NOVEL: SING TO THE DAWN

NOVEL: SING TO THE DAWN

1

Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge above the river
Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got the scholarship
Dawan felt that she would not get the scholarship because she is a girl,
instead Kwai might get the scholarship
Talked about how unfair it is that the sacks of rice stacked up beneath the
house is for the tax collector
Their parents thought that it was foolish and wasteful to send girls to school

Teacher asked students what they saw beneath their house in the morning

Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they heard that she won the
scholarship
Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the scholarship instead of him

Had a long discussion with the students about the landlord taking away sacks
of rice beneath their houses
A student spotted the headmaster heading to their class and the student
shouted "he's coming"
Teacher and student immediately pretended that they are having Geography
lessons until the headmaster went away
Teacher and student discussed what they should do if they won the
scholarship
Teacher announced that Dawan won the scholarship

Dawan told her family that she got the scholarship and that made her parents
angry. Her father was especially angry and said that she took her own
brother's chance away from him.
Dawan's grandmother however supported her
Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's house and halfway, Dawan's
mother decided to go with Dawan instead of her grandmother

Noi said that going to the city was useless

Kwai realised that Noi and Ghan do not support Dawan in going to the city

Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order not to bring Ghan to the
army

Kwai came in second in the examination

If Dawan does not go to the city, Kwai gets to go instead of her

Dawan's father didn't want her to go to the city

Kwai asked his father if he had won the scholarship, would he allow him to go
to the city
Kwai's dad thought that boys going to the city to futher his studies would be

NOVEL: SING TO THE DAWN

7

better than girls

Dawan went to the marketplace alone and met a girl that sells lotus bud and
caged sparrows
Dawan realised that the girl, Bao, was the sister of her classmate

Dawan went to see the old monk

Dawan's teacher and the old monk are good friends
Old monk does not really see why Dawan should go to the city school

Bao allowed Dawan to free a bird for free

Bao's brother, Vichai, came to the market stall and hit her because she freed
a bird for free
Kwai stopped Vichai from hitting Bao
After realising that Bao knew about what happened between Dawan and
Kwai, Kwai wanted to slap Bao
Kwai pushed Dawan away when she tried to stop Kwai, unfortunately she
landed on top of a pile of broken bird cages, injuring herself
Cousin Noi helped Dawan with her wound

10

Dawan and Kwai were at the river

Kwai was thinking about Dawan's words, about him being a bully
Dawan passed Kwai her umbrella caringly as it was raining
Kwai made a decision

11

Kwai's father heard from his teacher that he got second in the test and was
angry at Kwai for not telling him so
Father spoke to both Kwai and Dawan together
Father was very reluctant and unconvinced that Dawan should go to the city
school
After much persuasion from Dawan and Kwai, father finally allowed Dawan to
go to the city school

12

Kwai will miss Dawan once she goes to the city school, no one will be there
to watch the sunrise with him

13

At first Dawan was unsure if she wanted to leave as she will miss everything
in her village
After her grandmother talked to Dawan, she decided to go
When she was boarding the bus to go to the city, Kwai was nowhere to be
seen
Although many people in the village sent her off, she was not happy as Kwai

NOVEL: SING TO THE DAWN

was not there
During the bus journey, she saw Kwai on the bridge that they usually went to,
he was waving at her. Bidding goodbye