The Mountains Sing

On Đạt’s second night home, he scares away the predatory guard who made good on his promise to visit Hương. Finding her uncle awake later that night, Hương asks him to relate his time in the war, in particular that spent with her father. Đạt tells of being conscripted alongside Hoàng and Thuận; the exhilaration of their early service together; the sadness of their parting when assigned to different units; contracting malaria; reuniting with Hoàng, who nursed him through his illness, Hoàng’s entrusting him with the Sơn ca at their final parting; becoming friends with Thành, an old schoolmate of Hạnh’s who was placed in Đạt’s unit; narrowly surviving many battles, one of which killed Thành; slowly recognizing that his enemies were decent people and that war itself is the true enemy; a blissful period spent hiding in an extensive system of caves; and the loss of his legs from a landmine.

Their conversation also highlights several tensions. Both Hương and Đạt are nervous about his reunion with other family members, especially Ngọc and his fiancée Nhung. Đạt’s injury and trauma have left him highly insecure: He ignored Nhung when she visited the night prior, and he drinks an entire bottle of liquor over the course of his conversation with his niece.