Doan Ngoc Minh
Born on December 9, 1958, Doan Ngoc Minh belongs to Tay, an ethnic minority, and is based in Cao Bang City, Cao Bang Province. She is Member of Vietnam Writers’ Association, Literature and Arts Association of Vietnamese Ethnic Minorities and Literature and Arts Association of Cao Bang Province. Her published works in literature include 20 poetry and short/medium story collections. Some of them were republished many times.
The story father told at battlefields
On summer nights, Tung’s family often sits on the porch of the house on stilts. It is a floor made by bamboo stalks that used to dry rice, corn… On bright moon nights, parents, brother Lan and Tung enjoy the cool breeze blowing from the Hien river. Tung often lies on the stall with brother Lan counting the stars on the sky. But the most interesting thing is to listen father telling the thrilling stories when he fought in battlefields. Tonight, the same, father finishes a cup of forest tea, then he starts:
– Do you all want father telling the story on the battlefields?
– Yes…yes… father please tell us! We all respond joyful.
Mother brings a basket of hot boiled potatoes:
– The sweet potato is very sweet! She happily put the basket of sweet potatoes on the stall.
Father clears his throat again and slowly says:
The sun was already inclined on the far side of the Truong Son mountain range, the hot wind blew in each wave sweeping the dust. When was in Laos, I felt how the Laos wind combining with the hot sun, the dry wind and sun made my arms peeling off in pieces, as if had not washed for a long time!
Lips were so dry, even though wearing a helmet, my head still felt as hot as fever. I felt that not only the sun, but the heat of the Laos wind was also the agent, blackening human skin! Suddenly a light move, I started turning to the side of the tunnel wall:
A black snake, about the size of a wrist with an arm long, crawled out from the fallen trunks, along the tunnel wall. It was only half an arm’s length away from me, it stopped and raised its head high right in front of my face. I sit like a statue, a moment later the snake lowered its head to the ground, slowly crawling inside the tunnel, perhaps it wanted to avoid the harsh sun here!
Three scout soldiers slept leaning against the wall, they had spent many nights awake to fight, so they were very tired. I slightly lowered my head to look at the snake, the light from the tunnel enough for me to see the snake slithering in and lying around, right next to the wood in the tunnel. “I should kill it to avoid biting the soldiers” I thought quickly. “Let’s just ignore it, as long as the soldiers don’t know there are snakes…” I reassured myself.
A few days and nights happened the same, the snake crawled out early in the morning, in the hot afternoon it crawled into the tunnel, and fortunately the soldiers went to investigate outside so no one knew there was a snake in the tunnel except me.
In the early morning, the enemy’s 155mm cannons were heavily fired at our battlefield. “Boom…bang” – continuous explosions and some were very close to the army tunnel. The smell of artillery powder mixed with thick dust, our troops were ordered to attack to break the siege, and at the same time urgently avoided enemy’s cannons changing lanes.
I led the 1st Company to fight the left wing, just crawled a few meters, suddenly the black snake crawled very quickly from nowhere; it raised its high head, its tongue stuck out. I realized; it was the ordinary snake crawling into the cellar for a few days. I was holding a K54 gun about to shoot it, for some reason, the snake was still holding high its head, ready to jump straight on me.
At the same time, I heard the enemy shouting very close, so I signaled the soldiers to crawl to the right quickly. “Boom…bang”, right after that, there were two ear-piercing explosions, right where I just met the snake. “Wow…god “. Smoke and dust rolled up and down into the air, covering the soldiers on the ground. “Is anyone hurt?”
I asked softly “Report to the Captain no one got hurt”. The replies were short enough for to hear. How about the snake? Or was it hit by a mine? I could not hide surprise: How did the snake know it was dangerous to stop our troops? There, the iron helmets loomed in the dust, bringing me back to reality. “Boom…. bang”; “bang”; “tack…tack…tack”.
The sound of the enemy’s guns, individual mortars and AR15s spitted bullets continuously with the responding sounds of AK, AK 47, RPK, B40… of the Laos army. Badly explosions, burning smell from gunpowder, red dust rolled up dozens of meters high, erasing my worry about the snake, I aimed the K54 at the chest of the man who was pointing his personal mortar at our soldiers.
The enemy soldier jerked and collapsed, his personal mortar hitting the ground. Until late afternoon that our troops broke through the encirclement and escaped behind the Chum Plain. Later, I heard the scout soldiers telling: The soldier was crawling in the last position, encountered a rather large black snake, raised its head nearby, it seemed that it was about to bite him, so he quickly grabbed a stone and threw it at the snake, maybe the stone hit the mine planted nearby and exploded!
Over the past few decades, many ups and downs in my life, especially soldiers like me, due to a piece of mortar stuck in my chest, although treated, my health is weaker than before.
A year later when I returned home and continued to work in the Northwest Military Region, the story of the snake always haunted me, throughout the whole battle in Laos, and even when he returned home, I did not tell him anyone about the story of that mysterious snake. I always remember that black snake that saved me and the Laos soldiers thirty years ago…
– Did the Snake know that there were mines? Tung asked
– I did not know…but that was the truth! Father’s voice is deep: I know there is a very big Cobra near bamboo bush at the end of our garden, yesterday I noticed, it seemed that Lan and Uncle Lin stalking to catch it, right?
– Yes, last afternoon, Uncle Lin also saw it in the bamboo bush…it’s longer than an adult’s arm span, it’s so big! Lan said.
– Uncle Lin and I are going to catch that Snake for meat or sell it? Father still speaks in his low voice.
– Uncle Lin said that if the snaked get caught, he would sell to the old fat Tuc, the wine shop owner in the market, at least two or three hundred thousand … Lan tald innocently.
– According to me, you’d better telling Uncle Lin not to catch it, let it go! Snakes love to hunt Rats, it’s also useful, as long as humans don’t hunt and tease it; it won’t harm humans. Father’s voice is still low.
-Yes, the story you just told about the Snake made me think differently about this animal! From now on, I won’t catch it again. Lan said.
– Yes, don’t kill them! Protect the animals…even the Snakes! When I was in Laos, if it weren’t that Snake, I might not be able returned! Father sighs.
– Come on, let’s all eat potatoes and go to sleep! It’s late. Mother says softly.
The whole family happily sat around a basket of boiled sweet potatoes. They are very sweet. Tung looks at the blue sky, thousands of sparkling stars. The moon in the middle of the month is round near Phia Oac Mountain in the distance, radiating clear light on all things. Tung suddenly gazes the big bamboo bush at the end of the garden where the Cobra staying, he thought to himself: don’t be afraid, Lan and Uncle Lin won’t catch you anymore!
____________
(Translated into English by Khanh Phuong)
