Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

74
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS
Penghulu Balei (for the bride). Have
you bought plates and cups ?
Batin (on behalf of the man). I have.
P. Have you bought pots and pans ?
B. I have.
P. Have you bought clothing ?
B. I have.
P. Have you bought a jungle -knife
(chopper) ?
I have.
Have you bought a hatchet ?
I have.
Have you built a hut ?
I have.
Have you made steps for it ?
I have.
P. Have you formed a clearing ?
B. I have.
Have you made a rice-spoon ? ^
I have.
Have you made a water-bucket ?
I have.
Have j'ou planted yams?-
I have.
Have you planted sugar-cane ?
I have.
P. Have you planted rice ?
B.
P.
I have.
Have you planted bananas ?
F. "Pun!" Sweet potato,
B. I have.
P. Do you know how to fell trees ?
B. I do.
P. Do you know how to climb for
B.
fruit ?
I do.
P. Do you know how to use the blowpipe
?
B. I do.
P. Do you know how to smoke cigar-
B.
P.
B.
P.
B.
ettes?^
I do.
Do you know how to find turtleeggs?
I do.
Is all this true ?
It is true.
I could purchase a hill at Singapore,
Malacca, or Penang,
I could purchase a hill in Selangor
or Perak ;
Plow much more then somebody's
daughter.*
P. Is this true, so a tree fall on you ? "
B. Speak not of somebody''s daughter !
Monkeys of all kinds'' do I search
for and capture ;
How much
daughter.
more then somebody''
Pun !
Thus we Jakun plant sweet potatoes !
" Ratified,"'' says the Batin, say the chiefs of the tribe !**
" Ratified " [say] both young and old !
Round the mound and round again !
At this stage of the proceedings the bridegroom
(who was dressed, Hke the bride, in Malay apparel)
was conducted seven times and the bride once round
the mound, and they were then stationed side by side,
when they were together given rice to eat from the
^ I.e. 2. rice-spoon of wood or coco-
nut shell.
- ? "'
I.e. "have you got a yam-patch
etc. etc.
^ The phrase used may also mean,
" Can you make" or " have you made
cigarettes ? "
^ Lit. a daughter of people (perhaps
the wild people or the tribe). But it
may equally well mean the daughter of
a person, or "somebody's daughter."
" The jjhrase here used ("tempa'
"
kret ") lit. means "fall upon (your)
body," i.e. " so may (a tree) fall upon
you," which is the strongest form of
asseveration used by these forest-tribes,
among whom the terror of falling trees
is very real and present, and perhaps
more feared than any other danger.
'' Lit. "chikahs" and "lotongs"
(two kinds of monkey).
^ Lit. "true" (Bes. "hoi").
^ Lit. Batin, Jinang, Jukrah (titles
of chiefs).
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