The Jackfruit
By Ho Xuan Huong
Translated by Nguyen Ngoc Bich

I am like a jackfruit on the tree.
To taste you must plug me quick, while fresh:
the skin rough, the pulp thick, yes.
But oh, I warn you against touching —
the rich juice will gush and stain your hands.

Note: The large, smelly jackfruit can be prematurely ripened by piercing it.

Ho Xuan Huong (1772-1822) (read as Hú Chunxiang in Mandarin) was a Vietnamese poet born at the end of the Later Lê Dynasty who wrote poetry in Chü Nôm. She is considered one of Vietnam's greatest poets, such that she was dubbed "the Queen of Nôm Poetry" by a prominent modern Vietnamese poet. The facts of her life are difficult to obtain, although her works show she was an independent-minded woman who resisted against societal norms. Her poems are usually irreverent, full of double entendres, but erudite. She chose to compose her works in Nôm instead of in classical Chinese (along with her contemporary Nguyen Du), which likely contributed to their prominence in the 18th century.

Ho Xuan Huong, like her mother, was a vo le, a concubine, or wife of second rank. Traditionally, Vietnamese women wielded considerable economic and political power, but by 1800 the condition of women had deteriorated as the Vietnamese nation itself began a collapse under domestic and foreign pressures. Many women struggled alone or risked the indignities of becoming concubines. Men, meanwhile, could have many wives. The king was permitted 126 wives in six different categories, while even a student scholar could have five concubines and seven wives.

Subscribe to the Mythic Passages e-zine