Journey into "Germany - Winter Fairytale"

On March 15, at Nam Thi House (152 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), Phanbook Company organized an exchange and introduced the publication Germany - Winter Fairy Tale (The Gioi Publishing House). This is a bilingual German-Vietnamese poetry collection consisting of 108 famous poems in German literature, translated by Mr. Phan Kim Ho - a Vietnamese expatriate in Germany and a PhD in Macromolecular Chemistry.

Germany - Winter's Tale opens a door to the world of German poetry, where readers can feel the soul, thoughts and deep emotions of a long-standing and traditional culture. The collection of poems includes many different topics, composed mainly from the 18th century to the mid-20th century by 17 representative authors who have had a profound influence on German literature.

Although he has a PhD in Macromolecular Chemistry, translator Phan Kim Ho (right) still has a love for poetry.

Coming to Germany - Winter Fairy Tale , readers will also enjoy typical works of notable poets and authors in German poetry such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Hermann Hesse, Eric Fried... In particular, readers will also meet poet Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), the author of 4 verses that have been widely shared by readers on social networks recently: " I have hidden from the world / The story of your ungrateful behavior / I went out to the sea / To tell the shrimp and fish ".

Poet Heinrich Heine is also the author of the poem Germany, a winter fairy tale , which was chosen as the title for the entire collection. This was originally the name of a 75-page collection of poems, including an introduction, 27 chapters, 535 sections, a total of 2,059 verses and a supplement at the end. Poet Heinrich Heine composed the collection of poems after a trip from France to Germany in 1843, crossing borders, passing through cities and famous landmarks to visit his mother and the publisher of his works. At each stage, he recorded his impressions and comments. There, sometimes there were also his thoughts on poetry: “ A new poem, a better one / I want to write a poem for you, my dear friend / We want to be right here on Earth / Together build the kingdom of angels ”.

The program also had the participation of researcher Bui Van Nam Son and Dr. Nguyen Xuan Xanh (from right to left).

In fact, translator Phan Kim Ho is not a strange name because before that, he and some colleagues translated many publications in the field of science and technology from German to Vietnamese such as Ngo qua, ca gi cung Hoa ; Dung nhu con tou tron tot , especially many publications in the Nhat Nghe Tinh bookshelf .

At the program, translator Phan Kim Ho shared that since childhood, he has loved Vietnamese poetry, however, his passion for science and technology was greater, so at the age of 18, he went to Germany to study and then stayed here to work. However, his love for Truyen Kieu , Chinh Phu Ngam , etc. has always been burning in his heart.

“When I got lost in the German poetry garden, I saw many beautiful flowers. At that time, I felt sorry that Vietnamese readers did not have the opportunity to enjoy these beautiful flowers. In fact, some people were introduced, but not many and not systematically. That was also one of the motivations that urged me to translate this poetry collection,” translator Phan Kim Ho shared.

QUYNH YEN