Thôi từ nay cách trở đôi đàng |
|
Hãy nhờ tâm mà rũ sạch hồng trần |
Cũng nhờ tâm mà rũ sạch hồng trần |
2. Bản dịch
“Hạ Sơn” ra tiếng Anh của thầy Nguyễn Đức Hiếu rất tuyệt vời. Tôi thêm hai ký hiệu [1] và
[2] cho dễ phân biệt lời đệ tử với lời sư phụ:
DESCENDING
THE MOUNTAIN
[1] Having made
up my mind, I kowtow to you, my master
To ask for
permission to go down the mountain
I resign myself
to missing the opportunity of living a religious life
For so long, you
have wasted your effort
To raise and
educate a waif and stray
I still remember
the time
When I was but a
little boy
Living by your
side without any worry
My heart
naturally pure at the innocent age
Opened to receive
the seeds of religious virtue
Sown by you
Maybe on account
of a debt from a previous life
Or out of
predestined affinity
Or
through my own karma,
How could I
forget the moment
that day’s
meeting was fore-ordained
You and I saw the
creature on the mountain slope
Yes, I saw that
animal... or that human being
Was is an earth
devil or a heaven ghost?
Its lips were
pretty and pink like a rose
And its eyes as
clear and sweet
As a slow
mountain stream
And its ivory
skin!
Oh, master, I
have sinned!
As soon as I saw
it I felt an inexpressible lightness
In my very heart
and soul
Just like a
forest waterfall, its dark hair hungdown,
To cover its
nicely shaped shoulders
With a charming
smile, that creature was standing there
Brightening an
entire area of the forest
The sun’s golden
rays were spreading down
Radiant in
blooming joy
Suddenly did
human instinct rise and grip my being
After so much
effort and sacrifice
“Who could
believe it!”
Just a quick
encounter of our eyes was enough
To topple so much
toil and result!
Those two eyes
made me forget everything
All your advice,
even your venerable countenance,
All the sacred
books,
And all the so
well studied lessons!
I forgot
everything
Except that
lovable face and charming shaped body!
Calling it
“monster”, you forbade me to look at it
And obliged me to
go back
To our retreat on
the top of the mountain.
My pace was so
leaden
My feet seemed to
sink into the ground
From that moment,
the “monster’s image”
Imprinted itself
indelibly on my mind
Just like the ink
with which had been written
The characters in
the sacred books
It reminded me of
my age:
On the stone wall
you have carved eighteen strokes
From that moment,
how do I dare tell the reason why ...?
I felt so lost
and so lonely, so sad and so cold
Although I sat on
the fire, and by your side
My body seemed to
be buried in the depth of the mountain
From that moment,
my eyes shunned yours
Which look at me
with so much compassion
One day, with
your permission,
I descended to
look for “the monster”
I know what I
have lost, and what I will win in the coming days
No matter what
will be, the sweet or the bitter, flowers or spikes and thorns,
I will resign
myself
The seeds have
been sown
The harvest will
be repead and accepted!
The Nirvana and
the Sacred
Are so far away!
Nearer to me is
that lovable and enticing source of sin!
No matter what it
is: a human being or a devil
Or anything!
I have decided to
tie my life to its own
The evil bond
exists, for certain
Tying me to once
more roaming life
From now on, as
each of us follows his own path,
We are separated
from each other.
May I kowtow five
times before you?
To beg permission
to go down the mountain
[2]
Dear disciple
Quitting the
clear road to enter the thicket
Is caused by the karma
The seeds being
sown, the conditions fulfilled,
The fruits do
appear inevitably.
Nobody can alter
the process,
But, dear
disciple,
Although through
the heart we sin
Also through the
heart we can rid outselves
Of the dust of
this world
Later when you
can control yourself,
Come up to me!
I will be always
waiting for you
You have to
liberate youself from the evil bond,
Try to see
clearly to save yourself.
Being once so
ignorant
About the true
and the false
Even I myself
have asked once
To go down the
mountain.
Nhiêu Lộc,
05-3-2023
HUỆ KHẢI
