The Lu and the progress of Vietnamese literature in the period 1930 - 1945

When Mr. Ovaldima no longer had any signs of life and it was concluded that he was dead, his tongue shook violently and he uttered a voice: "- Yes, no, I was asleep and now, now I am dead" [4-22]. This strange thing scared everyone. Nearly seven months later, Mr. Ovaldima remained in the same state as before, the medical staff was still on duty with him. Finally, the character I used the gesture of stroking his body to pull him out of the hypnotic coma. At that time, a strange phenomenon appeared, when he looked down, a stream of pale yellow tears appeared and flowed from under his eyelids. When my character asked him a question, "The protruding points on his cheekbones immediately appeared, his tongue vibrated or rather rolled up very strongly in his mouth (although his jaw and lips remained motionless), and gradually the terrifying sound I have described suddenly burst out: - Oh my God! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! - I told you I was dead" [4-25].

Finally, when the character I was quickly rubbing Ovaldima's body in a hypnotic manner, through the cries of "death, death" coming from the patient's tongue, immediately within a minute, his whole body crumbled into small pieces and completely rotted. In this short story, the strangeness such as: Ovaldima's mysterious gestures and words when he died were not clearly explained to the reader by the writer as to why such a strange phenomenon occurred. Everything is still a mystery to the reader.

In the story The Confessing Heart, there is a strange detail: The old man was chopped into many pieces at night, but the next morning his heart was still beating, not only that, it also made sounds. The sound grew louder and louder, but the writer could not explain why. However, through this short story, the author wants to convey one thing to the readers: If people have a good heart and are forgiving, sooner or later they will realize and regret their bad deeds.

In Liaozhai Zhiyi by Pu Songling, the short stories are all ghostly and fantastical, but the ending only stops at mystery. The story The Painted Skin has many strange details such as a ghost transforming into a beautiful girl. Tran Thi vomited a heart, a person who had lost his heart for a long time was revived by another heart, the torn place in Vuong's stomach yesterday had a large scab the size of a coin. Why there was such a strange and strange thing, Pu Songling did not explain clearly.

In the story The Painting on the Wall, there are thrilling details with a strange and fantastic color such as: Chu flew up the wall to meet the girl in the painting, the two had sex, then flew down again while Manh Long Dam stood there and could not see anything. Why there was such strangeness is still an open question for the reader to ponder.

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In Vietnam at the same time, there were a number of other writers whose works mentioned horror and ghosts such as Tchya Dai Duc Tuan, Nguyen Tuan, Pham Cao Cung, Thanh Tinh, Lan Khai,... Although they wrote about the thrilling and creepy, the endings of these writers did not have scientific explanations but often stopped at the mystical. The stories of these writers still could not escape the appearance of Vietnamese legends as well as Liao Zhai Zhi Yi by Pu Song Ling.

In the story Who sings in the late night forest by Tchya Dai Duc Tuan, the author recounts a time when he went to Nam Dinh and got off at Goi station to visit an old friend. That day, the sun was shining brightly and suddenly it started to rain, the air on the ground was filled with mystery, the friend took the author to the foot of the hill to witness a strange scene: two ghosts appeared, two headless ghosts dancing. This story stimulated the author's curiosity and he decided to travel to find out more.

The author went to Dong Giao, a remote, desolate district to visit his old friend Tran Van Thuy. This area contained many terrible things: robbery, murder and man-eating beasts. In the quiet of the night, the author suddenly

heard the sound of music and singing, both far and near. Thuy told her friend that in the spring about 60 years ago, the Nguyen Quan Tri Phu Nho Quan held a celebration. In Ban Thach district, Tho Xuan district, there were three brothers (Van Quan, Huyen Co, Oanh Co) who had lost their parents, were famous for singing well, playing music well, and wanted to attend the ceremony to win a singing prize and rekindle their old love. On the way to the Nho Quan Tri Phu's house, they got lost, met the warrior Le Trong Viet, and found a place to sleep on a tree to avoid wild animals. Oanh Co and the warrior went first and pulled Van Quan and Huyen Co up, but before they could, the two were eaten by a tiger. The warrior threw a dart at the tiger and ran away, the warrior carried the two bodies up a tree, with the warrior's help, after performing the funeral for her brother and sister, Oanh Co decided not to go to Nho Quan but to stay with her nephew Nguyen Tieu in Dong Giao. After that, in Dong Giao district, there was a stir about the night in the valley nearly five miles from Dong Giao, people heard the mournful singing. Oanh Co knew that it was the ghost of her brother and sister.

The author has revealed the secret of the appearance of two headless ghosts on Goi Mountain and the sound of music and singing from Dong Giao horns. I was told by Mr. Tran Cong Chat: According to him, these two stories are related to each other, originating from the same source. It is the story of a military officer who was in charge of the military in Bac Ninh citadel, Le Vu Khuc. In the spring of 1884, Bac Ninh citadel fell to the French. When there was a conflict in the citadel, he went up to the citadel to command but was wounded, then fled to his fiefdom, where he died. After Bac Ninh citadel fell, three years later, Mrs. Le and her son left their fiefdom in Bac Ninh to live on Goi Mountain. When they returned there, the two brothers Viet and Khoi only liked to practice martial arts and later both became brave. Mrs. Le was paralyzed at this time, the two brothers had to stay home to take care of their mother and take turns hunting. One day, after returning from hunting in Dong Giao, Viet took Oanh Co and his nephew Khoi along to hunt. Every time they returned, the two brothers went up the mountain to practice martial arts on the hill. After that, the two brothers Viet and Khoi were suspected of collaborating with Nguyen Quan - a bandit who was being hunted by the government army.

hunted - The two brothers were captured and taken to the district and committed suicide at the foot of Goi hill - where they often practiced martial arts. When they returned to Khoi's house, Viet, the interpreter secretary, was infatuated with Oanh Co's beauty and helped her niece Oanh Co. After the mourning period, Oanh Co decided to marry the interpreter. The interpreter was later appointed as the District Chief in Phong Tho. Oanh Co, her daughter and servants on the way from Sa Pa to Phong Tho stopped at O Quy Ho pass. There she was captured by a tiger and taken away. According to fate, Oanh Co had to follow her brother and sister to death under the claws of a ferocious beast, so the tiger looked for every opportunity to capture her. Since the day she was taken away by the tiger into the bushes, on rainy and windy nights, without moon, passing O Quy Ho pass, there was the sound of music and singing. Anyone who dared to go into the deserted forest would see three ghosts playing and singing for a tiger to listen.

So in this short story, the strange and mysterious story about the appearance of two headless warriors in Goi Mountain and the sound of singing in Dong Giao originated from specific stories. The author has revealed this secret to make it clear to the readers. However, the author has not yet clearly explained why the two warriors died but their images appeared dancing on the hill after the rain stopped and why the Oanh Co brothers died but their singing still resounded in the forest.

The story " The Last Examination" by Nguyen Tuan tells the story of the ups and downs of the path of examination of two brothers, Mr. Dau Su of Nam Son Ha, originating from "an immoral act" for which their father had to "bear spiritual responsibility". When he was young, Mr. Dau Su took the exam, and while taking the exam, the image of a ghost appeared, forcing him to drop out of the exam. Then, Mr. Dau Su's younger brother had a stomachache while taking the exam and had to drop out as well.

The appearance of a vengeful spirit that hindered the examination of the two brothers of Mr. Dau Su is a strange story. The author stopped at the ghostly aspect of this strange story - the vengeful spirit of the dead - The author did not explain clearly to the reader why the vengeful spirit appeared when the person died.

In the story of Loạn âm, there is the strange appearance of Quan Ôn, along with the imperial army, going to the human world to recruit laborers to clear the way. Because he was a classmate of Kinh Lịch and also a student of his father, Quan Ôn went to Kinh's house to visit him, gave him gifts and asked Kinh to see if there were any benefactors, relatives, near or far, who had cultivated virtue and asked Quan Ôn to let Quan Ôn take care of them first so they would not die. At first, Kinh Lịch did not ask for anyone, but he asked for Kinh Lịch's servant. Later, Quan Ông invited Kinh to be an official in the royal palace but still worked among the people.

In this work, the deaths of many people after the night Quan On told the human world to capture laborers to open the road can be explained as they died of cholera. But the appearance of Quan On and the imperial army to capture soldiers in the story of Quan On inviting Mr. Kinh to work in the underworld, the communication between humans and ghosts is a mystery, the author does not explain that mystery to the reader.

The story "The Girl from the Northern Province " by Pham Cao Cung also has strange and bizarre details. In the story, Vu went to study at the house of Mrs. Do, a merchant. Because the house downstairs was cramped and hot, Vu went up to the attic to study. There, Vu saw many strange things: A beautiful girl appeared strangely, then a human skeleton, the person appeared and disappeared... After asking the girl, Vu learned that the beautiful girl and the skeleton that appeared were one and the same - the girl's name was Ngoc Bich, from the Northern province, the daughter of Tham Ta. During the war, when they studied at Phan Tam's house, she took shelter in the attic and starved to death there, without being buried. Her wish was for Vu to bury her bones in peace. The next day, Vu found a ladder to climb up to the attic and indeed there was a pile of bones, so he asked someone to bury them.

This short story contains many thrilling details: The appearance of the girl, the skeleton... this appearance, according to the author, is the girl's ghost returning to ask Vu to help bury her remains. But why the dead person appeared and acted like that, the author did not explain specifically.

Unlike the above writers, The Lu's horror stories behind the thrilling and creepy elements are explained by the author very logically and scientifically. This has been affirmed by many researchers and critics. Researcher Vu Ngoc Phan in the article The Lu wrote "In The Lu's short story collection, I only see stories based on facts as good. Scientific life is different, people are mostly influenced by science, only then can they feel the readers" [26-25]. Te Hanh affirmed: "In The Lu's poetry and prose are completely opposite; if the poet The Lu is absorbed in dreaming in distant dreams, The Lu's prose is very sober and scientific" [26-383]. In the book Literary Portrait , Hoai Anh affirmed: "His detective stories have a combination of drama and poetry, between thrilling and creepy and scientific explanation, this also makes him close to Edgar Poe..." [1-975].

As the researchers have said, when we look into the explanations in Thế Lữ’s horror stories, we find that his explanations are very scientific. It is true that the author intentionally created a creepy, thrilling, mysterious atmosphere in the story, intentionally bringing the reader into a mysterious world that is nothing more than the cunning schemes of the world, or created by a sick or haunted imagination. In short, those seemingly sensational stories all have social and psychological origins.

The story of Gold and Blood is a Chinese story of wealth, the special thing about this story is that it emphasizes the belief in science, in human intelligence. Mr. Quan Chau is here to deal with Van Du cave, to find hidden gold and silver, not using shamans to worship as advised by the Kao Lam natives, not believing in the spells of the spell readers. He uses his inductive mind, collecting documents to reconstruct the story, his deductive mind to explain the phenomenon, his observation and experimentation to find the cause of the murder. As a result, he found the gold treasure, and discovered the secret that killed the people.

The person who came before him - the cobblestones were smeared with poison, not some kind of magic spell: "Around this rock, there is a power to kill people faster than the gods; it is the sap of a poisonous tree called May Nom, the tree that the barbarians who hunt with the enemy in the dangerous mountains of America call Cong Dia Deng. This tree's sap, when soaked in arrows, becomes poisonous: shooting, not just in a dangerous place, just scratching the skin and drawing blood is enough to kill the wounded person beyond saving. But if it is refined according to the method of some Chinese people who apply poison to their fingernails to scratch their enemies, then the tree's sap becomes very strong and kills people more quickly and terribly. That Chinese official must know how to refine it. Then Mr. Chau picked up some of his subordinates and showed them the patches of sand clinging to the cobblestone. He said that it was sand made from small pieces of porcelain or glass, mixed to glue with the poison he had just mentioned. That special glue was then smeared on the rocks The cave entrance was built, forming a solid guard that was unrivaled. Therefore, those who went to find gold before Mr. Chau, such as the descendants of the Hoang family, the robbers Khach and Nung Khai, all violated that dangerous object, and were stabbed in the skin by the sharp sand covering the rock and lost their lives..." [38-105; 106]. As Khai Hung wrote in the preface, "nothing happens that is not valid, no result is without a solid and certain cause". I remember when the Tu Luc Van Doan group first appeared, they all stated one thing in their motto: "Applying Western scientific methods to An Nam literature...". That was also the policy of opposing the mystical and fantastic novel movement, eliminating superstition, and training the scientific mind.

In the story One Moonlit Night , the author, on a trip to the forest, stayed overnight in a tent. His companions pulled him into the village to play. The author stayed in the tent alone, watching the moonlight, listening to the waterfall, and then fell asleep. Suddenly, a beautiful girl came into the tent, woke him up, and invited him to go out, surprising him.

Suddenly, he couldn't believe his eyes "Oh my God! Is a Tho girl this beautiful? Am I dreaming or awake?" [38-11] The girl here is: a forest ghost? A demon girl? Or a fox spirit? The Tho girl took him through the forest to a waterfall and asked him to help pull the body of a man who was in trouble and was stuck in a tree branch growing across the mountainside. When the author had brought the body to the bridge, the young girl said that this man had killed her fiancé and was stabbed to death by her in revenge, and pushed the body down the waterfall but before he got down, he had to ask someone for help.

A horror story whose horror inspiration only exists at first and then gradually fades away to give way to truth. The girl who appears late at night and invites the author to go out is not a ghost or a fox spirit, but a Tho girl who comes to ask the author to help pull the body stuck on the tree. The truth here is a bit different from Gold and Blood , and still has a mysterious point, which is the soul of the Tho girl appears mysteriously cold when she tells the author clearly about the story "In the sparkling eyes of the girl, along with that steely face, I seem to see the spirit of the mountains and forests, the Tho Man soul appear" [38-30]. That mysterious character is both a charm and an art of the author. Although the meaning and truth are obvious under the light of theory, the author still wants to keep a little bit of mist covering the sentences, lines, a mystical atmosphere through the pen to create a mystical poetry.

In the story Twice Dead, after the sudden, strange appearance of Mr. Tam at Mr. Tri's house when he had died, the author clarified that this was not actually the ghost of Mr. Dam Van Tam but in fact Mr. Tam was still alive? At the end of this short story, the author left Mr. Tam to recount the reason why he was still alive and came back here: because the will he wrote promised to leave his fortune and career to Mao - a close friend, so Mao wanted to kill Tam to take possession, but Tam, who was not dead, rose up to kill Mao "When I opened my eyes, I found myself being squeezed on both sides in

The Lu and the progress of Vietnamese literature in the period 1930 - 1945 - 16

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