LatinosUSA

Mai Thảo by Đinh Trường Chinh (image)

A short story in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

At the time I was still at Đường Ký Con near Cầu Ông Lãnh. The place I stayed at was right by an alley. At the bottom of that pit of disgusting muck grew like a sickly weed like a mushroom, lowly, beyond the border of an elegant city, there was a tent. The tent was just big enough for a cheap lonely broken foldable bed slash lounge chair.

In the tent was a disabled woman: Ms Năm Chừng. And Ms Năm Chừng had a son and the kid was named Tám Cúc Đất.