Every time late winter comes, when it is drizzling outside, the cold of Central Hue, groups of people hurry down to the fields to quickly plant the last rice seedlings to go home to prepare for Tet...
When spring comes, in the garden, flowers are competing to bloom, and a few apricot trees are reminded to prune their leaves so they can bloom in time for Tet. This is also the time when everyone pays attention to their Tet clothes…
In the middle of December, people working far away from home gradually return to their hometowns. Neighbors ask those working far away if they will be returning home for Tet this year. The stories are updated daily, heating up the current situation of Tet in the hometowns…
In the old days of Tet, life in the countryside was simple and peaceful. All year round, people worked in the fields and gardens. But in mid-December, many families made new clothes for each family member.
Tailor shops in the countryside started to heat up when December came. At that time, there were only a few small tailor shops in my village. They were sewn by hand with a foot pedal, but the stitches were excellent. So there was a lot of sewing on normal days, and even more near Tet…
Fabrics for making clothes for Tet holiday are piled up, tailors have to hire extra family members to make buttons and iron the clothes after they are finished. They work hard day and night to get them in time for customers to pick up…
In the old days, ironing clothes was a lot of work. I still remember the iron with a chicken head. Put in charcoal, sit and fan the charcoal until it was red hot, cover it and put it in to iron, iron for a while until the charcoal cooled down, open it, fan it again and iron… It could take more than an hour to finish ironing a set of clothes. Unlike today, with electric irons, it takes five to ten minutes to finish and it’s clean. But if you go back to the old days, you won’t find irons with chicken heads anymore! Because at one time, merchants talked to each other to buy all irons of this type…
In the countryside, if the family is well-off, they can get their clothes made early to avoid waiting. Otherwise, they will have money to bring home from their children working far away just before Tet. To bring the children to get their clothes measured and made, they will have to wait until the last minute of the old year...
The tailors in the village are also very skillful, not only do they sew well but they are also very good at handling situations. When customers come to receive their tailoring for Tet, they are still not finished and happily leave. Because they are promised a “near future”. When the tailors have finished sewing but not yet put on the collar, when they have finished sewing but not yet put on the zipper, when they have finished sewing but not yet ironed…
The pressure of work during Tet makes me feel sorry for the tailors, sometimes they stay up all night to make the order on time. In the days leading up to Tet, customers come and go from tailor shops. Some receive their clothes and happily go home with their new ones, while others have not received their clothes but still have hope for the next day…
On the eve of the New Year, five customers came to pick up their clothes and left, just as New Year's Eve had arrived. Ending the old year and welcoming the new year, a job of beautifying everyone! Mixed feelings of joy and sadness, hard work but happiness!
On the first morning of the new year, after staying up all night to celebrate New Year's Eve, everyone woke up late, but the children of every family woke up earlier than usual, getting out of bed and immediately looking for new clothes. They wanted to put them on and leave early, but their parents told them: "Let the person with the right age enter your house first in the new year, then you can go to their house later, okay kids!"
The children looked through the door to see if someone was coming to the house next door, so they ran out into the street to meet each other, showing off their new clothes, happiness filled their faces, and they were frolicking on the first day of the new year.
Adults visit each other on the first day of the new year, burn incense for their ancestors, chat and wish each other a happy new year, not forgetting bright red lucky money envelopes for the children. The new shirt pockets still have the fresh smell of fabric and the red lucky money envelopes are the happiness that filled the children's hearts during Tet in the past...
Outside, a few drops of spring rain linger on the apricot branches, rolling on the leaves, on each yellow apricot petal, a little wind blows, swaying. The yellow flowers are just right, on the first day of the year, the trees in the garden seem to be young again, people seem to be filled with energy from the spring flowers and grass. Simple happiness: The new dress of the old Tet is like that...
CAO NGOC TOAN
Tam Giang High School, Phong Dien, Thua Thien - Hue
Source
Comment (0)