hùm
Vietnamese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Compare Pacoh húm (“growl, roar of tiger”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]- (Central Vietnam or literary) tiger (Panthera tigris)
- Synonyms: hổ, cọp, khái, kễnh
- Chàng bèn mạnh bước tiến lên, dần dần men rượu bốc nồng nực, chàng trật cái nón dạ xuống sau gáy cho mát, cắp cây côn vào nách mà lên dốc đồi. Quay đầu nhìn về Tây, thì mặt trời đã lặn xuống, chỉ còn lóe lên những tia rẻ quạt. Bấy giờ là tháng mười, đêm dài ngày ngắn, chẳng mấy chốc mà tối. Chàng lẩm bẩm một mình:
– Hùm cọp ở đâu? Không khéo người lại nhát người, sợ bóng sợ vía, rồi chẳng ai dám lên đồi cũng nên!…- He kept pushing on, but eventually all the liquor heat started to come up, he had to pull down his straw hat to the back to cool down, while holding his staff under his armpit as he climbed the steep hill. Looking to the west, the sun had already set, there were only a few fan-shaped beams. It was currently the tenth lunar month, so nights were getting longer and days shorter, and it was soon nighttime. He muttered to himself:
– Where the hell's the tiger? Maybe some fools made things up to scare others, everybody chickened out and wouldn't set foot on this hill!…
- He kept pushing on, but eventually all the liquor heat started to come up, he had to pull down his straw hat to the back to cool down, while holding his staff under his armpit as he climbed the steep hill. Looking to the west, the sun had already set, there were only a few fan-shaped beams. It was currently the tenth lunar month, so nights were getting longer and days shorter, and it was soon nighttime. He muttered to himself:
- 1935, Thế Lữ, “Nhớ rừng (Lời con hổ ở vườn Bách thú) [Longing for the Jungle (As Told by a Zoo Tiger)]”, in Mấy vần thơ [Some Poetry Rhymes]:
- Hỡi oai linh, cảnh nước non hùng vĩ!
Là nơi giống hùm thiêng ta ngự trị.
Nơi thênh thang ta vùng vẫy ngày xưa,
Nơi ta không còn được thấy bao giờ!
Có biết chăng trong những ngày ngao ngán,
Ta đương theo giấc mộng ngàn to lớn
Để hồn ta phảng phất được gần ngươi,
—Hỡi cảnh rừng ghê gớm của ta ơi!- O the proud spirit, the great scenery!
The place my sacred tiger kind rules.
The place I freely roamed in the old days,
The place I will never get to see ever again!
Do thou know, on these days of tedium,
I am pursuing an immense dream
In which my soul can linger on closely to thee,
—My dear glorious jungle!
- O the proud spirit, the great scenery!