“Things are best that way, Deoga. Forgetting, not remembering. You Farangs become encumbered with your past. The past drives you mad. It keeps you from acting sensibly. ”

“When you dance, sister, you feel in your heart the blessing of the Goddess, her peace, her kindness. But when you are with him, then the power of the Goddess is in your heart, crashing through you. The Goddess is no thing of stone. The Goddess is breath, desire, despair. She is the green of the brushing leaf, the baby's cry, the lovers bite, the fragrance of the rose. You feel the Goddess moving through you. ”

“You can't trust even thieves these days.”

“You are closer to me than my breath,”

“I think we were very foolish, you and I. ”

“It's one thing to be helpless as one tries to lace a corset or to mount an elephant, quite another to be helpless as a bandit pushes a black steel knife against the flesh of your throat while his brother comes to join him.”

“I do not dream anymore, nor do I sleep. My days are empty, my nights endless. My only thought is of her, this murderer. But despite what you say, she brings me life. ”