translation of TRÊN ĐỈNH PHÙ VÂN, pls

[onedaymylove]

Hello!

Sorry I haven’t posted for quite a while, and I’m sad to admit my Vietnamese hasn’t improved much, it's truly fascinating, but very, very difficult...

Anyway, as I rely on Viet music to keep in touch with the language, I wish to thank all for any songs posted and translated. It’s really great help.

I have an mp3 version of Tren dinh phu van but I have no translation for it. I gather it’s about nature and love, or what? Could anyone help me with at least a rough translation, please. I’d really appreciate it. Here’s the lyrics:

TRÊN ĐỈNH PHÙ VÂN
Nhạc và lời: Phó Đức Phương

Mênh mênh mang mang Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vi vu vu Trúc Lâm thiền tự
Thổn thức nỗi lòng ai kẻ tình si
Nước mắt tràn mi tìm người trong mộng
(huơ huơ huơ huơ huơ)

Lên đỉnh núi cao cách trời ba thước
Xuống đáy thung sâu thăm thẳm sông dài
Vào rừng trúc mai véo von con sáo sậu
Ta muốn hỏi một câu: Đâu người ta yêu dấu ???

Như cánh chim ngóng trời lồng lộng
Vương vấn yêu đương (ta) hứng giọt mưa nguồn
một đời khát khao rút lòng nhả kén sầu
Ta khóc ròng một câu: Bao giờ thôi tơ vương ?

Mênh mênh mang mang Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vi vu vu Trúc Lâm thiền tự
Vời vợi đất trời phiêu dạt tình ai
Giữa chốn huyền không tìm người trong mộng
... tìm người trong mộng.

[meomok]

TRÊN ĐỈNH PHÙ VÂN
Nhạc và lời: Phó Đức Phương

Mênh mênh mang mang Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vi vu vu Trúc Lâm thiền tự
Thổn thức nỗi lòng ai kẻ tình si
Nước mắt tràn mi tìm người trong mộng
(huơ huơ huơ huơ huơ)

Lên đỉnh núi cao cách trời ba thước
Xuống đáy thung sâu thăm thẳm sông dài
Vào rừng trúc mai véo von con sáo sậu
Ta muốn hỏi một câu: Đâu người ta yêu dấu ???

Như cánh chim ngóng trời lồng lộng
Vương vấn yêu đương (ta) hứng giọt mưa nguồn
một đời khát khao rút lòng nhả kén sầu
Ta khóc ròng một câu: Bao giờ thôi tơ vương ?

Mênh mênh mang mang Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vi vu vu Trúc Lâm thiền tự
Vời vợi đất trời phiêu dạt tình ai
Giữa chốn huyền không tìm người trong mộng
... tìm người trong mộng.

This is a really hard one to translate as the song is written in very poetic language with heaps of repeated sounds to make it very emotional and dreamy. I thought the verses were originally a poem Maybe not

"Đỉnh Phù Vân" is Mount Phù Vân. Đỉnh means '"top". Phù Vân is a chinese-vietnamese word which describes the top of the mount being vague by surround cloud.

Vân = mây = cloud.

Vast vast Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vu vi vu temple Trúc Lâm
(sounds of the wind hollowing through building in open space)
Sob of the madly in love
Tear flooded the eyes seeking for loved one

To top of the mountains 3 yards from the sky
To the deepest of valleys, longest of rivers
In to the woods, melancholy of the bird singing
I wanted to ask: Where is my beloved one?

As the bird longing for spacious sky
Still holding on to love, I catch the raindrop
My whole life I've craved, pulling the forlornness of my heart into thread of silk
I cried: when do I stop holding on?
(The author's using thread of silk - sticky spider silk if you would like to imagine - as a metaphor to his long waited love -..-, "vấn vương' as a thread of silk refuses to let you go)


Vast vast Phù Vân Yên Tử
Vi vu vi vu temple Trúc Lâm
(sounds of the wind hollowing through building in open space)
Tremendous heaven and earth one's love wanders ("drift" would be more like "phiêu dạt" as it's more passive)
In the middle of "chốn huyền không" looking for my dream love

Sorry I can't realld get "chốn huyền không" - sounds like a religiously tranquil place since the whole setting is on top of Mt. Phù Vân with a temple.

This is a very bad attempt of me I don't know how much it helps passing on the spirit of the song

[onedaymylove]

Meomok, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Yes, I was told it is a kind of poem, tried to translate it a bit myself (by understanding just a few sino-vietnamese words), but ended up only being able to perceive instinctively the overall tone while listening to the song. In fact, I've had a funny relationship to it from the start: first time I ever heard it and every time I hear it again, I feel as if I've known it all my life. And I am not Vietnamese

This is a very bad attempt of me I don't know how much it helps passing on the spirit of the song

The song is beautiful and the lyrics even more so, especially with your explanation of the metaphor of the silk thread. Thanks again Meomok, you did a great job & really helped me get the idea of what it's all about.

[meomok]

I quite like this song too, so I wanted to give translating it a go. This song was once sung by Thanh Lam, one of the Vietnam pop divas. To me the song sometimes sounds like a cry to the sky for one's love, sometimes it sounds like a quiet prayer of someone so desperate for the love of her life (with the image of mountain, cloud and temple).

I would call this song Ca trù, a type of traditional performance in the old time for kings and queens, though the song itself was written not very long ago. (http://vdict.com/ca%20trù,2,0,0.html - if you want to know what Ca tru` is )

[onedaymylove]

Oh! Thanks for the link to 'ca tru' and teaching me more about Vietnam. Hope I can learn more from you

I liked this very much:

"Ca Trù seems to have a magic power, a fermented substance to charm the listeners. Once I understood Ca Trù, I understood the Vietnamese people better". It is possible that Ca Trù is a patch of the Vietnamese soul that Krenzen has understood?

Yes, I kind of felt it too.

[chickendog]

"Sorry I can't realld get "chốn huyền không" - sounds like a religiously tranquil place since the whole setting is on top of Mt. Phù Vân with a temple. "

That could be the meaning too, but word for word,

huyen = huyen dieu = magical,
khong = khoang khong = space/place

So "huyen khong" most likely mean = khong gian mau nhiem or the magical space/place

[onedaymylove]

"Sorry I can't realld get "chốn huyền không" - sounds like a religiously tranquil place since the whole setting is on top of Mt. Phù Vân with a temple. "

That could be the meaning too, but word for word,

Huyen = huyen dieu, khong = space/place

So "huyen khong" most likely mean = khong gian mau nhiem or the magical space/place

chickendog, thank you also for explaining "chốn huyền không", I appreciate it very much

[chickendog]

chickendog, thank you also for explaining "chốn huyền không", I appreciate it very much

Also,

Phu van: phù = hư, hư không = unreal, emptiness, air or space. Vân = mây = clouds.

For more facts ( at least that what they say) you can read this article. It is enjoyable to help with poems.

http://travelnews.asianatravelmate.com/yen-tu-mountain/