Short story: Mrs. Nghiep's buffalo

Mrs. Nghiep sat on the porch, her nearly two-year-old grandson was sitting in a bag, squirming, wanting to crawl out. She smacked her lips and sighed, her face showing worry. Times are different. In the past, people only wished for more fields to work on, and every little bit more they could break was a joy. But now, when you give away your fields, no one will accept them even if you try to be nice or beg them.

Lately, Mrs. Nghiep often has a strange dream. In the dream, she sees her buffalo, which she sold last year. It stands in the middle of a green rice field, looking at her, its eyes oozing red tears like blood. Then suddenly it rears up, lies down in the field, its body gradually grows larger, covering her entire field. The buffalo rampages and destroys the entire rice field. Sometimes it stands up, its body covered in mud, with a whole clump of rice stuck on its horns, it glares as if it wants to rush at her, using its horns to throw her up...

***

Nghiep and Dien fell in love on the nights they went out to bail water from the rice fields. Those were beautiful moonlit nights. The moonlight was soft as silk, spreading over the dewy grass banks. Men and women stood in pairs on the banks of the stream, holding two buckets in their hands, bending down and up to each beat of the water. The moonlight was shimmering on the stream, the water was scooped up by the buckets and then burst into the rice fields. The sound of bailing water. The sound of chatting. The sound of teasing, of pairing. The sound of giggling. Everyone was excited and happy. And strangely, they paired a man and a woman very skillfully, with no one left out.

Then they became a family. When they moved out, they lived in a house with walls made of woven bamboo and plastered with earth and a roof thatched with palm leaves. There was nothing valuable in the house. At night, lying together, the young couple wished for a buffalo.

Finally, the couple had a buffalo as they wished, after several years of hard work, saving and borrowing. The buffalo stood there, under the jackfruit tree at the end of the gable, as if it were a dream. Nghiep walked as if running down to the edge of the field, choosing the greenest grass to cut and bring home to feed the buffalo. Seeing the buffalo chewing the grass so deliciously, the couple was so happy that they cried. Farmers are like that, having a buffalo in their hands is like holding the whole crop, seeing each rice basket filled to the brim.

Nghiep and his wife love their buffalo very much. Every time the buffalo comes out of the pond, they find and catch all the leeches that are still attached to its body. Whenever he goes to work in the field, Nghiep cuts a load of grass to the top and carries it home to feed the buffalo. Nghiep and his wife also set aside a field near their house to grow elephant grass. Nghiep is very diligent in asking for banana trees, cutting them up, then chopping them up and mixing them with corn bran and rice bran to feed the buffalo during the dry season when fresh grass is scarce. On summer nights, mosquitoes fly all over the buffalo pen, Nghiep burns soapberry fruit to create smoke to repel the mosquitoes, and Dien uses an electric mosquito racket to swat the mosquitoes until they explode. Hearing that sound, Dien laughs out loud with glee.

That buffalo helped Mrs. Nghiep and her husband in many ways. The house they lived in was built from that buffalo. Every time they sold the young buffalo, the couple had a decent amount of money, and with the money from plowing for hire and raising pigs and chickens, they were able to build a house. Then the marriage of the eldest son and his younger brother was the same, all from the money from selling the buffalo.

Over time, the buffalo grew old, and Mrs. Nghiep and her husband had to sell it. It was a given, because it was too old and weak, and it would be hard for it to plow. It was the buffalo that had been with them from the early days of poverty until they had everything. But they still had to sell it. The buffalo was herded onto the back of a truck and taken away. Mrs. Nghiep did not dare to look, she sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

The old buffalo was sold, Mrs. Nghiep and Mr. Dien left its son as a draft animal. After it plowed for a few years, the village began to change, tractors and harrows appeared. People competed to hire machines to do farming for their families. It was not surprising, the young people in this village went to work as laborers, the rest went to work as hired laborers, construction workers, and construction workers. Many people of Mr. Dien's age worked as construction workers, and the wages were also high. It turned out that after a month of work, they only spent a few days to get the fields and fields in order. So the buffaloes became redundant, and people competed to sell them. Some families raised a whole herd of buffaloes just to sell the meat, which was also a profession.

At first, Mrs. Nghiep was determined to keep the buffalo. Mr. Dien and his children persuaded her for a long time, but she finally gave in. On the day the buffalo was sold, she saw the buffalo looking at her as if pleading, two streams of muddy water flowing from the corners of its eyes. She turned away, her heart aching.

***

Mrs. Nghiep breathed a sigh of relief when she found someone to work the fields. It was finally done, she felt like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She remembered one time when she saw her mother had to go back and forth many times without finding anyone, her children told her: "Why don't you just leave the fields there? It's fine. It's best to return the fields to the commune, Mom." Hearing that, she was very angry, but she didn't say anything. Let them be. They had their own way of thinking, and she had her own reasons. Granted, farming now wasn't much, hiring people to plant rice, plow, harvest, plus the cost of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, if not careful, she could lose a lot. However, farmers had to keep their fields, if they didn't need them now, they would need them at some point.

Mr. Dien also worked as a construction worker for the construction workers. There were times when he went all the way down to the city to work and didn't come back until late at night. During those times, there were only the two of them at home, and the older children were at school, so the grandmother didn't bother with meals, and lunch was just a quick one to get things done.

The weather has changed these past few days, Mrs. Nghiep feels so tired and sore all over, her knees are so sore that she can't sleep. She lies down and thinks about it, she regrets and longs to work in the fields. She remembers the old days when she did everything by human power, but the couple has struggled with the fields for so many years, and now that it is convenient, they have abandoned the fields. The more she thinks, the more she misses the fields, misses the fields so much. Suddenly, a buffalo appeared before her eyes, her own buffalo, it stood still, staring at her, its eyes oozing two streams of red tears like blood. She walked towards it, intending to scratch the buffalo's head, when it suddenly turned around and ran straight into the fields. Mrs. Nghiep ran after it and called out to the buffalo, it ran even faster and then rushed into the ripe rice fields, trampling them all. The rice stalks were trampled down, mixed with mud, and the rice grains were scattered on the grass banks, making Mrs. Nghiep feel sorry and cry out in panic. Every time she dreamed about the buffalo and woke up, Mrs. Nghiep would wander in her thoughts until she heard the flapping of wings of an escaped chicken, then she was startled to realize that morning was coming.

- Mrs. Nghiep! Open the gate for me.

- Who is it? Wait a minute.

The call startled her and she looked out the gate. Mrs. Nghiep recognized the woman from the village below, she was working in the fields for her family. It was a custom that after drying the rice, she would bring her several dozen kilos of rice to feed the chickens. She still said she wouldn't take anything, she would keep whatever rice she had to eat, but people were still shy and kept bringing it.

- Grandma! I want to tell you something, please forgive me.

- Yes, go ahead. We're just villagers.

The woman hesitated for a moment and then told her that she wanted to return the field to her next season. Before, her children were still young so she stayed home to work in the fields to look after them, now that they can take care of each other she wants to go to work as a factory worker. Mrs. Nghiep sighed. Now no one is interested in farming anymore, if anyone is, they will try to work on their own fields...

***

Since the beginning of this year, the villagers have heard rumors that an investor will come to build an industrial park on their village fields. People often whisper about this, making Mrs. Nghiep feel nervous and confused. Then, the news that everyone has been interested in for a long time has become true. The investor's representative went to the commune committee hall to discuss and get the people's opinions. In less than a day, the agreements between the parties were completed.

Today is Sunday, the children see that their parents have a day off so they cling to them and can't let go. Mrs. Nghiep has a free day, leisurely strolling to visit the fields. Mrs. Nghiep just stands there, stunned. The golden rice fields are blurred. Her buffalo suddenly appears from somewhere right in front of her, it stands there looking at her, making her surprised. Then unexpectedly, the buffalo turns around and gallops out into the middle of the field. Mrs. Nghiep just stands there watching the buffalo's shadow. Her eyes are wet, she sees faintly the silhouettes of the corrugated iron roofs of factories, the bright high-pressure lamps, the scene of workers bustling after work. In her ears suddenly echoes the cheerful words of her daughter-in-law to her son, which she accidentally heard last night: "So we're going to be able to work in the industrial park of our village, aren't we?" Mrs. Nghiep suddenly smiles. She should be as happy as them. Life is changing, progressing every day, and tomorrow future generations won't have to work with mud on their hands and feet. Then she blamed herself for being backward, for someone like her who would always regret things that would only be old. Mrs. Nghiep laughed again, but her throat tightened, tears welled up and wet her cheeks. Ah, she must still be thinking about the buffalo!