Lesson

The Literature of Cambodia

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Flag of Cambodia Map of Cambodia

What Will You Learn?

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

1. Learn the facts about Cambodia;

2. Understand how narratives’ settings affect the story;
3. Analyze the settings in different narratives.

Facts about Cambodia

1. Cambodia officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country

located in the southern portion of the Indochinese
peninsula in Southeast Asia.
2. It is 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) in
area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the
northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to
the southwest.
3. The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 15 million.
4. Buddhism is enshrined in the constitution as the official state religion, and is
practised by more than 97% of the population.
5. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch chosen by
the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state.
6. The head of government is the Prime Minister.
7. No McDonald’s in Cambodia

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8. Angkor Wat is the world largest religious building.
9. Cambodian flag is the only one in the world with a building on it.
10. Nobody cares about their birthdays
11. Funerals are of great importance

Let’s Try This Activity 2.0

Look for the meaning of the italicised words. Choose your answers
from the options below. Write your answers on the space provided
before the number.
____________ 1. Before allowing a person to see the millionaire, Ream
always asked the person about his/her name, whereabouts
and intentions.
A. economic status
B. aim
C. designation
D. civil status
____________ 2. From today on, I assign you as both my spy and my door-
keeper.
A. treasurer
B. secretary
C. lookout
D. mentor
____________ 3. The millionaire’s slave workers and care-taker of the
warehouse on learning that Ream was the millionaire’s spy
tried to incite the millionaire to dismiss Ream from his
employment.
A. urge on
B. calm upon
C. embrace
D. pay
____________ 4. At that time, Ream was also wiping the furniture nearby
and he heard all what the businessmen had said.
A. antique
B. wet
C. damage
D. very close
____________ 5. He also had hundreds of warehouses in which silver, gold,
diamonds and a wide variety of wealth were stored.
A. different types
B. precious
C. gold

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 D. rare
____________ 6. My parents have plenty of wealth, but they were so naive
that they were always friendly to tens of thousands of poor
people every day.
A. arrogant
B. ignorant
C. excited
D. innocent
____________ 7. Thorn Serey, did not care a fig.
A. hand
B. money
C. bit
D. smile
____________ 8. He never thought of giving alms to either the poor or the
old people because he thought that it was no use
communicating with the poor when he had such abundant
wealth.
A. useless
B. priceless
C. precious
D. plenty
____________ 9. The local villagers are now starving and theft has prevailed
everywhere.
A. lived
B. annoyed
C. widespread
D. practiced

____________ 10. Eventually the great millionaire was reduced to a poor man
who was afterward killed by some villagers in disguise.
A. mask
B. poorly dressed
C. court
D. prison

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 Let’s read

Read the stories about a man who is fond of gossip and the
millionaire.

The Gossipy Man

Translated from Khmer by Chhim Chan Bora

O
nce upon the time, there lived a man named Ream. He was the door-keeper
of a millionaire.

People who wished to see or to contact the millionaire always had to ask
Ream first to know whether the millionaire was at home or not, or whether they
could or could not see the millionaire. People could go to see the millionaire only
after having received Ream’s permission. Before allowing a person to see the
millionaire, Ream always asked the person about his/her name, whereabouts and
intentions.

Ream was the only person who was loved most by the millionaire. One day, the
millionaire secretly told Ream: ―You must be responsible for everything for me,
including overseeing the slave workers and the care-taker of the warehouse to make
sure that they work hard and sincerely for me or not. From today on, I assign you as
both my spy and my door-keeper. I’ll double your salary.‖

Ream was a talkative man and never hid any secret. He always told other people of
what he should have kept secret. Therefore, he told his wife and friends about the
millionaire assigning him as the spy.

His wife was very glad. She whispered the secret to her friends and her friends
whispered that secret to their husbands and friends and so on. The secret was soon
widely known. The millionaire’s slave workers and care-taker of the warehouse on
learning that Ream was the millionaire’s spy tried to incite the millionaire to dismiss
Ream from his employment.

After he had been fired by the millionaire, Ream felt very depressed and stayed at
home doing nothing. He sold all his properties and house to get money to buy food

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until nothing was left to him. Ream became very poor and homeless. He then went
to live with one of his friends. As for his wife, she also divorced him and married
another man. Knowing that, the millionaire asked Ream to come back to live with
him again as a house cleaner.

One day, there were a ship’s three businessmen bringing a precious diamond to sell
to the millionaire. The three businessmen honestly told the millionaire: ―We bought
this diamond from the chief of the royal treasury, who had stolen it and sold it to
me. We had this diamond cut in a different shape so that it could not be recognized
as belonging to the king.‖ The millionaire asked those businessmen to clarify the
exact shape of that diamond to make sure that it was really so different from the
original shape that no one could recognize it. Therefore, he bought it. At that time,
Ream was also wiping the furniture nearby and he heard all what the businessmen
had said.

Three days later, there was an art festival organized in the city. Ream asked the
millionaire for permission to go to see it with a friend. While watching a
performance, Ream recollected the diamond businessmen. Then, he gave his friend
a full account of the story. Coincidentally, the three businessmen were also there
watching the performance and overheard everything. They thought that if they let
Ream and his friend live longer, their secret would be revealed. After the festival had
been over, the three businessmen went to hide themselves at a quiet place. When
Ream and his friend walked to that place, the three businessmen came out and
killed them.

The Great Millionaire and the Poor

Translated from Khmer by Chhim Chan Bora

O
nce upon the time, in India lived a great millionaire who had plenty of both
movable and immovable property. He had thousands of cows, buffalos,
horses and elephants and thousands of hectares of paddy fields. He also had
hundreds of warehouses in which silver, gold, diamonds and a wide variety of wealth
were stored.

The great millionaire had only one son named Thorn Serey, who later succeeded him
as a great millionaire.

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One day, the great millionaire, Thorn Serey, thought: ―My parents have plenty of
wealth, but they were so naive that they were always friendly to tens of thousands
of poor people every day. They helped the poor with everything. It is no use helping
tens of thousands of poor people with their living.‖

From that day on, the villagers who used to borrow money from the previous great
millionaire to do their businesses came to see Thorn Serey to borrow money to do
their respective businesses as they had done before with the previous great
millionaire, but the great millionaire, Thorn Serey, did not care a fig. He never
thought of giving alms to either the poor or the old people because he thought that
it was no use communicating with the poor when he had such abundant wealth.

Later on, without money loaned as capital to do their businesses, the villagers
became very poor and starved so badly that they started stealing and robbing one
another. After nothing left for them to steal or rob among themselves, they gathered
together and said: ―Previously, we did not starve as we do now because the
previous great millionaire had lent us his money and rice seeds, soybean, sesame,
cows and buffalos to do our businesses or to do farming. And when we harvested
our crops, he would take half of the total output and gave us half. Now, the great
millionaire, Thorn Serey, who is his son, does not need us, so we have to steal his
property to sustain our lives.‖

The villagers then started stealing cows and buffalos and even rice, soybean and
sesame stored in the warehouses. The warehouse keepers reported it to the great
millionaire and said: ―The local villagers are now starving and theft has prevailed
everywhere. And there is nothing to be gained for putting in the warehouses as
before. Therefore, Your Lordship should spend money helping the poor as Your
Lordship’s father did before in order to attain peace and prosperity.‖

―I am not so naive as my parents,‖ replied the great millionaire, Thorn Serey,

adding, ―We have to arrest those who steal my property and send them to the
competent authorities to punish them according to the laws. I don’t need to have
any contact with the poor.‖

The great millionaire’s wealth was soon gradually decreased due to no inputs and
thefts. In spite of the fact that he asked the competent officers to search for the
thieves, they failed to catch one because the thieves were all the villagers.
Eventually the great millionaire was reduced to a poor man who was afterward killed
by some villagers in disguise. And his remaining wealth was put in the state’s
warehouse.

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 Answer this Answer 2.1

Answer the following questions based on the two stories, ―The

Gossipy Man and The Great Millionaire & the Poor.‖

1. What are the settings of the two stories?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. How do the settings of the two stories contribute to the development of the
stories?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

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 Let’s learn this

Setting is the time and place of the story. It’s a literary element
used in novels, short stories, plays, films, etc., and usually
introduced during the exposition of the story, along with
the characters. The setting may also include the environment of the
story, which can be made up of the physical location,
climate, weather, or social and cultural surroundings.

There are various ways that time and place indicate setting. Time can cover many
areas, such as the character’s time of life, the time of day, time of year, time period
such as the past, present, or future, etc. Place also covers a lot of areas, such as a
certain building, room in a building, country, city, beach, in a mode of transport such
as a car, bus, boat, indoors or out, etc. The setting of a story can change
throughout the plot. The environment includes geographical location such as beach
or mountains, the climate and weather, and the social or cultural aspects such as a
school, theatre, meeting, club, etc.

Examples of Setting

Example 1
A simple example to understand setting is the Disney movie ―Cinderella.‖ The setting
starts out as

Time: Cinderella as a young girl, long ago in the past

Place: Cinderella’s home in a kingdom far away
After her father dies, the time aspect of setting changes, skipping roughly ten years
into the future. Understanding this change in time helps in keeping up with the
story.

Time: Cinderella as a young woman, long ago in the past

Place: Cinderella’s home in a kingdom, in her bedroom and in the kitchen

Example 2
Read this example below to see how setting is written into a story.

As the sun set in the evening sky, Malcolm slowly turned and walked toward his
home. All was silent and still. Through the window, he could see his older brother
James watching a football game on the TV. James was home from his first year of
college in the city. It was lonely at times, but Malcolm felt it was rather nice to not
be in James’ shadow during his senior year of high school.

Time: evening, senior year of high school, and modern times (they have a TV)

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Types of Setting

There are two types of setting, each having its own purpose.

Backdrop setting
Have you ever read a story, but found it difficult to figure out what time period in
which the story was written or where it is? The story probably had a backdrop
setting. The story is timeless and can happen at any point in history or anywhere.
The focus is on the lesson or message being delivered. Many fairy tales and
children’s stories have backdrop settings. ―Winnie the Pooh‖ would be an example.
Since the lessons that the characters learn is the point rather than the time period,
it’s hard to tack a ―past, present, or future‖ on the time aspect of the setting. It
could also be any town or country, which means children anywhere can relate to it.

Integral setting
With an integral setting (integral means to be a part of or important to), the time
and place are important to the story. For example, a story dealing with a historical
setting will have a direct impact on the plot. A story that happens in the 1800s will
not have technology, so the characters will have to write a letter, ride a horse or
take a carriage to visit each other; they cannot travel long distances in one day as
we do now with cars, buses, and planes. This will have a direct impact on the events
of the story, especially if there is distance involved.

Importance of Setting

Setting gives context to the characters’ actions in a story line. It can also create the
mood (how the reader or viewer feels). It’s easier to understand why the characters
in the story are doing what they’re doing when we know where they are. The time
of day, time of year, and ages of the characters will also affect how they act and
what they say.

All forms of literature will have some form of setting; even backdrop settings have
an age range of the characters, which is part of time, and a location, either indoors
or out, for example. Without a setting, readers and viewers cannot follow a story
plot.

To make the setting come alive, it’s important to include significant details. That
doesn’t mean describing everything the characters see, or giving a complete history
of where the scene occurs. Giving enough information to help readers visualize the
setting is important, but too many minor details will bog down the story rather than
move it forward.

There are ways to clarify the setting without using long descriptive passages. For
example:

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a) The type of vocabulary the characters use can suggest where they live or where
the scene occurs. Teens from Chicago will sound different from teenagers in rural
Kentucky. Ordering a Caramel Macchiato implies a more sophisticated restaurant
than if the character orders an orange soda (although I personally order pink
lemonade where ever I go—except in winter, when I want a hot chocolate with
whipped cream on top.)

b) The weather can indicate the time of year, or general location of the scene.
Mentioning a hurricane, or snow, will give readers clues as to where or when the
story takes place. The fragrance of a certain flower wafting on a gentle breeze
suggests a different setting than the smell of asphalt permeating the air.

c) Describing a dark, gloomy house or a shadowy forest can suggest something

suspenseful may occur, setting the tone as well as giving details about the location.
Candles flickering can either hint at romance or suggest a religious scene; adding
other details will help clarify their significance.

d) Give the setting a purpose to fulfil. An exotic location can be a backdrop for a
steamy romance or a wild adventure. A mountainous terrain can be a source of
danger and add suspense. A hospital waiting room can suggest trauma and pain,
adding tension to the story.

Take this Quiz Activity 2.2

Read each passage and decide the setting. Write your

answers on the space provided.
_______________ 1. When Pedrito woke up, he knew something was not
_______________ right. There was no light coming through his curtains.
_______________ His room was dark. His mom did not yell for him to eat
breakfast. There was no smell of bacon. He slowly got
out of bed and tiptoed to his curtain. Peeking behind
his curtain, he saw mounds of snow piled outside.
There was no chance that school was happening today.
_______________ 2. It was very warm. The sun, up above a sky that was
_______________ blue and tremendous and beckoning to birds ever on
_______________ the wing, shone bright as if determined to scorch
everything under heaven, even the low, square nipa
house that stood in an unashamed relief against the
gray-green haze of grass and leaves.
_______________ 3. The friends of the poet began to come. They paused a
_______________ long time at the door, surveying the scene before they
_______________ marched self-consciously towards the casket. Another
pause there, and then they wrenched themselves from
the spot and moved–no, slithered–either towards my

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 aunt or towards the woman. The choice must have
been difficult when they knew both. The women almost
invariably came to talk to my aunt whereas most of the
men turned to the woman at the left.
_______________ 4. The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the
_______________ bright sea. The sky was wide and deep and very blue
_______________ above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the hills to
the southwest flamed huge masses of clouds. Before us
the fields swam in a golden haze through which floated
big purple and red and yellow bubbles when I looked at
the sinking sun.
_______________ 5. Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and
_______________ cooking something good, and the aroma of the food
_______________ was wafted down to us from the windows of the big
house. We hung about and took all the wonderful
smells of the food into our beings. Sometimes our
whole family stood outside the windows of the rich
man’s house and listened to the musical sizzling of
thick strips of bacon or ham.

References

1. Benedict, C. (2010). Story elements: Importance of the setting. Retrieved at

https://thewritingplace.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/story-elements-
importance-of-the-setting/
2. Literary terms (2021). Retrieved
https://literaryterms.net/setting/#:~:text=Setting%20is%20the%20time%20
and,and%20where)%20of%20the%20story.&text=The%20setting%20may%
20also%20include,time%20and%20place%20indicate%20setting.

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