Personal Narrative: A Humorous Wedding

Introduction

After the marriage preparation course, teacher Phú proposed a party to put an unforgettable ending on our four-months marriage preparation course. After a brief discussion, we decided to ‘ăn niệu’. On a joyful atmosphere, we headed to Karaoke after the dinner. In the Karaoke, I heard a woman sang the song ‘duyên phận’. I was immediately attracted by the song. Using the first-person narration, the song tells a story of young women, who is worried about her impending arranged marriage:
Born as a girl, I haven't never been in love.
Thinking about my future, rivers are wider and roads are longer.
Living in a shabby house, my seven younger siblings have yet to mature.
Because my parents loved me, they looked for a predestined spouse,

How deep is the river? No one can measure its depth.
How can I know how long his heart would last?
Years have passed, I lived in peace,
I am afraid, if I fell in love, I would live a miserable life.
Be a river, shallow or deep, how can I know from the surface?
Haven't dwell in the shore, how can it know whether the water is clear or muddy?

Then he comes over with his family and relatives to greet mine.
During one joyous day, with just one step forward, I become his virtuous wife,
Leaving behind my younger siblings who look at me with sorrowful eyes.
My parents are happier although tears wet their cheeks.
They reminded me to always uphold my husband's family rules
Walking past the river, I silently ask the crashing waves,
"Is it possible for a girl not to love anyone in her life?"

This song demonstrates a young woman’s concern towards the future and her upcoming marriage, and her confusion towards the meaning of ‘love’. She feels obliged to subject to her parents’ arrangement and expectations as an obedience daughter. Though hesitates, she could not resist her fate of marrying into his husband’s family and become a vợ hiền (virtuous wife). According to the song, a woman is like a ship that is predestined to docked at a harbour. In this metaphor, a woman’s husband is the strange harbour that full of uncertainties. She feels deeply concern about her uncertainty future and her life with a husband she never met. In the end, the girl whispers to herself:

is a Buddhist term original from Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary. The loose English translation is ‘fate’ or ‘predestined’. In this song, ‘duyên phận’ has two meanings. It refers to the romantic relations between the woman and her predestined husband. According to the Vietnamese Buddhist belief, all the encounters in life is predestined, among which marriage is also a predestined relationship. Duyên phận’. when refer to marriage and romantic relations, is like a karmic agreement of an individual has with someone. “duyên (fate)” is something can be quantified. For examples, when the romantic relationship has broken down, one might say: “they do have duyên”, or “our duyên has run out.” One the other hand, ‘duyên phận’ can be understood that the marriage is predestined duty for all women. Women are also expected to leave their natal family and fulfil her role as wife and