June
The crowing of a rooster behind the hut, loud and clear, pierced the dawn. The sun’s rays, still feeble, tried to creep through the cracks of the decrepit, darkened bamboo wall whose paint was peeled off by rain and the hot sun in turn. The wobbly and crooked window, pulled and pushed by the strong night wind, was half open, and through the opening a flowering guava tree was visible outside.
Saimun stretched himself on his sleeping-bench. From under his covering of two plaited mats, he slowly opened his eyes and then looked at the woman who slept beside him. Her small mouth was half open; her camisole undone except for the lowest button; and her wrap-around kain, untied around the waist, covered her limbs loosely. Saimun was very still as he regarded the woman; he was at peace and h
