The Summary and Analysis

The "Unfaithful Birds": The "unfaithful birds" were known for their beautiful song, but they were unfaithful because they resisted all efforts to be tamed. At any opportunity, they would instantly fly away. Villagers worked hard to tame these birds, but no one had succeeded.

Nhuong's cousin gave Nhuong and his sister six unfaithful birds he had taken from a nest. The cousin knew of a surefire way to make sure the birds came back every day: opium. Nhuong and his sister fetched some opium residue from a neighbor who smoked the drug. Then, like the monkeys before them, the birds were fed opium-laced water. Sure enough, though the birds would be gone all day, around six o'clock (when the birds were fed every day) they would come back to Nhuong and his sister due to their opium addiction. Nhuong and his...