The Lycee

Far from Home Dr. Jacques Nguyen Hieu Liem Translated by Thomas D. Le and Ly Lang Nhan

En souvenir de mes deux années au Lycée Augustin-Thierry de Blois (Loir et Cher, 1950-1951), et surtout grâce à Monsieur Gruault, surnommé ‘Poil‘, et Régis Bouis, nos Professeurs de Français et d’Histoire-Géographie, qui m’ont appris à aimer la France.

Je leur dédie ce petit poème, en témoignage de ma profonde gratitude pour l’enseignement et l’amour de la littérature qu’ils m’ont prodigués. Mes années de pensionnaire ‘Du Petit Annamite’ en classe de Première Moderne et de Mathématiques Elémentaires, au Lycée Augustin-Thierry de Blois.

Et loin de chez moi

Je garderai toujours
De ce charmant séjour
Un souvenir très tendre,
Je crois toujours entendre,
Nos jeux mêlés de joie,
Nos plaisirs d’autrefois,
Nos propos, nos paroles,
Et nos histories folles,
Et nos rires sonores
Qui résonnent encore
Dans le fond de mon coeur.
Oui, j’aime la douceur
De ces années passées:
Le bon temps du Lycée.

Dr. Nguyên Hiêu Liêm
St-André-Les-Vergers, France, 9 March 2004

To remember my two years at the Augustin Thierry Lycee at Blois (Loir et Cher, 1950-1951), and above all my memory of Messrs. Gruault, nicknamed 'Poil', professor of French, and Regis Bouis, professor of History and Geography, who had taught me to love France.

To them I dedicate this short poem as a token of my profound gratitude for their teaching and the love of literature they imparted during my years as 'the little Vietnamese' boarding student of the classes of Premiere Moderne (11th grade, Modern Track), and of Elementary Mathematics at the Lycee Augustin Thierry.

And so far from Home

I'll keep forevermore
Of charming days of yore
Their tender memories.
And I'll always hear
Our games full of joy
Delights of yesteryear,
Our talks and words galore
And zany stories more
And our laughs' hearty sound
Whose echoes still resound
In the depth of my heart.
Yes, I love the sweetness
Of those years far away,
Good old Lycee school days.

Translated by Thomas D. Le
9 March 2004

Dầu Xa Tôi

Tôi xin giữ mãi trong đời
Bao nhiêu kỷ niệm đẹp thời thiếu sinh
Tiếng cuời còn vẳng bên mình
Bao khi đùa giỡn, bao tình chứa chan.

Bao nhiêu câu chuyện nồng nàn
Chuyện vui năm cũ, nửa quàng nửa điên
Giọng cuời tiếng nói huyên thiên
Dư âm dội mãi triền miên trong lòng.

Thưa vâng, tình đó mặn nồng
Những niên học cũ, bạn chung mái đuờng
Bao năm xa vắng ngôi truờng
Ðâu quên cảnh cũ yêu thương suốt đời.

Bản dịch Việt ngữ do Lý Lãng Nhân
Madison, Alabama, 11 Mars 2004