Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

36:
CULTIVATION
Early plant, to make rice fruitful,^
Plant ye rice, yams, cane, bananas.
Build a hut to shade the planters.
When your crop's ripe, reap it quickly,
Or you'll want, your rice grown rotten.
Leave it not then, reap it thoroughly.
The operations of sowing and reaping were always
accompanied by the reciting of charms, which appear at
first sight to be borrowed, almost bodily, from the rice-
customs of the local Malays, though it is more probable
that a large portion of them were of independent Jakun
{i.e. aboriginal Malayan) origin. Periodical feasts
were also held in the house of the tribal chief or Batin,
both when the rice first began to bloom, and also at
the beginning, middle, and end of the harvest.
The Besisi have a ceremony (resembling that of
the Malays) for bringing the Rice-soul back to the
house. But on arrival at the house the Rice-soul is
suspended from the ridge-pole of the roof ("tulang bumbongan
") instead of being deposited (as by the local
Malays) in the rice-bin (" kepok padi.")- As soon as
the Rice-soul has been brought home the Besisi hold
one of their great feasts or orgies (" main jo'oh "), at
one of which I was fortunate enough to be present, and
of which I accordingly took careful notes at the time.
This festival that I attended took place at the
Besisi settlement at Ayer Itam in the Kuala Langat
district of Selangor. On reaching the Batin's house
—which was the largest house in the village, and had
a specially built " balei " attached to it, which could
have probably held at one time a hundred people—we
found it decorated in expectation of our arrival, which
took place at about half-past one. By half-past two
* Lines two and three are transposed
in the original, no doubt by
accident.
' One of the points that suggest for
this rite an origin independent of the
civilised Malay customs.