Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAP. V NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 129
The fruit-cluster whose pulp is acid,
The fruit-cluster sways to and fro ;
The fruit-cluster turns in the wind,
The fruit-cluster that spins round and round.
Upon the " record " of this song Dr. Lloyd
remarks that it shows a different type of chant. The
lines of the original have four accents each, but the
invariable part of the line occurs at the beginning, and
the variable part at the end of the line. Each part
carries two accents, and the lines sometimes rhyme,
but without regularity, and apparently without design.
This song shows well the unorganised character of
these compositions, and the singer's habit of bringing
in the same lines repeatedly, and in any order, ad lib.
The Song of the Wild Ginger Plant.
Its stem bends as its leaves shoot up,
Down to its root it bends and sways,
Bends and sways in divers ways ;
Its leaves are chafed and lose their stifi'ness
On craggy Inas it is blown about,
On craggy Inas which is our home.
Blown about in the light breeze,
Blown about with the mist, blown about with the haze,
Blown about are its young shoots.
Blown about in the haze of the mountain.
Blown about in the light breeze.
It nods and nods upon the mountains,
Mountains of Beching, mountains of Inas,
Mountains of Malau, mountains of Kuwi,
Mountains of Mantan, mountains of Liiniu',
On every mountain which is our home.
Dr. Lloyd remarks that the " Song of the Wild
Ginger Plant " is not marked by any regular refrain,
though the love of repeated words and sounds shows
itself in one way or other in almost every line ;
other-
wise, however, its only quality as verse is that of
possessing four accents to the line.
The Song of the Fruit-buds.
They swell and swell, the fruit-buds !
To and fro wave the fruit-buds !
Blown about are the fruit- buds !
VOL. II K