It was the beginning of the rising, and the waters of the Red River were so tumultuous that they seemed to be on the point of swirling away the small island in the middle of the riverbed. Tree trunks and dead branches, torn away from the forest, floated adrift in the middle of a current of reddish water and formed like a continuous chain of small boats slipping at full speed toward an unknown destination.

Standing on the dam, Thuc, the mason, followed the wooden fragments with a glance of covetousness. Then, turning over, he looked fixedly at his wife in an interrogative air. Scrutinizing the river then the sky, the woman shook her head and said with a sigh:

- The wind is too strong, and there are increasingly big clouds in the horizon. It is going to rain, my dear!

Thuc also heaved a sigh. He made some hesitating steps. Suddenly, he stopped and asked:

- You cooked the rice?

- Yes, but there is just enough for the dinner of both girls, she answered sadly.

They looked at each other in silence. Then, as though bewitched by an unspecified object or an obsession, they turned of the same movement toward the river: the tree trunks always floated and slipped at top speed in the middle of dark reddish waters.

The man had a vague smile and said to his wife:

- How about taking a risk?

His wife shook her head without answering.

- Did you go to Mrs. Ky? He pursued.

- Yes.

- And then?

- Nothing. She says that she will pay only if we bring at first the wood. She doesn't want to lend us beforehand money.

- Oh yeah?

These two words had fallen as firm and precise as the last knocks of a mason's trowel on a brick when he is building up a new wall.

Thuc decided to carry out an extravagant act, so he turned to his wife:

- Listen! Why don't you go home and take care of Bo?

- Nhon and Be are already with him.

- I know, but it would be better if you were there also. Nhon is only five years old; she cannot indeed watch her younger brother and sister.

- OK then. I'm going home now ... You come along with me also. What's the use for you to stay here?

- All right! Go ahead first. I will join you a little later.

Obedient, the young woman returned to the village of Yen-Phu.

The wife of artisan Thuc stopped at the doorstep of her house. The miserable aspect of the small, humid and gloomy house wrung her heart.

On a plank-bed, devoid of mat, the three children were very agitated, calling their mother with loud cries. Bo howled to claim his sucking; he had nothing in the stomach since noon. Nhon, not having succeeded in calming him, was at the edge of tears.

- Go and fetch Mom so that she returns home to feed him, she had asked several times Be.

But Be did not want to go. She rolled about on the bed, pushing cries of rage.

The young woman hurried in. She took the infant in her arms and fondled him:

- Oh, my poor baby! Mom left you for a very long time. You are very hungry and you cried a lot!

Then she sat down on the bed and breast-fed him. At the end of a few moments, as the child did not feel any milk coming, he rejected the nipple and began to cry louder than ever.

The young woman heaved a sigh. Her encircled eyes were clouded with tears. She got up and, by pacing up and down, rocked her infant with gesture and voice:

- Oh, my poor baby! I don't have anything to eat and don't even have any milk for you!

The little boy, drunk of tiredness, fell asleep shortly after. As for the two older sisters, the mother had sent them to play outside so that their brother had a little calm to sleep.

Then, sitting in silence, Thuc's wife reminisced about her life. Girl of the countryside, in the simple and ingenuous spirit, she had no imagination and was quite unable to put any order in her memory. The recollections, which she had been able to preserve, streamed higgledy-piggledy in her head, unclear and confused as the faces of a crowd on a photograph. One thing, however, emerged with clearness from this jumble: she remembered with certainty that never still, so far, she had been able to enjoy the slightest bit of the well-being and the rest that well-to-do people know.

At twelve, thirteen years old, the little kid Lac -- it was her nickname -- had begun as a help person in construction. Her life, in brief, was spent without surprises, day after day, month after month, year after year...

At the age of seventeen, she had met Thuc, who was employed as mason there where she worked. One had launched a joke; the other had retorted on a tone of jest. Then they loved each other, and then they got married.

During the five years that followed, in their small, humid and gloomy house, at the inner lower part of dam Yen-Phu, nothing attractive had come to fill the insignificance in the life of this miserable couple. Their existence became even more miserable, when they had given birth, in three successive years, to three children. At a time when work was rare and wages were thin, although they toiled all day long, they did not manage to join the two ends to nourish the whole family.

Then, the previous year, at the time of the rising, Thuc had found a new idea to earn his living: he borrowed some money and bought a small boat, with which, every day, the couple had gone on the river to catch up the floating wood. Two months later, Thuc and his wife had paid off their debts and they even had excesses to spend.

That is why this year, they watched with impatience for the rise of the water level. Since the day before, their livelihood had returned with the swelling of the river.

At this point of her meditation, Lac smiled to herself. She gently laid down her child back on his diaper and went out of the house, on tiptoe. She headed toward the dam, as if she had made a decision to do something.

Arrived on the dam, she looked around for her husband but did not see him. The wind continued to blow and to roar. Streams mooed, powerful and fast like a torrent. She raised her head: the sky had become black.

She stood there, thoughtful. The pieces of her dress floated in the wind, making echo to the lapping of streams against the bank.

A sudden presentiment was born in her spirit. She anxiously tumbled down the dam toward the place where she knew the small boat was attached.

Arrived on the spot, she saw her husband busying to untie with much effort the embedded ropes that still retained the boat. Without a word, she watched at him working. When he had finished, she got in the boat, asking:

- Where do you intend to go, my dear?

He stared at his wife and said with surliness:

- Why didn't you stay home with the kids?

Frightened, Lac stammered:

- The kids ... they sleep.

- Why do you come back here again?

- But ... where do you want to go with the boat?

- You don't need to know. Go back home!

Covering her face, Lac started to cry softly.

- Why do you cry? He gently asked her, very touched in his heart.

- Because you want to go and seek wood without me.

Thuc reflected. Scrutinizing the sky and the river, he said:

- You cannot come ... It is very dangerous!

Lac laughed:

- It is also dangerous for you as for me! Don't worry. I know how to row.

- All right then! He replied in an ice-cold tone that made Lac shiver.

The wind and the water were always so threatening. The sky darkened at every moment.

Thuc asked his wife:

- Are you afraid?

- No.

They began by trying to bring the boat to the middle of the river, the man guiding the maneuver and the woman rowing. They tried to put themselves in front of the upstream, but the current countered them unceasingly, pushing them backward. Tossed by the waves, the boat now disappeared now reappeared at the crest of the muddy waves, such as a dry leaf of bamboo floating in the middle of a pool of blood, such as a mosquito flooded in a pot of red ink.

After half an hour, they reached nevertheless in the middle of the river. While the man firmly immobilized the boat using his perch, the woman caught up the floating wood.

The boat was soon almost full of wooden fragments. They got ready to return toward the bank, when the rain began to fall. Flashes of lightning tore the black clouds and the thunder shook sky and earth.

The small boat was filled with water, and the frail skiff threatened to sink at every moment. Although they tried to row with all their might, the strong current deported them ceaselessly...

All of a sudden, the man and the woman shouted at the same time:

- Oh, my God!

The frail boat had turned over. The freed logs had joined now the procession of their colleagues, and they all together slipped inexorably forward and pulled the capsized boat into their suite...

Thuc, while swimming, asked his wife:

- Do you think you can swim to the bank?

- Yes, she answered with assurance.

- Let yourself carried by the current and benefit from the waves!

- Yes. Don't worry for me!

Dreadful flashes of lightning always streaked the sky and rain continued to pour down. Thuc and Lac had the impression to be thrown in a bottomless abyss. A few minutes later, as Thuc saw that his partner showed sign of weakness, he got closer to her and asked with anxiety:

- Is it all right?

- Yes. Don't worry!

Hardly had Lac finished her sentence that her head plunged into the water. In a desperate effort, she returned to the surface. Thuc rushed in for her help. Then, supporting her with an arm, he swam with the other one. She gave him a smile full of tenderness. He also smiled back to her.

A few moments later, he admitted:

- I'm tired. Hold my shoulder and let me swim! I cannot support you any longer.

A few more minutes passed. Thuc felt more and more exhausted. His both arms were broken with tiredness. Lac gently asked him:

- Can you continue to swim?

- I don't know ... Alone, maybe.

- In that case, I'll let go so that you'll be able to regain the bank...

He made a smile:

- No! We'll die together!

One moment later, one moment that, for Lac, had been as long as one day, her husband asked again:

- Lac! Do you think you can swim now?

- No! ... Why?

- Nothing. Alas! Since we'll have no choice, let's die together!

Suddenly, the voice of Lac rose, trembling and weak:

- Bo, Nhon, and Be! ... No! ... You must live!

Thuc felt suddenly lighter, free of the weight that retained him. Upon thinking of her children, Lac had quietly taken the decision to release her hold on her husband. She let herself sink into the deep waters, to allow her man to regain the bank.

The light of street lamps reached up to the riverbank. The wind had dropped completely and waters became peaceful. There was there a man who lamented, holding a small boy in his arms. Two little girls were standing beside him. That was the family of mason Thuc coming there to make a last farewell to the soul of the woman who, for maternal love, had sacrificed herself.

In the immensity of the space, the Red River, indifferent, let its stream pursue its course, as forever...
 

(2) Khai Hung (real name: Tran Khanh Giu, 1896-1947), was one of the most famous Vietnamese authors of the first half of the 20th century. In 1931, he met Nhat Linh (real name: Nguyen Tuong Tam, 1905-1963), the most important pre-war Vietnamese novelist, and the two founded, in 1933, the "Tu Luc Van Doan" (Self Strength Literary Group). He contributed largely to ensure the literary revival in Vietnam during the pre-war period.

Khai Hung's main works are:
- "Hon Buom Mo Tien" (Heart of a Butterfly in a Dream of Immortality) - 1933 (novel)
- "Doi Mua Gio" (A Stormy Life) - 1933 (novel) (in collaboration with Nhat Linh)
- "Nua Chung Xuan" (Mid-Spring) - 1933 (novel)
- "Anh Phai Song" (You Must Live) - 1934 (short stories) (in collaboration with Nhat Linh)
- "Tieng Suoi Reo" (The Whispering of a Brook) - 1935 (short stories)
- "Gia Dinh" (Family) - 1936 (novel)
- "Tieu Son Trang Si" (The Knight of Tieu-Son) - 1937 (novel)
- "Thoat Ly" (Separation) - 1938 (novel)
- "Hanh" (Hanh) - 1938 (novel)
- "Thua Tu" (Inheritance) - 1938 (novel)
- "Doi Cho" (Wait) - 1940 (short stories)
- "Dep" (Beauty) - 1940 (novel)

(3) Truc Huy (pseudonym of Nguyen Dinh Tham) was graduated from University of Saigon. He left Vietnam in April 1975 and currently lives in Canada with his family. He is the author of "Studies on Vietnamese Language and Literature: A Preliminary Bibliography", published by Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1992.

Treân ñeâ Yeân Phuï moät buoåi chieàu muøa haï. 

Nöôùc soâng Nhò Haø môùi baét ñaàu leân to, cuoàn cuoän chaûy, töôûng muoán loâi phaêng caùi cuø lao ôû giöõa soâng ñi. 

Theo doøng nöôùc ñoû lôø ñôø, nhöõng thaân caây, nhöõng caønh khoâ töø röøng veà noåi leành beành, nhö moät daõy thuyeàn nhoû lieân tieáp chaïy thaät nhanh tôùi moät nôi khoâng bôø khoâng beán. 

Ñöùng treân ñeâ, baùc phoù neà Thöùc ñöa maét troâng theo nhöõng khuùc goã aáy toû yù theøm muoán, roài quay laïi, ñaêm ñaêm nhìn vôï, hoûi thaàm yù kieán. Ngöôøi vôï, ngaém soâng, ngaém trôøi, laéc ñaàu thôû daøi, noùi: 

- Gioù to quaù, maø ñaùm maây ñen kia ôû chaân trôøi ñuøn leân mau laém. Möa ñeán nôi maát, mình aï 

Ngöôøi choàng cuõng thôû daøi, ñi löõng thöõng. Roài boãng döøng laïi, hoûi vôï: 

- Mình thoåi côm chöa ? 

Vôï buoàn raàu ñaùp: 

- Ñaõ. Nhöng chæ ñuû côm cho hai con aên böõa chieàu hoâm nay. 

Hai vôï choàng laïi im laëng nhìn nhau... Roài hình nhö cuøng bò moät vaät, moät ñònh kieán noù thoâi mieân, noù kieàm aùp, hai ngöôøi ñeàu quay laïi phía soâng. Nhöõng thaân caây vaãn phaêng phaêng troâi giöõa doøng nöôùc ñoù . 

Choàng mæm cöôøi, caùi cöôøi vô vaån, baûo vôï: 

- Lieàu ! 

Vôï laéc ñaàu khoâng noùi. Choàng hoûi: 

- Mình ñaõ ñeán nhaø baø Kyù chöa ? 

- Ñaõ . 

- Theá naøo ? 

- Khoâng aên thua. Baø aáy baûo coù ñem cuûi vôùt ñeán, baø aáy môùi giao tieàn. Baø aáy khoâng cho vay tröôùc. 

- Theá aø ? 

Hai chöõ "theá aø" raén roûi nhö hai nhaùt bay cuoái cuøng goõ xuoáng vieân gaïch ñaët treân töôøng ñöông xaây . Thöùc quaû quyeát saép thi haønh moät vieäc phi thöôøng, quay laïi baûo vôï: 

- Naøy ! Mình veà nhaø, troâng coi thaèng Boø . 

- Ñaõ coù caùi Nhôùn, caùi Beù chôi vôùi noù roài. 

- Nhöng mình veà thì vaãn hôn, caùi Nhôùn noù môùi leân naêm, noù troâng nom sao noåi hai em noù .

- Vaäy thì toâi veà . Nhöng mình cuõng veà chöù ñöùng ñaây laøm gì ? 

- Ñöôïc, cöù veà tröôùc ñi, toâi veà sau . 

Vôï Thöùc ngoan ngoaõn, veà laøng Yeân Phuï. 

Tôùi nhaø, gian nhaø luïp xuïp, aåm thaáp, toái taêm, chò phoù Thöùc ñöùng ôû ngöôõng cöûa, ngaém caùi caûnh ngheøo khoù maø ñau loøng . 

Luùc nhuùc treân phaûn goã khoâng chieáu, ba ñöùa con ñang cuøng khoùc loùc goïi bu . Thaèng Boø keâu gaøo ñoøi buù . Töø tröa ñeán giôø, noù chöa ñöôïc tí gì vaøo buïng. 

Caùi Nhôùn voã em khoâng nín cuõng meáu maùo, luoân moàm baûo caùi Beù: 

- Maøy ñi tìm bu veà ñeå cho em noù buù . 

Nhöng caùi Beù khoâng chòu ñi, naèm laên ra phaûn vöøa chöûûi vöøa keâu. 

Chò phoù Thöùc voäi chaïy laïi aüm con, noùi nöïng: 

- Nao oâi ! Toâi ñi maõi ñeå con toâi ñoùi, con toâi khoùc. 

Roài chò ngoài xuoáng phaûn cho con buù . Song thaèng Boø, yù chöøng buù maõi khoâng thaáy söõa, neân moàm noù laïi nhaû vuù meï noù ra maø gaøo khoùc to hôn tröôùc. 

Chò Thöùc thôû daøi, hai gioït leä long lanh trong caëp maét ñen quaàng. Chò ñöùng daäy, vöøa ñi vöøa haùt ru con. Roài laïi noùi nöïng: 

- Nao oâi ! Toâi chaû coù gì aên, heát caû söõa cho con toâi buù ! 

Moät luùc thaèng beù vì meät quaù, laëng thieáp ñi. Hai ñöùa chò, ngöôøi meï ñaõ ñuoåi ra ñöôøng chôi ñeå ñöôïc yeân tónh cho em chuùng noù nguû . 

Chò Thöùc laúng laëng ngoài oân laïi cuoäc ñôøi ñaõ qua. Boä oùc chaát phaùt cuûa chò nhaø queâ giaûn dò, khoâng töøng bieát töôûng töôïng, khoâng töøng bieát xeáp ñaët trí nhôù cho coù thöù töï. Nhöõng ñieàu chò nhôù laïi chen chuùc nhau hoãn ñoän hieän ra nhö nhöõng hình ngöôøi vaät treân moät taám aûnh chuïp. Moät ñieàu chaéc chaén, chò ta nhôù ra moät caùch raønh maïch, laø chöa bao giôø ñöôïc höôûng chuùt sung söôùng thö nhaøn nhö nhöõng ngöôøi giaøu coù . 

Naêm möôøi hai, möôøi ba, caùi ñó Laïc, teân tuïc chò phoù Thöùc, xuaát thaân laøm phu hoà. Caùi ñôøi chò, naøo coù chi laï. Ngaøy laïi ngaøy, thaùng laïi thaùng, naêm laïi naêm... 

Naêm chò möôøi baûy, moät laàn cuøng anh phoù Thöùc cuøng laøm moät nôi, chò laøm phu hoà, anh phoù ngoõa. Caâu noùi ñuøa ñi, caâu noùi ñuøa laïi, roài hai ngöôøi yeâu nhau, roài hai ngöôøi laáy nhau. 

Naêm naêm roøng trong gian nhaø luïp suïp aåm thaáp, toái taêm ôû chaân ñeâ Yeân Phuï, khoâng coù moät söï gì eâm ñeàm ñaùng ghi cheùp vaø hai caùi ñôøi troáng roãng cuûa hai con ngöôøi khoán naïn, caøng khoán naïn khi hoï ñaõ ñeû luoân ba naêm ba ñöùa con. 

Laïi theâm gaëp buoåi khoù khaên, vieäc ít, coâng haï, khieán hai vôï choàng loay hoay, chaät vaät suoát ngaøy naøy sang ngaøy khaùc vaãn khoâng ñuû nuoâi thaân, nuoâi con. 

Boãng muøa nöôùc maën naêm ngoaùi, baùc phoù Thöùc nghó ra ñöôïc moät caùch sinh nhai môùi. Baùc vay tieàn mua moät chieác thuyeàn nan, roài hai vôï choàng ngaøy ngaøy chôû ra giöõa doøng soâng vôùt cuûi. Hai thaùng sau, baùc traû xong nôï, laïi kieám ñöôïc tieàn aên tieâu thöøa thaûi. 

Vì theá naêm nay tuùng ñoùi, vôï choàng baùc chæ mong choùng tôùi ngaøy coù nöôùc to. 

Thì hoâm qua, caùi aên, trôøi baét ñaàu ñöa ñeán cho gia ñình baùc. 

Nghó ñeán ñoù, Laïc mæm cöôøi, se seõ ñaët con naèm yeân treân caùi taõ, roài roùn reùn böôùc ra ngoaøi, leân ñeâ, hình nhö quaû quyeát laøm moät vieäc gì .

Ra tôùi ñeâ, Laïc khoâng thaáy choàng ñaâu. 

Gioù vaãn to, vuø vuø gaàm theùt döõ doäi vaø nöôùc vaãn maïnh, reùo aàm aàm chaûy quanh nhö thaùc. Laïc ngöôùc maét nhìn trôøi; da trôøi moät maøu ñen saãm. 

Chò ñöùng ngaãm nghó, taø aùo bay keâu phaàn phaät nhö tieáng soùng voã maïnh vaøo bôø . Boãng trong loøng naåy ra moät yù töôûng, khieán chò hoaûng hoát chaïy vuït xuoáng phía ñeâ beân soâng. 

Tôùi choã buoäc thuyeàn, moät chieác thuyeàn nan, Laïc thaáy choàng ñöông ra söùc níu laïi caùi guùt laït. Chò yeân laëng ñaêm ñaêm ñöùng ngaém ñôïi khi choàng laøm xong coâng vieäc, môùi böôùc vaøo thuyeàn hoûi: 

- Mình ñònh ñi ñaâu ? 

Thöùc tröøng maét nhìn vôï, caát tieáng gaét : 

- Sao khoâng ôû nhaø vôùi con ? 

Laïc sôï haõi aáp uùng: 

- Con... noù nguû . 

- Nhöng mình ra ñaây laøm gì ? 

- Nhöng mình ñònh ñem thuyeàn ñi ñaâu ? 

- Mình hoûi laøm gì ? Ñi veà ! 

Laïc böng maët khoùc. Thöùc caûm ñoäng : 

- Sao mình khoùc ? 

- Vì anh ñònh ñi vôùt cuûi moät mình, khoâng cho toâi ñi . 

Thöùc ngaãm nghó, nhìn trôøi, nhìn nöôùc, roài baûo vôï : 

- Mình khoâng ñi ñöôïc... nguy hieåm laém. 

Laïc cöôøi: 

- Nguy hieåm thôøi nguy hieåm caû . Nhöng khoâng sôï, em bieát bôi. 

- Ñöôïc ! 

Tieáng "ñöôïc" laïnh luøng, Laïc nghe ruøng mình. Gioù thoåi vaãn maïnh, nöôùc chaûy vaãn döõ, trôøi moãi luùc moät ñen. Thöùc hoûi: 

- Mình sôï ? 

- Khoâng. 

Hai vôï choàng baét ñaàu ñöa thuyeàn ra giöõa doøng, choàng laùi, vôï bôi. Coá choáng laïi söùc nöôùc, choàng cho muõi thuyeàn quay veà phía thöôïng du, nhöng thuyeàn vaãn bò troâi phaêng xuoáng phía döôùi, khi nhoâ, khi chìm, khi aån, khi hieän treân laøn nöôùc phuø sa, nhö chieác laù tre khoâ noåi trong vuõng maùu, nhö con muoãi maét cheát ñuoái trong nghieân son. 

Nhöng nöûa giôø sau, thuyeàn cuõng tôùi ñöôïc giöõa doøng. Choàng giöõ ghì laùi, vôï vôùt cuûi. 

Chaúng bao laâu thuyeàn ñaõ gaàn ñaày, vaø vôï choàng saép söûa quay trôû vaøo bôø thì trôøi ñoå möa... Roài chôùp nhoaùng nhö xeù maây ñen, roài saám seùt nhö trôøi long ñaát lôû. 

Chieác thuyeàn nan nhoû, ñaày nöôùc, naëng tróu. Hai ngöôøi coá bôi nhöng vaãn bò söùc nöôùc keùo phaêng ñi... 

Boãng hai tieáng keâu cuøng moät luùc: 

- Giôøi oâi ! 

Thuyeàn ñaõ chìm. Nhöõng khuùc cuûi vôùt ñöôïc ñaõ nhaäp boïn cuõ vaø laïnh luøng troâi ñi, loâi theo caû chieác thuyeàn nan môùi saép.

Choàng hoûi vôï: 

- Mình lieäu bôi ñöôïc ñeán bôø khoâng ? 

Vôï quaû quyeát: 

- Ñöôïc ! 

- Theo doøng nöôùc maø bôi... goái leân soùng ! 

- Ñöôïc ! maëc em ! 

Möa vaãn to, saáp chôùp vaãn döï Hai ngöôøi töôûng mình soáng trong vöïc saâu thaúm. Moät luùc sau, Thöùc thaáy vôï ñaõ ñuoái söùc, lieàn bôi laïi gaàn hoûi : 

- Theá naøo ? 

- Ñöôïc ! maëc em ! 

Vôï vöøa noùi buoâng lôøi thì caùi ñaàu chìm læm. Coá heát söùc bình sinh, naøng laïi môùi ngoi leân ñöôïc maët nöôùc. Choàng voäi vaøng laïi cöùu. Roài moät tay xoác vôï moät tay bôi. Vôï mæm cöôøi, aâu yeám nhìn choàng. Choàng cuõng mæm cöôøi. Moät luùc, Thöùc keâu: 

- Moûi laém roài, mình vòn vaøo toâi, ñeå toâi bôi ! Toâi khoâng xoác noåi ñöôïc mình nöõa. 

Maáy phuùt sau, choàng nghe chöøng caøng moûi, hai caùnh ta raõ rôøi. Vôï kheõ hoûi: 

- Coù bôi ñöôïc nöõa khoâng ? 

- Khoâng bieát. Nhöng moät mình thì chaéc ñöôïc. 

- Em buoâng ra cho mình vaøo nheù ? 

Choàng cöôøi: 

- Khoâng ! cuøng cheát caû. 

Moät laùt - moät laùt nhöng Laïc coi laâu baèng moät ngaøy - choàng laïi hoûi: 

- Laïc ôi ? Lieäu coù coá bôi ñöôïc nöõa khoâng ? 

- Khoâng !... Sao ? 

- Khoâng. Thoâi ñaønh cheát caû ñoâi. 

Boãng Laïc run run kheõ noùi: 

- Thaèng Boø ! Caùi Nhôùn ! Caùi Beù ! ... Khoâng ... anh phaûi soáng ! 

Thöùc boãng nheï haún ñi. Caùi vaät naëng khoâng thaáy baùm vaøo mình nöõa. Thì ra Laïc nghó ñeán con ñaõ laúng laëng buoâng tay ra ñeå chìm xuoáng ñaùy soâng, cho choàng ñuû söùc bôi vaøo bôø .

Ñeøn ñieän saùng röïc xuoáng bôø soâng. Gioù ñaõ im, soùng ñaõ laëng. Moät ngöôøi ñaøn oâng beá moät ñöùa con trai ngoài khoùc. Hai ñöùa con gaùi nhoû ñöùng beân caïnh. Ñoù laø gia ñình baùc phoù Thöùc ra bôø soâng töø bieät laàn cuoái cuøng linh hoàn keû ñaõ hy sinh vì loøng thöông con. 

Trong caûnh bao la, nöôùc soâng vaãn laõnh ñaïm chaûy xuoâi doøng.