"This movie has been made to celebrate the virtue of Lord Buddha's teachings." "It is also dedicated to M.R. Kukrit Pramoj," "Akira Kurosawa, and Rynosuke Akutagawa." "Pa Muang City, A.D. 1567." "A succession of catastrophes befell the city, starting with a tremendous earthquake, followed by a great fire and an epidemic." "They wiped out more than half of the population." "Shortly afiem/ards, there occurred a bizarre murder." "Singh Kham, the vicious forest bandit, was arrested." "Forthwith the court handed down a death sentence to exorcize the misfortunes that had struck the city." "PUBLIC EXECUTION OF SINGH KHAM THE BANDIT" "LAN LUANG, PA MUANG, A.D. 1567" "AT THE GATE OF THE GHOST" "PHRA TAT NAKORN PA MUANG TEMPLE" "Arnont, are you serious about leaving the monkhood?" "I am, sir." "I've thought it through." "You're the most devout follower of the Buddhist precepts I've ever met." "You might want to give it a second thought." "If you set out on a pilgrimage and spend time in solitude you might find the answer to the riddle of life that has clouded your soul." "I will pay a visit to my father in Chiang Kam, then I..." "Good bye." "Be your own instructor and judge your own behaviors" "when one commits a sin one is in onek own misery." "Self-conquest is the best although it is very diﬂicult." "One needs to help oneself although it is very diﬂicult." "Dharma is the answer." "Those who have knowledge are enlightened." "Your own enlightenment is the essence of dharma and knowledge." "TAT LUANG TEMPLE, CHIANG KAM, AD. 1557" "Mother, can I be a monk forever?" "No, you can't." "When you grow up, you'll have to help your father." "You'll have to find yourself a wife." "You'll have to make a living and build a family." "That's the path of life, my son." "The truth of existence everything is impermanent." "One should strive to act in a way that is true to the way things are, that accords with the underlying truth of things." "GLAZIER'S RESIDENCE, CHIANG KAM, A.D. 1562" "I'm so blessed to have two wonderful sons." "Anant is a skilled merchant, and you're a splendid craftsman." "Our family will make enough money to last a few generations." "Anant, come look at your brother's work." "Magnificent." "Your skill is second to none." "Well done, brother." "Anant," "Kham Eung is here to discuss the wedding." "Excuse me, Father." "Your brother is getting married, and so are you." "But, Father, I've never loved a woman." "I've already approached Kam Duen, daughter of the wealthy goldsmith." " But, Father..." " Listen, son." "The path I've prepared for you is the best." "Yes, Father." "Sexual desire never lasts, creates suﬂbring that is toxic" "causing more suﬂbring." "It's a girl!" "Mother has passed away." "Father," "I want to be ordained to repay Mother's kindness." "TAT LUANG TEMPLE, CHIANG KAM, A.D. 1566" "Father is very old now." "He doesn't have many years ahead of him." "He'll be happy if you'd leave the monkhood and come back home." "Brother, we cannot see our souls by looking into a mirror." "I've devoted my life and soul to the virtue of Lord Buddha since the day I clothed myself in saffron." "Now it's time for me to make a pilgrimage to Pa Muang City to study Lord Buddha's teachings." "Farewell, brother." "The truth of existence everything is impermanent." "One should strive to act in a way that is true to the way things are, that accords with the underlying truth of things." "mnsm" "I've been looking for you everywhere." "Is it true that you've left the temple?" "A storm is coming, sir." "Let's find shelter in Pa Muang Tunnel." "Please get inside, sir." "It's warmer." "Sir." "Do you really intend to disrobe?" "I have to get this off of my chest, sir." "The testimony that you and I heard in court is total nonsense." "But if you're leaving the temple just because of that, it doesn't make sense either." "And what is it that makes sense?" "I'm just an uneducated woodcutter." "All I can do is cut wood." "An earthquake." "What did you say?" "Fire." "Famine." "Epidemic." "Those things are not unnatural." "You can't blame the rain and the lightning." "But those things make sense." "No matter how strong an earthquake is..." "I can understand it." "But what I can't understand is the cruelty that we force upon ourselves and other human beings." "Sir, please stay here." "You won't find any other shelter from the rain." "Please stay here until the storm's passed." "This Pa Muang Tunnel... used to be mighty and strong." "Now it's crumbling, like the human soul." "Sir," "I've heard people say that you've preached dharma to a lot of people." "You heard what I heard yesterday in court." "It should be clear to you by now whether those people ever learned any dharma." "That's right." "I really don't get it." "But there must be an explanation." "I'm just too stupid to see it." "Then I'm stupid too." "I can't find an explanation either." "That's not true." "You're a monk." "You're intelligent." "Is that so?" "Then... why do the faces of those people still haunt me?" "Why do those words they uttered still echo in my ears?" "Why do I keep searching for an answer?" "The only answer I've found... is that I'm so dimwitted... that I don't deserve to preach to others anymore." "Where are you going next?" "I don't know." "I don't." "Let's move to the other side." "It doesn't look good here." "What's this ruckus?" "I'm trying to sleep!" "Shut your mouth!" "Shut my mouth?" "What about yours?" "What about the baldy's mouth?" "Blasphemy!" "You're talking to a monk!" "A monk?" "I don't believe it." "Monks usually make me sleep." "This one wakes me up." "Who is this man?" "He's a thief and a liar." "It's best to stay away from him." "That's old news." "If I hadn't been a thief or a liar, I wouldn't have lived this long." "Please forgive me, sir." "I've been living in this horrendous tunnel for so long that I forgot my manners." "My only companions are these corpses." "Their families dumped them here." "Me and the vultures took care of them." "I've become an accidental undertaker in this hellhole." "Did I hear correctly that you're going to disrobe?" "I have a spare tuft of hair from one of the corpses." "It's nice and flowing, isn't it?" "You can have it so you can fool people that you've a nice head of hair." "Do you want it?" "If you get to know these corpses, you'll find them very likeable." "Theyjust lie here." "They don't gossip." "They don't steal, they don't harass others and they don't get into a fight." "The only drawback is that they stink so bad." "Though maybe not as bad as some living people." "He's as rotten as the three witnesses in court yesterday." "As rotten as me?" "That's an achievement!" "So tell me, what happened yesterday?" "Spit it out!" "A man was murdered." "Men are murdered every day." "It's not that simple." "It's how it happened, and how the testimony went in court." "You heard it too." "So the monk stood in court too?" "He was a witness." "So was I." "You?" "Why?" "I found the body." " Really?" " Yes." "Where?" "In the grove, east of the city wall." "It was late afternoon, and it was so damn hot." "I was sweating like a pig in that forest." "So I waited until evening to go collecting some wood." "I saw a shawl like those used by aristocratic ladies." "I was puzzled how a shawl had got stuck in a branch." "There shouldn't be any woman in that forest." "Then I saw a silver hairpin on the ground." "Then I saw the dead man-- eyes bulging, mouth agape." "It was horrifying." "I started running through the thicket until my legs were all scratched and bloodied." "I found the guards and I told them what I saw." "So yesterday they asked me and the monk to testify as witnesses." "And what have you got to do with this?" "He saw them both." "Both?" "So there's also a woman?" "Yes." "The woman was the wife of the murdered man." "I walked past them yesterday morning near Dong Yen Valley." "The man was dressed regally like a noble warlord." "He had a sword with a silver handle, and a bow slung across his back." "The woman was on a palanquin veiled by a curtain so I couldn't make out her face." "What happened was terrifying." "It shouldn't have happened to them." "How was he killed?" "He was stabbed right through." "But they couldn't find the murder weapon." "Didn't you see it?" "Are you crazy?" "I only saw the dead man's arms and face and I ran for my life." "Funny." "When we see a ghost, we run like hell, even though the ghost can't even touch us." "My suggestion is, stop running away from the dead." "Only run away from the living." "And do you know who killed him?" "They arrested a man." "They always arrest someone." "The point is, is it the real one?" "They got Singh Kham, the forest bandit." "Singh Kham!" "Well, then they got the right one!" "I'm not so sure." "They got Singh Kham, and you say you're not so sure?" "He's the most vicious bandit in this region." "If he had been caught within 10 miles of the crime scene, no court would hesitate to convict him." "It's not that simple." "Itk not that simple?" "Did you hear what you just said?" "If they had arrested me, would it be simpler?" "If I steal just one dollar, ifl rob a peasant of his scrawny chicken or if I take a tuft of hair from a dead body-- if I did that, people wouldn't hesitate to call me a thief." "Or human scum!" "But if someone kills a man, rapes a woman and robs them blind, or if someone embezzles a million dollars, he'll become a hero." "He'll become famous and people will bow to him." "Every time you can't find an answer, you just say, "ltb not that simple. "" "You weren't at court." "You didn't hear what I heard there." "Frankly, I wouldn't believe anything that bandit has to say." "What the undertaker said is exactly the same as what the inspector testified in court." "Inspector?" "What inspector?" "The inspector who arrested Singh Kham." "The defendant in this case is Singh Kham the bandit." "Murderer and rapist, who has terrorized the townsfolk along the main roads and forests." "I'd like to testify that I found the defendant on the ground moaning in pain on the riverbank in Hom Kai village." "There was a white horse grazing nearby." "The defendant was alone and in great pain because he just fell oﬂ' the horse." "Who said I fell off the horse?" "No horse would dare do that to me!" "Don't you know who I am?" "I was ill." "I had a stomachache." "Do you think a shrimp like you could've caught me othenuise?" "Go away, or I'll crush you to death!" "Lord Governor, please use your judgment." "Don't listen to him." "All he wants is to brag that he could catch me." "If you want to hear the whole story, I'll tell you." " But Lord Governor..." " I want to hear the story." "As you wish, my lord." "Singh Kham fell off a horse?" "That's hilarious!" "Well, that horse was a smooth ride." "I'd been riding it all day." "But the weather was scorching and I became thirsty." "There was a stream near Pa Kham Hill." "Usually the water there is clear and potable." "But that day, something poisonous must have fallen into it." "Singh Kham fell off a horse?" "What nerve!" "Did you kill that man?" "Did I kill him?" "No matter what I say, you'll have my head chopped off anyway." "You've already sentenced me to death for the crime that I have actually committed, and for the crime that you'd like to think that I committed but I didn't, and also the crime that you're afraid I would commit." "Stop!" "Fine." "I'll stop." "But I'm telling you the truth." "I'm going to die anyway, why would I lie to you?" "All right." "I admit that I killed that man." "Why?" "Because of the wind." "Yes, because of that gust of wind." "I/Ifithout it, that man might have still been alive." "At that second, I had to make sure that it was really a woman, not an illusion." "I decided that I had to make her my wife, even if I had to kill her husband." "That's a fine sword you've got." "Is that a silver handle?" "Are you going to Chiang Kam?" "We're just passing through." "Do you fancy antique swords?" "Old and beautiful swords, with silver handles just like yours?" "Gold handles too." "I found them in an old graveyard over there." "They were useless to me." "If you like them, I can sell them cheaply." "You said gold handles?" "Studded with diamonds, too." "And emeralds and rubies." "No." "Fine." "I'll sell them somewhere else." "Where are they?" "Over there, in the cave by the waterfall." "Just a short walk across the hill." "One moment." "Wait here." "I'll come back." "The swords are in there." "You go first." "Wait here." "Why?" "I have to pee." "Well, your husband..." "What did you do to him?" "He was bitten by a snake." "I could've done anything to her." "But I was struck by her face- the panic-stricken eyes, the trembling lips." "It made me feel jealous." "I was jealous that she loved her husband." "I was jealous that he was loved and cared for by this woman." "I wanted her to see him tied up, reduced to a pathetic slob who couldn't help himselﬂ just like a chained-up dog." "Stop crying!" "I'm not doing anything!" "Nobody is going to die!" "Stop it!" "Your husband is there." "Untie him and get lost!" "No, wait." "What now?" "How can I continue living?" "I've lost my honor in front of two men." "At least..." "I should allow my husband to redeem my honor." "And his own, too." "Why should I allow that?" "I beg you." "This is no place to whine about honor!" "Please give him a chance." "If he can't fight you..." "I..." "I'll go with you." "Even a forest bandit must have a heart and know something about justice." "Jusfice?" "Your husband is a warlord." "He must have been trained in swordfighting for years." "Do you think I'd let you walk me into your trap?" "Or maybe I'm wrong." "Maybe you want me to kill him." "Maybe that's your secret wish." "The world is full of women." "Why should I risk my life for you?" "The husband put up a good fight, but his skill was too refined." "Those who've been trained in swordfighting can only fight with people from the same class." "He could never beat the raw energy of a forest bandit." "Anyway, he was the first man to have crossed swords with me over 15 times." "And what happened to the woman?" "That woman?" "I have no idea where she had gone." "She must've been shocked and run away." "I thought she liked me at first, but then she just disappeared." "Well, all women are the same." "He said he didn't know where the woman had gone." "Why am I not surprised to hear that?" "Two days ago a female body was found in a stream." "What do you mean?" "A ruthless bandit like Singh Kham wouldn't have any trouble killing a helpless woman." "No." "Singh Kham didn't kill that woman." "She came to testify." "That woman?" "She testified?" "Someone found her not far from the crime scene." "She was hiding in an abandoned temple." "Well, there was no need for her to hide." "Singh Kham had already confessed to the crime." "That was more than enough to send him to the execution ground." "But the warlord's wife didn't accuse Singh Kham at all." "What she testified was a completely different story." "A different story?" "Why?" "The bandit said he was the killer." "I know." "It was bizarre." "But I studied that woman carefully and she didn't come across as the bandit had described her." "She didn't look like a flighty woman, or someone with loose morals." "I looked at her while she was in court." "To me, she was a fragile and innocent lady." "Her eyes were like that of an injured bird that couldn't fly away." "This is Lady Kham Kaew, my daughter." "She's suffering from a heartbreaking tragedy." "The Lord Governor may be wondering how a woman like me can have a fine daughter like this." "I've nurtured her since she was a child, guarding her like I would guard a beautiful flower." "Get to the point." "What's this woman's relationship with the dead man?" "He was my daughter's husband." "His name was Lord Larh-Fah, the warlord of Chiang Lah." "He came from a wealthy aristocratic clan." "Afine man like him shouldn't have met such a dreadful end." "When did they get married?" "Four years ago, my lord." "It was a grand ceremony." "Just look at my daughter." "You can tell that she has had many suitors, all from noble and wealthy families." "But I allowed Lord Larh-Fah to take her hand because I believed he was truly a good man." "Mother, you should be ashamed of yourself." "He is dead, and you're still flattering him." "Sir, my husband was a nobleman from Chiang Lah." "My mother... was a servant in his house." "I added a little flourish just to cheer myself up." "This is no time to cheer anyone up." "Not even a little." "My mother... was a loyal servant, trusted by the master's family." "That alone was something to be proud of." "When I was young, I always helped her out around the household." "Sometimes I carried water from the well." "Ipicked wildﬂowers, put them in a fragrant bowl, and brought it to my master at the training ground." "Even in those days, his charm captivated me." "When I grew up, I fell in love with him." "But I never thought that he'd be so kind as to make me his wife, because he never cast his eyes on me." "Until that day when I put a ﬂower in my hair and carried the bowl of fragrant water to him, like I always did." "That was the first time he looked at me." "I tried hard to become a lady and the wife of an esteemed warlord of Chiang Lah." "He picked the clothes for me to wear." "He taught me how to sit, how to walk and eat." "Even how to talk." "He taught me everything." "At night as I was lying next to him," "I was afraid to go to sleep." "I was terrified that!" "would wake up from a dream." "I thought it was all just a dream." "I thought it was all just a dream." "Calm yourself, Lady Kham Kaew, so you can continue." "Yes, my lord." "I'll continue." "After the bandit took advantage of me, he strutted around pompously." "He bragged about his past misdeeds, even comparing me to other women he'd ravaged." "He used obscene words that pricked my ears." "Even now," "I can still hear his vulgar laughter." "His horrible ranting still echoes in my head!" "Listen!" "Don't you know who I am?" "I'm Singh Kham the bandit." "Get that into your skull!" "I'm Singh Kham!" "From which hole are you from that you've never heard of me?" "Never mind." "Now you know me, you can brag about this until the day you die that you were once Singh Kham's wife!" "Singh Kham, son of a peasant who becomes King of the Forest!" "Don't act up!" "What happened to you today is probably the only thing worth remembering in your entire life." "You like swords, don't you?" "Gold-handled, diamond-studded, and emeralds, too!" "You drooled when I told you about them." "Remember, a man like Singh Kham never breaks his promises." " Here's the sword I promised you!" " No!" "WW did you stop me?" "I thought I was doing you a favor." "You're an animal!" "Yes, I am." "Too bad... you're not one too!" "He's gone." "He's gone." "He's gone!" "But we're still alive!" "I'll forget it." "I'll forget everything." "I promise... we'll be together, until eternity." "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Your eyes!" "Why are you looking at me like that?" "!" "Here." "Kill me." "If that's how you feel, just kill me!" "Kill me now!" "But please, don't look at me like that." "You won't do it." "But you're tormenting me!" "You're the only man in my life." "I've never wanted any other." "What happened was beyond my control." "I didn't cause it to happen." "What do you want me to do?" "To go away?" "How could I live without you?" "Answer me!" "Have I become so unworthy that you can't even talk to me?" "Tell me!" "I'm no longer the daughter of your servant!" "I'm your wife!" "I'm the one who shares your bed." "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "I must have fainted." "When I came to," "I saw... my husband lying dead." "He was stabbed right through." "At that moment," "I knew that I had killed my own husband." "I ran away." "I ran without knowing where I was going." "I tried to drown myselﬂ" "But even the river wouldn't take me." "Am I that worthless?" "Am I that worthless?" ""Am I that worthless?"" "But who could forget the look on that woman's face?" "The trembling lips, the tears streaming down." "Tears are women's strongest weapon." "They always use it against men." "And stupid men like us always fall for it." "But why?" "Why would she confess to a crime that she didn't commit?" "Who knows why women do what they do?" "A woman's heart is a labyrinth, sir." "She wanted your sympathy, and you fell hopelessly into the trap." "She admitted to killing her husband, and now you can't forget her face?" "That's it." "That pale face soaked with tears." "That innocent face." "Innocence, it always does the trick." "Who would have the heart to send a woman to the gallows?" "Don't take him seriously." "He's just provoking you." "It's all right." "What he says is true." "We can't believe the woman's story, because we heard what the shaman said." "Shaman?" "What shaman?" "They brought a shaman to court." "Genius!" "Now even a ghost can talk!" "So what did the shaman say?" "Was the ghost's story as reliable as those of the living?" "I don't believe that the woman was feigning her suffering, or that the bandit was so defiant against death." "Why would he lie when he knew he would be put to death anyway?" "A man who's marked for death has no reason to lie." "And a man who's already dead can't lie either." "Isn't that right?" "So what did the dead man say?" "I'm in the dark." "The darkest void." "Neither the beginning, nor the end." "I curse the people who've thrown me into this darkest pit!" "I will speak." "Iwill speak... so the truth will be heard!" "After the bandit had taken my wife, he sat there talking to her like he had known her for a long time." "Like someone who knew the way of a woman's heart." "He talked, and he touched my wife." "Poor warlord." "Maybe his warrior's blood has become thinner than water." "Can his soft hands entertain your warm flesh?" "Can his thin lips bring yours the deepest pleasure?" "That man was made... only for a woman who's as cold as ice." "But you're not like that." "You've been ignored, like a forgotten fruit." "But now, I've tasted you." "My wife!" "My beloved and loyal wife!" "Never before had she looked at me like that!" "Take me with you." "Take me." "I'll follow you everywhere." "Stop." "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "While he's still alive," "I'll remain his wife." "I'll never be yours." "Kill him." "Kill him now!" "Warlord, what do you want me to do with this woman?" "Should I cut out her heart and feed it to the crows, or should I let her live?" "Whatever you want, I'll do it." "Just tell me." "Help!" "Damn it!" "Help me!" "I'll let her go." "Her scream might bring people here." "But I have to save myself first." "Our misfortune is over... now that the floozy has fled." "It was quiet in that forest." "A chilled silence." "But then..." "I heard something." "I heard someone sobbing." "Who is that sobbing his heart out over there?" "There was a clot of blood in my throat," "but I didn't feel any pain." "My fingertips were ice cold." "A fine mist slowly enveloped me." "It was so quiet." "Birds stopped chirping." "Leaves stopped rustling." "I saw a glimmer of light on top of the hill." "I laid there in that absolute silence." "The light on top of the hill slowly faded." "Then someone crept toward me." "Who's that?" "Who's that?" "Who's that?" "I tried to make out his face, but my eyes only saw darkness." "Then someone pulled the sword out of my chest." "The clot of blood gushed out from my throat and covered my mouth, my nose." "I couldn't breathe." "Then I began to sink, deeper and deeper, into that limitless void." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No, that's not true!" "That was a lie!" "He didn't kill himself!" "I didn't..." "What happened?" "Why are you sweating?" "You're acting suspiciously." "Are you hiding something?" " Nothing!" " Can a ghost lie?" "I don't know." "Maybe it can." "It's you who lied." "N0 I didn't." "I swear!" "You swear so easily." "You swore yesterday in court, and now again." "You didn't find a dead man, you found him when he was still alive." "You saw the woman and the bandit too." "That's right!" "That's right!" "He saw everything!" "Why didn't you tell the truth to the court?" "I'm a poor man." "Does honesty only belong to the rich?" "I didn't want to get involved." "You didn't want to, but you're already involved." "If you don't care about honesty and justice, at least you should care about your own feelings." "The three witnesses had their own agendas, but one of them must have spoken the truth." "No." "None of them." "They're all liars." "I'm cracking up here!" "I've never heard anything so funny in my life!" "And all this time, you've been pretending that you had nothing to do with this!" "If you speak the truth, there's nothing to fear." "Now spit it out!" "The monk has told you to!" "All right, I'll tell you." "I walked into the forest..." " I saw a shawl..." " Stop it!" "Stop that nonsense, I already heard that part." "You saw a shawl and a hairpin." "Now tell me the rest." "I heard a voice." "I sneaked a look from behind a tree." "The warlord was still alive." "He was tied to a tree." " And his wife?" " She was doing her hair." "Great!" "Doing her hair in the forest?" "Women nowadays do nothing else but their hair!" "And the bandit?" "He was kneeling." "This is getting better!" "Singh Kham the bandit knelt before a woman who was doing her hair!" "Can you please hear me out?" "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry?" "Don't you understand?" "All my life..." "I've kept a woman like you in here!" "When I was a boy..." "I saw her going by in a palanquin." "She dropped her fan." "I ran to pick it up for her." "She reached out her hand." "Her hand was white like ivory, her nails were painted pink, just like yours." "Why don't you look at me?" "I'm Singh Kham, the bandit feared by the whole region!" "Now I'm kneeling before you, begging you." "Please come with me." "Leave me alone." "I know, I know... you don't like me because I'm a thief." "L'll quit." "From now on I'll find honest work." "I swear!" "I'll work the land," "I'll farm, I'll do anything!" "I'll provide for you and make you happy." "Look at you." "You'll provide for me?" "Why can't I do that?" "I need you so badly." "Let me kiss you." "I'll show you how to... stop it!" "Let go of my skirt." "You'll soil it!" "Look, it's all dirty now!" "I'll get 10 more for you." "It's a new skirt." "I've only worn it twice." "Fine!" "I'll leave it up to you!" "If you don't want me, fine!" "Get out of my face now!" "I'll beat you." "I'll kill you if you don't do what I say!" "Really?" "You think you can?" "Well, maybe you can." "What you've asked..." "I mean, what you've ordered me to do, how can I do that?" "I'm married." "How can I run off with another man?" "I get it." "N0!" "Why not?" "It's the easiest way!" "A woman won by the easiest means is worthless." "But if a man risks his life fighting for a woman, he'll become the most precious man to her." "Fight?" "You want me to fight your husband?" "No!" "Don't untie him." "I don't want to fight a warlord!" "Now it's between the two of you." "Put your sword away." "Don't panic." "I won't kill you." "Kill me?" "A warrior like me can't waste my time fighting you." "A warrior's sword is a sacred and dignified weapon." "A bandit's blood would only taint its honor." "What about my honor?" "You don't even know what honor means!" "My honor was just trampled." "You saw how I resisted, how I fought, but he was too strong for me." "My hands were tied, but I wasn't blindfolded." "You saw I couldn't defend myself." "Of course not!" "A woman like you can never defend herself." "What are you getting at?" ""A woman like me"?" "You cut the rope with that dagger." "You should have slit your throat with it instead." "That's what a real lady would have done." "Is that so?" "I would never allow myself to do something so stupid." "No matter how well I treat a woman like you, you'll never rise above your level." "A kitchen girl will always remain a kitchen girl." "She's just a kitchen girl?" "Since I've been your wife, I've always been faithful." " Is this my reward?" " Faithful?" "Do you take me for an idiot?" "That night when I was bed bound with fever, where did you disappear to?" "Weren't you with a man in the stable?" "Did you think that I knew nothing?" "What are you talking about?" "That's nonsense!" "Stop pretending you're a lady!" "I'm your husband." "I know where you came from, and what you are." "I've been hiding my feelings for a long time." "I don't want to be humiliated anymore." "Humiliated?" "Humiliated?" "Since we've been together, all you care about is your honor." "I should've thought about that before I wedded you." "Sure, my noble knight." "Shut up, both of you!" "How did we end up in this mess?" "It's because of the wind." "That wind caused all of this!" "Let's just forget it!" "I'm out of here!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Don't go!" "How can you forget everything so quickly?" "I already have." "You can't leave us like this!" "Do you hear me?" "Don't follow me!" "I don't like being followed!" "Let him go, you shameless trash!" "Stop being such a crybaby." "All women are crybabies." "Those tears mean nothing to me." "Maybe she thinks she can deceive you with them." "Me?" "Not anymore." "She has a beautiful face." "I was tricked into believing that I could raise her to become a lady." "You can just toss her back into the kitchen." "Toss me back into the kitchen?" "A kitchen woman's daughter?" "Yes, that's me." "I'm a kitchen woman's daughter." "I spent enough time in the kitchen to know whether something is rotten and must be dumped in the trash." "Shut up!" "Excuse me, my lord." "You keep blabbering about honor, about your sacred sword." "It's well known that a real warlord can kill a man at the slightest provocation." "But look, what has this outlaw done to you?" "He tied you to a tree and raped your wife in front of you." "And you still have the nerve to swagger around and order me to slit my throat!" "I thought I would give you one last chance to prove yourself to be a real man." "I should've known better." "I've been sharing your bed long enough to know how you'd tremble with fear the night before a battle." "In the morning, you'd be seized by terror and throw up." "I'd have to console you before you could summon enough strength to put on your armor." "You call yourself a warrior?" "Is this the "honor" you keep talking about?" "We both know you're not a fighter." "You're a coward!" "A pathetic coward!" "A pathetic coward!" "Shut up!" "That's enough!" "Enough?" "Who says it's enough?" "Singh Kham says." "Of course!" "Singh Kham, the "ruthless bandit,"" "feared and loathed by the entire kingdom." "A moment ago, I fooled myself into believing that what I'd heard was true." "I thought that Singh Kham, who had just taken me as his wife, would fight for me, and rescue me from the awful life" "I've been forced to share with this coward." "But no!" "Singh Kham was ready to kill my husband when he was tied up, but when I cut him loose, the "great bandit" chickened out and was ready to run for his life." "You're no better than he is." "Neither of you are real men." "All you do is talk and brag." "But in truth, you're nothing." "Did you say I threw up before going off to battle?" "Why don't you charge?" "You charge first." "Help me!" "I had to hold my breath while I was hiding there." "I was so terrified that the bandit would hear me." "I was horror-struck, Iprayed to every god I knew." "I didn't do it." "He fell on his own sword!" "But when it passed, I ran like the wind." "Straight to the guards?" "Yes." "And while you were running, you forgot half of the story, right?" "N0, I didn't." "I don't know." "Actually, I should've told the truth in court." "But when they took the story in totally different directions," "I started to doubt my own memory." "I still don't see why those people had to lie to the court." "Did they?" "They did." "I saw everything with my own eyes." "And can your eyes see more clearly than theirs?" "Men only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear." "Anyway, I prefer your version of the story to the others." "It has a greater ring of truth than the others." "We humans like to think of ourselves as big and important." "We think we're heroes, or national darlings." "Anything, as long as it's big and important." "But real humans aren't big or important." "We're small, weak, selfish, gutless." "We're insincere and undignified." "I have nothing." "I am nothing." "I stopped fooling myself a long time ago." "What's that sound?" "It's a baby!" "Yes, they always dump them here." "A new one every day." "What are you doing?" "This blanket will bring a good price in the market." "Scum." "You're stealing from a newborn!" "Ifl don't take it, someone else will." "You're not human." "You're a bloodsucking monster!" "If I'm a monster, then what are the baby's parents?" "You're so corrupt." "The baby is shivering." "He'll freeze to death." "Give me the blanket!" " Leave me alone." " Give it to me!" "Leave me alone!" "If you don't give it to me, I'll go to the guards!" "Fine!" "Do that!" "Bring the guards here!" "I bet they'll want to know what you did too." "So far I've been very kind to you." "Kind to me?" "Yes, you know what I mean." "You're such an honest and truthful man, right?" "You've never lied, right?" "Well, you are a liar, just like all of them." "You're also a thief, just like everybody else." "You may have fooled the Lord Governor, but you can never fool me." "What are you talking about?" "I don't understand you." "He understands me very well, sir." "Ask him-- where is the warlord's sword?" "Remember what the shaman said?" "She said someone crept toward the dead man and pulled the sword from his chest, while his body was still warm!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "How much did you sell it for?" "Must have been a lot, huh?" "And you called me a "bloodsucking monster"?" "Don't look at the monk!" "I saw you were very cautious while talking to the monk so I thought I wouldn't tell on you." "Thieves should stick together." "At first I thought we were on the same team, until you called me a monster." "You reap what you sow, don't you?" "Don't lose sleep over this, my friend." "Sometimes we're good and sometimes we're bad." "Life is just like that." "There's no point arguing who's right and who's wrong." "Life is too short to be wasted over this nonsense." "The storm has passed, sir." "It's time for me to say goodbye." "Thank you, my friend." "I enjoyed your story today." "And I got this blanket as a bonus too." "Sir, give it to me." "If I do, the baby won't live." "I know what I am, sir." "I don't blame you." "Why should you trust me?" "But I..." "I have six children of my own." "Sometimes they're cold, sometimes they're hungry, and sometimes they're scared." "They cry a lot too." "That sword... has helped get them through another day." "Please let me keep the baby." "Traveling alone is tough enough already." "Don't burden yourself with a baby." "I'll take him home." "It's so small, it shouldn't eat too much." "I'll be able to feed him." "Keep him then." "Take him home." "Can you forgive me?" "I have nothing to forgive you for." "It's you who should forgive me." "I was so confident in preaching dharma to others, but today, you and the undertaker actually taught me many lessons on dharma." "What did you just say?" "I couldn't follow you." "I'm just a stupid woodcutter." "I understand nothing." "We are all stupid." "We are all confused." "The rain has stopped." "The earth will soon dry." "Pa Muang Tunnel isn't so frightening anymore." "It's old and crumbling." "But today, we found a new life here." "It's late now." "You should go home." "Someone must be waiting for you." "You're right." "Thank you" "Until that day when I put a ?" "ower in my hair and carried the bowl of fragrant water to him, like I always did." "That was the first time he looked at me." "I tried hard to become a lady and the wife of an esteemed warlord of Chiang Lah." "He picked the clothes for me to wear." "He taught me how to sit, how to walk and eat." "Even how to talk." "He taught me everything." "At night as I was lying next to him," "I was afraid to go to sleep." "I was terrified that!" "would wake up from a dream." "I thought it was all just a dream." "I thought it was all just a dream." "Calm yourself, Lady Kham Kaew, so you can continue." "Yes, my lord." "I'll continue." "After the bandit took advantage of me, he strutted around pompously." "He bragged about his past misdeeds, even comparing me to other women he'd ravaged." "He used obscene words that pricked my ears." "Even now," "I can still hear his vulgar laughter." "His horrible ranting still echoes in my head!" "Listen!" "Don't you know who I am?" "I'm Singh Kham the bandit." "Get that into your skull!" "I'm Singh Kham!" "From which hole are you from that you've never heard of me?" "Never mind." "Now you know me, you can brag about this until the day you die that you were once Singh Kham's wife!" "Singh Kham, son of a peasant who becomes King of the Forest!" "Don't act up!" "What happened to you today is probably the only thing worth remembering in your entire life." "You like swords, don't you?" "Gold-handled, diamond-studded, and emeralds, too!" "You drooled when I told you about them." "Remember, a man like Singh Kham never breaks his promises." " Here's the sword I promised you!" " No!" "WW did you stop me?" "I thought I was doing you a favor." "You're an animal!" "Yes, I am." "Too bad... you're not one too!" "He's gone." "He's gone." "He's gone!" "But we're still alive!" "I'll forget it." "I'll forget everything." "I promise... we'll be together, until eternity." "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Your eyes!" "Why are you looking at me like that?" "!" "Here." "Kill me." "If that's how you feel, just kill me!" "Kill me now!" "But please, don't look at me like that." "You won't do it." "But you're tormenting me!" "You're the only man in my life." "I've never wanted any other." "What happened was beyond my control." "I didn't cause it to happen." "What do you want me to do?" "To go away?" "How could I live without you?" "Answer me!" "Have I become so unworthy that you can't even talk to me?" "Tell me!" "I'm no longer the daughter of your servant!" "I'm your wife!" "I'm the one who shares your bed." "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "Answer me!" "I must have fainted." "When I came to," "I saw... my husband lying dead." "He was stabbed right through." "At that moment," "I knew that I had killed my own husband." "I ran away." "I ran without knowing where I was going." "I tried to drown mysel?" "But even the river wouldn't take me." "Am I that worthless?" "Am I that worthless?" ""Am I that worthless?"" "But who could forget the look on that woman's face?" "The trembling lips, the tears streaming down." "Tears are women's strongest weapon." "They always use it against men." "And stupid men like us always fall for it." "But why?" "Why would she confess to a crime that she didn't commit?" "Who knows why women do what they do?" "A woman's heart is a labyrinth, sir." "She wanted your sympathy, and you fell hopelessly into the trap." "She admitted to killing her husband, and now you can't forget her face?" "That's it." "That pale face soaked with tears." "That innocent face." "Innocence, it always does the trick." "Who would have the heart to send a woman to the gallows?" "Don't take him seriously." "He's just provoking you." "It's all right." "What he says is true." "We can't believe the woman's story, because we heard what the shaman said." "Shaman?" "What shaman?" "They brought a shaman to court." "Genius!" "Now even a ghost can talk!" "So what did the shaman say?" "Was the ghost's story as reliable as those of the living?" "I don't believe that the woman was feigning her suffering, or that the bandit was so defiant against death." "Why would he lie when he knew he would be put to death anyway?" "A man who's marked for death has no reason to lie." "And a man who's already dead can't lie either." "Isn't that right?" "So what did the dead man say?" "I'm in the dark." "The darkest void." "Neither the beginning, nor the end." "I curse the people who've thrown me into this darkest pit!" "I will speak." "Iwill speak... so the truth will be heard!" "After the bandit had taken my wife, he sat there talking to her like he had known her for a long time." "Like someone who knew the way of a woman's heart." "He talked, and he touched my wife." "Poor warlord." "Maybe his warrior's blood has become thinner than water." "Can his soft hands entertain your warm flesh?" "Can his thin lips bring yours the deepest pleasure?" "That man was made... only for a woman who's as cold as ice." "But you're not like that." "You've been ignored, like a forgotten fruit." "But now, I've tasted you." "My wife!" "My beloved and loyal wife!" "Never before had she looked at me like that!" "Take me with you." "Take me." "I'll follow you everywhere." "Stop." "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "While he's still alive," "I'll remain his wife." "I'll never be yours." "Kill him." "Kill him now!" "Warlord, what do you want me to do with this woman?" "Should I cut out her heart and feed it to the crows, or should I let her live?" "Whatever you want, I'll do it." "Just tell me." "Help!" "Damn it!" "Help me!" "I'll let her go." "Her scream might bring people here." "But I have to save myself first." "Our misfortune is over... now that the floozy has fled." "It was quiet in that forest." "A chilled silence." "But then..." "I heard something." "I heard someone sobbing." "Who is that sobbing his heart out over there?" "There was a clot of blood in my throat," "but I didn't feel any pain." "My fingertips were ice cold." "A fine mist slowly enveloped me." "It was so quiet." "Birds stopped chirping." "Leaves stopped rustling." "I saw a glimmer of light on top of the hill." "I laid there in that absolute silence." "The light on top of the hill slowly faded." "Then someone crept toward me." "Who's that?" "Who's that?" "Who's that?" "I tried to make out his face, but my eyes only saw darkness." "Then someone pulled the sword out of my chest." "The clot of blood gushed out from my throat and covered my mouth, my nose." "I couldn't breathe." "Then I began to sink, deeper and deeper, into that limitless void." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No, that's not true!" "That was a lie!" "He didn't kill himself!" "I didn't..." "What happened?" "Why are you sweating?" "You're acting suspiciously." "Are you hiding something?" " Nothing!" " Can a ghost lie?" "I don't know." "Maybe it can." "It's you who lied." "N0 I didn't." "I swear!" "You swear so easily." "You swore yesterday in court, and now again." "You didn't find a dead man, you found him when he was still alive." "You saw the woman and the bandit too." "That's right!" "That's right!" "He saw everything!" "Why didn't you tell the truth to the court?" "I'm a poor man." "Does honesty only belong to the rich?" "I didn't want to get involved." "You didn't want to, but you're already involved." "If you don't care about honesty and justice, at least you should care about your own feelings." "The three witnesses had their own agendas, but one of them must have spoken the truth." "No." "None of them." "They're all liars." "I'm cracking up here!" "I've never heard anything so funny in my life!" "And all this time, you've been pretending that you had nothing to do with this!" "If you speak the truth, there's nothing to fear." "Now spit it out!" "The monk has told you to!" "All right, I'll tell you." "I walked into the forest..." " I saw a shawl..." " Stop it!" "Stop that nonsense, I already heard that part." "You saw a shawl and a hairpin." "Now tell me the rest." "I heard a voice." "I sneaked a look from behind a tree." "The warlord was still alive." "He was tied to a tree." " And his wife?" " She was doing her hair." "Great!" "Doing her hair in the forest?" "Women nowadays do nothing else but their hair!" "And the bandit?" "He was kneeling." "This is getting better!" "Singh Kham the bandit knelt before a woman who was doing her hair!" "Can you please hear me out?" "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry?" "Don't you understand?" "All my life..." "I've kept a woman like you in here!" "When I was a boy..." "I saw her going by in a palanquin." "She dropped her fan." "I ran to pick it up for her." "She reached out her hand." "Her hand was white like ivory, her nails were painted pink, just like yours." "Why don't you look at me?" "I'm Singh Kham, the bandit feared by the whole region!" "Now I'm kneeling before you, begging you." "Please come with me." "Leave me alone." "I know, I know... you don't like me because I'm a thief." "L'll quit." "From now on I'll find honest work." "I swear!" "I'll work the land," "I'll farm, I'll do anything!" "I'll provide for you and make you happy." "Look at you." "You'll provide for me?" "Why can't I do that?" "I need you so badly." "Let me kiss you." "I'll show you how to... stop it!" "Let go of my skirt." "You'll soil it!" "Look, it's all dirty now!" "I'll get 10 more for you." "It's a new skirt." "I've only worn it twice." "Fine!" "I'll leave it up to you!" "If you don't want me, fine!" "Get out of my face now!" "I'll beat you." "I'll kill you if you don't do what I say!" "Really?" "You think you can?" "Well, maybe you can." "What you've asked..." "I mean, what you've ordered me to do, how can I do that?" "I'm married." "How can I run off with another man?" "I get it." "N0!" "Why not?" "It's the easiest way!" "A woman won by the easiest means is worthless." "But if a man risks his life fighting for a woman, he'll become the most precious man to her." "Fight?" "You want me to fight your husband?" "No!" "Don't untie him." "I don't want to fight a warlord!" "Now it's between the two of you." "Put your sword away." "Don't panic." "I won't kill you." "Kill me?" "A warrior like me can't waste my time fighting you." "A warrior's sword is a sacred and dignified weapon." "A bandit's blood would only taint its honor." "What about my honor?" "You don't even know what honor means!" "My honor was just trampled." "You saw how I resisted, how I fought, but he was too strong for me." "My hands were tied, but I wasn't blindfolded." "You saw I couldn't defend myself." "Of course not!" "A woman like you can never defend herself." "What are you getting at?" ""A woman like me"?" "You cut the rope with that dagger." "You should have slit your throat with it instead." "That's what a real lady would have done." "Is that so?" "I would never allow myself to do something so stupid." "No matter how well I treat a woman like you, you'll never rise above your level." "A kitchen girl will always remain a kitchen girl." "She's just a kitchen girl?" "Since I've been your wife, I've always been faithful." " Is this my reward?" " Faithful?" "Do you take me for an idiot?" "That night when I was bed bound with fever, where did you disappear to?" "Weren't you with a man in the stable?" "Did you think that I knew nothing?" "What are you talking about?" "That's nonsense!" "Stop pretending you're a lady!" "I'm your husband." "I know where you came from, and what you are." "I've been hiding my feelings for a long time." "I don't want to be humiliated anymore." "Humiliated?" "Humiliated?" "Since we've been together, all you care about is your honor." "I should've thought about that before I wedded you." "Sure, my noble knight." "Shut up, both of you!" "How did we end up in this mess?" "It's because of the wind." "That wind caused all of this!" "Let's just forget it!" "I'm out of here!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Don't go!" "How can you forget everything so quickly?" "I already have." "You can't leave us like this!" "Do you hear me?" "Don't follow me!" "I don't like being followed!" "Let him go, you shameless trash!" "Stop being such a crybaby." "All women are crybabies." "Those tears mean nothing to me." "Maybe she thinks she can deceive you with them." "Me?" "Not anymore." "She has a beautiful face." "I was tricked into believing that I could raise her to become a lady." "You can just toss her back into the kitchen." "Toss me back into the kitchen?" "A kitchen woman's daughter?" "Yes, that's me." "I'm a kitchen woman's daughter." "I spent enough time in the kitchen to know whether something is rotten and must be dumped in the trash." "Shut up!" "Excuse me, my lord." "You keep blabbering about honor, about your sacred sword." "It's well known that a real warlord can kill a man at the slightest provocation." "But look, what has this outlaw done to you?" "He tied you to a tree and raped your wife in front of you." "And you still have the nerve to swagger around and order me to slit my throat!" "I thought I would give you one last chance to prove yourself to be a real man." "I should've known better." "I've been sharing your bed long enough to know how you'd tremble with fear the night before a battle." "In the morning, you'd be seized by terror and throw up." "I'd have to console you before you could summon enough strength to put on your armor." "You call yourself a warrior?" "Is this the "honor" you keep talking about?" "We both know you're not a fighter." "You're a coward!" "A pathetic coward!" "A pathetic coward!" "Shut up!" "That's enough!" "Enough?" "Who says it's enough?" "Singh Kham says." "Of course!" "Singh Kham, the "ruthless bandit,"" "feared and loathed by the entire kingdom." "A moment ago, I fooled myself into believing that what I'd heard was true." "I thought that Singh Kham, who had just taken me as his wife, would fight for me, and rescue me from the awful life" "I've been forced to share with this coward." "But no!" "Singh Kham was ready to kill my husband when he was tied up, but when I cut him loose, the "great bandit" chickened out and was ready to run for his life." "You're no better than he is." "Neither of you are real men." "All you do is talk and brag." "But in truth, you're nothing." "Did you say I threw up before going off to battle?" "Why don't you charge?" "You charge first." "Help me!" "I had to hold my breath while I was hiding there." "I was so terrified that the bandit would hear me." "I was horror-struck, Iprayed to every god I knew." "I didn't do it." "He fell on his own sword!" "But when it passed, I ran like the wind." "Straight to the guards?" "Yes." "And while you were running, you forgot half of the story, right?" "N0, I didn't." "I don't know." "Actually, I should've told the truth in court." "But when they took the story in totally different directions," "I started to doubt my own memory." "I still don't see why those people had to lie to the court." "Did they?" "They did." "I saw everything with my own eyes." "And can your eyes see more clearly than theirs?" "Men only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear." "Anyway, I prefer your version of the story to the others." "It has a greater ring of truth than the others." "We humans like to think of ourselves as big and important." "We think we're heroes, or national darlings." "Anything, as long as it's big and important." "But real humans aren't big or important." "We're small, weak, selfish, gutless." "We're insincere and undignified." "I have nothing." "I am nothing." "I stopped fooling myself a long time ago." "What's that sound?" "It's a baby!" "Yes, they always dump them here." "A new one every day." "What are you doing?" "This blanket will bring a good price in the market." "Scum." "You're stealing from a newborn!" "Ifl don't take it, someone else will." "You're not human." "You're a bloodsucking monster!" "If I'm a monster, then what are the baby's parents?" "You're so corrupt." "The baby is shivering." "He'll freeze to death." "Give me the blanket!" " Leave me alone." " Give it to me!" "Leave me alone!" "If you don't give it to me, I'll go to the guards!" "Fine!" "Do that!" "Bring the guards here!" "I bet they'll want to know what you did too." "So far I've been very kind to you." "Kind to me?" "Yes, you know what I mean." "You're such an honest and truthful man, right?" "You've never lied, right?" "Well, you are a liar, just like all of them." "You're also a thief, just like everybody else." "You may have fooled the Lord Governor, but you can never fool me." "What are you talking about?" "I don't understand you." "He understands me very well, sir." "Ask him-- where is the warlord's sword?" "Remember what the shaman said?" "She said someone crept toward the dead man and pulled the sword from his chest, while his body was still warm!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "How much did you sell it for?" "Must have been a lot, huh?" "And you called me a "bloodsucking monster"?" "Don't look at the monk!" "I saw you were very cautious while talking to the monk so I thought I wouldn't tell on you." "Thieves should stick together." "At first I thought we were on the same team, until you called me a monster." "You reap what you sow, don't you?" "Don't lose sleep over this, my friend." "Sometimes we're good and sometimes we're bad." "Life is just like that." "There's no point arguing who's right and who's wrong." "Life is too short to be wasted over this nonsense." "The storm has passed, sir." "It's time for me to say goodbye." "Thank you, my friend." "I enjoyed your story today." "And I got this blanket as a bonus too." "Sir, give it to me." "If I do, the baby won't live." "I know what I am, sir." "I don't blame you." "Why should you trust me?" "But I..." "I have six children of my own." "Sometimes they're cold, sometimes they're hungry, and sometimes they're scared." "They cry a lot too." "That sword... has helped get them through another day." "Please let me keep the baby." "Traveling alone is tough enough already." "Don't burden yourself with a baby." "I'll take him home." "It's so small, it shouldn't eat too much." "I'll be able to feed him." "Keep him then." "Take him home." "Can you forgive me?" "I have nothing to forgive you for." "It's you who should forgive me." "I was so confident in preaching dharma to others, but today, you and the undertaker actually taught me many lessons on dharma." "What did you just say?" "I couldn't follow you." "I'm just a stupid woodcutter." "I understand nothing." "We are all stupid." "We are all confused." "The rain has stopped." "The earth will soon dry." "Pa Muang Tunnel isn't so frightening anymore." "It's old and crumbling." "But today, we found a new life here." "It's late now." "You should go home." "Someone must be waiting for you." "You're right." "Thank you."