Truyện Kiều

Trăm năm, trong cõi người ta,
Chữ tài, chữ mệnh, khéo là ghét nhau.
Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu,
Những điều trông thấy mà đau đớn lòng;
Lạ gì bỉ sắc, tư phong,
Trời xanh quen thói má hồng đánh ghen.

Those are the first six lines of this narrative poem I've been reading. Here's the text in Vietnamese. The epic poem is written by the 18th century writer Nguyễn Du. I'm on page 8 in over a week. There are 3,254 verses. It has taken me so long to read one whole page and re-reading it so that I can understand what's going on. The tale is really good thus far. It talks about the life of a girl, Thúy Kiều, and the sacrifices she makes for her family. The rhythmic of each line is really cool. I shouldn't dwell too much on each stanza because I will never get to finish the book. If you can read Vietnamese real fast, come sit with me. I'll make organic (Trader Joe's) hot cocoa :-)

Really, if you have time, check out the book.