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Let’s go
home
By Dang Minh Chau
The old
man stopped and looked upwards. Then with his right
index finger he pointed at a high building in front of
him and began counting: "One, two, three, four,...,
eleven, twelve, thirteen..." He already felt the strain
on his neck at this point, not to mention a feeling of
dizziness. "Very high indeed!" he exclaimed. He wanted
to count to the highest window to see how many stories
the building had. Hardly had he got to "fourteen" when
her voice boomed. "Stop it! Stop it! You Idiot!" his
wife said as she turned around. He obeyed his wife’s
order with alacrity. "How many more floors has it got?"
he asked himself, following his wife’s steps. "Some day,
when I’m alone, I’ll have to count them," he told
himself, turning back to look at the high-rise for a
last look as it receded farther and farther away.
At the beach, his wife sat down on the sandy shore about
ten metres from the water’s edge while he dipped his
feet in the salty water. He had suffered from eczema on
the feet for years. His wife had tried to treat his
itchy feet before leaving, but in vain. Since they
arrived in the coastal city and he began immersing his
feet in the sea every morning, it was getting much
better. He was happy and his wife was very pleased as
well. She took pity on him and looked after him as if he
was a little boy under the custody of an old maid. All
her feelings went to him, but she was a bit
authoritative now.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt that
the salty sea water was infiltrating his body through
his feet. It was good to be at the sea, much better than
by the water of the small river of his native place.
"It’s time for us to go home, dear," she said to him.
Her tone was still very bossy. He was allowed to soak
his feet for thirty minutes only. He opened his eyes
wide and retreated. On fine mornings like this, the sea
did not seem to have waves. He smiled, looking at the
clear water. "Some day, when I’m all alone here, I’ll
soak my feet for hours," he told himself. He felt very
optimistic.
In fact his son had once said: "Mother, let him go to
the beach alone will you? He won’t go astray and get
lost."
"Won’t get lost? Your father counts on every building
that takes his fancy like a mad man. How can I stand
that? Then he wants to be at the beach the whole
morning. If he is like this, what will happen to him?"
He did not want to make his wife sad. Formerly, he had
been very bossy and his wife had been meek, not daring
to look up at him. If the smallest thing in the house
was not to his liking, he would stare at her and she
would obey his unspoken bidding at once. After he
fainted because of high blood pressure and the doctor
informed that he had been suffering from a heart problem
without his knowing it, things had changed completely.
When he was in hospital, especially at one point when he
seemed beyond recovery, she had given him such care that
he greatly regretted his past behaviour. After leaving
hospital, he became a much milder man. At first she was
greatly worried about the change. Once she asked him
boldly: "What’s the matter with you?" "What a question!
If anything was wrong, how could I be this well," he
answered, smiling.
She was reassured. Over the days, she began to become
more bossy. Thanks to the knowledge of oriental medicine
that she’d got from her father, a famous herbalist in
the locality, she had treated him effectively, and he
was all the more respectful. After more than six months
of treatment at home, he had recovered almost
completely. He had given up the habit of glaring at her.
Meanwhile, she gained the power to run the family. When
they received a message from their eldest son in the
coastal town that his wife had given birth to a baby
boy, and both mother and child were safe and sound, the
old woman was very happy. "We’ll have to be with them as
soon as possible, darling," she told him. He nodded,
smiling: "I’ll prepare everything for this trip. I think
we will be away long. You’d better say good-bye to the
neighbours first," she said.
He could not go to sleep. For the past few days,
whenever he lay on the bed, he found himself restless.
He was able to hear the sound of the waves very clearly.
It seemed that he would touch the waves if he put his
legs down on the ground. Tomorrow, it would be two
months that they’d been away from home. His wife was
very satisfied with the trip. The sea breeze was fresh
and healthy, their grandson was handsome, their son and
daughter-in-law treated them well, the house was well
kept, and the meals were delicious. They did not want
for anything. Meanwhile, his eczema had disappeared
completely and he looked quite healthy.
A few days before, when everybody was in high spirits,
their son had suggested: "Dad, Mum, would you mind
staying here until Tet? It’s only four months away. I’ll
take the opportunity and return home with you. It’s been
such a long time."
"All right. That’s a good idea," answered the old man.
"It’d be much better if both of you stayed with us all
the time," said the daughter-in-law. He’d just smiled.
"How long have we been here, dear? It’s one month and
more than twenty days, isn’t it?" he asked his wife when
the whole family was having dinner.
"What’s the matter with you?" she asked him.
"Oh, nothing. I just want to know, that’s all," he
replied, trying to evade his wife’s suspicion.
In the morning, the sea was calm, as usual. Yet, he was
upset. In the end he would have to do everything of his
own accord. Quickly he stepped away from the water and
said to his wife firmly: "Let’s go home, dear."
"Why? We’ve been sitting here for only fifteen minutes?"
"Let’s go home," he repeated. He began walking briskly
across the sand.
"You’ve left your sandals behind. Stop and put them on,
will you?" his wife ran after him, shouting.
He kept walking as if he’d not heard. At last his wife
caught up with him and dropped the pair of sandals near
his feet.
"Why do you do this? If you want to return home, you
don’t have to be so hasty," she reproached him.
He stopped to put on his sandals and said in a calm
voice: "Don’t be angry with me, darling. Please listen
to me. I don’t want to displease you. But frankly, I
cannot stay here any longer. Let’s go home."
"OK, let’s go," she said and began walking briskly.
"Just a minute, dear. Er... I mean we’d better return to
our native place," he said.
She stopped short. He went up to her, and said in a very
serious voice: "Last night I had a strange dream. There
must be something wrong with our tombs at home. I’m
greatly worried about them."
Being a superstitious woman, she became very frightened.
He’d never told her such things before.
The young couple could do nothing but watch their
parents pack. The old man tried to cheer them up, saying
they would come again next year, especially to see
little Bom.
His wife did not say a word.
The train left the station at midnight. She watched him
sit motionless and staring into the dark for a long
time. Then she said: "You’d better go to sleep."
He sighed and smiled warmly at her. "Don’t be angry with
me when I tell you this... The fact is that last night I
was only dreaming of the small river flowing through our
village. I don’t know why I missed it so much,
especially when I felt so good soaking my feet into the
salty water." His wife jumped up as if she’d been stung.
He hurriedly explained: "The reason I want to leave is
that I don’t feel well these days. I don’t want them to
shoulder a burden if I fall ill. I’ve been very happy
staying with them, but...," he suddenly stopped and
placed his hands on his chest.
"What’s the matter with you?" she said, eyes brimming
with tears.
"No problem. Don’t worry too much about my illness," he
waved his hands. " "Anyway, I have to return to our
native place to take a bath in the river at least once."
The train whistled as it approached a bend. The sound
disappeared in the dark.
So he was going away from the sea. He would not have the
chance to go alone and count the number of floors on
that building, or to put his feet in the clear sea water
again.
He glanced at his wife and felt pity, no resentment over
her bossy behaviour over the past few months. He knew
that in the depths of her heart she was a kind-hearted
country woman. And in his heart of hearts, he did not
want to regain his former patriarchal command. As soon
as they reached home, he would yield it to her.
He took a long breath again and smiled. "Let’s go home."
Translated by Van Minh |
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