The Concubine's Daughter

her third birthday—the most important day of her life, when her soul has entered her body and she is accepted into the house of her ancestors as a human being

own sorrow for one who had faced an uncaring world with nothing but his strength and his courage to sustain him

happiness. To kill another is the end of freedom… . Sometimes it is the loser that wins.

is the heaviest of all burdens and leaves no place for happiness

That which the eye can see should not trouble you. It is what you cannot see that you should fear.

The day begins at the hour of three, when the moon has reached its zenith, when body, spirit, and soul are open to all things

another’s life and honor

even buy and sell another

“I keep my own counsel on matters of my value—not in the eyes of others but in my own. But you are right, money and power can change the world of others …

had no right to possess me. I do not believe that money and power can buy a human life.”