My “child” yellow apricot began to blossom. I called it “child” not because it was too tidy, but because it was a seedling from an original tree, which acclimatized itself and lived for 30 years on the land of Hanoi. After the reunification of the country, I brought a tidy yellow apricot tree from my home village to Hanoi. I planted it in a pretty ceramic pot. In winter days I brought it inside. The seller told me the tree was five years old and would bloom very soon despite its small appearance.

It was an event for me. My home village was very close to Mai Linh (Mt of Yellow Apricot) where an immense apricot forest was in full bloom in spring making the entire mountain top yellow. Before that Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) I had to work far from home. I returned home on the fifth day of Tet. Behind the gate, I saw yellow apricot flowers and felt warm as if I were in a dream. As it bloomed for the first time, some buds would blossom at the end of the first lunar month. Our ancestors were correct when they wrote in the book, History of the unification of Great Vietnam, “When the yellow apricot petals fall, its pedicel becomes pink and then the calyx looks like the flower itself.”

That event suggested me to write an essay inspired by the idea of a talented French writer in the first half of the 20^th century, Ms. Colette. In her short story The Cactus written when she was getting old, after living an impressive but tormented life shaped by fame, talent and beauty. At over 70 years old, this woman lived alone with a cactus tree brought from the tropics. Living in the cold weather, it could bloom only once every seven years. On one summer, the old woman was invited by her daughter and son-in-law, whom she had some disagreement, to spend her holiday with them in an area of scenic beauty. The old woman had lived for many years suffering from great misery in the absence of her dear daughter and maternal grandchildren. However, after considerations, she thanked them and asked for another chance. It was because her cactus tree was going to bloom after seven years waiting, while she was going to be 80. In life, one cannot too greedy to maintain double happiness at the same time.

The yellow apricot from my home village still flourishes in Hanoi. It blossoms every spring and is full bloom during the Tet holiday. The modest flowers bring me the scent of a Tet in my childhood. Yellow apricot is very special. The more you try to smell it, the more you feel nothing. But when you are unintentional, you will smell pure fragrance somewhere. I have moved the tree to many different pots. From the smart ceramic pot, I moved it to a larger cement pot. And finally I ordered a very large flowerbed as the apricot foot became very sturdy and the tree was up to three or four meters high. At the end of spring, the yellow apricot changes its leaves and its branches quickly burst into slightly green tidy buds and shoots, which are as smooth as pure silk. In the spring sun, the leaves will become larger, thicker and greener. In summer, the canopy of leaves shades a corner of the yard. When winter sets in, the leaves begin to wither and drop. But when we carefully pluck away the remaining yellow leaves, we are full of hope. The yellow apricot will be in full bloom at Tet.

At the end of summer, the yellow apricot fruits fall down but normally do not sprout. However, no one can tell – it might be the tree know that it is getting old –suddenly one year I saw many green seedlings sprouting from the pot. I took the strongest and planted it in a small bottle. To my surprise it survived and grew up. Again I had to change it into other pot. At the end of that dry winter, after plucking some remaining yellow leaves, I was very happy to see some small buds. I shouted to everyone that the “child” yellow apricot in my house would blossom at Tet. 

Nowadays transport is more accessible. At Tet, people from the capital city can buy yellow apricot of different varieties and in different forms at Buoi market,

Looking at flowers, I think of people. Many people of my generation are not Hanoi-born citizens. We gathered here from remote villages or small provinces. However, in fact we did not live long in the villages but have become Hanoians for more than half a century since the day the people’s Government took over the capital. We have lived out my whole life here. Our children and grand-children were also born and have been brought up and educated here. A little boastfully, everyone of us has contributed to the building of the capital. Although we are not as gentlemanly or elegant as people originally from the capital, we have become less rustic and mingled our own characteristics to make the current Hanoi characters. Now I understand why our ancestors said that the capital gathers the quintessence from the entire country. Our children and grandchildren have been living in the capital city. They are wiser, more quick-witted, better educated and more resourceful than their fathers and grandfathers. A saying goes that it will be good luck for the family if their children are more talented than parents. The country will enjoy better chances if the younger generations are more clever than the old ones. Certainly, our juniors will be much better than their parents and grandparents in terms of education, knowledge, talent and ownership of property. Opportunities are coming for the country. They will not fall into poverty and do not lack flowers. The only fear is that some indifferent people who might run after the new will forget about their home villages. They will never run short of flowers but I wish they will always appreciate real flowers and not follow artificial ones, which may look colourfully splendid but will never have the soul of the real flowers from our homeland.

Phan Quang