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As symbol of the divine feminine, Ly Keang complements Langford, and Koch makes
clear that they would make a good union. Yet fate denies them such ‘luck’. They will be
separated with the fall of Phnom Penh; Ly Keang will disappear behind the border; and
Langford will die in the Land of Dis trying to reunite himself with her. Still, Keang is joking,
as if she understands on some level of her consciousness that he is indeed the ‘Lucky One’,
who is chosen by fate to bring the wheel of fortune back round, and return the ‘good luck’ of
dharma to Cambodia and the world. Langford is necessary because Kali, the ultimate demon
destroyer, must be mollified before she in her frenzy destroys the whole world. Langford is
first the one who has luck, but becomes the one who brings luck. This is paralleled by the
buffalo boy, who is first seen as the boy who has a buffalo, but who becomes the boy who,
through his association with the flag boys, is the buffalo—the sacrificial offering.
For a better clarification of the ‘buffalo boy’ role, one must go to the ritual sacrificial
celebrations central to Hindu practice. The offerings can, and usually do, take the form of such
as pumpkins, cucumbers, gourds, the sacrificial milk carried by Kanan in Turtle Beach, or
clarified butter, products of the sacred cow, to the figure of the celebrated god or goddess, and
poured into the sacrificial fire. An animal, however, can often serve as the offering. ‘In
ancient India horses were offered to the deities’, writes Preston, but today’s sacrifices are
restricted to less expensive animals. Most common are chickens and goats, but significantly
include, at the top of the list in monetary value, buffaloes (Preston, 62). Devotees to goddesses
like Kali offer blood not because they are fierce but because they are life-giving. The
sacrificial blood offering is a necessary exchange with the gods. ‘In order to give life, they
must receive life back in the form of blood sacrifices’ (Kinsley, 146). Yet, when animal
offerings are made in celebrations to the Great Goddess in her ‘unmarried’, and therefore
dominant, form, it is because she ‘inspires tremendous fear in her people. They offer blood
sacrifice to cool her potentially destructive temper’ (Preston, 63). Only then can she bestow
the fertility, health and luck with which she is associated on her devotees. The meaning of and
motivations for the sacrificial celebrations vary, and while there is considerable opposition in
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