06:08, 24/09/2023
The fishing village is located at the end of the river, a few dozen strokes from the estuary. Most of the villagers make their living by fishing, while a few go to the alluvial plains on the other side of the river to cultivate crops and sow one rice crop a year, depending on the rain.
When I was a child, every late afternoon, the children in the village often went to the wharf to bathe and swim. Some even clung to the basket boats anchored at the base of the mangrove and wormwood trees close to the water's edge.
The round basket boats, swaying on the waves, carry many memories and dreams of the sun-burnt black children of the fishing village. I remember, sometimes the adults let me and the children row out to sea on the basket boats.
The feeling of excitement and anxiety made us sometimes shake and laugh, sometimes scream and ask to go back in, because some of us got seasick and dizzy. Rowing a basket boat is very difficult, requires skill, wanting to keep the basket balanced, not spinning but gently gliding to the rhythm of the rowing is a learning process.
Especially when the boat has just left the shore and encountered the wind, if the rower is not steady enough to follow the wind, the possibility of the boat being capsized is very high. I have also controlled the boat many times against my will to realize that making a living at sea is not easy at all.
Since when, the image of the familiar baskets has been deeply engraved in the memory. Because it is closely associated with the lives of fishermen, working all year round at sea, helping them to overcome many waves.
The long white sand beach running under the tall coconut trees is where I often go. I like to walk on the sand, watching the deep blue sea in the afternoon, gently rolling each wave. Sometimes I even go around the small sandy alleys to feel most clearly the lifestyle of the fishing village people. The low-roofed houses, the walls are made of crude cement, in front of the yard there are many houses drying nets or a few old baskets, some are in the process of being completed. I look at the baskets and think about their upcoming journey on the vast ocean. The profession of fishing baskets or trawling nets only involves fishing close to shore. During the stormy season, the sea is full of uncertainties but seafood is abundant. Therefore, the fishermen ignore the warnings of the authorities about the weather and secretly go fishing. Then, in the darkness, each basket is a fisherman and a signal light, within a moderate distance, they take turns dropping their lines. Just like that, they worked silently all night, and the rewards from the sea were squid and fish to be brought to the market early the next morning to sell.
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| Illustration: Tra My |
The wobbly basket boats on the water are no different from the lives of the fishermen. Most of them depend on the sea, drifting on the water all year round, facing many risks. When the weather is calm and the sea is calm, fish and shrimp are abundant, life is comfortable. When the cold season comes, with many storms and winds, the boats are anchored, the basket boats face down near the shore, and they can only sit on the beach, looking out to sea, sighing. The life of the basket boats has long been associated with the ups and downs of the people of the sea.
In the past, the economy was still difficult, fishing equipment was still primitive, baskets were mainly woven from bamboo, single or double baskets, coated with tar and waterproof varnish. Nowadays, throughout the sea, baskets are still used for convenient fishing inshore, mostly using synthetic materials, some people even add engines to move more safely and quickly. Although development has brought people more opportunities and advantages, I still always remember the bamboo baskets of the past. Because this simple, familiar image has evoked in my soul the old peace despite many difficulties.
Son Tran
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