"Man and Woman - and a handful of rice" - depicts a man named Pó Chai and his wife Mé Ying in Siam/Thailand. Newlyweds they go out into the jungle to settle there and grow their rice. They have a dog, a goat and two monkeys with them. But accidents affects them. A tiger kills the goat. They kill the tiger and sell the fur but one of the monkeys throws the money into the fire. To this is adds the drought that threatens to burn away the fresh rice. Pó Chai goes to the big teak forests where he gets work as an elephant rider. The pay is good and he wants to take his wife there. But then comes the long-awaited rain. The rice fields at home begins to green and Pó Chai rushes home to his wife. Now they can hope for a better future.