CAMBO Time

The novel tells the story of Bun Thoeun (ប៊ុនធឿន) and Vitheavy (វិធាវី), whose parents have arranged for them to marry since they were young. After Bun Thoeun’s father loses his boat in a storm transporting rice to Prey Nokor, his family lose their livelihood and become poor.  “Mrs. Nuon (យាយនួន), mother of Vitheavy, prefers money over honor and cancels the engagement. Instead she arranges a new marriage for Vitheavy with Naisot (ណៃស៊ត), who is a rich man. Naisot is bad-tempered and immoral and uses his money to do anything he wants.  After becoming engaged to Naisot, Vitheavy falls ill, and pines for Bun Thoeun. However, she dares not argue with her mother over the engagement. As her health worsens, Mrs. Nuon takes her daughter to t Siem Reap, but Vitheavy’s spirits remain low.  When Vitheavy coughs up blood, her superstitious mother takes her to a fortune teller/healer, who tries various methods to try to cure her. However, it does not work and Vitheavy’s condition wors...

The novel Sophat was written by Rim Kin in 1938 but not published until 1942 due to a lack of publishing facilities in Cambodia at that time. The book depicts both the repression endured by Cambodian women at that time and the ripple effects that this treatment could have on all of society. Girls and young women who became pregnant outside of marriage were made to feel ashamed. Like the mother of this story’s title character, they and their children were often abandoned, their existence denied. This tale begins with the abandonment of a pregnant young woman by the well-to-do, high-ranking father of her unborn child, who goes to Phnom Penh for work. She is left to deliver her baby alone, without any support from relatives. Unable to care for the child, she leaves it with an orphanage. Before she leaves her son, she gives him a name: “Sophat.” When she learns that her former sweetheart has left her for another woman, she is so utterly devastated by the betrayal that she soon falls ill an...

In Ponror commune, Rolea B'ier district, Kampong Chnangprovince, there is amountain higher than any others nearby. If welook from the distance, this mountain looks like a woman lying.Like other mountains in the neighborhood, there are any smalland big trees growing on it, but it are strange on the side of themountain, there are many maams (aromatic herbs). The peoplenearby do not eat maams there because it isbelieved that thismountain is made up of the dead body of Neang KangRei, a femaleGiant who was Puthisen's wife. And they have regarded maamsin that place as vulva hair of Neang Kang ReiIn addition, along the foot of the mountain, there is a stone mortar and a stone pestle:Since the ancient time, it is not known who made them. It is believed that anyone who gets there must take the pestle to pound onto the mortar so that they do not get sick because of the environment and are in good health and happiness. (This is thegeneral belief of the residents living there since ancient...

Once upon a time, there lived a King named Atith Vongsa - the superior King to other 101 kings-and her Queen named Pimpea, along with his other 6 thousand concubines, ruling in the capital city of Tep Borey. All of his 6,000 concubines didn't even bear a child for him. Fearing that the nation could disappear, the King's prominent servant commented the King that, "Your Majesty, you're the King of the Nation. I fear that our Nation might vanish when you pass away as we don't have any king to succeed." The King commanded Queen Pimpca to organize flowers in honor of gods and asked them for a male infant. The Queen followed his royal command. With her powerful rite, Indra's palace was shaken; he used his divine eyes to witness the event. He then in canted magical words so that Buddha could be reincarnated as a male baby of Queen Pimpea. After the ten-month pregnancy passed, a golden-skinned prince was born. He was named "Prince Sovann Kumar" by the pa...

Once upon the time, there was a couple: the husband, named Koliyak, was a District Chief and the wife was named Keo Kesey. They had a daughter named Kolkesey. Nearby the District Chiefs house, there was a poor man with a son named Kodompikoma. When he became 16, Kodompi was handsome and attractive to many women. He fell in love with Kolkesey while he was waiting to chase the sparrows off the field. Since they were afraid that their parents on both sides would punish them, they eloped to live in a rural area named Kasey, which was a thieves' area. When they arrived at that district, the thieves caught and tied up Kodompi. Seeing that, Kolkesey gave one gold ring to the District Chief and begged him to persuade the thieves to release her husband. The thieves released Kodompi since the District Chief claimed that he was a relative of his. The couple then asked the District Chief and his wife to ·be their god parents. The District Chief was so happy and loved Kodompi and Kolkesey as th...

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...