Prach and SathaeHuot SarithOuk Ratha

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My name is Prach. I’m in fourth grade, class A,at Raing Tor Primary School. My father worksin Phnom Penh. My mother works for a familyon the farthest edge of the village. So I staywith my grandmother most of the time.

1

Earlier this year, in December, another boybegan bullying me and taking my moneyevery day. He is a sixth grade student namedSathae. He told me not to tell anyone or hewould hurt me. I did not know what to do.

2

I felt numb. At home, I could not do thechores my mother gave me. At school, I couldnot focus on my classwork. Usually, I am quickto learn Ms. Biramo’s lessons.

3

The teacher noticed that I made a lot ofmistakes in the January exams, which wasunusual. She asked me to meet with her:’Prach, what happened to you? Why did youget almost all the questions wrong?’ sheasked me. ’Nothing is wrong, Ms. Biramo!’ Ianswered.

4

I could not tell the truth because I was afraidthat Sathae would hurt me. But Ms. Biramodid not believe me. She talked to my bestfriends Vety. Vety came to me and asked:’What’s wrong with you? The teacher askedme about you yesterday.’

5

I didn’t know how long Ms. Biramo had beenwatching me. ’Prach,’ she said, ’Vety told methat Sathae bullies you and takes your money.Tell me, is this true?’ I was shocked. I wasafraid that Sathae would hurt me, so I lied toher: ’That’s not true, Ms. Biramo!’

6

She got very angry, and she left the room. Iwatched her go up to Sathae. ’Sathae, whydo you bully Prach and take his money?’ sheasked. ’I did not do that!’ exclaimed Sathae.’If you don’t confess, I will tell the schoolprincipal to take action,’ Ms. Biramo said.

7

She looked serious. Sathae became pale, buthe still did not confess. Ms. Biramo walkedangrily toward the administrative office. Then,Sathae charged at me. His face was like amonster. I was so scared that I shouted andran to the teacher for help.

8

Sathae tightened his hand into a fist. Hewas so angry, but he did not dare hit me infront of the teacher. Ms. Biramo took us tothe principal’s office. ’Look, Sathae! Why doyou want to hurt Prach?’ the school principalasked. ’I hit him because he talked bad aboutme,’ Sathae said. ’Prach, did Sathae take yourmoney?’ the school principal asked me.

9

I could no longer hide it. I was afraid thatSathae would continue to hurt me if I did nottell the truth. ’Yes, teacher! Sathae has takenmy money every day since last December,’ Isaid. ’You’re a liar,’ Sathae said. ’I have nevertaken your money. Teacher, don’t believe him!’’If you don’t tell the truth,’ the principal said,’I will call your guardians to meet me. I amwarning you, if Prach has any injury, you’ll beheld responsible. Do you understand?’

10

The principal wrote letters to Sathae’sguardian and my mother. Ms. Biramo tookme home and gave the letters to my motherand to Sathae’s guardians, since our homesare near each other. On the way home, shewarned me not to go out, in case Sathaedecided to look for me.

11

In the morning, my mother and I went to theprincipal’s office. When we arrived, I saw Ms.Biramo, the school principal, and Sathae’steacher were waiting for us. ’Please come in,’the school principal said to my mother.

12

Soon, Sathae and his father arrived. Sathae’sface seemed more pale than usual. Mymother was startled when she saw Sathae andhis father. The principal then told everyoneabout the bullying.

13

My mother was speechless, and Sathae’sfather got very angry. He knew his son shouldnot have done those things. He asked his sonfirmly: ’Sathae! Tell me the truth. Did you dothat?’

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Sathae’s lips became pale and he stammered:’Because you gave my old exam papers to himand praised him. That’s why I did it.’ ’Thosewere your old fourth grade exams that youno longer needed,’ his father said. ’I told youraunt to give the papers to her son. She cannotread, so the papers were to help check herson’s answers.’

15

’How could I know that!’ Sathae said, ’I alwayshear you and Aunt praising Prach, saying thathe does his schoolwork well.’ ’Now you know,’said his father. ’Are you still angry at Prach?’’I’m sorry, Dad!’ Sathae said. ’I was wrong.’’No need to say you’re sorry to me,’ his fatherreplied. ’Say you’re sorry to Prach and theteachers!’

16

Sathae apologized to me and the teachers.Everyone accepted his apology becauseSathae had always been an outstandingstudent. He had never done anything wrong,before this. My mother was shocked. One boywas her son, and the other a child she hadtaken care of since he was very young.

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Seeing my mother cry, Sathae became sad.It seemed that he loved my mother. Hecomforted her, saying, ’Aunt, please stopcrying! I promise that I will stop bullyingPrach. I will take care of him in school fromnow on.’

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My mother was very happy when she heardthat. She thanked Sathae and said to me:’From now on, if you have any problems atschool, you must tell your teachers. Andwhen you get home, you must tell yourgrandmother and me. You must not hide it.You’re lucky that we were able to resolve thisproblem before it got bigger.’

19

The school principal did not have anymorequestions, but he reminded Sathae not tobully. If this happened again, the schoolwould take disciplinary action. After themeeting, Sathae’s father and my mother wenthome. Sathae and I went to our classes.

20

During the break, Sathae handed me a letter.It read: ’Prach, I’m sorry. I should not havebullied you. Actually, I still have the money Itook from you. I have not spent it. Here it is inthe envelope.’

21

When I saw my money, I was very happy. Icounted it, and it was all there. I decided tosave it. Vety was also happy because we hadnot played together for a long time. I’d like totell you more stories, but my time is finished,so I will say goodbye for now.

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Original StoryPrach and Sathae, written by Huot Sarith. Illustrations by OukRatha. Published by The Asia Foundation,https://www.letsreadasia.org © The Asia Foundation. Releasedunder CC BY 4.0.

This work is a modified version of the original story. © The AsiaFoundation, 2017. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY4.0.

For full terms of use and attribution,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/