Message of the Land by Pira Sudham

Message of the Land

by Pira Sudham

PARA.1

Yes, these are our rice fields. They belonged to my parents and forefathers. The land is

more than three centuries old. I'm the only daughter in our family and it was I who stayed with my

parents till they died. My three brothers moved out to their wives' houses when they got married.

My husband moved into our house as is the way with us in Esarn. I was then eighteen and he was

nineteen. He gave me six children. Two died in infancy from sickness. The rest, two boys and two

girls, went away as soon as we could afford to buy jeans for them. Our oldest son got a job as a

gardener in a rich man's home in Bangkok but later an employment agency sent him to a foreign

land to work. My other son also went far away.

PARA.2

One of our daughters is working in a textile factory in Bangkok, and the other has a job

in a store. They come home to see us now and then, stay a few days, and then they are off again.

Often they send some money to us and tell us that they are doing well. I know this is not always

true. Sometimes, they get bullied and insulted, and it is like a knife piercing my heart. It's easier

for my husband. He has ears which don't hear, a mouth which doesn't speak, and eyes that don't

see. He has always been patient and silent, minding his own life.

PARA.3

All of them remain my children in spite of their long absence. Maybe it's fate that sent

them away from us. Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer fertile, bleeding year after year

and, like us, getting old and exhausted. Still my husband and I work on this land. The soil is not

difficult to till when there is a lot of rain, but in a bad year, it's not only the ploughs that break but

our hearts, too.

PARA.4

No, we two haven't changed much, but the village has. In what way? Only ten years ago,

you could barter for things, but now it's all cash. Years ago, you could ask your neighbors to help

build your house, reap the rice or dig a well. Now they'll do it only if you have money to pay them.

Plastic

things

replace

village

crafts.

Men

used

to

make

things

with

fine

bamboo

pieces,

but

no

longer. Plastic bags litter the village. Shops have sprung up, filled with colorful plastic things and

goods we have no use for. The young go away to towns and cities leaving us old people to work

on the land. They think differently, I know, saying that the old are old-fashioned. All my life, I

have never had to go to a hairdresser, or to paint my lips or nails. These rough fingers and toes are

for working in the mud of our rice fields, not for looking pretty. Now young girls put on jeans, and

look

like

boys

and

they

think

it

is

fashionable.

Why,

they

are

willing

to

sell

their

pig

or

water

buffalo just to be able to buy a pair of jeans. In my day, if I were to put on a pair of trousers like

they do now, lightning would strike me.

PARA.5

I know, times have changed, but certain things should not change. We should offer food

to the monks every day, go to the temple regularly. Young people tend to leave these things to old

people now, and that's a shame.

PARA.6

Why, only the other day I heard a boy shout and scream at his mother.

If that kind of

thing

had

happened

when

I

was

young,

the

whole

village

would

have

condemned

such

an

ungrateful son, and his father would surely have given him a good beating.

PARA.7

As

for

me,

I

wouldn't

change,

couldn't

change

even

if

I

wanted

to.

Am

I

happy

or

unhappy? This

question

has

never

occurred

to

me.

Life

simply

goes

on. Yes,

this

bag

of

bones

dressed in rags can still plant and reap rice from morning till dusk. Disease, wounds, hardship and

scarcity have always been part of my life. I don't complain.

PARA.8

The farmer: My wife is wrong. My eyes do see

–

they see more than they should. My ears

do hear

–

they hear more than is good for me. I don't talk about what I know because I know too

much. I know for example, greed, anger, and lust are the root of all evils.

PARA.9

I am at peace with the land and the conditions of my life. But I feel a great pity for my

wife.

I

have

been

forcing

silence

upon

her

all

these

years,

yet

she

has

not

once

complained

of

anything.

PARA.10

I

wanted

to

have

a

lot

of

children

and

grandchildren

around

me

but

now

cities

and

foreign lands have attracted my children away and it seems that none of them will ever come back

to live here again. To whom shall I give these rice fields when I die? For hundreds of years this

strip

of

land

has

belonged

to

our

family.

I

know

every

inch

of

it.

My

children

grew

up

on

it,

catching frogs and mud crabs and gathering flowers. Still the land could not tie them down or call

them back. When each of them has a pair of jeans, they are off like birds on the wing.

PARA.11

Fortunately, my wife is still with me, and both of us are still strong. Wounds heal over

time. Sickness comes and goes, and we get back on our feet again. I never want to leave this land.

It's nice to feel the wet earth as my fingers dig into the soil, planting rice, to hear my wife sighing,

scent

of

ripening

rice

in

November.

The

soft

cool

breeze

moves

the

sheaves,

which

ripple

and

shimmer like waves of gold. Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my children comes back one

day to live, and gives me grandchildren so that I can pass on the land's secret messages to them.

Analysis

PARA1:

Sentence

Theme

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Yes

They

The land

I

My three brothers

My husband

I

He

Two

The rest, two boys and two girls

Our oldest son

My other son

Marked/Unmarked

Marked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

Unmarked

11 themes

These 12 themes are mainly about the members of the family, indicate that the whole passage is a

introduction to the woman

’

s family---- her elder generalization, her gerneralization and younger

gerneralization.

As

the

opening

paragraph

of

the

article,

most

of

this

paragraph

’

s

themes

are

concret and arranged in good order, give readers enough information as well as imagination.