Overcome with the sorrows and sufferings of her ancestors, Lailin slowly sipped her tea. Then she immersed herself once again in Arunabh’s book.

*

In the midst of all the sobbing, the night came to an end. And life went on. The two packets of rice that had remained ran out one day. After that, five more unbearable days and nights passed. On the morning of the sixth day Ho Han woke up to the pleadings of his mother.

‘Keep at least one. Who will look after us in the end?’

Ho Han heard his father’s words, ‘They will all die. They won’t live to look after us. What will you do taking them with you? How can you be sure that we will be alive?’

Ho Han and his brothers did not understand much. They were scared and had gone limp with hunger. But they were aware that something terrible was going on.

After some time, the father walked in and carried away Ho Han’s elder brother. Then he came back to take Ho Han and his younger brother. As they came out they found the elder brother asleep in one of the baskets that their father used to carry loads in. His body was weak and pliable, almost like rubber. Placing Ho Han and the youngest son in the other basket, the father went in to get his last son.

All the four boys cried weakly and pleaded not to be taken away, as their mother watched from the verandah. Her face was grim and lacked any emotion except her desire to survive.

Placing four bowls and four pairs of chopsticks in the baskets, the father picked up the long bamboo pole on which the baskets were hanging, and slowly began walking.

All that remained was the mother, the home of their birth, the familiar surroundings, the temple and the public well …

In the scorching sun, the father carried his load across the field. The children were dehydrated, while the father had to put down his load many a times, panting with exhaustion. He walked along a familiar path, now quiet and forlorn. There was no sound except for the children’s whimpers, the creaking sound of the pole and the two baskets he carried, and that of his own panting.

Soon, he could hear voices coming faintly from a distance. Looking towards the sound, he saw a long line of people moving forward. They were carrying their bundled-up possessions tied on poles. These had to be people from the famine-struck villages who were walking to the city.

Soon the sun rose high in the sky. The children were wilting in the heat and crying weakly.

Suddenly Ho Han’s father stopped in his tracks. Near a dried-up shrub he saw a fat dog happily devouring a baby’s cadaver. His face brightened with pleasure. How could this dog have escaped human hands, in the face of such a famine? He wondered if God had specially saved this animal for him. Gently putting down his load and taking hold of the pole, he advanced stealthily towards the dog. With one heavy blow he felled the animal. After a few more blows the dog’s writhing stopped. Tearing out the baby’s flesh from its mouth, he lifted the dog and, panting profusely, placed it in the basket where Ho Han lay. With a feeling of satisfaction he lifted his load again. The dog would now provide the two of them enough food for at least four meals, now that the children would not return.