Written by Ben Bao, edited by Chanthary Koch.

There was an old man named Ta Cheum who lived in Battambang, a northwestern province of Cambodia. He was gravely ill. Before his death on the day of a full moon, in the month of November of the year 1926, he was saying his last words to his only son, Chao Chet. He told his son that he must be strong, persistent, and self-reliant according to Lord Buddha’s teaching Atahe Atanor Nearthor, meaning “one must rely on oneself.” He went on to say that poverty is not acceptable in life and asked his son to try to emerge from it. He then died.

After his father’s death, Chao Chet was grieving and feeling lonely in his old home. But whenever he felt sad, he remembered his father’s last words and tried to push his sadness aside. One day, Dr. Saat, the doctor who took care of Ta Cheum, came to visit Chao Chet. The doctor tried to cheer him up and reminded him of his father’s last words. Realizing that Chao Chet was unable to find a job, he wrote a recommendation letter and asked Chao Chet to travel to Pailin, which was then a district of Battambang province, to meet his relatives. Chao Chet scraped together enough funds to make the trip to Pailin and presented the letter to the doctor’s uncle, Lourng Ratanak Sambath (Lourng is a title similar to Lordship in English), who was a gemstone merchant and owned several gemstone mines.

After reading his nephew’s letter, Lourng Ratanak looked Chao Chet over and questioned the latter’s ability to endure hardship from the work in the gemstone fields. Chao Chet assured Lourng Ratanak that he would be as capable of enduring the same hard work that is required of the other miners. Reassured, Lourng Ratanak hired Chao Chet and introduced him to his only daughter, Khuneary, who also doubted Chao Chet’s ability as well as his trustworthiness. She cited that this new hire was too skinny, had the appearance of a heroin addict, and for sure would one day be unable to endure the hardship and quit. Chao Chet tried to defend himself by saying that a skinny person is not necessary a weak person. He asked Khuneary not to judge one’s appearance based on how he or she looks. Khuneary, a spoiled rich girl, never having had anyone dare to argue with her before, got upset. Lourng Ratanak diffused the tension between his new worker and his own daughter by asking Chao Chet to go and take a rest and to report to work the next day.

In the mining fields, Chao Chet worked very hard and gained the attention of his other fellow miners. Lourng Ratanak started to have an appreciation for him. Khuneary continued to notice Chao Chet’s strange character. Every time the two met, there would be a flurry of words exchanged as they would argue over one thing or another. In most cases, Chao Chet gained the upper edge in the conversation, and this would upset Khuneary. While she disliked Chao Chet for always arguing with her, subconsciously she enjoyed talking to him. The same thing happened to Chao Chet who had developed some feelings for Khuneary. He tried very hard to resist these feelings because he knew deep in his heart that it would be impossible to get Khuneary’s attention. She was his boss and a rich girl. He was poor and had no status. One night, on a full moon, he sang a song comparing Khuneary to the moon, surrounded by bright stars. He questioned why, with his short limbs, he was trying to reach the sky far above to try and grab the moon. On the same night, Khuneary, unable to sleep, opened her window and heard Chao Chet’s singing. She recognized the song as a popular folk song, one that many knew and sang at the time. The song called Youvearphirum, with lyrics that consisted of patriotic and good advice. She came down to meet Chao Chet who was surprised by her visit. He asked her the reason for her visit. Khuneary replied that she heard him sing Youvearphirum and that it was so good and meaningful. Chao Chet denied that he was singing, which upset Khuneary. She accused him of being brain-dead and unable to understand the Khmer language. She was very sure that she heard the song being sung. Chao Chet assured her that there was not a crazy person around and that if he did not understand Khmer, how could he engage in a conversation with her and understand her. Khuneary became more upset and attempted to leave. Chao Chet convinced her not to spoil the evening and invited her to go to the garden and enjoy the full moon and the nice breeze. She agreed. A little while later, Chao Chet asked Khuneary why he had not seen her mother. She replied that she had none. Chao Chet took the opportunity to tease her by asking how, without a mother, she could have been born. Khuneary, seemingly annoyed, clarified that she meant that her mother had passed on. She wondered why she was always falling into nonsensical situations with Chao Chet. The latter tried to diffuse what appeared to be an unpleasant situation and said that Khuneary was still in a better situation than him because at least she had a father. For him, both of his parents were gone. After a little time, Chao Chet suggested that it was time Khuneary went to bed. She agreed but could not help but wonder why this new employee held power over her twice in a row now. First, she agreed to come to the garden. Now, she agreed it was time to say good night.

One morning, Lourng Ratanak and Khuneary prepared a trip to meet the Sangke district executive, Lok Balat, at the city of Battambang. Their chauffeur, Ta Son, tried to start the car, but failed. At that moment, Chao Chet was on the way to the fields, saw that Ta Son needed help. Having lived in Battambang, the largest provincial capital of Cambodia, for most of his life, he might know something about the car. He stopped and offered his help. After some maneuvering, he asked Ta Son to retry. The car started. Lourng Ratanak praised Chao Chet. He said that Chao Chet was wise in hiding his skills. Ta Son took the opportunity and humbly asked Lourng Ratanak if Chao Chet could drive them to Battambang, citing his need to take care of some family affairs which had neglected for some time. Lourng Ratanak asked Chao Chet and the latter agreed. Arriving in Battambang, Chao Chet tended to the car in the parking lot while Lourng Ratanak and Khuneary went to Lok Balat’s office. Later in the afternoon, Lourng Ratanak, Lok Balat, and Khuneary emerged from the building. Khuneary asked Chao Chet to carry a basket and to accompany her to the marketplace to make some purchases. She admired Chao Chet for his bargaining skills. She bought many things. Before long, the shopping basket was overflowing. When they came back from the marketplace, Chao Chet dropped the basket onto the car trunk and this made a loud sound. Khuneary was upset and acted as if Chao Chet had dropped the basket on her head. Chao Chet wisely explained that the basket was simply too heavy for him to carry that distance. He affirmed that he only dropped it on the floor of the trunk. She warned Chao Chet not to do that again.

With the late afternoon fast approaching, they hastily departed the city to return home. Lourng Ratanak was also worried because he had not brought along any gun to defend the group from a possible robbery attack. Lok Balat, who also joined the trip back to Pailin, stated that he had a pistol. Along the way, Khuneary and Lok Balat cozily chatted and this made Chao Chet jealous. He purposely drove the car over potholes and rocks. Lok Balat scolded Chao Chet, telling him to drive more carefully. Chao Chet did not listen and continued to drive not too carefully, this time into a large pothole. This caused the car to stall, and in a seemingly deserted area. It was in the middle of the forest. Realizing that they could not get any help, Lourng Ratanak decided that they should camp out there. He asked his daughter to prepare dinner from the groceries that she had bought from the market. Khuneary asked Chao Chet to assist her. She admired Chao Chet’s ability to locate a simple find as a cooking tool. After dinner, Khuneary got the pistol from Lok Balat and handed it over to Chao Chet, asking him to guard the area while they slept. Chao Chet asked if Khuneary could stay with him a little longer before she went to rest. She agreed. Khuneary noticed that Chao Chet appeared unhappy and asked him the reason the reason. Could it be he was in love with this girl or that girl, she teased? Chao Chet replied that the one with whom he was in love was a rich girl and of high social status and that his love was only a dream. Khuneary’s eyes glanced down, but before she could say anything, Chao Chet yelled and pointed his finger to a light that was fast coming at them, brighter and brighter and with a roaring sound. There appeared to be armed bandits coming at them. Then, there were bullets sprayed at them. Lourng Ratanak took cover. Lok Balat was trembling and took cover under the car. Khuneary stayed with Chao Chet who fired back at the bandits until there was only one bullet left. Thinking that he was be killed, he confessed his love to Khuneary who affirmed that she loved him back. A moment later, Chao Chet was hit by a bullet and passed out. Earlier on that evening, Ta Son, who had not seen the group return as expected, thought they could be in trouble. He borrowed a bus from a businessman in Pailin, and along with some miners from the village carrying guns, set out to look for the group. They arrived at the place of trouble at the moment Chao Chet was hit by the bullet. They fought and scared the bandits away. They brought Chao Chet home and sought and found a doctor to treat his wound.

The next morning, Chao Chet woke up, saw Khuneary beside him and wondered why he was still alive. He asked if Khuneary remembered the words he uttered in the forest on that night. She replied that she did, every word of it. He expressed his sadness, saying his love would not come true. She reassured him of her love. Lourng Ratanak came in with the doctor. He asked the doctor how bad Chao Chet’s wound was. The doctor said that Chao Chet was going to be fine. Lourng Ratanak thanked Chao Chet for defending him and his daughter during the robbery. He promoted him to bookkeeper and told him that he no longer needed to work in the mines. Chao Chet gladly accepted the offer.

One day, while Lourng Ratanak worked in the office with Khuneary, they got an unexpected visit from Lok Balat and another man, Lok Phann. Lourng Ratanak asked the reason for the visit. Lok Balat replied that he brought Lok Phann, a diamond merchant, to buy some diamonds if the price was right. Lourng Ratanak agreed to sell them at a reasonable price and Lok Phann accepted. Lok Phann had one favor to ask of Lourng Ratanak, which was that he wanted to see the gem mines as he had never seen them before. Lourng Ratanak agreed and brought Lok Phann and Chao Chet along to the mines. Lok Balat refused to go, claiming that he had seen them a dozen times before. Khuneary attempted to go with her father and Chao Chet, when Lok Balat stopped her by suggesting that it would be very rude to leave a guest alone. Khuneary had no choice but to stay back. When they were alone, Lok Balat tried in vain to persuade her to love him. Khuneary refused. He then accused her of being in love with a lowly man, a laborer who possessed no social rank in comparison to him. Khuneary replied that in contrast, Chao Chet had much more than him. He risked his life defending her, her father, and even Lok Balat himself who took cover under the car at the robbery scene. That made Lok Balat very upset. He tried to kiss her by force and to rape her. Khuneary used all her strength to get away from Lok Balat. At the same moment, Lourng Ratanak, Chao Chet, and Lok Phann came back and saw the rape attempt. Filled with anger, Chao Chet began to hit Lok Balat. Khuneary stopped Chao Chet and told him that it was sufficient punishment. Lourng Ratanak was surprised that as a longtime family friend, Lok Balat could do that such a thing to his daughter. He sent Lok Balat and Lok Phann away and asked them not to come back. However, later that night, the two returned with their men and attempted to rob Lourng Ratanak’s home. As Lourng Ratanak has been a good businessman, his miners in the village liked him. Along with Chao Chet and Ta Son, they fought back the robbers and defeated them.

The next day, Lourng Ratanak asked Chao Chet what would be the one present that he would like to receive for all the trouble he has gone through to defend his family and business. Chao Chet replied that what he has done was to show his gratitude for all that he has received from Lourng Ratanak, and that no present was needed. Lourng Ratanak said it was not true. He pointed his finger to Khuneary and said that this was the only present Chao Chet wanted to have. He married his daughter to Chao Chet and they all lived happily ever after.