BÉ VIẾT VĂN VIỆT/ BÀI DỰ THI SỐ 270 bis
Các bạn thân mến,
Tuần rồi Ngân Hà đã giới thiệu bài văn dự thi của bạn Trisha H. Tonnu ( Tôn Nữ Hoàng Thảo Nhi) bằng tiếng Việt. Hôm nay, Ngân Hà đăng bài viết bằng Anh Ngữ của Thảo Nhi viết nạp ở nhà trường và đã được cô giáo ở trường Vista Verde Junior H.S rất ngạc nhiên và khen ngợi.
DEER PARK MONASTERY
By: Trisha H. Tonnu (Tonnu Hoàng Thảo Nhi)
Thảo Nhi
A wide and rolling green hill, covered with many varieties of plants and flowers, can be seen. It does not tower, like a mountain, but is like a soft part of the landscape of Escondido, California. A dirt road marked with traces of car tires and footprints leads up and around this hill. There are no electric lights on this dirt path; the only light comes from the sun. Tall, leafy green trees also stand alongside the path, which make it harder for the sun’s rays to pass through, but they are like a soothing and blanketing shade that protect the people and animals underneath from the sun’s harsh glare. There is a certain peace and quiet on this hill; it is not like the leaves in autumn that fall upon the ground and lie there; it is more like the soft and small raindrops that gently cascade down, soaking into into the ground, there to stay and nourish the soil. The tranquillity of Deer Park Monastery can be felt inside of one, deep down, stirring regions inside one’s soul that one might never have know one had. The ambiance is comforting and reassuring, and one feels on a balance with nature, oneselt, and one’s fellow people.
This was my first pilgrimage to Deer Park Monastery. I have heard many facts about the monastery; as told to me by my aunts and uncles, parents, and grandparents. However, one can never learn so well as by seeing for oneself; it is not enough, at times, to be told by others about something that one may need to see oneself: to see, and to experience. Although I had been told many things about the monastery, about the peace and quiet it instilled in one, it was not the same as being able to finally see it and walk about it, by myself, or with others, quietly, and slowly. Able to see things my own way, as I observed the monastery, I was awed. I felt a new-found respect for the simple way the monks and nuns lived, and the way they devoted themselves to Enlightenment, and reaching the Pure Land. As I walked, I noticed a simple sign. It read, “Breathe, you are alive”. I observed the beautifully drawn letters, written boldly, swooping and curving. However, I knew that the look of the letters was not important, their meaning was. As I realized how fortunate I was to be alive, I stopped, and took a deep breath, and let it out, slowly. “Breathe, you are alive”, I repeated to myself: “Breathe, you are alive”.
