Of course I speak Vietnamese. I like the language, many poems and stories written in it. Above is my favorite excerpt from The Tale of Kieu , an exemplary piece of Vietnamese medieval poetry.
It’s amazing how much my handwriting in Vietnamese has changed after years of typing on computer keyboards. Even more amazing is my interpretation of the lines.
All my younger years, I used to think that the author, Nguyễn Du , wants the readers to take away the lesson from his tale that people should focus on honing their senses of ethics, because it is the ethical mind that grants them eternal happiness.
Now, my interpretation is that the author believes that when facing the worst adversaries in one’s life, it is one’s attitude, especially one’s resilience, that matters the most. It is the attitude, which, in my opinion, is more general than ethics, that grants eternal happiness.