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years, never once did he raise his voice, nor did he cause any trouble to anyone in the town.
    When he was eighteen, Con went to work for Magistrate Toan, then the town's mayor, as a tutor to the young children of his third and fourth mistresses in their private mansion. Fourth Mistress was a young, rosy-cheeked woman who enjoyed a midday rest on a hammock strung between two rambutan trees. She liked Con to stand at the foot of her swinging bed and read her long chapters from the famous novel
Kim Van Kieu
by the poet Nguyen Du. This was an adventure story of a young girl who turned to prostitution in order to save her family from poverty, leaving behind the love of her life. The tale had a happy ending, as the lovers were reunited after many sorrows. Each time Con came to the final verses, Fourth Mistress would press her hands above her generous breasts to express the buoyancy of her feelings. Sometimes, she even pulled her pants up past her knees and had him massage her legs.
    One afternoon, Magistrate Toan brought home a dozen policemen. In front of several shocked witnesses, Con was handcuffed and sent to jail. What happened in that moment, and why, was known only to the Heavens above and the parties involved. No one dared to question the magistrate's decision. Con had no relatives, except for his adoptive mother, and so his arrest was not a matter of concern to many.
    The poor fortune-teller, however, was grief-stricken over the unfortunate incident. She remained in her little cottage on top of the hill, overlooking a tiny garden, which she had planned to sell one day in order to get Con a wife. Forgotten by the rest of the world, she waited for her son to come back. Shortly after Con's imprisonment, a farmer found the body of Magistrate Toan's fourth wife, badly beaten and strangled, buried underneath a haystack. Her hands were clasped over her breasts. Her face wore a shocked expression.
    In front of the community hall, Magistrate Toan announced to the villagers that Big Con had murdered his wife. Of course, everyone realized that was a lie. She was still alive the day Con was arrested, and the whole town knew it. Besides, who would believe a polite and fragile boy like Con could commit such a hideous crime? Still, no one dared to say anything against the powerful Magistrate Toan. To cross him was certain suicide. With no one to speak in his defense, Con was tried and found guilty of murdering Magistrate Toan's wife. He was sent to death row a few days later.
    Soon afterward, Con's mother died in utter poverty. As for Magistrate Toan, due to his advanced age, he finally retired. His son, Master Long, took his place as the town's mayor.
    At the prison in Da Nang, Con found a desperate way to avoid the firing squad. He signed a contract with the French government to serve in one of its dangerous rubber plantations without salary. To most people, the ranch was a death camp because of its horrible living conditions, incurable diseases, and inhumanely hard labor. Yet to Con, it was his only chance for survival. He disappeared for almost nine years.
    To this day, Big Con still chanted a popular song about life on a rubber plantation. Even now, a short distance away, Ven could hear his mournful voice.
    There is no way out of the rubber camps
    Men enter those gates in their physical prime
    Only to leave when they are inches away from Death's door
    Ignoring him, she wiped the perspiration off her forehead and returned to the field. To keep her mind busy, she kept repeating a poem she had learned as a child, a traditional farmer's mantra for a successful rice season.
    January is the time to celebrate the New Year
    She sang the first verse while separating a bundle of shoots, blocking the time-teller's voice out of her head. To her, January was a reminder of the dark wedding chamber where she had sat frozen, waiting for her husband. Her memory held barely a trace of festivity, except for the faded sound of firecrackers and the