Pearls in Co To Bay
My name is sunshine. Her name is sea water.
My child is a son. He carries beautiful pearls.
The sea is always rich. The sunlight is always fresh.
When you caress me, you smile. I think quietly.
The calm afternoons with clear clouds. That northern bay of Co To.
The blue sea is strangely beautiful. Transparent enough to see the bottom.
Mussels at the bottom of the water. Opening their hearts.
The water of the lake you nurtured. The sunlight you shine on
Years and months are not long. Pearls gradually combine.
Big round is pearl. Small fine is pearl.
Who knows pearls. Originated from a wound
Pain mixed with joy. Is the essence of love.
When the pearls shine brightly. On the ivory neck, beautiful hands
When someone grinds jade. Saves from serious illness
It's fate. You and I met.
End of centuries.
In the northern bay of Co To…
Xuan Dieu September 23, 1963
Co To Bay
Co To is an island district in the east of Quang Ninh province, about 80 km from the mainland. Co To has nearly 50 small islands, of which tourists mainly explore the island clusters of Co To, Co To Con and Thanh Lan.
Co To, whose ancient name is Chang Son (Chang Mountain), has long been a place of residence for fishing boats from the Northeast region.
"Dozens of young oysters, none of them had pearls. But I was still happy as if I had just found a pearl. In my eyes, the sparkle of the young men diving for pearls in the stormy sea had not yet disappeared. The fresh pearl had just been split in half, the two shells shining with the halo of a mother-of-pearl crystal. The golden afternoon was turbid on the island, just like the stormy sea around the headquarters of the To Bac cooperative. But the pearl shells were still fresh and pure, crystallizing all the good weather on the surface of the Gulf of Tonkin. The cool, light color of the pearl shell was rejecting all the increasing ambiguity of the stormy sky around it. The mysterious pink-blue pearl shells, the more you look at them, the more you like them, and they seemed to highlight the tragedy of creatures lying at the bottom of the sea, still unable to stop missing the original light source whose rays were being broken by the waves overhead. The color of the pearl shells was as charming as a half-circle of a rainbow rising from a world at the bottom of the sea. still dreaming of the sun (...)
...
Why is the sea water in Co To so blue this afternoon? (...) The ever-changing blue of the sea water this afternoon on Co To seems to be testing the vocabulary of each of us that is stirring in our hearts. What is the sea blue like? As blue as young banana leaves? As blue as old banana leaves? As blue as the autumn green rice of Vong village? The sea water in Co To is changing from one blue to another. Is it as blue as the color of Kim Trong's shirt during Thanh Minh festival? Only partly true. Because the wave that just hit the sea has been slightly modified, has turned into another color. So is the sea blue like the tearful flap of the Tu Ma mandarin's shirt listening to the pipa on the waves of Giang Chau correct? Not yet? Then is it as blue as the color of a wedding dress, right? Or should I say this: the sea water this afternoon is as blue as a page of human history, when humans still had to write on bamboo stems? Sounds a bit abstract, right? But look closely, the sea is green with the petrol green of those who lack their homeland. It's not that we're afraid of hybridity, but it still doesn't sound right or right, right? The waves keep on coming with new greens, and the afternoon sun always changes the color of the waves. But words can never flow out in time with the waves. Competing with the waves, we can only lose. Oh my, the sea water of Co To this afternoon is green with the green of jade. Or oh my, it's green like a hope on the sea gate. It sounds even more general; not happy at all, but never mind (...)
- excerpt from Sea Storm and Pearl's Heart - Nguyen Tuan
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