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Poet Thanh Tinh rides a cyclo

LE HONG (st) November 18, 2024 09:00

With his health and reflexes no longer as they used to be, poet Thanh Tinh had to put down his bicycle and walk. For long distance trips, if he couldn't find someone to take him, he would take a cyclo. That's why there's the story of 'poet Thanh Tinh riding a cyclo'.

During his decades as Deputy Director and then Director of the Army Literature Magazine, poet Thanh Tinh used an old-fashioned bicycle, the French brand Sterling. The bike was tall, had 700mm rims, and had no mudguards or chain guards. Yet it carried the poet all the way through the war against America.

Because the car was both ugly and tall, its owner thought that no one would even bother to look at it. Wherever he went, and whoever's house he entered, he left it somewhere without bothering to lock it.

Then one day, disaster struck him, his car was stolen. The poet was very sad, not because he lost his car, but because the car was still stolen like that. It turned out that thieves are omnivorous.

Then he bought another bike, a domestic bicycle. He rode it to many places in the city. The bike was low and the poet was tall, so he used his two feet instead of brakes.

When he reached the age of 75, the poet stopped riding a bicycle. With his health and reflexes not as good as before, the poet had to put down his bicycle and walk. When traveling far, if he could not get a car or someone to take him, he would take a cyclo. That is why there is the story of "Poet Thanh Tinh riding a cyclo".

Poet Thanh Tinh had a very close friend, both a comrade and a colleague. That was writer Tu Bich Hoang, a retired writer who lived at number 3B, Ong Ich Khiem Street. He had poor eyesight and poor health so he rarely went anywhere. Poet Thanh Tinh often visited his friend. From his private house on Ly Nam De Street to Ong Ich Khiem Street was quite far so the poet often had to take a cyclo.

One day, in the afternoon, the poet stood on the sidewalk of Ly Nam De, waving for a taxi. A cyclo came. The driver was a young man. The poet always found a recognizable feature to hire a cyclo because Ong Ich Khiem Street was a small street, not many people knew about it.

He bargained for a ride to Son Tay Hospital, near Ong Ich Khiem. The cyclo driver saw the old man looking haggard and asked to hire a car to go to the hospital, then shouted: "Two thousand". The poet was shocked by that price. He quickly realized that he had been overcharged and that the cyclo driver was taking advantage of him. He thought he would feel sorry for him, but it turned out that he was taking advantage of his weakness.

He said slowly:

- No thanks. I don't have enough money, so I'll have to wait for my child to come back and take me.

The cyclo driver turned around and grumbled something. The poet waited a moment and saw an elderly man riding a cyclo. He called him and learned from his previous experience, he asked to be hired to go to the Ministry of Justice, also on Ong Ich Khiem Street. The cyclo driver thought that an old man coming to the Ministry of Justice must be to file a complaint about some negative matter. The sympathy of a poor citizen made him ask for only 400 dong. Of course, the poet immediately accepted that price.

On the way, the cyclo driver asked:

- You went to the Ministry of Justice to file a complaint?

- Yes.

- Have you been to the Inspection Committee?

- Yes... then...

- What about the Office of the Council of Ministers, have you gone there yet? Yes, you can file a complaint everywhere. There are so many negative things going on right now. If you don't get it right, it won't work...

- Yes.

- Sit tight so I can speed up to make it on time. It's almost the end of the working day.

The poet was so scared! The cyclo was made entirely of iron and wood, and if it went so fast, his bones would fall apart.

- No... thank you. Please take your time, the appointment is at 5 o'clock...

- Yes, that's fine.

Arriving at the Ministry of Justice, the poet got off the cyclo and paid. He waited until the cyclo driver was out of sight before crossing to the other side of the street to enter the military compound, to his friend's house...

LE HONG (st)
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Poet Thanh Tinh rides a cyclo