During the three years I spent in Phijit, nothing impressed me, except Grandpa, who was the one and only person I found truly remarkable.
We walked for hours and by the time we reached Aunt Waht’s former house, it was early afternoon. The house was big and set on large grounds dotted with animal pens, haystacks, and puddles of mud which buffalo could wallow in. It was the largest farmhouse I had seen that day and would ever see during the whole three years I was to live there. As we reached the house, my companion told me to sit down on a bamboo platform in the shade of a big tree and wait for him there. He then went up to the house alone. I didn’t object. It was the longest distance this city dweller had ever walked, and instead of sitting, I lay down.
I listened to the exhausted beat of my heart within my ribcage and enjoyed the throbbing of my blood as it coursed past my temples, and before long I was sleeping, gently caressed by the breeze.
When my companion shook me awake, I sat up to find myself surrounded by a dozen staring children. I had no idea where they had come from. I hadn’t seen them when I arrived. In fact, they all belonged to the house and later turned out to be my closest friends, although, apart from Grandpa, I lived all by myself – a situation which Grandpa and I had agreed upon and which I readily accept ed. I was happier on my own, living somewhat like a vagrant, rather than staying in the house, whose atmosphere was poisoned by covetousness over Aunt Waht’s share of the estate.
My guide took me to freshen up by the side of the house. We then went to look for something to eat in the kitchen, where no one paid attention to me. After we finished our meal, he took me to see Grandpa. He didn’t say a word; he had gone up to settle everything with him privately beforehand. His task now complete, he prostrated himself in front of Grandpa and took his leave. He wanted to start on his way back to town immediately. Putting a hand on my shoulder, he wished me all the best before standing up and leaving the house. I didn’t know what to say, so I bowed to him respectfully, thanking him in my heart for all he had done for me. He was a good and obliging man, so rare these days. I was never to see him again – it was as if he had been born for the sole purpose of taking me to Phijit!