2. BIRDS AND BIRD CHARMS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Skeat, Walter William
Akan pemblah prut hantu pemburu.
Aku tahu asal angkau mula menjadi orang Katapang.
Pulang-lah angkau ka rimba Ranchah Mahang.
Jangan angkau meniakat-meniakit pada tuboh badan-ku.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
Peace be on thee, O Si Jidi, husband of Mah Jadah.
Go thou and hunt in the forest of Ranchah Mahang.
Katapang is the name of thy hill,
Si Langsat is the name of thy dog,
Si Kumbang is the name of thy dog,
Si Nibong is the name of thy dog,
Si Pintas is the name of thy dog,
Si Aru-Aru is the name of thy dog,
Timiang Balu is the name of thy blow-pipe
Lankapuri is the name of thy spear,
Singha-buana is the name of its blade,
The peeling-knife with a long handle
Is to split in twain the fibrous betel-nut.
Here is a knife from Maharaja Guru,
To cleave the bowels of the Hunter-Spirit.
I know the origin from which thou springest,
O man of Katapang.
Get thee back to the forest of Ranchah Mahang.
Afflict not my body with pain or disease.
“In charms intended to guard him who repeats them, or who wears them written on paper, against the evil influences of the Spectre Huntsman, the names of the dogs, weapons, etc., constantly vary. The origin of the dreaded demon is always, however, ascribed to Katapang23 in Sumatra. This superstition strikingly resembles the European legends of the Wild Huntsman, whose shouts the trembling peasants hear above the storm. It is, no doubt, of Aryan origin, and, coming to the Peninsula from Sumatra, seems to corroborate existing evidence tending to show that it is partly through Sumatra that the Peninsula has received Aryan myths and Indian phraseology. A superstitious prejudice against the use of bamboo in making a step-ladder for a Malay house and against drying clothes outside a house on poles stuck into the framework, exists in full force among the Pêrak Malays.
“The note of the birik-birik at night, telling as it does of the approach of the hantu pemburu, is listened to with the utmost dread and misgiving. The Bataks in Sumatra call this bird by the same name—birik-birik. It is noticeable that in Batak legends regarding the creation of the world, the origin of mankind is ascribed to Putri-Orta-Bulan, the daughter of Batara-Guru, who descended to the earth with a white owl and a dog.”24
To the information contained in the foregoing passage I would add the following observations:—
Charms for neutralising the power of the Spectre Huntsman are by no means uncommon, and though they almost invariably differ in unimportant details, such as the names of his dogs and weapons, they still bear strong and unmistakable family likeness. Still there are some versions which contain important divergencies (two or three of these versions will be found in the Appendix), and it will only be after the diligent collation and compilation of a great many versions that the real germ or nucleus of the myth as known to the Malays will be clearly apparent.
One of the charms given in the Appendix evidently alludes to a different version of the story; the lines which contain the allusion being as follows:—
“I know your origin, O man of penance,
Whose dwelling was upon the hill of Mount Ophir,
[You sprang] from a son of the Prophet Joseph who was wroth with his mother,
Because she would eat the hearts of the birds of Paradise.”
Yet even here, if we except the obvious interpolation of the reference to the “son of the Prophet Joseph,” the task of reconciling the conflicting versions may be easier than would appear at first sight.25
A still more curious deviation occurs in another version,26 where the Spectre Huntsman’s poniard and k’ris are declared to be the insignia of the great Spirit-King Rama. The passage is as follows:—
“With a blind crow as his guide,
The giant demon, Si Adunada,
Carries (his weapons) slung over his shoulder with back bent double.
Salampuri is the name of his poniard (sĕkin),
Silambuara the name of his k’ris,