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Fables and Folk-Tales
from an Eastern Forest.
EonUon: C J. CLAY and SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE. 50, WELLINGTON STREET.
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1Uip>ifl: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
#tto $orfe: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Bomtias: E. SEYMOUR HALE.
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l\t rhe University Press. 190 1
Fables &» Folk-Tales
from an Eastern Forest
Collected and Translated by
Walter Skeat, M.A., M.R.A.S., F.A.I.,
Sometime Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge,
late of the Federated Malay States Service,
Author of " Malay Magic."
Illustrated by F. H. Townsend.
Cambridge :
At the University Press.
1901
Cambtftigt :
PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
To
my Friend and Fellow-worker
RICHARD JAMES WILKINSON.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. Father Lime-stick and the Flower-pecker
II. The King of the Tigers is sick .
III. The Mouse-deer's shipwreck
IV. Who killed the Otter's Babies? (A 'clock
story)
V. A Vegetarian Dispute ....
VI. The Friendship of Tupai the Squirrel and
Ruan the Creeping Fish
VII. The Pelican's Punishment .
VIII. The Tiger gets his deserts .
IX. The Tiger's mistake ....
X. The Tune that makes the Tiger drowsy
XI. The "Tigers' Fold" ....
XII. The Tiger and the Shadow
XIII. Wit wins the day ....
XIV. The King- crow and the Water-snail .
XV. Father ' Follow-my-nose ' and the Four Priests 3 6
XVI. The Elephant-Princess and the Prince . 38
XVII. The Elephant has a bet with the Tiger . 41 s. vii b
PAGE I
3 5
9
13
16 18
20
22
24 26 28
30 33
Table of Contents
XVIII. Princess Sadong of the Caves
XIX. The Saint that was shot out of his own Cannon
XX. The Saints whose Grave-stones moved
XXI. Nakhoda Ragam who was pricked to death
by his wife's needle
XXII. The Legend of Patani
XXIII. A Malayan Deluge
XXIV. King Solomon and the Birds
XXV. The Outwitting of the Gedembai
XXVI. The Silver Prince, and Princess Lemon-grass
PAGE
49
5* 54
57 59 6a
64 67 7i
Notes Index
73 87
Vlll
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
I. Rice-fields at the foot of Bukit Perak or Perak
(i.e. Silver) Mountain, in the interior of Kedah, Malay Peninsula . . Frontispiece
TO FACE PAGE
II. "But presently he dragged the Shark up on
to the dry beach, and made butcher's-meat
of him " 6
III. "Presently the Otter returned home," ... and
" saw that his children had been killed " . 10
IV. " And presently he looked out and bit through
the stalk of the coconut so that it fell into
the river" 16
V. "On reaching the trap, he requested the Tiger
to ' Step inside '" ao
VI. " Rlmau being startled leaped backwards and
fell into the river, where he was himself devoured by the Crocodile according to his compact" %%
VII. "On hearing this, the Tiger sprang into the
river to attack his own shadow, and was drowned immediately" . . . .28
ix
List of Illustrations
TO FACE PAGE
VIII. "The Bull of the Young Bush was slain by the Bull of the Clearing, the Mouse-deer sitting upon an ant-hill to excite them to the combat" 30
IX. "And Friend Elephant writhed and wriggled
and made believe to be hurt, and made a prodigious noise of trumpeting" . . 46
X. Map of Malay Peninsula ... 86
N.B. The Tail-pieces represent respectively Small Lizards, the Tiger, Mouse-deer, Otter, Tortoise, Monitor Lizard, Wild Bull, Monkey, and Elephant.
INTRODUCTION.
THE Tales contained in this little volume were taken down from the lips of the Malay peasantry, in the twilight of their own tropical jungle, during the progress of the Cambridge Ex- pedition of 1899 through the remoter States of the Malay Peninsula. The tales themselves, as will be obvious to the reader, are the merest gleanings from an extensive harvest-field, and make no pretensions whatever to any completeness or finality. For the most part, indeed, the book is an experiment, the object of which is to ascertain to what extent the native " Soother-of-care " (as the village story-teller is designated by his Malayan audience) may tell his tale in words of his own choosing, without alienating the interest of the Western reader.
To save the translation from becoming too slavishly literal and (consequently) unreadable, the natural luxuriance of Oriental phraseology has been
Introduction
kept within limits, but otherwise the originals have been closely adhered to, and the fine art of em- bellishment has been disregarded. If something has been lost through an occasional want of conformity with Western ideas, it is hoped that much will also be gained in point and quaintness through the more faithful preservation of the original expressions.
The hero of these tales is a small chevrotain which is to be found in almost every part of the jungles of Malaya. It is commonly called the Malayan Mouse-deer ; but in spite of its name it belongs rather to the antelope tribe, the heel-bone (os calcis) of its hinder leg projecting in a fashion which I believe is never seen in the true deer. Its eye-teeth, too, are curiously long and projecting, and its hoofs are cloven to an extent which in so small a creature is really remarkable. At the same time it is a most beautiful little animal, with big dark pleading eyes and all the grace and elegance of a gazelle. It is a favourite character in Malayan folk-tales, in which it is credited with such inex- haustible powers of resource and mother-wit that it is often given the name of "Ment'ri B'lukar," the "Vizier of the Underwood" (or "Brush"). No difficulties are too great for it to overcome ; no
Introduction
perils can daunt it; even the savage lords of Forest-glade and River-pool suffer contumelious defeat when ' Friend ' Mouse-deer is their adversary. In fact, the place occupied by the Mouse-deer in Malayan Folk-lore is exactly analogous to the place occupied by Reynard the Fox in the folk-tales of Europe, and by Brer Rabbit in the immortal cycle of tales which take their name from 'Uncle Remus.'
Here, however, it is perhaps worth noting that although the Mouse-deer as a master of ' slimness ' is given the preeminent place among all the beasts of the field, its mantle is sometimes temporarily permitted to fall upon the shoulders of other and quite different members of the animal creation. Hence we find in the 14th story, that the King- crow is worsted by a Water-snail, and I may add that in a Javanese fable of the same type (for which compare our own 'Hare-and-Tortoise' Fable) the Mouse-deer itself plays the part of the deceived, instead of that of the deceiver.
But the subject of the mutual relations of the Beasts in Malayan Fable is one which has yet to be worked out, and which lies unfortunately far beyond the bounds of the present disquisition.
The other animals here introduced to the reader,
xiii
Introduction
for the most part resemble their Indian relatives and require little or no further description from the writer, with the possible exception of the "Wild Bull " which is the Bos gaurus or " Gaur " of India ; rather than Bos sondaicus which is said to have been once or twice reported from the same region.
In making the illustrations which appear in this book, the artist has taken infinite pains for which I should like to take this occasion to thank him ; he has certainly made the best of such somewhat scanty material as was available. With a few occasional exceptions, no serious attempt has been made to analyse the stories here given, or to trace their sources1. It was felt that to do so would be only to break a butterfly upon a wheel ; and the writer prefers that this little book should be to others what it is to him, a delightful memorial of a most fasci- nating country and people.
W. S.
1 In addition however to a few references given in the notes, I may perhaps mention, for the benefit of local readers, the Malay versions of the " Hikayat P'landok Jinaka" ed. H. C. Klinkert (Leyden, 1885), and the " Sha ir P'landok" (both of which are lithographed).
FABLES AND FOLK TALES.
FATHER 'LIME-STICK' AND THE FLOWER-PECKER.
OLD Father Lime-stick once limed a tree for birds and caught a Flower-pecker (a small bird about as big as one's thumb). He was just about to kill and eat it when the bird cried out, " O Grand- father, surely you are not going to eat me ? Why, flesh, feathers and all, I am no bigger than your thumb!" "What?" said the old man, "do you expect me then to let you go ? " " Yes," said the bird, " only let me go, and I will fetch you such a talisman as never was — a Bezoar-stone as big as a coconut and worth at least a thousand." Said the old man, " Do you really mean it ? " " Really, I do," replied the bird. "Just let me go, and I'll bring it to you." Then (on being released) he s. I I
Fables and Folk Tales
flew off and perched on a tree, and began to preen his feathers, to get rid of the bird-lime. And presently the old man said, " Where has that bird got to ? Bird, where is the Bezoar-stone you promised to bring me, the one that was worth at least a thousand ? " "Out-on-you," was the reply, 11 this is really too ridiculous. Just think of me, with my body as big as your thumb, carrying a Bezoar-stone as big as a coconut ! It really is too absurd. Why, have I even got the strength to lift it?" At this the old man held his peace. " Well," continued the bird, " you will gain nothing by repenting that you set me free. Only remember in future not to undertake an affair quite out of keeping with your own powers. Neither try to get your arms round a tree too big for your embrace, nor attempt to climb one higher than your strength permits you."
*^
from an Eastern Forest
THE KING OF THE TIGERS IS SICK.
WHEN the Great King of All the Tigers was sick, the Tiger-Crown-Prince made obeisance and said, " If my Lord will taste of the flesh of every beast of the field peradventure my Lord may recover." So the Great King commanded the Crown-Prince to summon every kind of beast into his presence, and as they appeared the King ate of them. Only the Mouse-deer, who was like- wise summoned, refused to appear.
Therefore the great King's wrath was kindled against the Mouse-deer and in the end he too was fain to appear. And when he appeared he was questioned by the King. "Why did you not attend at the first when we had summoned hither every kind of beast that lives in the field ? " The Mouse- deer replied, " Your slave could not approach your Majesty because of a dream of certain medicine
3
Fables and Folk Tales
that would make your Majesty well." The King replied, "What medicine was this of which you dreamed?" "Your slave dreamed that the only remedy for your Majesty's sickness was for your Majesty to seize and devour That which is Nearest your Majesty."
Immediately on hearing this the Great King of the Tigers seized the Prince of the Tigers and devoured him also. And straightway the King was cured, and the Mouse-deer himself became Crown-Prince in turn.
from an Eastern Forest
THE MOUSE-DEER'S SHIPWRECK.
" /^OME," said the Mouse-deer to the Stump- ^— ' tailed Heron, "come and sail with me to Java." So they set sail, and Friend Mouse-deer held the tiller and Friend Heron spread the sail. And the wind blew from the North. Soon however Friend Mouse-deer got drowsy, and let the boat fall out of the wind.
At this Friend Heron said, "Why does the boat fall off? How is your helm, Friend Mouse-deer?" " I was only taking a few winks," said he. "Bring her up to the wind again," said the Heron. And the Mouse-deer replied, "All right. I'm 'on the spot,' " (said he). Presently however he dozed again, and the Heron exclaimed, "Oh, if that's to be it, you may die and be done with. I'll peck a hole in this boat of ours and you'll go to the bottom."
Fables and Folk Tales
But the Mouse-deer said, "Please don't, I'm such a bad hand at swimming." So they sailed on. And the Mouse-deer dozed a third time. At this the Heron could contain himself no longer, and said, "Confound you, Friend Mouse- deer, for sleeping at the helm." And losing his temper he pecked a hole in the boat, and the boat let in the water and Friend Heron flew away. But the Mouse-deer swam struggling with his feet in the midst of the sea.
Presently there came up a young Shark who exclaimed, " I'll have a meal off" you this time at all events." But the Mouse-deer answered, " What, Friend Shark, you'll make a meal off me ? why, in place of the little flesh I've got, if you'll carry me ashore, I'll teach you some excellent Magic which will save you from ever having to hunt for your food again." To this the Shark replied, " Agreed. If you'll teach me your ' excellent Magic ' I'll carry you ashore." So the Mouse-deer got upon Friend Shark's back, and was carried straight ashore.
And on their arrival the Mouse-deer said, "Wait here a bit, while I go and get the simples." 6
II. "But presently he dragged the Shark up on to the dry beach, and made butcher's-meat of him."
from an Eastern Forest
And going aland he hunted up a rattan (cane) creeper and took it back with him and said, " Now I'll give you the simples I spoke of," and bound it fast to Friend Shark's tail. And presently the Shark said, u Why have you made the line fast to my tail ? " But the Mouse-deer replied, " Keep quite quiet till I have tied you up properly, and then I'll give you the simples." But presently he dragged the Shark up on to the dry beach, and made butcher 's-meat of him. Just then however a Tiger came up, exclaiming, " Here's really a good meal for Me, for once in a way!" To this, however, the Mouse-deer replied, " What is the use of eating me, when there's already plenty of butcher's-meat and to spare ? " " Very well, I'll share it with you," said the Tiger. The Mouse-deer replied, " You may share it with me by all means, if you will only go and get some water to do the cooking." So the Tiger went off to get water and presently came back with it.
"Wash the meat before you roast it," said the Mouse-deer. The Tiger took the meat and washed it in the water. "Go and fetch fire and roast it," said the Mouse-deer. The Tiger fetched
7
Fables and Folk Tales
fire and came back to do the cooking. And when the meat was done, " Now go and fetch some drinking water," said the Mouse-deer, "and we'll have our meal together." So the Tiger went off" again to fetch the drinking water. But the Mouse-deer in the meantime made off with the Shark's meat and climbed up with it to the top of a She-oak Tree. And presently the Tiger came back and found both Mouse-deer and meat missing. At this he exclaimed, "For once in a way, Mr Mouse-deer, you've fairly cheated Me ; if we don't meet again no matter, but if we do, I'll be the death of you." And here the story ends.
from an Eastern Forest
WHO KILLED THE OTTER'S BABIES? (A 'CLOCK' STORY.)
/~~P*HE Otter said to the Mouse-deer, "Friend -*■ Mouse-deer, will you be so good as to take charge of the children till I come back ? I am going down to the river to catch fish, and when I come back I'll share the takings with you. The Mouse- deer replied, "Very well ! go along, and I'll look after the children." So the Otter went down to the river to catch fish.
(Here the story of What the Otter did stops and the story of What happened when the Woodpecker sounded the war-gong commences.) The Mouse- deer was Chief Dancer of the War-dance, and as he danced, he trod on the Otter's Babies and crushed them flat. Presently the Otter returned home, bring- ing a string of fish with him. On arriving he saw that his children had been killed, and exclaimed, "How comes it, Friend Mouse-deer, that my Babies s. 9 2
Fables and Folk Tales
have died ? " The Mouse-deer replied, "The Wood- pecker came and sounded the war-gong, and I, being Chief War-Dancer, danced ; and forgetting about your children I trod upon them and crushed them flat."
On hearing this the Otter went and made com- plaint unto King Solomon, prostrating himself and saying, " Your Majesty's most humble slave craves pardon for presuming to address your Majesty, but Friend Mouse-deer has murdered your slave's children, and your slave desires to learn whether he is guilty or not according to the Law of the Land." King Solomon replied, saying, "If the Mouse-deer hath done this thing wittingly, assuredly he is guilty of death." Then he summoned the Mouse-deer before him.
And when the Mouse-deer came into the presence of the King, the King enquired of the Otter, " What is your charge against him ? " The Otter replied, " Your slave accuses him of the mur- der of your slave's children; your slave would hear the Law of the Land." Then the King said unto the Mouse-deer, "Was it your doing that the Otter's ch'ldren were killed ? " The Mouse-deer replied,
III. "Presently the Otter returned home," . . . and "saw that his children had been killed."
from an Eastern Forest
" Assuredly it was, but I crave pardon for doing so." " How was it then," said the King, "that you came to kill them ? " The Mouse-deer replied, " Your slave came to kill them because the Woodpecker appeared and sounded the war-gong. Your slave, as your Majesty is aware, is Chief Dancer of the War-dance, therefore your slave danced, and forgetting about the Otter's children, your slave trod upon them and crushed them flat." Here the King sent for the Woodpecker also, and the Woodpecker came before him. "Was it you, Woodpecker," said the King, "who sounded the war-gong?" "Assuredly it was," said the Woodpecker, — " forasmuch as your slave saw the Great Lizard wearing his sword." The King replied, "If that is the case, there is no fault to be found in the Woodpecker " (for the Wood- pecker was Chief Beater of the War-gong). Then the King commanded the Great Lizard to be summoned, and when he arrived, the King enquired, " Was it you, Lizard, who were wearing your sword?" The Great Lizard replied, "Assuredly it was, your Majesty." " And why were you wear- ing your sword ? " The Great Lizard replied, ii
Fables and Folk Tales
" Your slave wore it forasmuch as your slave saw that the Tortoise had donned his coat of mail."
So the Tortoise was summoned likewise. "Whv
j
did you, Tortoise, don your coat of mail ? " The Tortoise replied, " Your slave donned it forasmuch as your slave saw the King-crab trailing his three- edged pike." Then the King-crab was sent for. " Why were you, King-crab, trailing your three- edged pike?" "Because your slave saw that the Crayfish had shouldered his lance." Then the King sent for the Crayfish and said, " Was it you, Crayfish, who were shouldering your lance ? " And the Crayfish replied, "Assuredly it was, your Majesty." "And why did you shoulder it?" "Because your slave saw the Otter coming down to devour your slave's own children." " Oh," said King Solomon, "if that is the case, you, Otter, are the guilty party and your complaint of your children's death cannot be sustained against the Mouse-deer by the Law of the Land."
12
from an Eastern Forest
A VEGETARIAN DISPUTE.
/'"NNCE upon a time Jagong the Maize-plant ^-, made boast, and said, " If Rice should cease to exist, I alone should suffice to sustain Man- kind." But Dagun the Liane and Gadong the Jungle Yam each made a like boast, and as the parties could not agree, the case was brought before King Solomon. Said Solomon, " All three of you are perfectly right, albeit it were perhaps better that Jagong should sustain Mankind because of his comrade-ship with Kachang the Bean." Thereat the wrath of Dagun the Liane and Gadong the Yam waxed hot against Jagong, and they went off together to hunt for a fruit-spike of the Jungle Fig-tree, whereon to impale him, but found none. And meanwhile Jagong hearing news of their quest, set to work to find Arrow-poison. And when he had
13
Fables and Folk Tales
found it he poisoned Gadong therewith (wherefore to this day the Jungle Yam has narcotic properties). Then Gadong the Yam being wroth thereat speared Jagong in turn (wherefore to this day the cobs of Maize are perforated). And Jagong reaching out in turn seized the pointed shoot of a lWilang' stem and wounded Dagun therewith.
At this juncture the parties to the quarrel went before the Prophet Elias, who said, "This matter is too great for me, take ye it before Solomon." And Solomon said, " Let them fight it out between them, that the rage of their hearts may be appeased." Wherefore there was battle between them for twice seven days. Now Mata Lembu the c Ox-eye ' Tree stood nigh to watch the battle, and its skin was grazed by bullets (whereof its bark still shows the scars). But the c Perachak ' Shrub on the other hand was filled with fear, and instead of drawing nearer, in order to see the battle, it stood upon tiptoe (wherefore it still grows long and lanky). But 'Andram' the sedge was the most afraid and ran to a place afar ofF, but as it still heard the noise of battle it plunged into the river (wherefore to this day it grows over the surface of water).
14
\
from an Eastern Forest
And when the twice seven days were ended, the battle being still undecided, the combatants were parted, and a space was set between them by Solomon. And Gadong the Yam made he to sit down, and Dagun the Liane to lie down. But Jagong the Maize-plant and Kachang the Bean he made to stand together.
*5
Fables and Folk Tales
THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE SQUIRREL AND THE CREEPING FISH.
I |*ROM the beginning Tupai the Squirrel and •*■ Ruan the Creeping Fish were ever close and faithful friends. And one day Tupai 's wife fell sick and Tupai enquired of the Medicine-man what medicine he should give her, and the Medicine-man prescribed the egg of a fowl. But Tupai could not by any means obtain it. Therefore he told Ruan the Fish of his trouble, and Ruan promised to help him, if he had to die for it. Next morning therefore Ruan swam into a bamboo water-tube which a woman was filling in the river and was carried back inside it to the house, where it was left leaning against the house-wall close to the roosting- place of the fowls. And at evening Ruan crept out of the tube and taking into his mouth an egg out of a hen's nest carried it back with him into the tube again. Next morning the woman once more took the water-tube down to the river to fill it. 16
IV. "And presently he looked out and bit through the stalk of the coconut so that it fell into the river."
from an -Eastern Forest
Then Riian swam out of the tube into the river again and brought the egg rejoicing to his friend Tupai. And the Squirrel's wife on receiving the egg immediately recovered.
Another day Ruan's wife fell ill and the Medicine-man prescribed the heart of a crocodile, but Ruan likewise had no means of obtaining it. Therefore Tupai the Squirrel bit a hole in a coconut growing on a palm which overhung the river and crept inside it. And presently he looked out and bit through the stalk of the coconut so that it fell into the river and was swallowed by a crocodile, Tupai himself lying coiled inside it. And presently he crept out of the coconut into the crocodile's stomach, and bit out its heart. And the crocodile struggled greatly till it came to the shore and died there. Then the Squirrel crept out of the crocodile's jaws and gave the heart to Ruan the Fish. And Ruan's wife recovered im- mediately also.
0-
17
Fables and Folk Tales
THE PELICAN'S PUNISHMENT
TNDAN the Pelican being hungry told Ruan
*-"' the Fish that his pool would shortly dry up,
and offered to carry himself or any members of
his family to another pool to see how they
liked it.
To this Ruan agreed; and Undan carried him over to the pool and back again as stipulated, and the fish liking it informed all his relatives.
Then Undan carried the fish back again to the new pool and returned to fetch the rest of his family. But instead of putting them into the pool, Undan sat in a tree and ate the fish till his droppings reached to the lower branches.
By this time there were no more fish to be 18
from an Eastern Forest
eaten and Undan commenced in like manner to cheat the family of Ketam the Crab. But as soon as ever Ketam caught sight of the droppings he saw through the trick and pinched Undan 's neck so that he died.
*^
19
Fables and Folk Tales
THE TIGER GETS HIS DESERTS.
A TIGER which had been caught in a trap ■**• seeing a man, begged to be released. The man said to the Tiger, " If I let you out of the trap will you promise not to attack me?" "Certainly," said the Tiger, and the man therefore let the Tiger go, but the moment the Tiger was loose it sprang upon the man and caught him. At this the man begged the Tiger to wait until he had enquired how the law stood with reference to their contract, and the Tiger agreed to do so. The man and the Tiger therefore set out together ; and on coming to a Road the man said, " O Road, Road, is it lawful to requite evil for good, or good for good only ? " The Road replied, "I do good to mankind, but they requite me with evil, defiling (my surface) as they go." Then they came to a Tree, of which the man asked the same question. The Tree replied, 20
V. "On reaching the trap, he requested the Tiger to 'Step inside'
from an Eastern Forest
"I do good to mankind, but they requite me with evil, lopping off my branches and cutting me down." At the last they came to the Mouse-deer and the man made the same enquiry as before. The Mouse-deer replied, "I must really go into the question thoroughly before I answer it; let us go back together to the trap." On reaching the trap, he requested the Tiger to "Step inside," and the Tiger entering the trap, the Mouse-deer let down the door of the trap, and exclaimed, "Accursed Brute, you have returned evil for good and now you shall die for it." He then called in the neighbours and had the Tiger killed.
21
Fables and Folk Tales
THE TIGER'S MISTAKE.
A MAN was taking his little boy home through ***• the jungle near the headwaters of the Lebih River in the interior of Kelantan, when they were overtaken by night. The boy was frightened and said to his father, "Father, I am so frightened, let me sleep in the middle." The father replied, "How can you sleep in the middle seeing there are but two of us?" Nevertheless the boy replied, "Father, I must sleep in the middle " ; and the father to pacify him took the boy's head in his lap, and they went to sleep together on the bank of the river. Now Rimau the Tiger came that way and beheld a man with four arms and four legs and only a single head. Rimau was astonished at this, and went to Buaya the Old Crocodile in the bight and said, "Friend Buaya, there is a human being asleep on the bank who has four arms and four legs and only a single 22
i If: * ^ ft t ,; ^i
f
VI. " RImau being startled leaped backwards and fell into the river, where he was himself devoured by the Crocodile according to his compact."
from an Eastern Forest
head." At this old Buaya laughed consumedly and said, u What nonsense is this ? Go and snuff round about the body and you will soon find it has two heads rather than one. Whatever you seize shall be your portion, but whatever plunges into the river (to escape) shall be mine."
So Rlmau went back to snuff round the body, and as he was snuffing his whiskers tickled the man's nostrils and the man sneezed very violently. And at this Rlmau being startled leaped backwards and fell into the river, where he was himself devoured by the Crocodile according to his compact.
23
Fables and Folk Tales
THE TUNE THAT MAKES THE TIGER DROWSY.
THERE is a tune which when played upon the "Kgrotong" (a two-stringed bamboo harp) makes Rimau the Tiger drowsy, but only a few old people know it. One evening two men were sitting together and playing in a hut in the jungle when two tigers overheard them.
The tigers took counsel together, and one of them said to the other, "You shall be the first to go into the house ; Whatever you seize shall there- fore be your portion, but Whatever plunges down the steps (to escape) shall be mine." At this the second tiger ascended the house-ladder and was just crouching upon the topmost rung when one of the men to amuse himself commenced to play the 24
from an Eastern Forest
Tune that makes the Tiger Drowsy. As soon as the Tiger heard it he began to grow sleepy, and presently fell plump down the steps to the ground, where he was seized by his companion. And when he objected, his companion exclaimed, "Did we not agree that Whatever plunged down the steps was to be my portion?" and proceeded to devour him at his leisure.
**K
s. 25
Fables and Folk Tales
THE "TIGERS' FOLD."
'Tr^HERE is a place called Ulu Setiu' in the ■*■ country of Trengganu, where the Tigers are penned in a fold called "Kandang Balok." Within this Fold there are two lakes or ponds. By swim- ming through one of these ponds (on setting out for a journey) the Tigers turn themselves into men, and by swimming through the other (on their return) they change themselves back into Tigers1. For within the Fold itself the Tigers always retain the shape of beasts, with the exception of the Tiger- chief who always appears in the form of a man. It is this Chief whom men call by the name of The 'Tiger Devil ' or 'Tiger Demon2' and who enters
1 According to some accounts of the Malays the Tigers have a regular form of Government and a town of their own, the houses of which have their framework made of human bones and are thatched with women's hair.
2 " Pong Mor " or Hantu Belian.
\ 26
from an Eastern Forest
into the bodies of sorcerers when they invoke the Tiger Spirit. A sorcerer in a trance was once in former days seized by this Tiger-chief, who slung him across his shoulder and carried him off to the Tigers' Fold. On reaching the Fold, however, the Tiger-chief kept the sorcerer for safety in his own house, which was built upon four posts of extra- ordinary height. From this position the sorcerer beheld the baffled herd of hungry tigers who prowled around the posts of the house when they smelt the smell of a man, although they did not dare to attack it for fear of their Chief. For seven days and seven nights the sorcerer was thus imprisoned, but he then succeeded in making his escape, and on returning to his family he related all that he had seen and heard in the Fold of the Tigers.
27
Fables and Folk Tales
THE TIGER AND THE SHADOW.
HT^HERE was a "salt-lick" in the jungle to -*■ which all the beasts of the forest resorted, but they were greatly afraid by reason of an old Tiger which killed one of them every day. At length, therefore, P'lando' the Mouse-deer said to the Tiger, "Why not permit me to bring you a beast every day, to save you from hunting for your food ? " The Tiger consented and P'lando' went off to make arrangement with the beasts. But he could not persuade any of them to go, and after three days he set off, taking nobody with him but Kuwis the smallest of the Flying Squirrels. On their arrival P'lando' said to the Tiger, "I could not bring you any of the other beasts because the way was blocked by a fat old Tiger with a Flying Squirrel sitting astride its muzzle." On hearing this the Tiger exclaimed, "Let us go and find it and drive it 28
~~i~. h Wv*.u^jj
VII. "On hearing this, the Tiger sprang into the river to attack his own shadow, and was drowned immediately."
from an Eastern Forest
away." The three therefore set out, the Flying Squirrel perched upon the Tiger's muzzle and the Mouse-deer sitting astride upon its hind quarters. On reaching the river, the Mouse-deer pointed to the Tiger's likeness in the water and exclaimed, "Look there! That is the fat old Tiger that I saw." On hearing this, the Tiger sprang into the river to attack his own shadow, and was drowned immediately.
29
Fables and Folk Tales
WIT WINS THE DAY.
"P'LANDO' the Mouse-deer went to look for ■*- the Wild Bull of the . Clearing 1 and said to him, "The Bull of the Young Bush is ex- ceedingly wroth against you, and is using most foul and opprobrious language." Then he went to the Wild Bull of the Young Bush2, and said to him likewise, "The Bull of the Clearing is saying all manner of insulting things about you." (For he wanted to set them on to fight together.)
Next day they each set out and met upon the boundary between the Cleared Land and the Young Bush. And when they charged down upon each other, the Bull of the Young Bush was slain by the Bull of the Clearing, the Mouse-deer sitting upon an ant-hill to excite them to the combat.
1 Seladang ChSrang.
2 Seladang B'lukar.
30
VIII. "The Bull of the Young Bush was slain by the Bull of the Clearing, the Mouse-deer sitting upon an ant-hill to excite them to the combat."
from an Eastern Forest
But during the battle the white ants extended their burrows into the Mouse-deer's back as he sat on the ant-hill, so that he could not get up again. Therefore he said to the survivor, "If you have the strength, Friend Bull, do me the favour to scatter this ant-hill." At this the Bull of the Clearing scattered the ant-hill with his horns and scampered off (to escape from the ants). So the Mouse-deer cut the throat of the Bull of the Young Bush (according to the Muhammedan rites) and began to flay the skin from the carcase.
At this moment Rlmau the Tiger appeared and said, "Will you share your meat with me?" And the Mouse-deer said, "By all means." But when he had finished flaying, rain began to fall, and the Mouse-deer ordered the Tiger to cut him some prickly boughs (with which to make a shelter from the rain) — boughs of the "Rlseh," and boughs of the "Tiinggal duri." The Tiger did so and slung them across his shoulder to carry them home, but the river bank was very slippery and his shoulders were smeared all over with blood as he kept trying to clamber on to the raft.
Just then, seeing the Mouse-deer, he asked,
31
Fables and Folk Tales
"What in the world makes you shiver so, Friend Mouse-deer?" The Mouse-deer replied (in fero- cious tones), " I am quivering with anticipation ! " and the Tiger, thinking that the Mouse-deer had designs upon himself, became so nervous that he plunged into the river, and left the meat to the Mouse-deer.
32
from an Eastern Forest
THE KING-CROW AND THE WATER-SNAIL.
A WATER-SNAIL was coming up-stream from the lower reaches, when a King-crow heard it. Said the King-crow to himself, "Who can it be coming up-stream, that exclaims so loudly at the rapids ? One might say it was a man, but that there is nothing to be seen." So the King- crow settled on a tree to watch, but as he could see nothing from his perch on the tree he flew down to the ground, and walked along by the water-side. And when he thought to see some man exclaiming, he caught sight of the Water-snail.
" Hullo, you there," said he, "where do you come from ? " " I come from the eddy below the rapids," said the Water-snail, " and I only
s- 33 5
Fables and Folk Tales
want to get as far as the head-waters of this river." Said the King-crow, "Wait a bit. Suppose you go down to the river-mouth as quickly as you can and we will have a wager on it." (Now rivers are the Water-snail's domain, in which he has many comrades.)
"What is to be the stake?" asked the Water- snail. "If I am beaten I will be your slave, and look after your aroids1 and wild calladiums2" (on which the Water-snails feed). Then the King- crow asked, "And what will you stake?" The Water-snail replied, " If I am beaten, the river shall be handed over to you and you shall be King of the River." But the Water-snail begged for a delay of twice seven days, saying that he felt knocked up after ascending the rapids. And the delay was granted accordingly.
Meanwhile however the Water-snail hunted up a great number of his friends and instructed them to conceal themselves in each of the higher reaches of the river, and to reply immediately when the King-crow challenged them.
1 Birah.
1 Kemahang.
34
from an Eastern Forest
The day arrived, and the King-crow flew off", and in each of the higher reaches the Water-snail's friends replied to the challenge. And at the river- mouth the Water-snail replied in person. So the King-crow was defeated and has ever since re- mained the slave of the Water-snail.
&
35
Fables and Folk Tales
FATHER 'FOLLOW-MY-NOSE' AND THE FOUR PRIESTS.
/~\LD Father cFollow-my-nose,' he would walk ^— * straight. When he came to a house he would climb over the house, and when he came to a tree he would climb over the tree. So one day he came to a c Jerai ' tree, and after climbing up it (on the one side) he was commencing to climb down the branches (on the other) when he was observed by four Priests of the Yellow Robe.
" If you try to get down that way, you'll inevitably fall and kill yourself," was the caution given by the Yellow-Robes, and they forthwith proceeded to spread out one of their Yellow Robes to catch him in, each of the four Priests holding it by one corner.
Father c Follow-my-nose ' however threw him- self down without a moment's warning, and the heads of the four Priests were violently dashed together so that they all four immediately broke their own pates.
36
from an Eastern Forest
Old Father Follow-my-nose himself, however, took no sort of harm, and so without turning aside he went on till he reached the hut of an aged . crone dwelling on the outskirts of a village. Here he halted while the crone went out to pick up the bodies of the four Priests and bring them back with her to the hut. And presently an opium-eater passed, and the crone called out to him, "Hullo, Mr Opium-Eater, if you'll bury me this c Yellow- Robe ' here, I'll give you a dollar." To this the opium-eater agreed and took the body away to bury it. But when he came back for his money he found the second Priest's body awaiting him, and said to himself " The fellow must have come to life again," and took it away to bury it. Twice again this same thing happened, and so the bodies of all the four Priests were buried. But by the time the last was buried it was broad daylight, and the opium- eater was afraid to go back again for his money.
**^
37
Fables and Folk Tales
THE ELEPHANT PRINCESS AND THE PRINCE.
nr^HE Prophet Adam quarrelled with the Lady -*- Eve and they declared they would live apart from each other. Then Adam having taken up his abode by the sea-coast produce the Great Demon (who is known by many different names). But the Lady Eve crossed the sea, making a bridge of a Soap-vine stem (which had grown across the Straits) and became Queen of the People on the Other Side. There she gave birth to a daughter who was called the Youngest Princess. When this Princess grew up, the Queen warned her that if ever she crossed the water she must on no account harry the fields of cane or maize or bananas be- longing to the People on the Other Side. One day however the Princess crossed over by means of the Soap-vine stem, and forgetting her mother's warning she harried the fields of the Other People, and was immediately transformed into an Elephant. In this guise she was encountered by a young 38
from an Eastern Forest
Prince who was studying at a Monastery near by, and the latter, seeing the great beast in his path, struck her in the centre of the forehead with his iron-shod pike so that the point broke off short in the skin. On reaching home he reported the affair to the Head of his Monastery, saying that he had met a powerful beast of great size which had a tail at each end. The Head however, being a wise man, knew from his account that it was a Princess in disguise, and allowed the young man to set out to find her again. Presently the Prince came to the sea- shore, and in order to cross over the Straits he scooped out the contents of a giant gourd, and seating himself inside it, and, guiding himself by the Soap-vine stem, he reached the other side in safety. On his arrival he made enquiry and was told that the Queen's daughter was sick. Offering his services as a physician he obtained entry into the Palace, where he was shown the Princess, with his iron pike-head still buried in her forehead. He then asked the Queen to erect on the sea-shore a Chamber like a Royal Audience-Hall, and at the same time to build him a big sailing-vessel whose beak should protrude into the Chamber. When this was done the Princess was
39
Fables and Folk Tales
carried into the Chamber ; and the Prince having entered in secret plucked out the iron point from her forehead so that she fell into a swoon. The iron pike- head he concealed in a bamboo tube, and exhibiting the Princess to her family as she lay in a dead faint, he brought her back to life by whistling and patting her ; and when she came to, he caused her to be carried home in procession. For this service he received the Princess's hand. After living for some years in happiness with her he wished to revisit his own country; and the Princess accompanied him, taking with her a train of thirty-nine attendants. Before the Princess departed the Queen repeated her former warning, but the Princess again dis- regarding it was turned back into an elephant, both she, and all her attendants with her.
40
from an Eastern Forest
THE ELEPHANT HAS A BET WITH THE TIGER.
IN the beginning Gajah the Elephant and Rimau the Tiger were sworn friends. But one day they came to a clearing and presently encountered Lotong, the long-tailed Spectacle-monkey. And when he saw the Monkey the Elephant said, "Mr Lotong yonder is far too noisy ; let us try and shake him off; if he falls to me I am to eat you ; and if he falls to you, you are to eat me — we will make a wager of it." The Tiger said, "Agreed? " and the Elephant replied, "Agreed." "Very well ! " said the Tiger ; " you shall try and menace him first." So the Elephant tried to menace the Monkey. " AU ! AU ! AU ! " he trumpeted, and each time he trumpeted the Monkey was scared. But the Monkey went jumping head foremost s. 41 6
Fables and Folk Tales
through the branches and never fell to the ground at all.
Presently, therefore, the Tiger asked the Ele- phant, " Well, Friend Elephant, would you like to try your luck again ? " But the Elephant said, " No, thank you. It shall be your turn now ; and if he falls to you, you shall eat me — if you really can make him fall ! " Then the Tiger went and roared his longest and loudest, and shortened his body as for a spring and growled and menaced the Monkey thrice. And the Monkey leaped and fell at the Tiger's feet, for his feet and hands were paralysed and would not grip the branches any more. Then the Tiger said, " Well, Friend Elephant, I suppose I may eat you now." But the Elephant said, " You have, I admit, won the wager; but I beg you to grant me just seven days' respite, to enable me to visit my wife and children and to make my will." The Tiger granted the request, and the Elephant went home, bellowing and sobbing every foot of the way.
Now the Elephant's wife heard the sound of her husband's voice, and said to her children, "What can be the matter with your Father that he keeps 42
from an Eastern Forest
sobbing so ? " And the children listened to make sure and said, " Yes, it really is Father's voice, the sobbing, and not that of anybody else." Presently Father Elephant arrived, and Mother Elephant asked, "What were you sobbing for, Father? What have you done to yourself?" Father Elephant replied, " I made a wager with Friend Tiger about shaking down a Monkey, and Friend Tiger beat me ; I menaced the Monkey, but he did not fall ; if he had fallen to me, I was to have eaten Friend Tiger, but if he fell to Friend Tiger, Friend Tiger was to eat me. I was beaten, and now Friend Tiger says he is going to eat me. So I begged leave to come home and see you, and he has given me just seven days' respite."
Now for the seven days Father Elephant kept sobbing aloud, and neither ate nor slept. And the thing came to the hearing of Friend Mouse-deer. "What can be the matter with Friend Elephant that he keeps bellowing and bellowing, neither does he sleep, so that night is turned into day, and day into night ? What on earth is the matter with him ? Suppose I go and
43
Fables and Folk Tales
see " (said the Mouse-deer). Then the Mouse-deer went to see what was wrong, and asked, " What is the matter with you, Friend Elephant, that we hear you bellowing and bellowing every single day and every single night, just now, too, when the Rains are upon us? You are far too noisy."
But the Elephant said, "It is no mere empty noise, Friend Mouse-deer, I have got into a dread- ful scrape." "What sort of a scrape?" enquired the Mouse-deer. "I made a wager with Friend Tiger about shaking down a Monkey, and he beat me." " What was the stake ? " asked the Mouse-deer. " The stake was that Friend Tiger might eat me if Friend Tiger frightened it down ; and if I frightened it down, I might eat Friend Tiger. It fell to Friend Tiger, and now Friend Tiger wants to eat me. And my reason for not eating or sleeping any more is that I have got only just seven days' respite to go home and visit my wife and children and to make my will." Then the Mouse-deer said, " If it came to Friend Tiger's eating you, I should feel exceedingly sorrow- ful, exceedingly distressed : but things being only as you say, I feel neither." "If you will assist
44
from an Eastern Forest
me, I will become your slave, and my descendants shall be your slaves for ever." " Very well, if that is the case, I will assist you," said the Mouse-deer. " Go and look for a jar-full of molasses." Friend Elephant promised to do so, and went to look for it at the house of a maker of Palm-wine. The owner of the house fled for his life, and the jar fell into Friend Elephant's possession, who bore it back to the Mouse-deer.
Then Friend Mouse-deer said, " When does your promise expire ? " and Friend Elephant replied, "To-morrow." So when next morning arrived they started, and the Mouse-deer said, " Now pour the molasses over your back and let it spread and spread and run down your legs." Friend Elephant did as he was ordered. Friend Mouse-deer then instructed the Elephant as follows : " As soon as I begin to lick up the molasses on your back, bellow as loud as you can and make believe to be hurt, and writhe and wriggle this way and that."
And presently Friend Mouse-deer commenced to lick hard, and Friend Elephant writhed and wriggled and made believe to be hurt, and made a prodigious noise of trumpeting. In this way they
45
Fables and Folk Tales
proceeded and Friend Mouse-deer got up and sat astride upon Friend Elephant's back. And the Elephant trumpeted and trumpeted all the way till they met with Friend Tiger. At this Friend Mouse-deer exclaimed, "A single Elephant is very short commons ; if I could only catch that big and fat old Tiger there, it would be just enough to satisfy my hunger."
Now when Friend Tiger heard these words of the Mouse-deer, he said to himself, " So I suppose if you catch me, you'll eat me into the bargain, will you ? " And Friend Tiger stayed not a moment longer, but fled for his life, fetching very lofty bounds.
And soon he met with the Black Ape, and Friend Ape asked, M Why running so hard, Friend Tiger ? Why so much noise, and why, just when the Rains are upon us, too, do you go fetching such lofty bounds ? " Friend Tiger replied, " What do you mean by c so much noise ' ? What was the Thing that was got upon Friend Elephant's back, that had caught Friend Elephant and was de- vouring him so that he went writhing and wriggling for the pain of it, and the blood went streaming 46
IX. "And Friend Elephant writhed and wriggled and made believe to be hurt, and made a prodigious noise of trumpeting."
from an Eastern Forest
down in floods ? Moreover the Thing that was got on Friend Elephant's back said, to my hearing, that a single Elephant was very short commons : but if It could catch a fat old Tiger like myself that would be just enough to satisfy Its hunger." Friend Ape said, "What was that Thing, Friend Tiger? " "I don't know," said the Tiger. "Ah," mused the Ape, " I wonder if it could be Friend Mouse-deer!" "Certainly not," said the Tiger; "why, how in the world could Friend Mouse-deer swallow Me ? To say nothing of his not being used to meat food " (said he). " Come and let us go back again."
Then they went back again to find the Elephant, and first the Ape went the faster, and then the Tiger went the faster, and then the Ape got in front again. But Friend Mouse-deer sitting on Friend Elephant's back saw them coming and shouted, " Hullo, Father Ape " (said he), " this is a dog's trick indeed; you promise to bring me two tigers and you only bring me one. I refuse to accept it, Father Ape."
Now when Friend Tiger heard this, he ran off at first as fast as he could, but presently he
47
Fables and Folk Tales
slackened his pace and said, " It is too bad of you, Friend Ape, for trying to cozen me, in order to pay your own debts. For shame ! Father Ape ! It was only through good luck that he refused to accept me ; if he had accepted, I should have been dead and done with. So now, if you come down to the ground, you shall die the death yourself, just for your trying to cheat me." Thus the Tiger and the Ape were set at enmity, and to this day the Tiger is very wroth with the Ape for trying to cheat him. And here the story ends.
48
from an Eastern Forest
PRINCESS SADONG OF THE CAVES, WHO REFUSED HER SUITORS.
T F you ever get lost in the Jungle for two or ■*■ three days together, you will come to a country called " What-you-will." In the chief town of What-you-will there is a royal Pleasure-garden of extraordinary size in which you may see growing many wonderful trees such as the Tree Sugar-cane and the Sweet Lemon. There you will see the tracks of Little People but none of Grown-ups. There too you may hear the noise of great mirth and merriment, but will see nothing till late at night when everybody is asleep ; then the Little People come out to amuse themselves with singing s. 49 7
Fables and Folk Tales
and dancing and act the story of Sagembang. Very pleasant it is to see, but everyone who owns rice- fields near by has to use plenty of magic to keep the Little People from stealing his rice.
Here is the country of Princess Sadong, in whose charge are all the caves and hollows of the Limestone HilJs. She it was who was born from the big stem of Bamboo and who rules over the Little People, as well as over the wild Hill-goats.
A Prince named Raja Saga first fell very much in love with Princess Sadong, but when he pressed his suit she told him she would marry nobody who did not possess the White Blood (which only belongs to royalty of pure descent).
Now Raja Saga could not pretend to possess this mark of pure descent, and so he received his dismissal and his heart was broken so that he died.
Afterwards the Prince who was born in the Foam asked Princess Sadong to marry him, but the Princess refused him also. Moreover she lost her temper and scratched his forehead with the point of her dagger, so that he fled to a far country. Here he settled, and after many years became a powerful Monarch, but he could not forget Princess Sadong,
5°
from an Eastern Forest
and so he returned to her country and besought an audience. Now when the Princess saw him she recognised him by the scar upon his brow, and commanded one of her Body-guard to kill him, and thus the Foam-prince died also.
m
5i
Fables and Folk Tales
THE SAINT THAT WAS SHOT OUT OF HIS OWN GANNON.
" I "HE Raja of Patani ordered Che Long to cast *■" a couple of cannon. The first one was cast successfully, but the second one at every attempt cracked in pieces. At length the Raja told Che Long (the workman) that if he could not succeed in casting it at the next trial, he should die the death. Che Long replied, " I will cast it then at all costs," and in despair of saving his life, he uttered a vow and said, " So my Raja's pleasure be fulfilled, may I take the place of a cannon- ball and be shot out of my own gun." As soon as the words were uttered the casting succeeded and " Che Long " entering the gun caused it to be fired. The charge was exploded in front of the Palace gate at Gr£sik and Che Long only fell to earth when he reached the village at Kuala Barat six miles away. Here his remains received burial, and a shrine was built and called by the name of The
52
from an Eastern Forest
Saint of the Western River-mouth. Now in the meanwhile the two guns were put on board ship to be conveyed to Bangkok, and on the way they were both discharged, one of them called the Luck of Patani emitting a great roar and enveloping the whole country in smoke. This gun is still to be seen at Bangkok. But the other one fell overboard between Telok Tengar and Sabor, and was lost. And up to this day vows are paid at the Tomb of Che Long, especially for the recovery of lost or straying cattle, whose milk when the cattle are recovered is offered at the tomb. And in the case of lost or straying cattle, the Patani folk say, " Fool me not, Grandfather, but point out to me where my cattle are, and if you do so I'll make a pilgrimage to your tomb."
53
Fables and Folk Tales
THE SAINTS WHOSE GRAVE-STONES MOVED.
TO' Panjang or "Father Lanky" (as he is generally called) was one of the earliest apostles of Islam in the State of Patani and en- joyed a great reputation. At length however Sah Nyaya the Unjust King came to the throne and requested To' Panjang to assist in casting some cannon, the copper being placed in his charge for the purpose. But one day a foreign merchant came to visit him and begged for a portion of the copper, which the Saint gave him, intending no harm thereby. Taxed by the Raja with stealing his copper, To' Panjang admitted his mistake and was condemned to die the death. A pupil of his own was chosen to execute the sentence, but refused to do so, whereupon
54
from an Eastern Forest
both master and pupil were strangled1 and their bodies thrown into the Patani River, which then escaped to the sea in the neighbourhood of Jambu. But when they were thrown into the river the two corpses2 instead of sinking stood miraculously upright in the water, and in this position travelled continually against the stream, both at flood and ebb. At length however the Raja commanded the remains of both saints to be buried ashore, but as often as the bodies were measured for their shrouds, so often they kept outgrowing them. At length therefore a goat was sacrificed and the shrouds having then been measured again were at last found to be of the correct length. The burial therefore was completed ; but up to this day the grave-stones of both saints continue to make miraculous movements in proof of the divine nature of To' Panjang and his pupil.
These two tombs are very potent shrines and they lie about two or three miles along Patani Point.
1 According to another version, they were both beheaded.
2 According to another version (though I cannot say, a more likely one) it was the granite grave-stones which miraculously floated and which ever since have continued to move (by way of mute protest, it may be supposed, against the high-handed action of the Unjust King), even when set at rest ashore.
55
Fables and Folk Tales
The grave-stones at head and foot are usually found to be about ten feet apart, but it is customary to measure the distance between them twice running in order to take omens as to the length of one's future life. The second measurement always comes different from the first ; but if the second measure- ment proves to be the longer, one's future life will be long in the like proportion.
**K
56
from an Eastern Forest
NAKHODA RAGAM WHO WAS PRICKED TO DEATH BY HIS WIFE'S NEEDLE.
Q HIP-MASTER Rigam was the master of a **-^ Malay merchant-vessel, and one day he sailed from Jering taking with him his beautiful wife Che Sltl of whom he was very fond. On the way she was annoyed by her husband's in- cessant embraces and warned him to be more careful, reminding him that she was sewing, and remarking how unlucky it was to indulge in such gallantries at sea. Such was his infatuation how- ever that he paid no heed to her warnings, and as he was attempting once more to embrace her, she pricked him to the heart with her needle so that he died.
When she saw that her husband was dead she was alarmed, and shut up the dead body in the s. 57 8
Fables and Folk Tales
deck-house, and whenever any of the crew asked questions, she said, " The master has fever." But when they reached Jering, she buried the remains at Banggor, and the spirit of Nakhoda Ragam entered the body of an old crocodile.
That is why it is still the custom, whenever a big crocodile appears in these parts, for folk to say, " Nakhoda Ragam, your grandchildren beg leave to pass," when he will immediately disappear beneath the surface.
58
from an Eastern Forest
THE LEGEND OF PATANI.
THERE once lived, in the interior of Raman (a province of Patani), a King of the Fairies who had a beautiful daughter named Princess Nang Chayang. This Fairy Princess was first of all born in a cave, but the old astrologer prophesied evil of her and said, " This infant must never be kept ashore, set her adrift on the water." Therefore a feast of purification was held in the land, and the Fairy Prin- cess was thrown into the river to drown. Instead of drowning however she rose to the surface, and floated down the river, resting on a mass of foam. As she floated down she was rescued by Raja Siung, the Tusky Prince. He was called the Tusky Prince because he ate men's flesh till his eye-teeth developed
59
Fables and Folk Tales
into tusks like those of a cannibal1. For once when a follower of his had taken the carcase of a slain goat (which was to be roasted for the Prince) down to the river, to scour it, a vulture flew down while his back was turned, and carried ofF the goat's heart. The young man feared to take back the flesh without the heart, therefore he slew a boy who was passing by and forced into the goat's carcase the heart of his victim. So the Prince partook of the boy's heart, and when he had eaten it, he rejoiced and said, "This is a better goat's heart than any I have tasted. Why is it so much sweeter than that of other goats I have eaten ? " At first the youth said nothing, but after- wards he confessed that it was the heart of a boy. So the Prince commanded to slay a boy daily, in order that he might eat the heart thereof. Where- fore his tusks grew like those of a cannibal, two at top and two at bottom.
Now when Raja Siung had rescued Princess
1 It is interesting to note in this connection that one of the old Sanskrit names for the Tiger was " Chatur-danta " or the " Four- Toothed " (animal). This epithet applies of course to the four big canines or eye-teeth which are so prominent a charac- teristic of the Tiger (though found in many other animals).
60
from an Eastern Forest
Nang Chayang he brought her up in his own palace. And one day when he was hunting in the Jungle he heard the voice of a child, and going to the spot he found a male infant within the hollow stem of a big Bamboo which had been riven open by the wind. This infant he adopted also, and brought up the two children together. And one day when they were sitting on his knees and playing, each of them by accident1 pulled out a pair of the tusks. And when the Princess grew up, she married Prince Samura Muda. But the boy was ancestor of the Rajas of Raman, who may not partake of the young Bamboo shoots, because their ancestor came out of the Bamboo before ever they entered Islam.
1 This explains why the tusks have disappeared in the Raja of Raman's descendants.
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Fables and Folk Tales
A MALAYAN DELUGE.
T N the beginning the country of Kelantan con- ■*■ tained eighteen hundred souls. But one day a great Feast was made for a Circumcision, and all manner of beasts were pitted to fight against each other. There were fights between elephants and fights between buffaloes and fights between bullocks and fights between goats, and at the last there were fights between dogs and cats.
And when the fights took place between dogs and cats a great Flood came down from the moun- tains, and overwhelmed the people that dwelt in the plains. And they were all drowned in that flood, save only some two or three menials who had been sent up into the Hills to collect firewood. 62
from an Eastern Forest
Then the sun, moon and stars were extin- guished, and there was a great darkness. And when light returned, there was no land but a great sea, and all the habitations of man had been overwhelmed.
*
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Fables and Folk Tales
KING SOLOMON AND THE BIRDS.
KING Solomon commanded all Birds who were his subjects to go forth to hunt for food and to return everyone of them together at nightfall. And in the evening when he had called his subjects together again, the Eagle, one of his own Body-guard, was found to be missing. Then King Solomon commanded enquiry to be made, " On what errand went this comrade of yours ? " And the most of them made reply, " He went on no errand ; he simply neglected to accompany us." "If that is the case," spake the King, "he is nothing but a rebel, and wherever you meet him, you are to cut him down without question asked." On hearing this, however, the Blue Heron made answer and said, "Assuredly he went on some errand or other; I crave one day's respite " (said he). And a like reply was made by the Woodpecker, saying, "If he 64
from an Eastern Forest
had done any wrong, I should be the first person to know of it. Am I not one of your Majesty's Body-guard, and could I not settle it if he had done any wrong ? I crave two days' respite " (said he). But the Thrush said only, "I crave three days." So Solomon the King granted three days' respite. Now when the days of respite were ended, the Eagle returned and sought his comrades. And he took counsel with the Woodpecker and persuaded him to enter King Solomon's presence.
Then the Woodpecker went in before the King, and made obeisance, and said, "The Eagle, your Majesty, did not return the other day because he found in a cavern of the rocks a follower of Her Highness the daughter of the King of the Genii, who is a person of surpassing beauty and worthy to become a consort of your Majesty." To this the King replied, "Very well, if you are strong enough to do so, take her from him, you have our permission." But the Eagle had arranged with the Woodpecker to excavate a hollow in a tree, and they had put the Princess in the hollow and closed the aperture with pitch and the Eagle had mounted guard there. So when the King heard this he said, " Bring s. 65 9
Fables and Folk Tales
them both here, and I will grant his life." Then the Eagle brought the Princess before King Solomon, and the King commanded the Queen to make a lather of powdered rice and wash it off the Princess's person again with limes. At this the Princess's feathers disappeared and the white markings of her skin showed up in all their beauty. Thus the daughter of the King of the Genii was married unto Solomon the King.
Now when all these things had happened, King Solomon spake unto the assembled Birds and said, 41 If ye had had nothing to say, ye should have spoken like the Thrush. If ye had aught to say, ye should have spoken like the Blue Heron." And he cursed all the other birds with a great curse. And that is why to this day there are birds of so many different sorts, some with too long a beak, and others with too long a tail, and yet others with a black mark round the neck.
*
66
from an Eastern Forest
THE OUTWITTING OF THE GEDEMBAI.
' I ^HERE was formerly a race of gigantic spirits ■*■ named Gedembai who could turn people whom they addressed by name into wood or stone. Many years ago they were very numerous and were a great danger to the forest-dwelling Malays. In many places there are still to be seen the clearest traces of their former presence and power. Near the head- waters of the Tembeling close to the left bank of the river stands a rock on which are still shown the claw-marks of a tiger, which escaped from the Gedembai by leaping the river (where it was ten fathoms across), when a wild boar which it was pursuing was turned into stone. There to
67
Fables and Folk Tales
this day you may see the Petrified Boar, and the place is known by the name of the Tiger's Leap. Further down the river stands a high and solitary crag, the summit of which is the shelter where the Ged6mbai used to dry by day the fish they had caught during the previous night. There too you may see the big river-pool into which they threw their casting net, and the rocks which they dropped into the river (in place of the stones thrown in to attract the fish before the cast is made with the net).
Such was the havoc wrought by the Ged6mbai that the older inhabitants at length conspired together to frighten them out of the land. For the Ged£mbai were incredible fools, and could be cheated with great facility. And as they only went abroad at night, the Malays used certain stratagems to frighten the Gedembai out of the country.
Pulling down the long weeping sprays of bamboo that overhung the streams, they cut them ofF short, and then let them spring back again to an upright position, so that the Gedembai might think that only giants could have reached up to cut them. 68
from an Eastern Forest
Next they put an old man upwards of sixty years of age in a child's swinging cot, so that the Ged^mbai seeing his toothless gums supposed him to be a new- born infant. And when the Ged£mbai had thus been thoroughly cheated, they were easily made to believe that the harrows lying beside the rice-fields were Malay hair-combs, and that the very tortoises were insects that infested their persons ; but that nevertheless they could make themselves small enough to creep inside the sheath of a dagger in order to hollow it out.
At length therefore the Ged^mbai lost heart, and fled to the Country at the Foot of the Sky, but as they fled they called upon everybody they met to follow after them, turning all who refused to obey them into trees. Hence you will see in Malayan forests many lofty trees leaning over rivers. These were once men and women who refused to follow the Gedembai in their flight, and were so severely kicked by them in consequence, that they have never since been able to stand upright. Here and there you will see trees whose silvery outer bark peels off" in strips. These too, which are now 69
Fables and Folk Tales
Pahlawan trees, were once human beings, but were transformed into trees for refusing to follow the Gedembai, who caused their bark to fall off in patches by stroking the skin of their own breasts.
*•
70
from an Eastern Forest
THE FATE OF THE SILVER PRINCE AND PRINCESS LEMON-GRASS.
ONCE upon a time there was a beautiful king's daughter called Princess 'Lemon-grass'1 who was betrothed to another king's son called the 'Silver' Prince2. In due course of time a lucky day for the wedding was fixed, and on its arrival the Bridegroom's party went forth in pro- cession to escort him to the house of the Bride, with the noise of gongs and drums, according to the custom of the country. But at the very last hour, even while the Bridegroom's procession was approaching, the Bride changed her mind, and threatened to resist the Bridegroom by force. At this juncture however, one Tegah made peace between them, standing like a wall between the
1 Serei.
2 Perak.
71
Fables and Folk Tales
pair and forbidding the conflict. Yet even as they stood, they were all summoned by the Gedembai, and as they did not obey the summons, they were forthwith changed into Hills. And the name of the Hill into which the Princess was changed was 4 Lemon-grass Crag1 ' (or 4 Kedah Peak '), and that of the Prince was 'Silver Mountain2,' and that of the peace-maker was * Sheer Hill3.' And so to this day c Sheer Hill ' stands like a wall between the conflicting parties.
1 Gunongjgrai.
2 Bukit Perak.
3 Bukit Tegah.
72
NOTES.
P. 1 i. Father Lime-stick and the Flower-pecker.
This tale, which appears in England as early as the Gesta Romanorum (ch. 167), was told me by a Kelantan Malay named Che Busu, one of the following of the Raja Muda of Patani. The liming of birds as practised by the Malays is effected by cutting deep notches in the boughs of any tree in which birds have been observed to habitually settle, the operator inserting in each notch a short stick thickly coated with viscid sap obtained from certain trees in the jungle. When the birds have been caught these lime-sticks can be removed and used afresh in a different locality, this being much less trouble than it would be to lime the twigs of the tree itself.
Some of these lime-sticks in the Cambridge Museum are about 2 ft. in length, and of rather less than the thickness of the little finger.
The Malay name of the old man in the present instance is 1 To' Sa-getah,' the Malay name of the bird being ' Sepah putri ' or the ' Princess's betel-quid,' a name which is derived from another legend. " The Owl fell in love with the Moon-Princess and asked her to marry him. This she promised to do, if he would allow her to finish her quid of betel undisturbed, but before finishing it she threw it down to the earth, where it took the form of the small bird in question. The Princess then
S. 73 IO
Notes
requested the Owl to make search for it, but as, of course, he was unable to find it, the proposed match fell through. This is the reason why the owl, to quote the Malay proverb, 'sighs longingly to the moon,' and is the type of the desponding lover." Malay Magic, 102.
1 17. A Bezoar-stone as big as a coconut. These Bezoar-stones are concretions obtained from the bodies of various animals, especially the porcupine and the monkey. Extraordinary magical virtues are ascribed to them. They are usually about the size of a small filbert (more or less), and their value, all else being equal, would be in proportion to their size. In the Gesta Romanorum (above referred to), it is a " Pearl bigger than the egg of an ostrich."
1 13. worth at least a thousand: i.e. a thousand dollars, the dollar being about two shillings.
P. 3 1. The King of the Tigers is sick.
This story was also one of Che Busu's.
3 18. because of a dream of certain medicine. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader of the extraordinary importance assigned to dreams by all uncivilised races.
P. 5 1. The Mouse-deer's shipwreck.
This again was one of the tales told me by Che Busu.
55. Of the bird which I have translated Heron all I could ascertain was that it was a species of Heron distinguished by the roundness of its tail-parts. The Malays call it burong kuntul [in Patani and Kelantan 'kutu'].
5 6. the wind blew from the North. This would of course be a most favourable wind for anyone who wanted to sail to Java from any part of the Malay Peninsula.
6 t. I'm such a bad hand at swimming. The thin legs and deeply cloven hoofs of the Mouse-deer would be sufficient in themselves to account for this.
8 7. climbed up with it to the top of a She-oak tree. The She-oak is the name given (I believe) in Australia to Casuarina litorea or the 'long-shore' casuarina-tree. The
74
Notes
name of she-oak was given to this tree on account of the wood which was thought to resemble oak in appearance though it was really hardly fit even for fire-wood. It has needle-like leaves, and hence from a distance looks very like fir or larch. It is to be found as a rule in the Malay Peninsula wherever there is a sandy sea- board. The Malays call it 'Ru (short for Aru or Eru) which name they also apply to a kind of fir which grows in the mountains.
P. 9 i. Who killed the Otter's Babies?
This is another of Che Busu's Tales, but when he told it me there was a missing link, that of the king-crab, which he could not recollect. As, however, I heard the story re-told and the link supplied in Kedah, I take the opportunity of making good the omission. The Malay word ' anak ' may mean either ' child ' or children, according to the context, but as in this context it is impossible to tell whether the singular or the plural is intended, I have thought it best, the Otter being a fairly prolific animal, to keep to the plural. In either case, however, it does not affect the point of the tale.
The otter is, so far as I am aware, much the same as the common otter (Lutra vulgaris).
The tale is of a kind which may perhaps best be called an all-round-the-clock or more simply a ' clock ' story, as it ingeniously sets forth the chain of incidents, by which the re- sponsibility for the death of its own children was brought home to the Otter itself, thanks to the wisdom of king Solomon, who here figures, as in so many other Eastern fables, as a judge of extraordinary discretion.
P. 11 4. the Woodpecker... sounded the war-gong : this of course is an allusion to the tapping of the woodpecker's bill upon the bark of tree-trunks in its search for insects.
11 15. the Great Lizard wearing his sword. The Great Lizard is the " Iguana," as it is often called (more correctly, the Monitor Lizard of the Far East). It grows to an immense size, even reaching a length of more than six feet. From three to
75
Notes
five feet however is the common size. The Great Lizard's sword is of course the long and tapering tail which he trails behind him.
P. 1 2 2. the Tortoise had donned his coat of mail. This refers clearly enough to the mail-like shell by which the tortoise is protected. The expression here used is a favourite paraphrase such as with the Malays often takes the form of a riddle. " An old hunchback wearing a coat of mail armour ; What is it?" the answer being of course "A tortoise": most of the paraphrases referred to in this tale are also I believe known to the Malays in the form of riddles.
12 6. the King-crab trailing his three-edged pike. The king-crab is a limulus. The pike here referred to is a bayonet- shaped spike which (like our own " Morning Star") was specially used in former times by the Malays for piercing chain-armour. Hence it is here employed as usually, in conjunction with the armour. The allusion in this instance is to the curious spike at the end of the king-crab's tail.
12 io. the Crayfish had shouldered his lance. The Malay word may either signify crayfish, in which case it belongs to the family of the Astacidae, the 'lance' being an allusion to the crayfish's long feelers or antennae when turned backwards over its shoulder ; or else it may mean prawn, in which case it probably refers to the fretted spike or saw on the prawn's head. The word used for lance in the Malay refers to the fringed or tasselled lance which is used in many parts of the Far East as one of the insignia of royalty, and which is decorated, in various localities, with yak or cow-tails, with horse-hair &c. &c.
P. 13 i. A Vegetarian Dispute.
This story was taken down on the banks of the Upper Tembeling River, in the interior of Pahang. As the object of the last tale was to explain in a playful (semi-serious, semi- comic) vein the origin of the most striking characteristics of certain animals, so the present story attempts to account for the chief characteristics of certain objects in the vegetable world.
76
Notes
Unfortunately I have not, in two or three cases, been able to identify the plant, though the general tenour of the story is perfectly clear. The identifications which follow are taken from a list of Malay plants by H. N. Ridley in/. R. A. S., S. B. [No. 30], July, 1897.
13 2. Jagong is the Malay name for Indian Corn or Maize, which is largely grown as a 'catch'-crop in the Malay Peninsula.
135. Dagun is a Gnetum, probably edule.
Gadong is Dioscorea damonum Roxb. (Dioscoreaceae). It is a climber with large tubers, which are used in the manufacture of dart-poison, and also eaten after repeated washings to extract the narcotic properties which they contain.
1 3 1 1 . Kachang may here be any kind of cultivated bean, such as is grown (in company with maize) as a ' catch '-crop.
13 14. Libut, the tree so called in Pahang (also BSlibok in Ulu Kelantan), is almost certainly the "Kelebok" tree of the W. coast (Selangor &c). It is a species of Ficus (IF. Rox- burghii, Wall., Urticaceae), a large ficus, "with clusters of big figs on the stem." It is a light wood, used by the wild tribes for making the butts of their blow-gun darts.
P. 14 6. The Liane referred to is a kind of creeper called Wilang (unidentified).
14 14. The "Ox-eye tree" (mata lembu) is also un- mentioned in the Dictionaries.
14 17. The Perachak (also Perachek and PSrachet) is Taberneemontana Malaccensis, Hook. fil. (Apocynaceae).
14 ai. "And'ram" is also unmentioned, but may pro- bably be taken as a dialectal variation of menderong, a common kind of sedge used in mat-making. (Scirpus grossus, Vahl. Cyperaceae.)
P. 16 1. The Friendship of Tflpai the Squirrel and Rtlan the Creeping Fish.
This tale was told me as a proverbial example of devoted friendship, by one of the local Malays at a village on the banks
77
Notes
of the Siong River, a long way up-country in the State of Kedah.
The Squirrel is the common striped squirrel of the Malay Peninsula, and the Fish is an • ophiocephalus, ' a kind of swamp-fish that is able both to walk and climb by opening and shutting its gill-cases. I have here called it the creeping fish to distinguish it from the walking mud-fish of Africa, the point of the story in the present case being moreover its ability to creep out of the tube; but it is best known locally for its walking powers, of which I have myself been a witness.
16 it. a bamboo water-tube. These water-tubes are the so-called joints (or inter-nodes) of a big species of bamboo with long inter-nodes. They are often as much as 5 ft. to 6 ft. in length (by 4 or 5 inches in diameter) ; and when I was at Siong (where this story was collected), I used regularly to see (in the early morning) the women of the hamlet carrying them down to the water and refilling them there. They are used by jungle Malays, I believe, throughout the Peninsula.
1 6 1 8. Nesting-places for the hens are often made at the top of similar bamboos, the upper end of the tube being split in many places all round and opened out in the form of a basket, which is lined and filled with a little earth, forming a species of nest for the hen to roost in. Like the water-bamboos they are usually kept close to the house.
P. 18 1. The Pelican's punishment.
This is a Malay version of one of the best-known of ^Esop's Fables. It was collected on the Tembeling river in Ulu Pahang.
P. 20 1. The Tiger gets his deserts.
As my friend Mr R. J. Wilkinson points out, this tale occurs in the Hikayat Gul Bakhtiyar. It was collected in Ulu Kedah (Siong).
P. 22 1. The Tiger's mistake.
This is one of the Tembeling Stories, and was told me as having happened on the very spot (upon the banks of the L6bih
78
Notes
River) on which I was one night encamped. The spot was a small point of land jutting out into the stream of the Lebih which swirled angrily past, chafing at the steep bank which here disputed its passage. It was surrounded by a dense wall of jungle and it appeared just the place to expect a tiger, although it may be open to question whether crocodiles are ever met so far up-stream and above so many rapids.
P. 24 i. The Tune that makes the Tiger drowsy.
This Tune which the Malays call "Lagu rlmau mZngdntok" may perhaps only exist in the popular imagination, like our own "tune the cow died of." The phrase appears to be pretty generally known in the East Coast States, though I had not heard it in the States of the Western Sea-board. The 'kerotong' is a 'joint' of bamboo, longitudinal strips of the skin of which are raised with a knife, and tightened by means of wedges (or 'bridges') inserted (under the strips) at both ends, so that the strips form the instrument's strings. The strings may be two or more in number, and are twanged with the fingers.
P. 26 i. The Tigers' Fold.
The scene of this story is laid in the district of Ulu Setiu, in the East-Coast Malay State of Trengganu. The story of the Tigers' Fold is a favourite subject with Malay story-tellers, the Fold being usually described as situated upon any neighbouring hill or mountain of considerable height, eg. Gunong Ledang or Mount Ophir, a well-known mountain in the interior of Malacca territory (about 4000 ft.).
P. 28 1. The Tiger and the Shadow.
This tale is from Ulu Kedah. It is an interesting Malay version of our own "Dog and the Shadow."
28 2. The 'salt-licks' of the Malay Peninsula (called Sira in Kedah and JZnut in Ulu Pahang) are famous places for big game. They are places where the ground is thickly saturated with natural salts derived usually from the overflowing of hot mineral springs in the vicinity.
79
Notes
28 1 2. Kuwls is the smallest of the Malay flying squirrels, and is not much larger than our own common bat.
P. 30 i. Wit wins the day.
This story is new to me ; it was told me by a Kelantan Malay.
P. 31 23. he kept trying to clamber on to the raft. In the upper reaches of rivers in many of the East-Coast (Malay) States it is the custom to keep bamboo rafts moored under the steep banks, instead of the fallen tree-trunks which more commonly form the landing-stages of the West-Coast Malays.
P. 33 1. The King-crow and the Water-snail.
This story is an old friend in a new dress. It was told me on the Tembeling River by a Malay of Pahang. The King-crow (also called the Racquet-tailed Drongo) is the " Chenchawi " of the Malays, and the Water-snail is " Siput."
P. 34 9. Birah is a name given to various wild aroids.
Kemanang seems to be a Dioscorea.
34 si. It is a common Malay belief that many species of shell- fish (e.g. when the tide is coming up) make audible sounds, which the Malays usually describe as 'whistling.' A similar superstition appears to have once been current in England, witness the portrayal of "The Whistling Oyster" on the sign- boards of old inns.
P. 38 1. The Elephant Princess.
This tale, which I picked up in Patani, is obscure in parts, but shows distinct traces of Siamese influence (e.g. in the mention of the Siamese (Buddhist) Monastery). There are many of these monasteries in the State of Patani, inhabited by the yellow-robed priests of Buddha.
38 2. The ' Prophet ' Adam and the ■ Lady Eve ' (Baba Hawa) are the usual titles assigned by the Malays to the traditional ancestors of mankind. For a parallel story, see Malay Magic, p. 151 seqq.
38 7. making a bridge of a soap-vine stem. This refers to the Malay soap-vine called Beluru ; [the only one given in
80
Notes
Ridley's List being Entada scandens L. (Leguminosae)], short pieces of whose stem are broken up and mixed with water, which is then worked up into a lather and used for washing purposes by Jungle-dwelling Malays, in place of soap. It is a fairly big and strong creeper.
F. 39 12. scooped out the contents of a giant gourd. This recalls the state carriage (in our own story of Cinderella) which was improvised out of a pumpkin.
39 19. his Iron pike-head; this is a pike called "sa" (sau), such as is carried by elephant-drivers.
P. 41 1. The Elephant's bet.
This story was told me by Che Busu, the Kelantan Malay already referred to.
F. 45 5. went to look for it at the house of a maker of palm-wine. Palm-wine or toddy is made by tapping the big fleshy flower-shoot (axis) of the coconut-palm ; the sap is run off into short bamboo vessels and allowed to ferment (when required for drinking purposes) or boiled down to make a kind of molasses or palm-sugar as required.
F. 49 1. Princess Sadong of the Caves.
This story (from Kedah) seems to be widely known in the Malay Peninsula, in most places at all events where there are lime-stone hills and hill-goats (Kambing gurun), the name of Princess Sadong being commonly invoked by way of diverting the hill-goats from the crops. It also turns up in the Islands (of the Malay Archipelago) as the Story of the Princess who refused all her Suitors. The Country of What-you-will is called in Malay " Alang-ka-suka," or " Alang-'kau-suka."
F. 50 18. the Prince who was born in the Foam. In "The Story of Patani" it is the Princess who is rescued from the Foam and the Prince who is discovered in the stem of the Big Bamboo. Such local variations are very common, each district having its own way of telling what it regards as its own story. See however the notes to the "Story of Patani."
S. 8l II
Notes
F. 52 i. The Saint that was shot out of his own cannon.
This curious legend was told me by Mula Awang, of Patani.
52 17. Gresik, now a mere hamlet some three or four miles from Patani town, was once the seat of royalty here, but has evidently been many years abandoned. I was shown the spot upon which the cannon (out of which Che Long was fired) is said to have stood, my Malay companion drawing my attention to the fact that it was bare of grass, since none would grow there after the event here described.
52 18. Kuala Barat or the Western River-mouth is an old mouth of the Patani river (now silted up).
P. 53 4. The Luck of Patani (Mai., Sri Patani). I believe a small cannon bearing this name is to be seen in the Museum at Bangkok.
P. 54 1. The story of the Saints whose Gravestones moved.
This story was from the same source as the last. Father Lanky's real name was, I was told, Seh ( = Sheikh ?) Rombok.
P. 55 3. Jambu is the chief town of the Jering District ; it lies a few miles S. E. from Patani Town.
P. 56. I myself paid a visit to the tombs of the two saints and was requested to try my fortune, all the neighbouring villagers turning out to watch the proceedings. The two graves, which were protected by a low wall and a roof, had been made, I found, in the sand, and were covered by long low mounds of sand from head to foot. This circumstance, combined with the fact that the measuring instrument was a short stick (supposed to be a cubit long, corresponding exactly to the length of the operator's arm as measured from elbow to middle finger tip), made the task a harder one than might have been expected. Each time a cubit was measured, a furrow was made in the sand to mark the place, and the loose sand falling in on both sides of the furrow, it was by no means easy to be sure of the exact centre of the furrow when the next cubit came to be measured. Fortu-
82
Notes
nately however, in my own case, the error came out on the right side, as the second measurement came to a little more than the first ; a result on which I was warmly congratulated by my Malay friends.
V. 57 i. Nakhoda Ragam.
There are many versions of this story in various parts of the Peninsula, this particular one being told me in Patani. Nakhoda is a Persian word (meaning Ship-master) which has been borrowed by the Malays. "Nakhoda Ragam," it appears, was the familiar name of one "Sultan Bulkeiah" of Borneo, described in Bornean traditions as a great warrior and a great navigator, he having voyaged to Java and Malacca, and con- quered the East Coast of Borneo, Luzon and Suluk. His wife, called Lela Men Chanei, was a daughter of the Batara of Suluk. — Hugh Low on the Selesilah of the Rajas of Brunei,,/. R. A. S., S.B. no. 5, p. 7 (notes).
57 5. Jering is the name of the District of which Jambu (v. supra) is the chief town.
P. 58 4. Banggor is a name given to any knoll of rising ground or low eminence near a river, and in this case it probably refers to the site of Jambu village.
P. 59 1. The Legend of Patani.
This story, which is a well-known Malay legend, and which purports to describe the first beginnings of the State of Patani, was told me by a Malay in Patani Town.
59 4. Nang Chayang is the name of an early queen of Patani.
59 12. For this Foam Princess, cp. Malay Annals (trans, by Leyden, London 1821) p. 29 : "It happened on a certain day "that the river of Palembang brought down a foam-bell of "uncommon size, in which appeared a young girl of extreme "beauty. The Raja being informed of this circumstance, ordered "her to be brought to him. This was done, and the Raja adopted "her as his daughter. She was named Putri Tunjong-bui, or the " Princess Foam-bell." Palembang is in Sumatra.
83
Notes
P. 61 4. he found a male infant. In many versions the two children — the Bamboo Prince and the Foam Princess — are made to marry when they grow up.
61 12. The Rajas of Raman who may not eat the young bamboo shoots. From this it may perhaps be inferred that the Bamboo was their totem. The traces of genuine totemism among the Peninsular Malays are however of the rarest description.
P. 66 4. a lather of powdered rice. The Malay method of (ceremonial) bathing is to cover the person with a lather made of finely powdered rice mixed with various other sub- stances, and to wash it off again with the juice of limes.
P. 67 1. The Outwitting of the Gedembai.
This class of spirits is usually called JClembai, but as this tale is from Ulu Pahang (Tembeling River) I have retained the local form of the name. I quote in conclusion an interesting note from iheJ.R.A.S. by the late Sir William Maxwell, which runs as follows: —
"sperti bujuk Idpas deri bubu.
"Like a 'bujuk' fish escaped from the trap.
1 ' Bujuk is a fresh-water fish found in muddy places. Bubu "is a fish-trap made of split bamboo tied with rattan. It has a "circular opening which narrows as the end of the passage is "reached and is constructed on the same principle as the eel-pot "or lobster-pot. One of the highest mountains in Perak is called "Bubu. It is supposed to be the fish-trap of the mythological "personage named Sang Kalembai, and the rocks in the bed of "the Perak river at Pachat are pointed out as his Sawar (stakes "which are put down to obstruct a stream and thus to force "the fish to take the opening which leads to the trap)."
[Maxwell m J.R. A. S., S. B. no. 1, p. 145.]
P. 68 9. This is a common Malay practice for netting fresh- water fish. The stones thrown in are called " Batu Tungkul."
P. 70 1. Pahlawan = Tristania whitiana, a striking tree in Malayan forests. Its bark peels off in strips.
P. 71 4. Princess Lemon-grass. By a popular etymology,
84
Notes
the Malay name of Redan Peak (" Gunong Jerai " or " 'Jerai ' Crag") is here derived from the Malay word serei which means 'lemon-grass' (citronella). In the " Hikayat Marong Maha- wangsa" it is said to be so called " on account of its height." The name is however undoubtedly taken from the name of the Tree (Jerai), v. supra (p. 36).
71 6. the Silver Prince. The Malay word for silver is " Perak," whence not only the name of this mountain, but also those of the Perak river and the Perak state, are derived.
P. 72 7. Sheer Hill. This is the meaning of the name of " Bukit Tegah," a steep hill situated between the Silver Mountain (Bukit Perak) and Kedah Peak (Gunong Jerai). I may add that the difference in use of the terms "Gunong" and " Bukit" has nothing whatever to do with the question of height (as in the case of the words 'hill' and 'mountain' in English). The former (gunong) means a more or less bare and precipitous peak or crag, whilst the latter (bukit) is used of all forest-covered hills or mountains.
Note on Pronunciation.
The spelling followed is that of Standard (Peninsular) Malay, romanised according to the sound of the Italian vowels. J, Ch, and other consonants here used, (except final A'), roughly speaking, as in English. Final A' is a strong guttural check, G always hard. NG is a single letter, and hence NGG has to be used to express the sound of NG in Eng. "longer," "stronger," &c.
85
Longitude East 105 of Greenwich
X. MAP OF MALAY PENINSULA.
INDEX.
Adam (called the Prophet), his quarrel with Eve, 38 And'ram, 14, v. Sedge
Ape, the Black Ape and his quarrel with the Tiger, 46-48 Aroids, and wild calladiums (as the food of water-snails), 34 Arrow-poison, used by Jagong to poison Gadong, 13
Bamboo, the Bamboo Prince, 61 ; reason why the Rajas of
Raman may not eat Bamboo shoots, 61 Bangkok, 53 Bezoar-stone, 1-2
Calladiums, v. Aroids
Cannibalism, of Raja Siung, 60
Cat and dog fight, brings about a deluge, 62
Cattle, ceremony at a shrine for recovering lost or strayed cattle,
53
Che Long, 52
Corpses (of Saints) that stood upright in the water, 55 ; and
outgrew their shrouds, ib. Crab, kills the Pelican in self-defence, 19 Crayfish, shoulders his lance, 12 Crocodile, devours the Tiger which fell into the river, 23
87
Index
Dagun, the Liane, 13-15
Deluge, a Malayan version of the Flood, 62
Eagle, one of King Solomon's body-guard, 64; is missing, ib.\ is
pardoned by King Solomon, 66 Elephant, loses his wager with the Tiger, 41-48; tries to shake
down the monkey, ib. ; his despair at having to pay forfeit,
43 ; has his life saved by the Mouse-deer, 45-47 Elephant- Princess, 38-40 Elias (the Prophet) refers a vegetarian dispute to the court of
King Solomon, 14
Fish, the Creeping Fish (Ruan), his friendship with the Squirrel, 16-17 ; assists the Squirrel in a difficulty, 16 ; is assisted by the Squirrel in turn, 17; is deceived by the Pelican, 18
Flood, v. Deluge
Flower-pecker, Father Lime-stick and the Flower-pecker, 1
Foam-Prince, as a suitor of Princess Sadong, 50-51
Foam (or Fairy) Princess, 59
Follow-my-nose — Old Father Follow-my-nose and the Four Priests, 36
Gadong, the wild Yam, 13-15
Gedembai, or K'lembai, a race of troublesome spirits who can turn people and things into stone, 67 ; their size and habits, 68 ; methods employed by the Malays to outwit them, 68-69 > commit great havoc when fleeing to the Foot of the Sky, 69-70; turn the Silver Prince and his Princess into mountains, 72
Grave-stones of Father Lanky and his pupil, 55 ; their miraculous movements, ib.\ divination by measuring the space between them, 56
Heron (the Stump-tailed) sails to Java with the Mouse-deer, 5; the Blue Heron's plea for the Eagle is commended by King Solomon, 66
88
Index
Jagong, v. Maize
Jdrai, as name of a tree, 36 ; as name of a mountain, 72
Kachang, the Bean, 13-15
Ketam, v. Crab
King-crab, trails his three-edged pike, 12
King-crow and the Water-snail, 33
King Solomon, tries the Mouse -deer for murder of the Otter's children, 10; acquits the Mouse-deer, 12; decides a vegetarian dispute, 13-15 ; his dealings with the Birds, 64- 66; marries the daughter of the King of the Genii, 66
Lanky, story of Father Lanky and Sah Nyaya, 54 Lime-stick, story of Father Lime-stick and the Flower-pecker, 1 Lizard, the Great (or Monitor) Lizard, wears his sword, 11
Maize-plant (Jagong), story of, 13-15
Man, his dispute with the Tiger, 20-21 ; sleeps in the jungle together with his little boy and is discovered by a Tiger, 22 ; their narrow escape, 23
Mata Lembu, v. Ox-eye
Molasses, 45
Mouse-deer, refuses to appear when summoned by the king of the Tigers, 3 ; his cure for the king of the Tigers, 4 ; sails to Java with the Heron, 5 ; is shipwrecked, 6 ; outwits the shark, 7 ; outwits the Tiger, 8 ; inadvertently slays the Otter's babies, 9 ; is acquitted by King Solomon of wilfully murdering the Otter's babies, 12 ; is appealed to by the Man in his dispute with the Tiger, 21 ; his settlement of the dispute, id. ; outwits the Tiger, 29 ; sets the Wild Bulls at variance, 30 ; saves the Elephant's life when it was forfeit to the Tiger, 44-47
Nakhoda Ragam, v. Ragam
S. 89 1 2
Index
Opium-eater, buries the four yellow-robed Priests, 37 Otter, its children inadvertently slain by the Mouse-deer, 9 Ox-eye tree, stood nigh to watch the battle and was grazed by bullets, 14
Palm-wine, 45
Patani, the Raja of Patani and Che Long, the Saint that was
shot out of his own cannon, 52 ; cannon called the Luck of
Patani, conveyed to Bangkok, 53 ; the legend of Patani, 59 Pelican, the, deceives and devours the fish, 18 ; is slain himself
by the Crab, 19 Perachak Shrub, that stood upon tiptoe, 14 Perak, v. Silver P'lando', v. Mouse-deer
Priests, the four Priests of the Yellow Robe, 36 Princess Sadong, the Princess of the Lime-stone caves, 49 ; how
she refused her suitors, 50-51
Ragam, story of ship-master (Nakhoda) Ragam, who was pricked
to death by his wife's needle, 57 Raja Saga, 50
Raja Siung, the Tusky Prince, 59 Rimau, v. Tiger Riseh, boughs of the Riseh and Tunggal duri (gathered by the
Tiger at the Mouse-deer's orders), 31 Road, is appealed to by the Man in his dispute with the Tiger,
20 ; the Road's reply, id. Ruan, v. Fish
Sadong, v. Princess Sadong
Sedge, how, being alarmed, it ran to a place afar off and
plunged into the river, 14 Shadow, the Tiger and the shadow, 28 Shark, threatens to devour the shipwrecked Mouse-deer, 6 ; is
outwitted by the Mouse-deer, 6-7
90
Index
She-oak tree, affords a refuge to the Mouse-deer, 8
Shrines, that of Che Long, 53 ; that of Father Lanky (To'
Panjang) on Patani Point, 55 Silver Mountain, story of, 72 Soap-vine stem, 38 Solomon, King, v. King Solomon Squirrel, proverbial friendship of the Squirrel and the Fish, 1 6 ;
is assisted by the Fish when in difficulty, 17; assists the
Fish in turn, 17
Tegah, as name of a hill, 72
Thrush, his plea for the Eagle, 64; is commended by King Solomon, 66
Tiger, the Great King of the Tigers, 3 ; the Crown-prince of the Tigers, ib. ; the Tiger threatens to devour the Mouse-deer, 7; is outwitted by the Mouse-deer, 8 ; has a dispute with the Man, 20-21 ; is again outwitted by the Mouse-deer, 21 ; his stupid mistake, 22 ; is devoured by the Crocodile, 23 ; the Tune that made him drowsy, 25 ; the Tigers' Fold, 26 ; Tigers that turn themselves into men, ib. ; the Tigers' town, ib. (note) ; house of the Tiger-chief, 27 ; is outwitted by the Mouse-deer, 29 ; and drowned through his own mistake, ib.; is made to do the Mouse-deer's cooking, 31 ; and again outwitted by the Mouse-deer, 32; wins his wager with the Elephant by frightening down the Monkey, 42 ; is outwitted by the Mouse-deer, who prevents him from devouring the Elephant, 44-47 ; the " Tiger's Leap " (name of a place on the Tembeling river in Pahang), 67
Tortoise, dons his coat of mail, 12
Tree, is appealed to by the Man in his dispute with the Tiger, 20; the Tree's reply, 21
Tune that made the Tiger drowsy, 24
Tunggal duri, v. Riseh
Tvipai, v. Squirrel
Undan, v. Pelican
91
Index
Vegetarian, a vegetarian dispute, 13
Water-snail and the King-crow, 33
White Blood, as a mark of purity of descent, 50
Wilang-stem, used as a spear by Jagong, 14
Wild Bull, the Wild Bulls and the Mouse-deer, 30
Woodpecker, sounds the war-gong, 9 ; his plea for the Eagle,
64 ; excavates a hollow in a tree to receive the daughter of
the King of the Genii, 65
92
Cambridge: printed by j. and c. f. clay, at the university press.
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