Tran Tieu's Artistic Prose 1930-1945

my husband and children. If you let her give birth here, it would be as if you killed me, killed my wife and children. How could you bear to do that? If your family were to fail and fall apart, would you be able to sit still and enjoy happiness? I really thought you had no such heart ” [85, p. 242]. But after the pleadings of the elder brother and his wife, Man still did not change, and told his wife to go down to the house next door to give birth, they acted in a completely inhumane manner “ they crowded around and dragged my wife out to the gate. They pulled so hard that she fell flat on the street. I quickly ran to help her up. They took the opportunity to slam the gate shut and bolt it tightly ” [85, p. 244]. That backward custom seems to be nowhere, but it actually exists beyond our imagination. The young couple took each other back to the wife’s mother’s house to give birth, but after only a few steps, they reached a roadside stall, where the wife gave birth. The place where the wife gave birth was like a buffalo pen, empty, windy, and dusty. This birth scene reminded me of the work A Man is Born by the Russian writer Marx.

– Gorki. Although the two children were born in two different places – a beach, a roadside stall – both were heartbreakingly heartbreaking. What was more heartbreaking was that as soon as the child was born, his mother also passed away. The baby’s cry at birth was also the cry to send his mother off to eternal rest. The chubby, cute boy had just been born, what crime had he committed that he had to suffer such a great loss, if his uncle had not done such an immoral thing. The death of Soi, the child’s choked cry and the choking sobs of Man strongly denounced the backward customs in the village. Tran Tieu’s humane voice pointed out the backward customs so that people could see the truth, correct what was inappropriate to live better. The writer reflected such painful and inhumane customs but still in a low voice, not too loud, just so gently, making the reader ache and feel heartache. The voice of humanity continues to permeate every person, awakening their kind nature.

Tran Tieu was not indifferent to the hardship of the farmers. He understood to some extent the cause of the backward customs and their sufferings. Chinh ( Buffalo ) commune should have had enough to eat, enough to spend and money to buy a buffalo, but because the village forced him to buy the commune, the fortuneteller forced him to repair the grave of the Three Generations, and move the grave for his father; therefore, seven sao of rice fields had to be mortgaged, and the remaining seventy silver coins from the mortgage were also spent. So he became a proletarian. When he closed his eyes and passed away, Chinh kept dreaming about a female buffalo. He kept mumbling about a female buffalo but could not get one. Hunger and hardship made people work hard but could not feed each other, yet the buffalo fed people! The buffalo fed not only one person but an entire family. Then that whole family would become rich from one

The female buffalo! “ Then the female buffalo will help you earn money. Then every year you will buy a few more acres. Then you will be rich! ” [83, p. 21]. It is difficult to answer, do the buffaloes feed the people or do the people feed the buffaloes? The tragedy and comedy here intertwine to create a profound denunciation by Tran Tieu.

Tran Tieu cares about the fate of farmers, he has devoted many pages of sincere writing to the " small " people who are most disadvantaged in the countryside. Writing Village Affairs, Ngo Tat To used a reportage pen to tell about the hardships of farmers living in the countryside, seventeen chapters of the book are seventeen stories about bad customs in the countryside. Here, Tran Tieu does not use a reportage writing style but uses short stories and novels to talk about the suffering of the villagers. Reflecting the suffering through novels and short stories, it does not lose its topicality. The topicality is clearly revealed on each page, in the reader's mind. The reader sees that person, that scene appears before their eyes. The writer's pen delves into the miserable, dark life of the working people. The work Sau huong tre is a story about Ly Chinh's family. Before buying the village's Ly, the whole family had enough to eat, but after buying it, alas, there was nothing left to eat. Tran Tieu did not mention the scene of the whole Ly Chinh family begging or leaving the countryside to work for hire in the province like in Ngo Tat To's Village Affairs , which talks about Uncle Luy's family. Since the day Uncle Luy had a grand and " prestigious " wish for her husband (August 15) to be promoted to the position of Ly Cuu, the following year Mrs. Cuu hurriedly went to the province to work for hire. Ngo Tat To concluded:

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“ The following year I saw Mrs. Cuu carrying her hat and walking out of the village gate with an unhappy look.

- Hello at home, I'm going to work.

And without waiting for me to ask, she quickly explained:

- I went to Hanoi to work as a nanny, sir. I had nearly a hectare of rice field and half a buffalo and sold everything, and I still owe another seventy dong. If I don't go to work, how will I pay the tax ?" [86, p. 51].

Readers will also imagine that Uncle Chinh's entire family will soon fall into ruin and embrace the former title of village chief - a false title - and die in the corner of a dilapidated thatched house.

Is it true that the farmers in Tran Tieu's works are greedy for fame? Actually, not. They just want to settle down and make a living, but because of the village customs, they have to accept it. It would be really painful if there was no status in the village. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why they elect commune and village chiefs before the children are born. This is the confession of village chief Chinh in the work Con Trau :

“ That was also a last resort. I am over forty years old this year, but when there is a procession, I have to go out to hold the umbrella or carry the palanquin with the shepherds; when there is a mandarin coming, I have to personally clear the road and weed under the insolent eyes of a village chief who is only as old as my son. If there is any heavy work, it is my job. Thousands of disadvantages fall on my head and on the heads of people like me.

There was another reason: wherever he went, people ridiculed and despised him. They thought he was stingy and valued money more than dignity. Whenever he opened his mouth, they would block him, “ What dignity is there in a simple man who eats and talks! ” Such was his suffering, so he had to close his eyes, wipe his face, and run away to finish the village. In fact, he didn’t care about a handful of sticky rice or a piece of meat in the village! ” [83, pp. 41, 42].

The customs of the villagers in Tran Tieu's literature are not only buying village positions but also blind faith in supernatural powers. When a family's business encounters many difficulties, neighbors suddenly have illnesses or the weather is unusual, the village officials often gather together and deal with them according to very old customs such as fortune telling and praying: ( Con trau, Chong con, Huu sinh vo duong, Ai phai, ...) . Whatever the fortune teller says, the people must listen. The fortune teller in Tran Tieu's work plays the role of a prophet, although they always speak based on assumptions and recklessly, everyone believes that it is effective. In the story Con trau , Chinh's wife goes to see a fortune teller and the fortune teller says that; the grave of the third generation must be moved to another place, the father-in-law must move to another place to prosper and have a son. Believing the fortune teller, Chinh village carefully chooses a date and finds a good geomancer to rebuild the grave for her father. Uncle did not know that the reason for the family's decline was due to consecutive droughts and crop failures and high-interest debts from the Ba family.

On the day of the burial of his father, he saw his bones as gray as ashes. He sighed in dismay. The geomancer consoled him, “ When we find a good spot, the bones will gradually turn green. And the grave I am about to leave for your father is ten out of ten good ” [83, p. 282]. That statement made “ Xa Chinh happy and full of hope ”, each time he arranged the bones in the earthenware coffin, he would mumble a prayer, “ I pray to you, you are wise, please bless the whole family to be prosperous, to have good luck in business, to make a profit from every sale… ” [83, p. 251]. When the grave was completed, placed on the belly of a fish about to turn into a dragon, the geomancer said that this place would grow big and give birth to a noble son, which made his family even more hopeful, “ the two of them were happy and joyful as they imagined before the scene of their newfound wealth ”.

On the way home, he always thought about the upcoming rich scene: “ All along the way from the grave to home, he walked silently, his eyes daydreaming about a scene of wealth, that scene, according to his narrow-minded opinion, was a fat female buffalo and a young calf leisurely grazing on the grassy road, were young green rice fields or golden rice fields, were a clean, discreet thatched house with a lush areca grove in front, a tea garden behind, with three or four healthy pigs competing to poke around in a clay pot full of bran ” [83, p. 260]. But in reality, he rented the fields of Khan Kieu and Ly Hao and was deceived by the landowners, so he rented one mau and two, leaving him with only eight sao left. The already poor family situation became even more poor.

In the short story Who must , Tran Tieu tells the tearful story of a couple in Khoan commune who work as hired plowmen and hoes for a living. His family has a garden and a small pond to grow duckweed. He drains the pond to get mud to fill the garden to grow vegetables and green tea, and raises fish in the pond. But ironically, Khoan commune takes mud from the pond while Con commune causes trachoma from the owner to the servants:

“ Within ten days, almost the whole family was affected. How strange! It must have been an earthquake somewhere, when did almost the whole family have eye pain? There was no other way but to go see a fortune teller. Only a fortune teller could find the cause of this accident. That's what Mrs. Xa thought. Why would she? Who wouldn't think that way… ” [85, p. 19].

Fortune-telling reveals ghosts, sweeping the house reveals trash . That proverb was true in this case. Xa Con rushed to negotiate but failed and finally had to go to the village to settle the matter. The result was tragic: " Khoan immediately had to carry mud and dump it into the pond, bring areca nuts to the communal house to apologize and prepare a chicken and sticky rice ceremony to thank the village god who manages the field with the tomb of the three generations of Xa Con's family " [85, p. 27]. From believing the nonsense " don't you pay any attention to the fortune-teller's words? " and the conclusion of the elders in the village; " Khoan could only bow his head and obey orders " [85, p. 28], the village and neighborhood relationship was gone.

If we trace the cause of all the above incidents, we will realize a very simple thing. Their perception is somewhat limited. Hunger and fullness are not due to fate. Illness is not due to the movement of the dragon vein. According to their reasoning, everything is due to the hand of the supernatural, so we must worship and have fortune telling. Whatever the fortune teller says must be considered correct and cannot be resisted.

1. 3. Lifestyle

Living in a rural area, it is customary and customary. It is a routine that gradually becomes a habit in daily life. This routine has been taken over by the writer and

expressed in his works by creative art. It is from this perspective that the lifestyle in the work is similar but at the same time somewhat different from the lifestyle in real life. Life is only the foundation for the writer to feel and grasp; when reflected in the work, it carries the creator's concept. Without life, there is certainly no literary work, but not all issues in literary works are life. Life in the work is both a place to express artistic ideas and a place to reveal the writer's aesthetic concept.

The writer discovered and recorded the daily routine in his work with deep understanding. The meal during the harvest season was simple but warm with human affection and neighborly affection. Although the meal served was only boiled vegetables, roasted sesame, a pot of braised fish and a pot of red rice, " everyone sat in rows on both sides of the tray, all the way along the yard. The red rice was scooped into bowls, the fragrant steam rising up. They chewed it very deliciously. Each bowl was only about three or four bites and it was gone " [83, pp. 24 - 25]. The meal was shared, cozy and filled with friendliness in the relationship between people, master and servant without distinction. Farmers did not expect much! They only wished that they could have two simple meals a day, but that was also a difficult problem for them. Tran Tieu deeply understood the life and dreams of farmers. The dream of two meals a day seemed small but was not small at all. That is a practical and intimate issue for many farmers living under the old regime. The living scene of a family was named by the author as A Full Meal : the whole family of Xa Chinh gathered around a simple meal. The meal had nothing but four dried fish ( given by a neighbor ) and a small pot of rice, but all family members showed love and tolerance for each other. " Uncle chose a delicious piece of fish with a lot of lean meat and put it in her husband's bowl like a hostess welcoming guests. When it was her turn, her husband understood and pushed the bowl away and said:

- You eat it! I only like to eat fish heads! He said and then took the head and put it in the bowl.

The three people, husband, wife, and daughter, ate while paying attention to the pot of rice. Each person in their hearts wanted to hold back to give to others. But this time no one went hungry ” [83, p. 180].

Relationships between people, village relationships, family relationships, etc. Rural life in the North always shows intricate relationships, sometimes they are family relationships but sometimes they are just neighbor relationships. Tran Tieu has become a sharp writer in recreating these village relationships. Xa Vot ( Husband and Children ) a woman

agile, resourceful, always caring and sacrificing housework for everyone. Whenever someone's family needs help, she can leave her housework to help them all day without thinking. Ms. Mit ( Husband and Children ) raised two children at the same time without any hesitation. Uncle Na's family ( A wonderful plan ) was poor but saw that the scholar's family was hungrier than theirs, so they took a basket of rice to help. This lifestyle has become a cultural lifestyle of the villagers, not only of the Northern people but also a common lifestyle for all rural areas of Vietnam. It is the concept of the healthy leaves covering the torn leaves , the torn leaves covering the tattered leaves, working together to overcome difficulties. From a wide relationship, the writer has delved into family and clan relationships, showing love and mutual protection. Notably, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been discordant, it has been recorded in the folk proverb " losing money to buy a tray, then stab it ". But here, Tran Tieu describes the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship as very close, like that of a biological mother and daughter.

In most of his works, Tran Tieu mentioned this relationship, it is a very beautiful relationship. This is a different concept compared to writers of the same period. Nhat Linh, Khai Hung when building the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is often a confrontational relationship, often conflicting (Mai and mother Loc in Halfway Spring ; Loan and mother Than in Doan Tuyet ). Tran Tieu builds this relationship differently, in the story Husband and Children , it is an emotional, harmonious relationship, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law care for each other. The relationship that is easily discordant becomes a friendly emotional relationship.

The relationship between siblings and husband and wife also shows Tran Tieu's new relationships. Him's love and care for her younger siblings shows that she is an older sister who matures early and knows how to take care of household chores. Or like a beautiful gesture of Chinh's commune helping his wife in difficult times: his wife goes to buy rice far away, he runs to the end of the village to help his wife carry rice home, showing the sharing of work between family members, the equal relationship between husband and wife has been correctly perceived. The concept of wife and husband has truly become a progressive concept of Tran Tieu in the new period. The writer does not describe the discordant relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or more broadly, the feudal extended family relationship as in the works of Nhat Linh and Khai Hung, but gently incorporates into his literature new concepts of family, thereby gradually changing the outdated concept.

Besides the beauty of the lifestyle, there are things that need to be condemned and criticized so that people can see and change. In his works, Tran Tieu criticized the lifestyles

backward and anti-evolutionary. He describes the poor villagers, living a life of deprivation but always trying to appear to have enough to eat and wear. Or another problem, which is the organization of family life. Not only poor families are sloppy, but even rich families are sloppy. They live unhygienic and very conservative lives…. It all becomes a habit. In the work Husband and Children , the writer describes “ the entrance gate opens right at the end of the pigsty. Between the head of the upper house and the kitchen is a square piece of land for a pile of straw. Because there is no more space, and also for convenience, four or five “foot” pots and a broken jar of urine are placed in a “field” from the gate to the flower wall […]. People coming and going are familiar with the smell of urine and pig manure […]. That is why some people are so stingy, trying to hold it in when they go out to put it in the jar at home ” [84, p. 11]. This way of life has become a way of life for rural people because it is a habit, accepted by everyone. When they are sick, they often rely on offerings or quacks. These quacks compete to show off their talents, compete with each other, and criticize doctors. In the short story Wandering , Tran Tieu depicted the image of quacks competing to show off their talents in front of patients: a patient who had been constipated for many days was poisoned, the quacks competed to diagnose the disease, saying it was typhoid fever and there was no way to cure it, but it was cured by a very normal method, which is " enemas " of modern medicine. And this is the way quacks treat tuberculosis. The quacks said that when doctors saw a cough, they diagnosed it as a lung infection, " when a cough occurs, the doctor blamed it on the lungs being infected by bacteria. Then they kept treating the lungs. In fact, the root cause is not there. It is in the liver and kidneys " [82, p. 18]. At this point, the root cause of the disease has leaked out, the healers compete with each other, some say that the treatment must be “ nourishing the liver, nourishing the kidneys, that is, nourishing the lungs, that means the phlegm will decrease and gradually decrease ” [82, p. 18]. The healers cannot cure the disease and the patient dies, at that time the healers think that the family has run out of luck “Your family is not blessed. You should do the underworld, seek more blessings and pray to heaven and Buddha day and night, then maybe your children will be saved. But this couple is very clever and cunning. They know everything I think. Your husband has reached the end of his life. You should prepare in advance ” [82, p. 15]. They compete to discuss the shape of the tubercle, some say it looks like a gecko , others say it looks like a lizard . That is the way the quacks treat the disease, but the Western healers only go around in circles with “divination” and enemas…. Tran Tieu has exposed the weaknesses in people's awareness, especially in hygiene and disease prevention. Because of the limitations in understanding, people often treat diseases by praying. As for the traditional healers, due to their limited understanding of medicine, when practicing, patients

Death is blamed on all the blessings. Through this, he wants to criticize both subjects: farmers and doctors. Especially doctors who do not have professional conscience.

1. 4. Festival painting

Northern countryside has many festivals in a year: big festivals are concentrated in three months (January, February, March) and many small festivals are spread throughout the year. Those festivals are the foundation for Tran Tieu's works. In the Tu Luc Van Doan group , when writing about rural life, no one writes like Tran Tieu. He has a different way of expressing. Especially when writing about festivals in the Northern countryside, Tran Tieu expresses them in a very multi-dimensional and realistic way. In this picture, he conveys two aspects of festivals: the Rites and the Festivals , the positive and the negative parts. In folk cultural activities, Rites and Festivals include two components: Rites are the rules and manners that must be followed in folk cultural activities. Going against Rites is violating the rules, behaving in an uncultured and uncivilized manner. Festivals are a component part of Le ã, usually taking place after Le ã and before Le ã with the purpose of stirring up the movement, increasing the fun of Le ã. The festival usually does not follow the rules set by the Rites , but each Le has its own festival. The relationship between the Rites and the Festival are two sides of the same issue. To affirm whether this Festival is true to cultural traditions or not, we need to pay attention to the organization process. Thus, to affirm the positive aspects or point out the negative aspects of the Festival in Tran Tieu's works, we need to pay attention to the process of performing the Rites and the Festival . At the same time, we also need to pay attention to the management object of the Festival.

Festivals for Vietnamese people in general and Northern people in particular are one of the indispensable things in people's daily life. It brings peace of mind, reviews the traditions of the nation, for future generations. That is the way to preserve the precious things of the nation. For Tran Tieu, Festivals include two issues: positive and negative aspects. In the pages written about Festivals , Tran Tieu shows himself to be a talented writer in describing the festive scenes of the village. From the arrangement of space to the people performing the ceremony, the author describes everything precisely and meticulously as a seasoned writer who understands rural customs. Hoang Nhu Mai commented, " Tran Tieu has led readers to witness the daily activities and festivals in the countryside , [...]. The writer's thorough understanding and delicate writing style contribute many unique and interesting folklore chapters to the readers " [84, p.3]. The works Con trau and Chong con are two works that deeply express the Festival spaces . In Con trau ,

Tran Tieu's Artistic Prose 1930-1945 - 3

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