Lý Ðợi

Because I am a girl (*)

At 16 days of age I was shocked by gunshots from a nearby military camp
…
At 16 weeks of age I was fed with draught beer instead of milk
…
At 16 months of age I was first raped by the young landlord to gain good luck
…
At 16 years of age I was raped in the fourth time by a teacher of civics
…
Since the age of 17, I was named in the book of records as follow:
          – 16 times being refused of schooling due to indecent dress
          – 16 years of errancy as a call-girl
          – 16 marriages to foreigners except Europeans and Americans
          – 16 cases of sexually transmitted diseases
          – 16 times of imprisonment with certificates of human dignity recovery
          – …
Because I am a girl of a country where boys are heroes, girls are villains.
Because I am a girl of a place where words and meanings are separated
Because I am a girl of things unattached to rites
Because I am a girl of gunshot and violence
Because I am a girl of the colour-blind and the deluded
Because I am a girl of silent cryings…

And because I am a girl
And because I am the mother of all us
Yet…
          most still utter an aha!

Original: Vì em là con gái – Lý Ðợi
Vertaling: Nguyễn Tiến Văn
Uit: When Our Enemy Falls Asleep – Khi kẻ thù ta buồn ngủ, Eva Tas Books

-----
(*) The title is taken from a foreign song with Vietnamese lyrics by Thái Thịnh
See also: http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/Doisong/2007/7/20/201630.tno