..续本文上一页onth, so I rented a room in the flats owned by Phraya Phakdi in the PratuuNam (Watergate) section of town. The rent was four baht a month. Water, electricity, clothing and food would add up to another eleven baht, leaving me with an extra five baht at the end of each month.

　　My second year on the job my boss came to like and trust me so much that he raised my salary to 30 baht a month. Taking out my expenses, I was left with 15 baht a month. Finally he was so content with my work that he made me supervisor of all the workers, with a 40 baht salary, plus a cut of the profits, adding up altogether to 50 baht a month. At this point I was feeling very proud of myself, because I was making as much as the District Official back home. And as for my friends back home, I was in a position way above them all. So I decided it was time to get married so that I could take a beautiful young Bangkok bride back home for a visit, which would please my relatives no end. This was when my plans seemed to take on a little class.

　　So now that I was going to get married, what sort of person would she be

　　 I made up my mind that the woman I married would have to have the three attributes of a good wife:

　　1. She”d have to come from a good family.

　　2. She”d have to be in line for an inheritance.

　　3. She”d have to be good-looking and have a pleasing manner.

　　Only if a woman had these three attributes would I be willing to marry her. So I asked myself, "Where are you going to find a woman like this, and how will you get to know her

　　" This is where things began to get complicated. I tried thinking up all sorts of schemes, but even if I actually did meet such a woman, she wouldn”t be interested in me. The women who would be interested in me weren”t the sort I”d want to marry. Thinking about this, I”d sometimes heave a heavy sigh, but I wasn”t willing to give in.

　　Finally it occurred to me, "Wealthy people send their daughters to the high-class schools, like the Back Palace School or Mrs. Cole”s. Why don”t I go have a look around these schools in the morning before classes and in the evening when school lets out

　　"

　　So that”s what I did, until I noticed an attractive girl, the daughter of a Phraya. The way she walked and the way she dressed really appealed to me. I arranged so that our paths crossed every day. In my hand I carried a little note that I threw down in front of her. The first time, she didn”t pay me any attention. Day after day our paths crossed. Sometimes our eyes would meet, sometimes I”d stand in her way, sometimes she”d smile at me. When this happened, I made it a point to have her get my note.

　　Finally we got to know each other. I made a date for her to skip school the next day so that I could show her around town. As time passed we came to know each other, to like each other, to love each other. We told each other our life stories — the things that had made us happy and the things that had made us sad — from the very beginning up to the present. I had a salaried job at no less than 50 baht a month. She had finished the sixth year of secondary school and was the daughter of a very wealthy Phraya. Her looks, her manner and her conduct were everything I had been hoping for.

　　Finally we agreed to become married secretly. Since we loved each other, I got to sleep with her beforehand. She was a good person, so before we were to be officially married, she told her parents. Furious, they threw her out of the house.

　　So she came to live with me as my wife. I wasn”t too upset by what her parents had done, for I was determined to work my way into their affections.

　　We went to rent a flat in a better district, the Sra Pathum Watergate area. The rent here was six baht a month. My wife got a job at the same company where I was working, starting out at 20 baht…

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