Rice is what you eat when you have nothing and when you have everything. In one Khmer proverb, it is the “blood and sweat” of the farmer; another rice saying delivers a lesson about pride: “The immature rice stalk stands upright. The mature stalk, heavy with grains, bends over.” In other words, a willingness to bend with changing winds is a valuable trait, especially when the winds become fierce and destructive.
