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Volume 3 76 |
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TRADITIONAL FIGURES OF CAMBODIA, INDICATIVE OF THE POMP AND POWER OF ITS SOVEREIGN Despite the heavy drain on Treasury gold, the Khmer dancers, who belong to the harem, are maintained by the king in accordance with Cambodian tradition. The most beautiful women of the kingdom are among their numbers, for if a girl showed promise of great beauty it was thought that in giving her to the king the parents would call down divine protection upon themselves and families, so the children were sent to the palace to fulfil their "brilliant destinies" |