The Red Miriok

A missionary family and a youthful visitor organize a sampan journey inland and engage a local boatman who carries a small red miriok charm he believes protects against spirits. Their trip unfolds through a sequence of incidents — a hasty desertion, a recovered lost person, a stowaway, an appearance before a magistrate, personal entreaties and the boatman’s backstory — and includes theft, an interrupted ritual sacrifice, and ethical challenges. These episodes probe the clash between old beliefs and new influences and conclude with a pivotal human decision that alters loyalties and conscience for at least one individual.