"RICE PEOPLE" "Sokha, what have you caught?" "Nothing really, Papa." "Let's see..." "You're doing better than me!" "Bite, little sister." "Watch you don't cut your mouth..." "Sophat!" "Don't suck the rice, chew it." "Chew." "You'll taste it better." "Have some fresh fish." "As of tomorrow, Papa won't have time to fish." "Why not, Papa?" "Tomorrow we have to wake up the paddies." "Why must we wake the paddies?" "If we don't, we won't have a good harvest." "Papa, Mân bought a pair of oxen for his son Savoth." "How much did they cost?" "About two hundred, maybe..." "I beg spirits of Water and Earth, who take care of this land, to aid us in our labor, that all goes well, that we have joy, that we meet no obstacles..." "That we, your children, enjoy a good harvest, that no beast, no evil spirit, disturb us..." "Look at the Buddha, daughter." "Offer it a prayer." "Do you know how?" "Then let's pray." "Say what I say." "May grandmother and grandfather help mother, and help father... to have a good harvest." "That they may have money to buy a sarong to give to Sopheap." "You do that very well." "Offer incense to the Buddha." "Put it in so it stays put." "What do good girls do?" "Give Mama a kiss." "Poeuv..." "Where were you?" "Down to see the paddies." "Since the last harvest until tonight, the moon has been full six times." "I've almost forgotten how to sleep alone." "When father was alive, he sold six parcels of land to the Chinaman to have the money to buy the breeding seeds." "Now we have only 14 plots." "Not one more to leave to our seven daughters." "Two plots each." "And if we have another child, what will we have to give?" "If we have a boy, he could take over for us when we're old." "Coming home from the paddies, he'll bring wood and honey for the house." "When our daughters have husbands, they'll have children." "What can we give them?" "Grandchildren, already!" "Sopheap isn't even four yet!" "And our great grandchildren?" "What will they get?" "Just a handful of rice each." "If Sophoeun completes her studies and finds work, she'll hand over her land to her sisters." "And this year, if the harvest is good, we'll send Sophon and Sokhoeun off to study." "We were born to these rice fields." "It's the only life we know." "Our children and theirs will have to work the soil to feed themselves." "That is the only way." "That's all there is to life." "Papa, our hut looks like an elephant trampled it." "I'll cut some branches to repair the roof." "Poeuv!" "What is it?" "Mama!" "What is it?" "Don't move!" "Stay calm." "Don't move your foot." "Die!" "Damned snake!" "Die!" "Snake!" "Help Poeuv!" "Let's take her to the chief's." " Did she step on it?" " She's gone all pale." "Chief!" "Help!" "A snake bit Om." "It happened in the paddy." "She's fainted." "She doesn't feel anything." "She's stopped breathing." "Where did the snake bite her?" "On the foot." "Who knows?" "Mama!" "Your wife is alive." "What snake bit her?" "A cobra, probably the male..." "You killed it?" "Mama, it's dead..." "Poeuv..." "The snake is dead." "Here Voeun." "Heal her." "You disturbed the female with her eggs and the male attacked?" "If that's the case, the female can't be far away." "We must find it and kill it." "If she's alive, no one will be able to plant seeds on the land." "Yon, sound the alarm." "Every man should take a stick." "And don't forget to bring limes!" "Come on, Poeuv." "Show us where you killed the male." "Go on, Poeuv." "Don't worry." "I'll look after your wife." "We haven't yet woken the paddies as we should, and already there is misfortune." "Did you find the female?" "She must have taken off." "We must have scattered at least twenty limes over our land." "What do the villagers say?" "They talk a lot, but say nothing." "They talk so much they get drunk on their own saliva." "The tongue has no bone, so it flaps easily." "Eat some rice gruel to get your strength back." "Tomorrow I'll be better." "I'll surely be healed." "I beg the spirits who protect the water and land here, to grant me aid and joy in our labor." "Sokha, throw them further." "Spread your fingers." "The seeds have to fly apart." "The seeds shouldn't fall into the water furrows." "Sow a bit more densely..." "Sokha, put it in the middle of the seed bed." "Help me separate the rice." "You see there's a lot." "Sopheap, look at the paddies, way out there." "Father has to work from morning until night." "He needs Mama's help." "Tomorrow, I'll go to the paddies." "So there will be four of us working." "Mama will do the hoeing." "When you're alive you have to work." "What's the matter?" "Poeuv!" "What's the matter?" "The cobra?" "Has the female returned?" "A thorn." "He's injured his foot." "Where's the thorn?" "The end's broken off." "We can't get it out." "The krassaing thorn is hard to remove." "Can you walk back home?" "He's shaking." "Carry him." "Let's carry him back to the house." "Watch your step, Mân, the ground's slippery." "Mama, put more weight on the plough." "The blade has to dig deeper into the earth." "Push hard!" "Sophoeun!" "Get me my razor." "I told you to get me my razor!" "Give it to me!" "Damned thorn!" "Where are you hiding?" "Out of my foot!" "What good is this damned foot if I can't walk on it?" "Tomorrow I've to go to the rice fields!" "Tomorrow I'll go to the rice fields!" "What did you do to your foot?" "I can't stand this thorn in my flesh anymore." "You know the razor's poison is worse than the thorn's." "Sokha, bury this razor." "Papa." "Sopheap, come to Papa." "I made a train for you." "See how nice it is." "Here, touch it." "Do you know... there is an animal that crawls on the ground, then flies in the air, and forgets what it was?" "What is it?" "It's the butterfly." "Say it again." "Butterfly." "Very good!" "Let's do another one." "What is empty when upright, full when bent?" "Rice." "Very good, my girl." "My little girl." "I finished ploughing the southern plot." "Our daughter Sokha works as hard as a boy." "I'm not hungry." "My belly's burning." "My eyes and lungs feel like they're on fire." "You know, if we delay, when everyone is planting seedlings, we'll still be ploughing." "Their rice will be ripening and ours green." "Ours will be ripening and theirs stored in the granges." "The sparrows will ravage the paddies." "They'll be eating the new rice, and we'll be eating the chaff." "The village chief surely knows about my accident..." "Did the chief come to see you?" "Did he make any effort to get you medicine?" "No one's come to see you!" "Don't worry, Papa." "Tomorrow, I'll go back to the paddies, and pick up the hoe and the plow." "I'll have to finish the paddies myself." "Give me the betel leaf." "This you chafe and then put on the wound." "Have him drink this medicine twice a day." "I'll leave now." "Master!" " Please accept this..." " Thank you." "Sokhoeun!" "Get the chicken." "Sophoeun... take your sisters to play over there." "We have to bring him to the hospital." "The city is so far away." "It will cost a lot of money." "You'll have to borrow it." "If you borrow from Amouy, you must put up your rice against the loan." "He'll die in the hospital if I'm not with him." "But if I go, who'll take care of the paddies?" "Who's there?" "It's me, Sophoeun, Papa." "Look... can you see your mother?" "Mama's plowing." "The oxen refuse to move." "Mama's holding the plow, Sokha is pulling the oxen forward." "And Sokhoeun?" "I don't see her." "Yes, I do." "Sokhoeun's under a tree, burning branches." "What's the sky like?" "It's full of clouds." "Black clouds and white clouds..." "floating slowly..." "What's beyond our paddles, Papa?" "Beyond our paddles is Mount Bôkô." "It's very cold on the mountain." "When you open your mouth to talk, smoke comes out." "Water streams from the rocks, and it's very cold." "So cold you can't dip your foot in it." "The mountain is so high, on top you touch the clouds with your hand." "I may not be here to see the rice ripen with you." "I should never have left you alone." "I'll stop working for a few days." "Don't leave the paddies." "The rice is more important." "Take care of our paddles." "If need be, Sophon and Sokhon will come help me." "Sophoeun can look after her sisters." "I'm like a floating weed, carried off by the current." "Without roots, no support, nothing..." "Sophat!" "Sopheap!" "Come to me." "Come to your father." "Sophoeun, take a stick and break it." "Now, take seven sticks." "Can you break all seven?" "From now on, you children must never separate." "Stay together like the fingers of a hand." "Will you remember me?" "Will you see me in your dreams?" "Damned bird!" "Bird of sorrow!" "Leave my home!" "Bird of separation!" "Leave my home!" "Poeuv!" "Do you hear me calling?" "Go get the Achar and let the chief know." "I'm replanting the shoots as you wished, as you decided," "two plots of Ginger Flower, two plots of Red Cat." "The rains have come and gone." "But for now, our paddy has enough water." "I watch over the young shoots every day." "I clean the grange." "The roof of the house is leaking, but I'll repair it." "Mama!" " Look at this." " Where were you?" "You can't be alone in the paddy." "You could drown." "Where did you catch that?" "Where did you catch that crab?" "Where?" "Answer me!" "Sokhoeun!" "Drain the paddies!" "Sokha!" "Get the little ones into the hut." "Keep them there!" "Sophon!" "Go to the house with Sokha for a caldron." "Bring your father's lamp!" "If we don't catch them all before nightfall, un it'll be a disaster!" "Sokhon!" "Sophon!" "Don't step on the shoots!" "Sokhoeun!" "Light some more fires." "In this dark, the crabs come out in the thousands." "The light chases away bad spirits." "Come help Mama catch the crabs." "There are so many of them." "Damned creatures!" "They're so many!" "Poeuv..." "There are many crabs in our paddles." "They're possessed by evil spirits." "Mân thinks the spirits must be angry about what someone did." "These past six days, the children and I have caught thousands of them." "The more we catch, the more come out." "Buddha surely won't allow these wretched beasts to destroy all your efforts." "The children help me but they're worn out now." "We don't have your strength." "Why did you abandon us, leave us alone and sad, with no help like this?" "Mama." "Papa!" "Poeuv!" "Mama, we're out of salt." "Get some on credit from Amouy." "Where are you going?" "To Amouy's store." "I'll go." "Where are your sisters?" "Where is Sokha?" "Out in the paddies." " Sokhoeun?" " She left with the fish trap." "So everybody's gone out!" "Well, me too, I need to get out." "I'll put 100 to 1 on that fish." "Hey, Li!" "Bring me half a liter of booze." "Afraid I don't have enough money to pay?" "Here, look!" "I've got it." "Enough talk about fish!" "Let's have a drink first." "Hey, Om!" "Have a drink with us." "Come on." "Give her a glass." "Get her a chair." "Don't be so sad." "Drink!" "It's on me." "Think of happy things." "Come on and have one..." "Hey, Mister Poet!" "Come here." "Have a drink with your future mother-in-law." "Sit down." "They say, even with seven daughters, you'll remarry." "Amouy, pour Om another glass." "I'm still young, you know." "So..." "You want to marry me!" "They say, work the paddy while the earth is warm." "Take a wife while her heart is still warm." "Try your luck!" "And if I marry you, what can you provide as dowry?" "All you have are debts and seven daughters." "All I want is your oldest daughter." "Aren't I better than Sokha?" "Sokha is skinnier than me." "Look, I'm still plump." "Then go and marry the chief Tong Samnang." "Sure." "To the village chief, I'll say yes." "That way, he'd help me till my land." "Enough drinking, Om." "Aren't you ashamed?" "What mother behaves like this?" "Ashamed?" "Ashamed of what?" "You're the one, Amouy, who should be ashamed because you can't make a child with Li." "You're no good, Li!" "I caught sight of your face" "At the celebration of the dead" "If the beloved" "Wants to love" "And build a love nest" "I can treat him well" "I have a sampang" "To welcome my love in" "I have neither gold" "Nor silver" "My heart is pure" "Like a diamond" "I will give it to my beloved" "My only love" "I will give it to he who knows how to help me" "Heal my sorrow and my fear" "Under the sky and the stars" "That watch us" "Thousands of stars like eyes" "That watch us" "Where were you, Mama?" "You're asking questions now?" "You were drinking!" "I'll drink if I want to!" "Let go of my arm!" "Here, give these cakes to your sisters." "Why are you always underfoot?" "Go play somewhere else." "If I jump into boiling water, would you follow me?" "Come on, don't bother Mama." "She's hurt and very tired." "Sokha!" "Sokhoeun!" "Savoth is here!" "Did you bring me anything, Savoth?" "Here's a kveth for each of you." "You're late." "Next time, I won't give you my sister's hand." "Not so loud, Mama's sick." "Sokha, look!" "Isn't that Mama?" "Just keep working." "Where did she get those clothes?" "Crazy widow with many daughters!" "Shameless widow!" "Crazy widow who catches cobras with her bare hands!" "You see?" "I'm all alone." "Our children are too young." "They don't help me." "They can't know how deep is our pain." "You're still in my heart," "I feel your breath in my breast." "When you breathe, I tremble." "What good are tears, what good are prayers or crying when you're alone?" "The snake!" "Help me, Poeuv!" "The female's back!" "Poeuv, help me!" "The cobra was after me..." "The black cobra your father killed the other day." "It's late." "Let's go to sleep." "Eat a bit, Mama." "The rice will give you your strength back soon." "Even the King of the Earth needs rice." "Where is Poeuv?" "Where is your father?" "He's dead, Mama." "Poeuv dead?" "He's not!" "You father is here!" "Right here!" "In my breast!" "How is Mama?" "Exhausted." "She's already asleep." "Mama." "Sopheap!" "Uncle Mân!" "Aunt Voeun!" "What is it, at this time of night?" "My mother has gone off with Sopheap." "Mama, Om took off with the baby." "Our children don't help me." "And they never did." "Do you know how to catch crabs?" "Will you help me weed?" "What will you eat if the weeds smother our shoots?" "It 's good you've come to help." "We were all worried for you." "Come back home, Mama." "You want to go already?" "It's the middle of the night." "Night, day, it's all the same." "Time doesn't go backwards." "Shoots are like infants." "If they're not cared for, we'll surely die of hunger." "Look, everyone works at night." "They don't say so, but they all watch over their rice." "Om!" "What are you doing here?" "Pulling up weeds." " At night, with your youngest?" " Poeuv told me to." "We're going to take you home." "Here is my home." "Poeuv told me to work!" "Take her back." "Sokha, they're stealing our land!" "They're stealing our rice!" "Where are my children?" "They're stealing our land!" "What I think is that evil spirits have entered Om's body." "She's not dangerous for just her own children but for ours too!" "When will it be ready, Maly?" "Don't worry." "It'll be done before the cock crows." "Go outside a moment." "You others, come in." "Get started." "Let go!" "Let go of me!" "What have you locked me up?" "Help me, Savoth!" "They've locked me up." "Why don't you help me, Mân!" "Are you on their side?" "Sokha!" "Sokhoeun!" "Help Mama!" "Help Mama!" "Get in." "Who will sow the rice?" "Who will watch over it?" "Where are the others?" "What am I doing here?" "Where are my girls?" "Mama..." "Take this sheet." "Sokha, get me out of this cage." "Have pity on Mother." "I don't want to be here." "The water will drown our shoots." "The water will surely flood the paddy." "The branches will crush the rice." "Give me my hat!" "I'm going to the paddy." "They don't help me." "Papa, help me strengthen the banks." "They're all broken." "The children will die of hunger!" "Sokha, place the earth here." "Here, hold the warming stone against you." "Sokha, get me out of here." "How are our paddles?" "Rain like this will destroy all our young shoots." "It's all right, Mama." "We've cleared away all the debris." "Don't lie!" "Your father'd manage this!" "But with your tiny wrists, how can you face this flood?" "Get me out this instant!" "Get me out!" "Samnang and Mân and their wives are down in the paddies." "Let me go!" "Let me out!" "Poeuv..." "Do you hear that wind blowing?" "Do you see those dark clouds floating across the sky?" "Come here, Mama, I'll give you a bath." "Where were you?" "You can't stay like this." "I'll wash you." "The rain soaked my body." "But it didn't really wash me." "Your hair, why did you shave it off?" "You used to have such lovely hair." "How are your paddles, Sokha?" "Not too much damage?" "No, we replaced the damaged shoots." "Sit down a moment." "I have to speak to you." "Sokha, all the villagers held a meeting." "The three of us bring you the village's decision." "Your mother's illness is getting worse." "She's screaming in her cage from morning to night." "She must be sent to the city for treatment." "Your mother is sure to be cured and come back." "They know how to heal her." "Who will look after my mother?" "Who will bathe her?" "Who will feed her?" "The doctors will take care of her." "It will be time for the harvest soon." "All the villagers will have to go down to the paddies." "If you remain here with your mother, the rats will get to your rice before harvest." "By harvest time, Mother will be healed." "I can't pay for the hospital." "Amouy will lend you the money, if you repay her after harvest." "You have to make the decision now, because you are the eldest." "I think you've chosen the best way." "It's the most reasonable way." "I think you agree." "Don't be afraid my girl." "Don't act like that." "If your husband sees you in dirty clothes, what will he say?" "I'm going to see my husband?" "I'm going to see Poeuv?" "Yes, change your clothes." "You're going to see your husband." "Change your clothes." "Wash your face, comb your hair." "For your husband." "Get ready to go see him." "I'm all alone." "I caught the crabs." "I braved the flood." "I'm sure Poeuv isn't angry with me." "I did all I could." "He's left me alone too long." "Sokha, look after the house, your sisters and the rice." "I'm going for Father." "I've worked very hard." "Our baby has grown." "Our rice is growing on many stalks." "Crabs are all over the paddy." "I caught them night and day." "I slaved every day." "I slaved night and day." "I caught crabs." "Crabs came out by the hundreds, thousands." "Look how well the rice is growing." "It smells so fine on the breeze." "Sokhon, Sophon, get out to pull up the water lilies." "Sokha and I'll get the fish trap and come pick you up." "Savoth, look over there." "A nest!" "A waterfowl's eggs." "All the children are well." "I'm sending you some smoked fish." "These fish were caught by Sokhon and Sophon." "Sopheap has grown." "She can help us pile firewood." "This year, the rice is quite pregnant." "The seeds are coming up fine, at the same time." "The last rising of the moon, the first wind blew from the north." "We're starting to feel the cold." "These days, our paddy is yellow like gold." "The children are always thinking of you." "We expect you back for the harvest." "That's the Red Cat." "And that, the White Woman." "It's falling, it's falling down." "Sparrows!" "Damned sparrows!" "Sokhoeun, Sokhon, Sophon!" "Sparrows!" "Everyone down to the paddy!" "Sophat and Sopheap too." "Get the rattles and pails." "Bring your shawls and hats." "When she loses, she sulks, Sophoeun." "Our brother-in-law is here!" "Look at Savoth leaving with Sokha." "He's all smiles." "So is Sokha." "Sokha, don't forget to buy me some cakes." "Come on Om, let's go back to the house." "We finished the harvest, Mama." "This year we'll grow dry-season rice, too." "Mama's back!" "Sokha!" "Where did you put my rice?" "Where did you put my rice?" "Where's my rice?" "The rice is in the house, Mama." "Watch she doesn't fall." "She still shaking..." "Watch her, she's still not well." "Is this all?" "Where is the rest of my rice?" "What did you do with my rice, Sokha?" "I paid Amouy back with three sacks, and I bought some things." "Where's my rice?" "Where's the rest of it?" "Om!" "Your daughter toiled away every day, but the harvest was bad." "How could you steal my rice and sell it?" "What did you do with my rice?" "Poeuv, you see, they stole our rice." "Poeuv, where's our rice?" "It can't be just this..." "Where's my rice, Poeuv?" "Sokha, your mother's not cured." "Leave the cage." "You'd better get out." "You others move these things and clean the cage for Yim Om." "Thieves!" "You've come to steal my rice!" "That's all the rice I had." "Why did you take my rice?" "You take my rice." "How do I feed my children?" "What will my children eat?" "Let go!" "Let go, thieves!" "You're taking all my belongings!" "Calm down, Om!" "What will I have for my children?" "How will I raise them?" "Give my rice back!" "Leave me my rice!" "Don't steal my rice!" "Give my rice back!" "If the hospital didn't cure her, it'll be the cage for the rest of her life." "Sophoeun, eat." "Sokha, where's our land?" "On the rice field, I can't see the light any more." "The sun's going down, Mama." "Night's coming." "The sun has taken our rice field into its grave." "Now, how will we live?" "Only the dead can see our rice field in the night." "I'll never let them take you away again." "You're going to stay with us." "Eat some rice, Mama." "It's the new rice." "I worked and worked." "I plowed with all my strength." "I sowed," "I replanted," "I harvested." "But it's all the same," "I don't see anything." "Where's my rice?" "Mama!" "Wake up!" "Come with me, Mama." "Come." "For my family..." ""We dare not see through pain and distance...""