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Bok Doan: Villagers still love listening to hơamon, but not many could tell. Photo NT |
83-year-old Bok Doang, living in Vinh Thanh District, is one of a few artists who could remember many Bahnar ethnic group’s epics (Bahnar language: hơamon) in the central Binh Dinh province. He is also a hơamon-teller with a beautiful voice.
The first time I met Bok Doang, he looked tired. However, seeing that I wanted to know more about hơamon, he suddenly became happy.
He said he was a hơamon addict when being a child. At that time, he came to the elderly’s houses, listening to hơamon every night.
He then asked Păk Giá, who knew many epics, to teach him during 4 years. Bok Doang became a “professional” when he was 15.
After being famous for hơamon telling, he’s never stopped collecting new epics. He is now able to tell 42 epics, including many long ones which it takes 3 nights to tell. Hơamon consists of different themes, such as history, legend, love, and labour.
At the festival of Culture and Sports of ethnic minority groups in Binh Dinh, Bok Doang only had enough time to tell a short extract of an epic, praising loyal love.
A girl and a man in a village loved each other and they were preparing for their wedding. Once, the girl had a stream bath and she was kept by a giant tortoise. The men tried to kill the tortoise to save his lover.
A hơamon teller who is in lying or seating position with leaning back could interestingly tell hơamon for a long time.
When in the village, he always lies on a hammock to tell hơamon. When performing at the festival, he felt uncomfortable due to the standing position.
“Bok Doang remembers many Bahnar’s epics,” said director of Vinh Thanh Culture, Sports, and Tourism Center, Tu Thanh Long. “The researcher Ha Giao met him many times when he studied hơamon.”
The epic is not only an art form but a valuable resource to know more about the ethnic minority groups’ life.
When he was young, he used to tell hơamon each night, Bok Doang recalled. Villagers filled his house at the gathering darkness. Sometimes, both teller and listeners were passionate about hơamon, they could spend sleepless nights.
At present, villagers still love listening to hơamon, but not many could tell. Also, they don’t show as much as passionate as they used to; therefore, hơamon telling is beginning to fade.
Having one foot in the grave, he expresses regret for what is happening.
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