Several men drew a comparison between the food they ate and that given to
the well-loved and indulged family dog. A mini-parable of colonial relations,
this was one of the rare times that people called upon a rehearsed and available
narrative. Told almost identically by three of the six men, it detailed daily subordinations
with humor and poignancy.lo5 Pak Mulyo recalled that the pet dog
had its own babu who prepared its special meals:
Even its plate gleamed. Its food, waah, when I saw it . . . the food, it was just like the
boss's. There was meat, there was egg. Stew. "Wow", that's whal I thought . . . sometimes
I even said to the dog's babu, "Wah, just give it to me, Bu." "Yeah," she replied,
"go ahead and help yourself. Later the boss will yank your ear.