Long ago, when I was stumbling through the Malayan jungle in search of 'Communist terrorists' (or 'bandits', as the British colonial authorities quaintly called them), I heard a story from some other marines. One day, a young marine had left his patrol to wash in a forest stream. He suddenly found himself facing a group of Chinese guerrillas led by a slim woman with a pistol. The woman looked at the naked boy for a moment, and then lowered her gun. She said: 'My name is Lee Meng. Go and tell your comrades that we do not murder helpless men.' Then she and her companions vanished back into the trees.

LRB 23 July 2009 | PDF Download