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the chance in some small way to repay her debt of gratitude to Khun Yay Thongsuk, her first teacher. Khun Yay Chandra was the one to launder her clothes by hand and to find appropriate food for her teacher. Khun Yay never felt demoralized by her tasks and never let her repugnance for her dying teacher’s symptoms distance her from her gratitude. She would listen with patience when Khun Yay Thongsuk called out deliriously at the height of her fever. Although the doctor might have her administer medicine at certain times of the day, such as before or after meals, that was not to say that the patient would be willing to take the medicine at those times. She had to use tact and observe both the mood and the symptoms of the patient who was often reluctant to take the medicine at all. Often when Khun Yay Thongsuk saw Khun Yay Chandra pouring out the medicine, she would cry out in her fever, “I don’t want to take that medicine anymore. What’s the use of it?” Knowing that the time was not right, Khun Yay Chandra would retreat and wait compassionately for her teacher to give her the chance to relieve her of at least part of her suffering. Both knew the cancer to be terminal, but Khun Yay Chandra didn’t allow the fact to diminish the care she accorded to her teacher. Whenever the delirium abated or her patient was in better spirits, Khun Yay Chandra would be back at her side with the bottle of medicine whether by day or by night. Particularly in the olden days, cancer was a terrifying disease. There was no effective medicine against it or the terrible smell of festering tumours