"The Lover" and the marriage of a Sa Dec boy with a Go Cong girl

The couple of Sa Dec man - Huynh Thuy Le and Go Cong girl - Nguyen Thi My.

The character mentioned in the novel "The Lover" by French writer Marguerite Duras is Mr. Huynh Thuy Le (born 1906 - 1971), 1 of 4 children of Mr. Huynh Cam Thuan, a famous rich man in Cho Lon and Sa Dec, who built houses and rented them out to local people.

Mr. Le was sent by his father to France to study commerce to serve the family business. He was also given about 120 townhouses for rent along the Tien River and some land in Sa Dec. He was a kind-hearted person, a Confucianist, loved the poor and often contributed money to build pagodas and temples. In the past, in Sa Dec there was a hospital by the riverbank, and he built a row of rooms to treat tuberculosis patients.

History tells that in 1929, on the My Thuan ferry, Mr. Le accidentally met and became acquainted with the French girl Marguerite Duras when she was not yet 16 years old. They had a beautiful love affair for about a year and a half.

However, the love story of the Vietnamese-Chinese man met with strong opposition from his family because of the cultural differences between the East and the West and the incompatibility between the two families. His father did not approve of the two coming together. The love affair only lasted 18 months and the day Marguerite Duras boarded the ship to France was also the day he was preparing to marry his wife of equal social status in Go Cong.

That beautiful girl from Go Cong was Mrs. Nguyen Thi My, daughter of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Marie and Pharmacist Nguyen Van Tri of Mr. Ca Truong's family in Cau Tau (present-day Go Cong City). Regarding her origin, Mrs. Nguyen Thi My was the great-granddaughter of Mrs. Duong Thi Huong (currently buried in the grounds of Long Thuyen Pagoda - Binh Nghi Commune, Go Cong Dong District in the most beautiful octagonal tomb in the South) and the great-granddaughter of Mrs. Tran Thi Sanh, wife of National Hero Truong Dinh.

According to family members, the wedding between Mr. Huynh Thuy Le and Ms. Nguyen Thi My lasted 3 days and nights. This was a festival for the wealthy family of Huynh Cam Thuan, Sa Dec - Dong Thap, to become in-laws with the noble family of Nguyen Van Tri, Go Cong - Tien Giang.

However, there was a coincidence that this wedding had to take the bride via the Vinh Long - Sa Dec ferry. On that ferry, the bride Nguyen Thi My coincidentally got off the car and went to the same place where Marguerite Duras had stood on the ferry to Saigon in late 1929 to watch the vast Mekong River. His heart ached when the image of his old lover reappeared.

As time and things gradually passed, Mr. Huynh Thuy Le had to fulfill his duties as a husband, manage the business left by his father and take care of the family. After getting married, Mr. Le and his wife lived in an ancient house built in 1895 and up to now this house has been recognized as a National Architectural Monument located on Nguyen Hue Street, Ward 2, Sa Dec City, Dong Thap Province. The married life of the Sa Dec man and the Go Cong woman was extremely happy, having 5 children together.

The first daughter is Huynh Thi Thuy Tien, who used to be a leader at the California Children's Hospital - USA; the second daughter is Huynh Thi Thuy Ha, who used to be a professor at Sorbonne University - France and the third daughter is Huynh Thi Thuy Anh. The two youngest sons are Huynh Thuy Tuan and Huynh Thuy Tong, who are engineers and live in the US. After Mr. Le passed away, his children and wife all settled abroad. In 2004, Mrs. Nguyen Thi My, the beautiful girl from Go Cong in the past, passed away in the US.

Recalling her unfinished love story, female writer Marguerite Duras wrote a famous love story, telling the love story that she thought had been dormant in her heart for more than half a century. In 1984, the novel The Lover was published, causing a great stir, being translated into 43 languages ​​​​around the world and winning the Goncourt Prize (France's most prestigious literary award). In 1986, the novel was made into a film of the same name and premiered in Vietnam for the first time in 1991.

It can be said that half of Mr. Huynh Thuy Le's heart was broken when he fell in love with the French girl Marguerite Duras, but the other half of his heart was extremely happy when he lived with Ms. Nguyen Thi My, a girl from Go Cong. The beautiful love story between two people from two peaceful and prosperous lands of Dong Thap - Tien Giang is still famous today.

LE HONG QUAN

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202504/nguoi-tinh-va-cuoc-hon-nhan-cua-chang-trai-sa-dec-voi-co-gai-go-cong-1039881/