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The buffalo is no longer slaving away
The Year of the Buffalo 2021 is considered one of good luck and great prosperity
A friend of mine told me that by the time this coming Tet – the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Buffalo – is over, he will have had a new family member. After extending my best wishes, I didn’t forget to make a joke that, given his family already has two “buffaloes,” he was already the richest guy around. Now that he would have another “buffalo,” nobody would be able to keep up with him. Hearing that, my friend gave a big laugh, seemingly very satisfied.
My friend was born in the year of the buffalo. So was his mother. His soon-to-be-born child would be the same. So, his family will have three “buffaloes.” To put it a little bit humorously, as each buffalo currently costs tens of millions of Vietnamese dong, poor farming households don’t even dream of possessing one of them, let alone three.
In the old days, people would often say, “a buffalo is the start of a career.” Therefore, having a single buffalo at home to start a fortune used to be a wish or even a life-changing dream of many farming households. Strangely, however, few wanted children to be born in the year of the buffalo. At that time, knowing that their kids or grandchildren were born in the year of the buffalo, parents or grandparents would take a deep sigh. They were worrying that those children would lead a miserable life later, just like that of a buffalo in Vietnam.
In the old days, Vietnam was still lacking agricultural machinery. The buffalo then indeed contributed greatly to the life of Vietnamese farmers. A buffalo was supposed to work hard from dawn to dusk performing all kind of jobs, from ploughing to pulling, and from hauling to rice threshing. Yet it was the buffaloes that had to drag logs in the forest, which evoked the deepest compassion.
As hardworking and diligent as they were, buffaloes were never treated decently. What they were allowed to eat was no exception. The worst hay which was refused by other domestic animals, even oxen and cows, was used for buffaloes. Apparently, buffaloes were aware of how little the time was they had to rest. Therefore, they tried to eat as much as they could, regardless of how bad their food was, so that they would have enough energy for the next job.
But agriculture in Vietnam has since changed and buffaloes were replaced by machinery. Currently, only at a few places whose terrain is quite unsuitable for agricultural machines do buffaloes have to work. Also, the jobs to be done by them are much less tiresome and the time for them to rest has increased. Instead of working tirelessly as their ancestors did, today’s buffaloes in Vietnam may take time to graze leisurely in the field and then bathe in a waterhole. Although buffaloes have relinquished much of their significance in Vietnam’s agriculture, they still play a role in her culture in addition to the food industry for their meat.
Changes in life have resulted in changes in conceptions. Such idioms as “cực như trâu” (literally, as hard-working as a buffalo) are now seldom heard. Many people, like my friend, give a big smile when their children are born in the year of the buffalo.
In that spirit, the Year of the Buffalo 2021 is considered one of good luck and great prosperity. Therefore, many married couples have planned children this year.
The same meaning, but different grammatical requirements:
‘In the old days, Vietnam was still lacking IN agricultural machinery.”
or,
“In the old days, Vietnam still LACKED agricultural machinery.”
yet vs. furthermore
Yet introduces an idea that contradicts the previous statements.
Furthermore introduces statements that add more evidence to previous statements.
A cow is actually the female of the species; one which has already given birth to a calf.
Oxen are the castrated males of the species. The general term for the species is cattle, which will include all members, regardless of age or sex.
Buffaloes WERE replaced by machinery (This indicates an action completed in the past that has little relevance to the present moment or to the argument presented.)
Buffaloes HAVE BEEN replaced by machinery (This verb form shows that the past action has relevance to the present, or to the discussion that is being debated.)
her culture (=the culture of Vietnam) Not wrong.