the opening story is set during the vietnam war. the narrator, a translator for the australian forces, recounts the story of a north vietnamese communist named thập who joins the australian forces as a spy, after the communists massacre his family. when the australian soldiers bring him to a screening of pornographic films, thập seems overwhelmed and disgusted. the narrator speculates that, as a former communist, he considers pornography immoral, and that it simultaneously reminds him of his longing for his dead wife. thập later kills an australian soldier and himself.