The Clay Marble

Dara hears a mocking voice behind her: It is Chnay, the bully who destroyed Jantu’s mobile. He tells her, somewhat gloatingly, that her family was there the previous day but left, after hearing that it was unsafe. It was Sarun, he says, who destroyed her toy village by driving the oxcart over it. He says her family did not tell him where they were going, because no one pays any attention to him; but that they probably went to seek shelter at a certain Khmer Serei base camp, one commanded by a General Kung Silor. The Khmer Serei, he says, are planning a counter-offensive against the Vietnamese and need fresh recruits; they hope to lure male refugees into their ranks in exchange for food and shelter.

Shocked, Dara feels herself go limp, and Chnay softens, showing some sympathy for her: He gives her some food from his pocket, and tells her how to get to Kung Silor’s camp, which is about three miles away. Warming to him and not wanting to make the journey alone, she asks Chnay if he would like to accompany her, and he agrees.

After a long, tiring walk, Dara and Chnay reach the Khmer Serei camp, which immediately strikes Dara as sinister, even fanatical: Its “strident” national anthem is full of words like “blood” and “death.” As evening descends, Chnay finds a place for them to shelter and says that he will help her look for her family in the morning. Dara realizes that, however bad things are, she has at least found a friend.

Over the next few days, the two of them methodically search the huge camp for Dara’s family, surviving on meager handouts from strangers and food stolen by Chnay. One day, passing the kitchen tent, they smell roast chicken and decide rashly to steal some. They are caught by the cooks, who turn them over to a fierce-looking man wearing what appears to be a crescent moon against his bare chest (Dara soon realizes that it is actually a huge tiger’s tooth). This turns out to be General Kung Silor himself. Dara reaches into her pocket to stroke the magic marble, which gives her the courage to speak bluntly to the General. She tells him that hunger gave her no choice but to steal. Furthermore, she asks him for a job in the kitchen in exchange for regular meals. Impressed by her boldness, the General quickly assents. Chnay is in awe of her “spirit,” but Dara feels that she owes it all to Jantu’s clay marble.

For days, Dara works long hours in the kitchen with no one to talk to but the cooks’ pet monkey, while Chnay continues his search for her family, always reporting back to her in the evening for food. He never has any good news to offer, and Dara begins to feel frustrated with him. One night, finally, he tells her that he saw someone who looked like Sarun marching in formation with other soldiers, rehearsing for an upcoming flag-raising ceremony at which many new recruits will be sworn in to the Khmer Serei army. Dara is shocked and doubtful, but Chnay insists that he is not lying.

The next day, Dara is sent by the head cook to a makeshift shed to help winnow rice to feed the many new recruits. At first, she takes comfort in the familiar sights and sounds of women pounding rice with wooden poles—to break the hard husks of the rice—but then is horrified to discover that they are pounding the special rice seed that Sarun told her about: the rice meant for planting, not eating. Each grain of this rice seed has the potential to produce fifty grains of rice, but it is being destroyed to feed the Khmer Serei army. She protests to the cook, who says they have no choice: The army is being built up for the new offensive and must be fed. Dara feels as if something has been “torn” from her—and from the women, children, and future of Cambodia itself—to feed these men and their war machine.

In despair, she leaves the shed and seeks the open air, where she sees columns of soldiers parading by. One of them is her brother, staring blindly forward, his mouth “set in a grim line” (103). Stunned, she cries his name, but before she can catch up with him she hears a familiar voice behind her. Its love and tenderness make her body go limp; she turns and falls into her mother’s arms.