Sing to the Dawn

“Sing to the Dawn” is a short story by Minfong Ho, later expanded into a novel. The original story was awarded first prize by the Council of Interracial Books for Children, and the novel was adapted into a musical stage production.

The story begins with Dawan, a young girl living in a rural village in Thailand, who wakes up very early in the morning. She sneaks out of the house to enjoy the morning air and finds her brother, Kwai, sitting on the nearby bridge. The siblings sit and talk about the upcoming announcement of an academic scholarship which will enable a student from the village to go to school in the city. Dawan asks Kwai what he will do if he wins the scholarship. She does not believe she will get the scholarship because she is a girl. When they return home, they see bags of rice stacked up against the house, intended as payment of the family’s tax, and Dawan remarks how unfair it is. When Dawan asks her parents about the scholarship, they tell her it is a waste of time to send girls to school.

At school, Dawan’s teacher is more interested in conversing with the students than teaching. They discuss the landlords taking away rice from the families until the headmaster arrives, prompting the teacher to pretend to teach a class until he leaves. She then asks Dawan what she would do if she won the scholarship. Dawan doesn’t know, and is shocked when the teacher announces that in fact Dawan has won it.



The other students all gather around Dawan and cheer, except Kwai, who is upset. Kwai has come in second to his sister, and believes he should have won. They go home and Dawan tells her parents that she has won the scholarship. Instead of being excited for her, their father is angry, and tells Dawan that she has stolen the scholarship from her own brother. Only Dawan’s grandmother is supportive, and she suggests they talk to her cousin Noi and ask her to help change Dawan’s father’s mind. Dawan’s mother decides to take Dawan to see Noi.

Noi and her husband Ghan, however, are not supportive. Noi tells Dawan that the city is no place for a young girl. Ghan is accosted by an army officer who demands bribes to ensure that Ghan is not drafted into the army. Dawan contemplates the unfairness of society and wishes to understand better in order to create a better world. Her mother advises her to accept her lot in life, but Dawan does not believe she can.

Walking home, Dawan sees Kwai following and lets her mother go on alone. Kwai tells Dawan that if she turns down the scholarship he will get it, and urges her to do so, telling her that she is not cut out for it. Dawan refuses, knowing that their father will send Kwai to school not matter what but that this is her only chance, and for a moment their relationship seems doomed. But Kwai relents, and they make a joke and are friends again. Kwai does not tell their father about being in second place in order to protect Dawan’s chance.



At dinner, Dawan’s father remains convinced that educating a girl is pointless. Dawan tries to think of someone who her father would listen to, and thinks of the old monk at the village temple. She goes to the market to purchase a tribute for the monk. A peddler named Bao gives her a lotus bud and refuses payment for it; Dawan likes her and tells her about her quest. Dawan reveals that Kwai was the one who talked her father into letting her attend school at all, and Bao reveals that her own brother is more like Dawan’s father, and would never allow her to go to school. Bao warns Dawan that the old monk rarely takes sides in anything.

The old monk already knows that Dawan won the scholarship and that Kwai came in second. Dawan asks him to speak with her father. The monk, however, argues that since all mortal life comes to nothing, it is not worth pursuing her goals, and urges her to find everything she needs in the temple. Dawan leaves, angry. Back at the market, Bao sees that Dawan is upset and allows her to set a sparrow free from its cage. Bao’s brother Vichai comes and beats her for setting a valuable bird free. Bao begins setting all the birds free, enraging her brother, who is restrained by Kwai. When Kwai realizes that Bao knows about his situation, he moves to beat her as well, but Dawan restrains him, getting injured in the process. She tells Kwai his pretensions of helping the needy are false since he won’t help her. Noi arrives to help Dawan tend her wounds.

Returning home, Dawan sees Kwai sitting by the river, struggling with his desire for the scholarship and his belief that Dawan should get to go. At home, their father has learned that Kwai came in second, and is furious. They argue, and Kwai tells their father that he will not steal Dawan’s chance, and will refuse the scholarship even if Dawan is forced to turn it down. Her father is finally convinced, and tells Dawan she can take the scholarship.



The next morning, Kwai is very upset and tells Dawan life will not be the same when she leaves. Dawan begs him to keep singing their song every morning. The next day when Dawan leaves for school in the city, the village turns out to see her off, and even her father wishes her well, but Kwai is not there and Dawan is sad. As the bus drives by the bridge, however, Kwai is there, singing to her. She joins him and heads off.