Dairi Stories and Pakpak Storytelling : A Storytelling Tradition from the North Sumatran Rainforest [1 ed.] 9789004261730, 9789067183871

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Dairi Stories and Pakpak Storytelling

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Edited by Rosemarijn Hoefte (KITLV, Leiden) Henk Schulte Nordholt (KITLV, Leiden) Editorial Board Michael Laffan (Princeton University) Adrian Vickers (Sydney University) Anna Tsing (University of California Santa Cruz)

VOLUME 279

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/vki

Dairi Stories and Pakpak Storytelling A Storytelling Tradition from the North Sumatran Rainforest By

Clara Brakel-Papenhuyzen

LEIDEN | BOSTON

The realization of this publication was made possible by the support of KITLV (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies). A CD with extracts from Sonang Sitakar’s performance of the story of Si Buah Mburle (A Pakpak-Dairi story from North Sumatra) can be ordered through www.panrecords.nl/Pan Records, Hommelveld 20, 2318 VC Leiden or via the author: [email protected]

issn 1572-1892 isbn 978 90 67 18387 1 (hardback) isbn 978 90 04 26173 0 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

preface

9

part one: written stories

19

1

literary traditions in north sumatra Written and oral literary traditions Batak literature and Toba dominance Literary genres in Dairi Performance of the sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle Content and form of Dairi sukut-sukuten

21 21 22 25 33 35

2

van der tuuk’s collection of batak manuscripts in leiden university library Pustaha Texts inscribed on bamboo Manuscripts on European paper in Batak and Latin characters Permungkahen pertengahen ena (The creation of this middle)

37 38 42 43 44

dairi stories originally written on bamboo in van der tuuk’s collection of batak manuscripts Voorhoeve on Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts Van der Tuuk’s views on Batak literature Van der Tuuk’s manuscripts on paper Dairi stories in manuscript Or 3406 A. Kayuara merlendung B. Si Bilalong C. Si Jinaka D. Si Mbuyak-buyak E. Datu Tonggal ni Begu Style and contents of the Dairi stories in Ms Or 3406 Conclusion

51 51 52 54 57 58 59 60 61 61 63 66

3

| Contents 4

dairi stories written on paper for van der tuuk Storyline of Datu Tonggal ni Begu in MS Or 3406 Storyline of Pemere Beru si Pitu in MS Or 3399 Narrative structure and motives of the story in MS Or 3406 Narrative structure and motives of the story in MS Or 3399 Style and formulae Conclusion

5

written dairi stories Kayuara merlendung Si Bilalong Si Jinaka Si Mbuyak-buyak Datu Tunggal ni Begu Guru Tonggal Begu Si Mbacang Gumale-gale

95 97 102 110 112 128 138 180

part two: storytelling

197

6

the story of si buah mburle in various versions The story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale in Van der Tuuk’s collection The sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle by M.R. Solin Another recorded version of Si Buah Mburle Conclusion

199 199 200 205 207

7

comments on the performance of si buah mburle Spoken sections Chanted sections Laments (tangis) Poetic formulae and vocables used in the laments Chants (odong-odong) Paired structures in odong-odong chants Songs (ende-ende) Characteristics of the lullaby Dance song ‘Tading ucangku’ Variant versions of the song ‘Tading ucangku’ Prayers (tonggo-tonggo) Proverbial expressions (empama)

211 212 214 214 216 217 221 223 225 226 227 230 230

6

69 69 71 74 76 83 92

Contents | 8

sonang sitakar’s performance of si buah mburle The sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle 1. First narration 2. First lament of Nan Tampuk Emas 3. Narration of Raja Kelendungen’s departure 4. Second lament of Nan Tampuk Emas 5. Narration of Nan Tampuk Emas’ suffering 6. First chant of Si Buah Mburle 7. Third lament of Nan Tampuk Emas 8. Second chant of Si Buah Mburle 9. The dance song ‘Tading ucangku’ 10. Interpretation of the dance song followed by narration 11. Third chant of Si Buah Mburle 12. Narration commenting on the third chant 13. Fourth chant of Si Buah Mburle 14. Prose summary 15. Narration of the journey of Nan Tampuk Emas to find her brother 16. Sixth chant of Si Buah Mburle 17. Narration of the rejection of Nan Tampuk Emas 18. Fourth lament of Nan Tampuk Emas 19. Narration of Si Buah Mburle’s birth 20. The lullaby (urih-urih) 21. Narration of Si Buah Mburle’s wedding 22. Eleventh chant of Si Buah Mburle 23. Narration of Si Buah Mburle’s transformation 24. Narration of the pestering of Nan Tampuk Emas 25. Thirteenth chant of Si Buah Mburle 26. Narration of Nan Tampuk Emas tricking her husband 27. Fourteenth chant of Si Buah Mburle 28. Narration of the end of the story

233 236 236 242 244 248 252 254 258 260 262 264 270 272 274 276 278 280 282 284 286 288 290 298 300 306 312 314 320 322

9

final remarks Differences between oral and written versions of stories Empama in Si Buah Mburle Empama in various contexts Standard scenes and themes Oral and written texts in Dairi and related languages Conclusion

327 327 329 331 332 336 341

7

| Contents glossary

343

bibliography

347

appendix kinship terms: the basic pattern

359

index

361

8

Preface

This book results from a research project on the literary traditions of North Sumatra initiated by my late husband, Lode Frank Brakel. Our research began in 1976, while Lode was working as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Indonesian and Malay at Monash University, Australia. It continued when he became the Director of the Seminar of Indonesian and Pacific Languages at the University of Hamburg (1979June 1981). Due to his sudden illness and death in June 1981 the project ended before any results could be published.1 During our research trips in 1977 and 1979 I helped him to document various literary genres, including traditional storytelling, in Malay and Batak languages. The recording discussed in this book was made on 11 January 1979 in the village of Sukarame (also spelled Sukaramai), not far from the town of Sidikalang, in the Dairi regency (Kabupaten).2 The text is a traditional story, told and chanted by the aged storyteller Sonang Sitakar, who probably passed away not long after our recording was made. The language spoken in the Dairi region at the time of our research was named either Pakpak or Dairi, or a combination of these: PakpakDairi, or Dairi-Pakpak. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Dutch scholar Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (1824-1894) referred to the Batak language spoken in the area to the north of Barus as Dairi. Van der Tuuk did not make a distinction between Dairi and Karo, probably because he had no contact with Karo speakers. More recent publications reveal that there is considerable cultural and linguistic variety in the region. The American anthropologist R.G. Coleman (1983:567) writes that the Pakpak divide themselves into five cultural areas, Boang, Kelasen, Kapas, Pegagan and Simsim: ‘for locals they represent 1 Although a paper entitled ‘Letters of the past’, dealing with oral and written literary traditions in the coastal area around Medan, was found in Lode’s legacy, I could not find evidence that it was published. 2 Since the year 2003, the western part of the Kabupaten Dairi has been separated off to form the Kabupaten Pakpak Bharat, with Salak as its capital.

Lode during an interview, photo Clara Brakel

Lode with driver in North Sumatra, 1979, photo Clara Brakel

Preface |

areas with slight but significant differences in language and custom [...] Kelasen locals say the language they speak is called “Dairi”, and that the whole dialect sub-group [...] should be known by the name “Dairi” or at least by a combination label like Pakpak-Dairi’. One of the reasons why we decided to document traditional PakpakDairi storytelling was that both the language and its storytelling tradition were considered endangered, as the speakers of the language told us with great concern.3 For this reason our research was enthusiastically supported by officials from the Department of Education and Culture of the Kabupaten Dairi in Sidikalang. Bapak M.R. Solin (BA), one of the cultural officers, arranged interviews with a number of cultural leaders in Sibande and a performance by the most knowledgeable Dairi storyteller, Sonang Sitakar, in the village of Sukarame. Bapak Solin accompanied us to Sukarame, where the village leader, Bapak Kabeaken, warmly received us in his home. He had organized a cultural evening (malam kesenian) for us, showed us his musical instruments, played the flute (sordam) and participated in the storyteller’s performance the next

Sonang Sitakar posing with Lode, Clara and Bapak Kabeakan in Sukarame, photo Clara Brakel

3 The endangered future of the Pakpak-Dairi language was also discussed by linguists in a scholarly symposium in Medan (Ridwan 1993).

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morning. Later, Bapak Solin sent us a very useful Indonesian synopsis of Sonang Sitakar’s performance. Apparently Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk has been the only person to collect texts in Dairi,4 which have been kept in Leiden University Library after his death. Most of the Dairi stories collected by Van der Tuuk were transcribed by the North Sumatran scholar Tindi Radja Manik as a source for his Dairi Pakpak – Indonesian dictionary, initially published in Jakarta in 1977. In the preface Tindi Radja Manik explains that he started working on this dictionary in 1941, when he was the assistant of the colonial official (taalambtenaar) Dr. P. Voorhoeve. Unfortunately at the end of that year the work stopped because World War II had broken out. In 1968 he resumed the work and had completed it by 1975 with the support of Dr. Voorhoeve who was then living in the Netherlands. A copy of his typewritten Dairi Pakpak – Dutch dictionary is now kept with Voorhoeve’s legacy in the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (KITLV, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies) archive, no. Or 483 (4). With the help of the Lembaga Bahasa Nasional (National Language Institute) in Jakarta the Indonesian version of this dictionary was published under the title ‘Kamus Bahasa Dairi Pakpak – Indonesia’ by the Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa (Centre for Language Development) of the Department of Education and Culture in Jakarta in 1977. Unfortunately this first edition contained so many printing errors that the author was rather disappointed with the result.5 In 2002 a new edition of the same dictionary entitled ‘Kamus Pakpak – Indonesia’ appeared in Medan, edited by Marudin Siboro and Sorang Tumanggor. While the printing and arrangement of the entrees has greatly improved in this edition, many descriptions are more succinct, so that useful information about the sources of the quotations, which was included in the first edition, has been eliminated. Tindi Radja Manik discussed the problems of compiling the dictionary in an article published in 1987. He writes that the ethnic group named Dairi or Pakpak – to which he belonged – has been living in rela4 Voorhoeve 1955:14. In his article ‘The changing Batak’ Viner (1979:86) writes that the Pakpak have never been the primary topic of an investigation. 5 When Tindi Radja Manik presented us with a copy of his dictionary, he said sadly that it contained many printing errors, which he had not been given a chance to correct.

12

Preface |

tive isolation in the area between lake Toba and the Indian Ocean, ‘far from areas that have made progress’. He regrets that the Dairi or Pakpak language and culture are in such a sorrowful state, and are dominated by other languages like Toba.6 As a minority language, Pakpak-Dairi is not taught in schools nor is it used in printed books or newspapers. At present Pakpak-Dairi is increasingly under pressure and influenced by the national language, Bahasa Indonesia (Tindi Radja Manik 1987:432-3).

publication of the recorded pakpak-dairi text Following Lode’s sudden death, I discussed the project with the great expert on Sumatran languages, Dr. Petrus Voorhoeve. He pointed out that a written version of the Pakpak-Dairi story recorded by us could be found in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library and was also mentioned in his PhD thesis on Batak Folk stories published in 1927. Unfortunately, the research project on North Sumatran Literary traditions had stopped when Lode passed away and could not be continued because of a lack of financial resources. Many years later, when I finally found time to work on the project, Dr. Voorhoeve and Tindi Radja Manik had both passed away. Comparing the story in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts with the text of the story we recorded gave rise to various questions with regard to form and content, as will be discussed in this book. In the autumn of 1981, an Interdisciplinary Symposium on Cultures and Societies in North Sumatra was held at the University of Hamburg. The Symposium, initiated by Lode and his colleague Professor Bernhard Dahm, had to be carried out by Dr. Rainer Carle and students from the Hamburg seminar. During this Symposium I again met Tindi Radja Manik, who had shown great interest in our project when we had visited him in Medan. When I asked him to transcribe the recorded PakpakDairi story he kindly agreed. 6 Toba dominance was also a complaint of people we interviewed for our research in Dairi. Voorhoeve remarked in one of his letters to Tindi Radja Manik, which is kept with the Dutch version of the dictionary in KITLV Or 483 (4), that the influence of Toba on Dairi Batak is not a recent phenomenon, it already existed when Van der Tuuk collected his manuscripts. Kozok (1997:150) writes that the immigration of thousands of Toba-Batak to Dairi in the nineteen-twenties is the cause that their language became dominant.

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| Preface

Having received an excellent Dutch colonial education, Tindi Radja Manik had been trained to make transcriptions of Batak manuscripts in Latin characters, adding punctuation, capital letters and also quotation marks for utterances in direct speech, to Batak texts that do not use these. Unfortunately, the transcription he sent me was handwritten and difficult to read, containing hardly any punctuation or quotation marks. Nor were there indications where words or phrases started or ended. The signature at the end of the transcription seems to indicate that in fact Tindi Radja Manik asked someone else to write it down for him. In the spring of 2009, after having worked for months to decipher Tindi Radja Manik’s handwritten transcription, I was surprised to come across a neatly typewritten transcription of our recording, complete with punctuation marks, among Dr. Voorhoeve’s papers kept in the KITLV archive. Apart from some small exceptions, it corresponds with the handwritten transcription in my possession. Comparing the transcription with the sound recording, I found that parts of the performance had been omitted – perhaps because Sonang Sitakar’s speech was not always recorded clearly, or because the performance contains many repetitions that make very tedious reading. This is one of the reasons why I decided to present and discuss the essential elements of the performance and the performance structure in this book. A problem in preparing this publication was to find reliable linguistic reference material. For information on grammar, there are just the notes on Dairi that Van der Tuuk added to his Grammar of Toba Batak, and a few recent articles in Indonesian. Tindi Radja Manik’s Dairi Pakpak – Indonesian dictionary is mainly based on nineteenth century texts that were collected by Van der Tuuk, with the addition of a few more recent publications by colonial Dutch scholars and by institutions of the Christian church. Apart from the collected texts, Van der Tuuk’s Toba Batak – Dutch dictionary was also used by Tindi Radja Manik for his Dairi Pakpak dictionary. In his survey of studies on the languages of Sumatra, Voorhoeve (1955:14) remarked that Van der Tuuk’s work is the only source of information for texts in Dairi. While Tindi Radja Manik’s dictionary suffices for the translation of nineteenth century written texts, even the modernized edition of 2002 proved not always adequate for the translation of more recent texts. Another difficulty in preparing a scholarly publication of written and oral Dairi texts is the transcription of the texts themselves: while texts 14

Preface |

in Batak scripts do not use punctuation marks or a clear separation of words and lines, a transcription in Latin script requires these. In fact the transcription implies an interpretation, which is often a personal choice of the person who makes the transcription. This is also the case when a spoken or recorded text is put into writing. To give just one example, a decision made by Tindi Radja Manik in his transcriptions of nineteenth century texts collected by Van der Tuuk was to ‘correct’ what were considered to be Toba influences: the form ‘di’, whether used as a verbal prefix indicating a third person passive form, or as a preposition to indicate a location, is replaced by ‘i’, in agreement with Van der Tuuk’s remark in his Grammar of Toba Batak, that Dairi uses ‘i’ [...] instead of ‘di’, for instance ‘i-buwat’ = ‘di-buwat’.7 In this respect, texts transcribed by Tindi Radja Manik differ from transcriptions made by Van der Tuuk. Again, spelling rules have changed since Tindi Radja Manik made his transcriptions and published his dictionary. Except in quotations, the spelling of Pakpak-Dairi words in this book generally follows that of the revised edition of Tindi Radja Manik’s Pakpak - Indonesian dictionary published in 2002, without the diacritics. While Toba influence on Pakpak-Dairi caused concern to several people whom we interviewed for our research, this influence seems to have been long standing, as Voorhoeve remarked in one of his letters to Tindi Radja Manik, kept with the Dutch version of the dictionary in KITLV Or 483 (4). Voorhoeve writes that the influence of Toba on Dairi Batak already existed when Van der Tuuk collected his manuscripts and is therefore not a recent phenomenon. Apparently Tindi Radja Manik wished to purify foreign influences from the Dairi texts he transcribed, as in his typewritten transcription of Sonang Sitakar’s performance he also replaced a number of Indonesian words by Dairi Pakpak terms with the same meaning. I have not followed him in this respect and have kept the Indonesian words that were used by the storyteller. In this monograph I am discussing the relationship between oral and written literary traditions, which was the main theme of our research. It was necessary to focus on Dairi texts as these have hardly been studied so far. A number of comparative issues concerning literary developments in related Sumatran languages, including Malay, are discussed in the first and final chapters. The book is divided into two sections: the first 7 Van der Tuuk 1971:155. In his Grammar of Toba Batak, Van der Tuuk (1971:155) states that: ‘Dairi uses “i” which, in D., is also a preposition [...] instead of di, e.g. i-buwat = di-buwat’.

15

| Preface

part deals with nineteenth century written versions of Dairi stories, the second part with Pakpak-Dairi storytelling, in particular with the story we recorded in 1979. As so little is known about the Pakpak-Dairi language, the texts in this language have been included in the publication. I sincerely hope that this will lead to further study and appreciation of this language and culture. Apart from the important work on Batak languages and cultures carried out by scholars in colonial times, this study has benefited from a number of scholarly publications that appeared since the time of our research. These include, among others, Robert Coleman’s anthropological work, Uli Kozok’s and Susan Rodgers’ publications on Batak literature, Amin Sweeney’s studies of Malay oral literature and Kees Groeneboer’s historical research on Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk. Moreover, I have gained considerable insight into the structures of Pakpak-Dairi songs and music from Lynette Moore’s unpublished PhD thesis. All these writings have contributed to my understanding of the material we collected. This book could not have been written without the outstanding collections of books and manuscripts in the libraries and archives of Leiden University and the KITLV. I am especially indebted to the people working in these libraries, therefore I wish to warmly thank Prof. Dr. J.J. Witkam, former curator of the Oriental Manuscripts collection of Leiden University Library, C.G. van den Aardweg, C.M. Hogewoning and J.H.S. Schrama as well as J. Anten, Lam Ngo and L. Ouwehand of the KITLV Library and Special Collections. In North Sumatra, many people have been supporting the research, most of them becoming good friends who welcomed us into their homes. Although some have been acknowledged in this book, it is not possible to mention them all. Therefore I just offer this book as a token of gratitude. An exception should be made for the then Governor of North Sumatra, E.W.P. Tambunan, who granted us permission for the research and kindly wrote a letter of introduction to show to the officials we were to visit. As usual, family members and dear friends who have been essential in supporting the author are the last to be thanked. In the first place, I remember with love and gratitude my dear parents, who have always encouraged my studies but did not live long enough to see me finish them. My most faithful supporters are my son Manu, Lode’s brother Joost and his wife Marguerite – they are the ones who enabled me to 16

Preface |

write the book and helped out whenever major obstacles presented themselves. My sister Judith helped to improve the English translation of the stories. My dear friend Gabriel Heilig kept encouraging me from afar, reading and editing the texts that emerged from my computer. My artist friend Marjolijn Groustra in Leiden expressed the spirit of Dairi stories in wonderful drawings that capture the imagination of readers and listeners. She also designed the cover and her husband Elbert Ploos van Amstel carefully digitalized the illustrations for this book. Last but not least, over the years I have enjoyed cooperating with two inspiring friends: Juara Ginting and Beatriz van der Goes, who have devoted their lives to the task of keeping the cultural heritage of North Sumatra for future generations. In conclusion, I am grateful for the financial support of the Stichting Marinus Plantema that enabled me to present papers on Dairi stories and storytelling at the International Conference on Oral Traditions organized by the Assosiasi Tradisi Lisan from 2-5 October 2003 in Jakarta, and at the 9th International Symposium organized by the Masyarakat Pernaskahan Nusantara from 5-8 August 2005 in Bau-Bau, Buton, Indonesia. Clara Brakel-Papenhuyzen, Voorburg, June 2011

17

The Batak regions in North Sumatra (Groeneboer 2002:110, from Sibeth 1991:8)

PART ONE: WRITTEN STORIES

1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra

written and oral literary traditions Batak literature is usually considered as an oral tradition, in spite of the presence of large numbers of Batak manuscripts in libraries, museums and private collections across the world. These ancient manuscripts deal almost exclusively with magic and ritual, yet the knowledge of a script apparently did not induce a written literature among the Batak peoples of North Sumatra, as Lode Brakel remarked in his article on the ‘Folk literatures of Indonesia’ (‘Die Volksliteraturen Indonesiens’).1 The majority of Batak manuscripts in museum collections are books made from tree-bark (pustaha, Sanskrit pustaka), containing information on magic and ritual, prayers, and divination; some are letters or lamentations written on bamboo. The various scripts that are similar but somewhat different for each dialect derive from an ancient South Indian Pallava script (Kozok 1999:64-5, 2000:34; Trigangga 2009) and are considered to have magical qualities. Originally, the pustaha were written and used by shamans (datu, guru) and their students, to help preserve their knowledge of ritual, magic and healing practices. According to Voorhoeve, stories belonging to oral literature are rarely found in these priestly writings, and if so, occur in relation to a particular ritual. Voorhoeve mentions the story of the origin of the cock-augury in pustaha dealing with the pormanuhon ritual, and the creation-myth in connection with a description of offering rice (Voorhoeve 1927:14). A few legends or

1 Lode Brakel (1976:25) wrote in this German article: ‘Aber zum Entstehen einer schriftlich abgefassten Literatur hat diese Errungenschaft kaum geführt; der Schrift wurde von den Batak hauptsächlich magische Bedeutung beigemessen’.

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

tribal histories known as tarombo have been preserved in pustaha, but these were not regarded as literature.2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak texts is assumed to have initiated the writing down of an orally transmitted literature by Western scholars and missionaries. But Van der Tuuk did not write the stories down from the mouths of storytellers, he employed people who could write a Batak script as scribes. In his letters to the Dutch Bible Society he reports how this was done and often praises the skill of the people who wrote the stories down for him.3 In his book entitled Sedjarah kebudajaan Batak (The history of Batak culture) the twentieth-century Indonesian author Siahaan also writes that ‘before Van der Tuuk’s arrival only a small part of Batak literature was written down’, adding in a footnote that he refers to Batak literature before the arrival of Western influence.4

batak literature and toba dominance Like many writers on Batak culture, Ypes (1932:66) considered Toba as the main Batak language from which the other Batak dialects developed.5 Accordingly many writers tend to generalize the situation in Toba for all other Batak languages. In Van der Tuuk’s Toba Batak Grammar (1971:l), Batak literature is characterized as follows: ‘The literature consists of prescriptions (poda) dealing with divination, stories, invocations to spirits, laments (andung), ditties (ende), long-winded poems, such as, for example, the si-marganggang gaol, and narrative riddles (torhan-torhanan). 2 Neither Van der Tuuk nor his followers mention tarombo as a literary genre. According to Johann Angerler (2009:57), the word tarombo in the sense of a written genealogical history is a Malay loanword that has relatively recently been introduced into Toba Batak. 3 In a letter dated 17 December 1853 Van der Tuuk writes: ‘Hoewel de Bataks dezer streken hun schrijven bijna alleen op brieven en tooverij concentreren, zoo zijn toch hunne verhalen, die ik door bekwame schrijvers heb laten opschrijven [...] zoo goed geschreven alsof zij uit het een of andere boek waren overgeschreven’ (Groeneboer 2002:194; Voorhoeve1927:9). 4 Siahaan (1964:69) writes in Indonesian:‘Sebelum datang Van der Tuuk hanja sedikit sastera Batak jang ditulis’. (note 2) ‘Jang dimaksud disini sastera Batak sebelum datang pengaruh Barat’. 5 Ypes (1932:66) wrote: ‘Van al die dialecten is het Tobaasch de moedertaal’. However, this was questioned by Viner (1979:90) who wrote: ‘Since the total population of the Toba exceeded in number the combined populations of the Pakpak, Karo and Simalungun, it may have seemed reasonable to Ypes to accept native claims that Toba was the mother language of the Batak. Conversely, Van der Tuuk, writing a half century before Ypes, observed the dominance of Toba over Pakpak and postulated that the Pakpak were subjugated by the Toba in long forgotten wars. He noted that linguistic evidence hints that the Pakpak language may precede Toba (Van der Tuuk 1971:76)’.

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

The larger part is in prose into which, however, a great number of short verses are introduced.’ Following Van der Tuuk, Siahaan’s book on the history of Batak Culture also bases his description of Batak culture on the situation in Toba. Toba terminology is used to refer to literary genres in Batak languages in general (Siahaan 1964:69-71). Siahaan mentions the following literary genres: 1. umpama, (Sanskrit upama), proverbs, maxims and similes consisting of four-line verses, similar to the Malay pantun (see Brakel 1976:102). There are different types of umpama according to their contents: some are used for ceremonial speeches, others for love poems exchanged between young men and women (ende-ende in South Tapanuli). Moreover, umpama may contain traditional legal concepts, as has been explained in J.C. Vergouwen’s excellent study of Toba Batak customary law6 that was first published in Dutch in 1933. 2. andung-andung, sung lamentations expressing feelings of mourning for the death of a beloved person. They contain special words and stylised expressions, which are considered beautiful, but according to Siahaan, are no longer understood by the present generation. He adds that in Karo sad lyrical songs are inscribed on bamboo and are called bilang-bilang. 3. tonggo-tonggo, poetically arranged prayers uttered at small or large festive occasions. They are full of alliterations, parallelisms etc. that are considered as poetic or ‘beautiful’ language. Tonggo-tonggo texts were written down for Van der Tuuk and have been discussed in scholarly publications, such as Niessen’s dissertation on Toba Batak texts and textiles that gives the text of a rice incantation (tonggo ni harbue), open-

6

A legal umpama discussed by Vergouwen (1964:137) reads: Molo metmet binanga, na metmet do dengke; molo godang binanga, godang dengke. If the stream is small, then the fish will be small; If the stream is big, then the fish will be big. Explanation: ‘This maxim expounds the principle that the reward of those who have actively concerned themselves in a legal affair must be proportionate to the importance of the matter at issue’.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

ing with a formulaic invocation to the gods of the upper, lower and middle regions.7 Tabas, a special type of chanted prayer, often contains borrowings from foreign languages. Siahaan gives an example of an assimilated Arabic expression used to impress the audience with words they do not understand: ‘bitsumirla dirahoman dirahomin’, (derived from Arabic ‘bismillahi al rahmani al rahimi’). 4. huling-hulingan, short riddles. Sometimes they use rhyme. Narrative riddles that have an explanation in the form of a story are called torhan-torhan, or teka-teki Simson, after the well-known biblical figure. 5. turi-turian, stories including myths, legends and fairytales. Siahaan emphasizes the similarities and minimizes the variation when he remarks that many stories occur in all Batak dialects: Toba, Angkola, Mandailing, Karo, Dairi and Simalungun, with just some differences in the details. While the above-mentioned genres occur in most Batak languages or dialect, the differences should not be under-estimated. Even the terminology varies considerably. According to Voorhoeve, the most common word for all sorts of tales in Toba Batak is suhutan, and the word turi-turian may be used in the same sense. In Pakpak-Dairi the most common word for story is sukut-sukuten, while according to Coleman (1983:103) turi-turiin is used to refer to (clan) histories. Speakers of Karo use the term turi-turin in the general sense of story. But in Neumann’s Karo-Dutch dictionary (1951:339), the word turi-turin signifies, besides story, also report, or, ‘how it really happened’. In the Mandailing dialect a distinction is made between a simple tale, obar-kobaran, and a complex, musical and literary work of art, turi-turian (Voorhoeve 1927:15-7). Some genres are specific to one area, such as the perjangka-jangkaan, chanted introductory exercises Niessen (1985:130) gives an incantation to the rice, ‘tonggo ni harbue’ that opens with a formulaic invocation to the gods of the upper, lower and middle regions : Asa turun debata di atas manaek manjujung debata di toru humundul jumojak debata di tonga on Asa turun ma hamu Inang nang gurungku, nang guru sinongta nang gurungku, nang guru sinongti songta-songti do ahu.

7

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

for studying to read the indigenous script, that according to Coleman (1983:103) only exist in Pakpak-Dairi.

literary genres in dairi The literary genres have special characteristics in Dairi that are connected with the language, culture and natural environment. Our research in North Sumatra shows that in Dairi storytelling various literary genres are combined. The performance of a story includes laments, prayers, proverbs and maxims as well as songs (ende), a genre that was known yet received little scholarly attention in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. As a large part of a storyteller’s performance is sung, the songs will be discussed first. ende The word ende is translated in Manik’s Dairi Pakpak-Indonesian dictionary as song or melody (lagu, nyanyian, langgam), emphasizing the sound form of this literary genre. How important the genre was, and probably still is, in Dairi culture has been shown in Lynette Moore’s thesis on the songs of the Pakpak of North Sumatra. Moore lists no less than six main categories of songs, all referred to by the general term ende(-ende): songs for children, work-songs, songs of courtship and marriage, songs sung in narrative, songs for blessing, greeting and longing, and recreational songs. These are divided into sub-classes according to context, including songs that are sung as lullabies, during work in the rice fields or in the forest, dance songs, bathing songs, etc. Moore writes that ‘many of the song texts have similar themes which are exclusive to each song class’, and ‘these themes are linked to a large variety of poetic formulae, some of which are drawn upon by a singer when creating a song’. Some songs cross the classification boundaries as they may be sung in more than one social context, such as lullabies sung while collecting firewood (Moore 1985:32). As is usual in an oral tradition, every performance of a song is likely to vary, so it does not have a fixed form. Yet most singers believe that: ‘the songs they sing were composed by their ancestors and were handed down through the generations. They believe that the songs were originally 25

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

revealed to their forebears by the spirits of birds, animals and natural features such as waterfalls, rivers and stones.’ (Moore 1985:43.) Some song types require a special singing style that is related to the context in which they are performed. Foremost among these are odongodong, sung by men working in the forest, and tangis(-tangis), or ‘crying songs’ sung by women during funerals and at other sad occasions. odong-odong The Dairi term odong-odong means song (nyanyian) according to Manik’s dictionary. In Oloan Tumangger’s publication (1999) on Pakpak-Dairi culture odong-odong is said to refer to a specific type of songs sung by men working in the solitude of the jungle where they collect forest products. Tumangger finds odong-odong very attractive because of their poetic qualities, often expressing pent-up feelings of sadness and disappointment in love or life. They may be performed by a solo singer or in a choir and are not accompanied by instrumental music. There is a rule that these songs cannot be performed in the village. According to Tumangger (1999:88) odong-odong may only be sung in the solitude of the jungle, preferably at the time of ‘nggoling ari’, in the afternoon between 14.00 – 16.30 o’clock. However, this rule is not maintained that strictly, as will be shown in our discussion of the performance of the Dairi story Si Buah Mburle. In Moore’s thesis the term odong-odong is said to refer to one of the two main singing styles used in Pakpak culture. It is characterized by loud singing and performed exclusively by men working in the forest (Moore 1985:6). Songs that are sung while collecting incense (ende-ende kemenjen), camphor (ende-ende mertelung) or other forest products signal to other workers where one is working, and help to combat the singer’s fears and feelings of loneliness.8 The overall feeling these songs express is sadness, they are even considered to have the saddest poetic content of all Pakpak songs (Moore 1985:106). Two song types sung by workers in the forest that may also be performed in other situations are songs of suffering (kinidersa) and songs of orphans (Moore 1985:32, 101). Songs in odong-odong style can have either small or large poetic structures and do not have a ‘consistent poetic form’ (Moore 1985:104). 8 Moore 1985:36. This is specified later, when Moore (1985:104) writes that the man working in the forest ‘sings to control his fears that undesirable spirits and wild animals [...] may be lurking close by’.

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

Most of them are in free metre and are sung with much ornamentation (Moore 1985:117). In the group of ende-ende kemenjen the simple four-line strophe is frequently used, in which two lines – A and B – are repeated alternately (Moore 1985:121). Singers of these songs use characteristic poetic and/or melodic formulae that distinguish them from other traditional songs. Various poetic formulae telling of the despair, suffering and sad fate of the singer occur throughout the songs. These may be accompanied by ‘vocables of sadness’, long, melodically structured ‘sighs’ or cries’ (Moore 1985:107), also used profusely in female lamentations. tangis The term tangis(-tangis), literally meaning (to) lament or cry, is used in Dairi to refer to a special type of song expressing sorrow, traditionally performed by women during funerals. In an article on the music of the Pakpak-Dairi Moore describes how laments are performed with music to help the deceased spirit find rest during funeral ceremonies and to accompany funerary dances. ‘The first part of the ceremony ... is performed by women mourners who, working themselves into a trance with the help of the genderang [orchestra] which plays a fast, regularly repeated phrase, “talk” to the departed spirit in a language unintelligible to the other mourners’ (Moore 1981:42). According to Kozok (2000:48), the chanting of funeral dirges, once common among all Batak groups as an integral part of funeral ceremonies, is now threatened by the spread of Christianity and Islam. However, laments are not limited to funerals, they can also occur in other contexts. During a performance of storytelling laments are sung to express feelings of sadness and despair, usually of a woman (Rodgers 2005:37). Young people may express feelings of longing in a lament, called bilang-bilang in Karo when written down on a piece of bamboo. In these cases the composer or singer is not in trance and the language is intelligible to others (Kozok 1990:107-10) A special type of lament is what Moore (1985:203-25) calls ‘crying songs’ performed by women before and after a wedding, either by a solo singer or by several singers simultaneously. Songs performed before the wedding ceremony are known as ‘crying songs of the girl promised in marriage’ (ende-ende tangis beru sijahe), or ‘crying songs of the girl to be married’ (ende-ende tangis beru pangiran), sung when the bride visits her rela27

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

tives and those of her husband a few days before the wedding, accompanied by her mother, sisters and companions. Similar crying songs are sung when the bride visits her home village some weeks after the wedding (ende-ende tangis beru molih).9 Moore states that crying songs do not have a ‘consistent poetic form’, no empama or other formal poetic devices being used. The song’s poetic form is dictated instead by the melodic structure of each song. The poetic content of these songs reflects the singer’s relationship to the bride, as ‘in creating a song, each participating singer draws upon a different group of themes and poetic formulae, all of which are concerned with marriage’ (Moore 1985:206). Thus, the song of a mother may offer advice to the bride and remind her of her childhood using specific poetic formulae, and vocables such as ‘tendi inangna’ (mother’s soul). The bride’s song may say that she will be longing for her mother in her husband’s village, using vocables such as ‘inang ni beruna’ (mother of the girl). Companions of the bride may also sing about feelings of loneliness and longing of the bride when she will be far from home. All these songs are introduced, ended and interspersed with sobbing and crying sounds such as ‘ong, ah, oh’. tonggo-tonggo, mangmang, tabas A literary genre that is either spoken or chanted is tonggo-tonggo, translated as prayer (doa) in Manik’s Pakpak – Indonesian dictionary. Other words referring to prayer in Dairi are mangmang and tabas. The word ‘mangmang’ has been translated as ‘incantation’ in stories from Van der Tuuk’s collection published in this book. The word tabas that usually refers to a short prayer has been translated as ‘spell’. In Manik’s dictionary (2002:229) the term mangmang is said to refer specifically to prayers in cock-rituals performed to predict future events. The performer of mangmang (permangmang) is according to Ypes ‘a kind of guardian of the earth’, a specialist in agricultural rituals in the Simsim area. He leads the ‘menderger uruk’ (shaking the valley) ritual that is celebrated to restore the balance after warfare or damage caused by wild animals, or when an epidemic is impending (Ypes 1932:86-8). 9 Moore 1985:204. Rodgers (2005:69) mentions a similar type of ‘sob-speech laments’ in Angkola and Mandailing, sung for beloved kinspeople who depart on long journeys, such as the bride on her way to her husband’s home.

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In Karo, the term mangmang refers to oaths, incantations and (lengthy) formulae expressed during rituals (Neumann 1951:188). Van der Goes (1997:381) defines the ritual specialist who knows to sing mangmang, a guru permangmang, as ‘a person, either male or female, who understands the messages of the spirits and represents their voices in the mangmang, a kind of dialogue expressed in the form of a ritual chant’. This implies that these mangmang texts are not learned by heart nor recited from memory, but composed in performance. They also contain passages with relatively fixed, standard formulae that may occur, with variations, in different ritual contexts.10 Texts of mangmang and tabas are full of poetic expressions, alliterations, assonances and parallelisms considered as beautiful language, which are also mnemonic devices. Both mangmang and tabas make use of words borrowed from other languages such as Malay or Toba that make them less accessible to the audience.11 The words of a prayer are often difficult to understand anyway, because they are chanted or muttered in a fast manner during a ritual. Whether tonggo-tonggo, mangmang and tabas are an oral or a written genre is difficult to say. While spells and incantations often seem to be composed in performance, Van der Tuuk did collect a number of written versions of prayer texts. Moreover, a report from the Department of Literature of the University of North Sumatra states that there are mangmang in written form in Dairi (Rahman 1977:9).

10 Van der Goes (1997:384) published the text of a Karo mangmang persentabin that addresses the fire of the hearth to ask for protection and success during the inauguration of a house. 11 The text of the prayer that opens the story of Datu Tunggal ni Begu (Or 3406:170/175) is very similar to the above-mentioned opening of the Toba incantation to the rice goddess published by Niessen: Pedah ni kata ni mangmang debata mangadai mi, ale tuan. Asa turun ma kamu debata di atas manangké ma kamu debata di teruh tumundul ma kamu debata di tengah asa tengah turun ma kamu na gurungku na guru songta na guru sungti songta sungti do.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

(e)mpama, (per-)umpama(-an) In Dairi, the term (e)mpama or(per-)umpama(-an) refers to proverbial expressions or admonitions that are based, as the term indicates, on a simile. The best-known form is a four-line verse divided into a first and a second part with rhyming second and fourth lines, like the Malay pantun. Manik’s Pakpak – Indonesian dictionary describes empama as a poem (syair)12 that usually consists of four lines, of which the last two lines state a truth or custom, while the first two lines indicate the theme (Manik 1977:98). The four-line empama verse form is used in different speech contexts, including ritual speeches, songs and storytelling. However, empama are not limited to four-line verse forms, as there are many examples of empama of one, three, five or six lines in Tumangger’s publication (1999:136) on PakpakDairi culture, as well as in Manik’s dictionary and in Lister Berutu’s collection of 100 Pakpak perumpamaan published in 2006.13 Moore’s thesis discusses song-texts with four-line stanza’s that often (but not necessarily) contain empama. These are used in different genres, including working songs such as a ‘monkey chasing song’ (ende-ende pemuro bodat) sung by a worker in the rice fields guarding her crop against monkeys (Moore 1985:138-9). There are also many lullabies (mengurih-urihken) sung by women or men that use four-line stanzas with empama (Moore 1985:72). Most famous for the use of four-line empama are the courting songs (ende-ende anak perana), in which a boy and a girl exchange verses of a pair of (rhyming) couplets. Because these are often game-songs in which each singer must give a quick response to the other’s verse, there is a large stock of poetic formulae that may be drawn upon during performance (Moore 1985:191). Many of these contain empama. According to Moore (1985:184) courting songs are no longer performed by young people and were only remembered by older singers at the time of her research.

The word syair is defined In Echols and Shadili’s Indonesian-English dictionary (1963:342) as: ‘story related in verse form using quatrains of one rhyme’. 13 An example of a one-line empama is given both in Tumangger (1995:136) and in a variant form in Manik’s dictionary (2002:168): ‘bage manuk lebe ikais asa ipangan’ (like a bird that first scratches the earth before it eats), indicating that one must work before one can eat. 12

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

kuning-kuningen, torka-torkan Simple riddles named kuning-kuningen in Dairi are usually regarded as a literary genre, although they do not seem to use poetic expressions and do not have a specific (literary) form. According to Tumangger short one-line riddles (kuning-kuningen) are especially popular with children and are used to make them reflect.14 A longer type of riddle named torka-torkan has the form of a short story in answer to a riddle. The introductory question for a narrative riddle could be: ‘How can someone take away the fruit of a tree that is firmly guarded?’ (Manik 2002:385). sukut-sukuten, turi-turin The telling of stories, called sukut-sukuten or turi-turin in Dairi, has long been popular in all Batak areas, both as a pastime and in ritual contexts. Traditionally shamans know to tell the myths and legends explaining the origin of the rituals they perform.15 Observing that shamans played an important role as literary experts and knew to preserve their knowledge in writing, Van der Tuuk asked them to write down the stories they knew, so that he could study these outside their performance context. However, the knowledge of Batak stories was and is not restricted to ritual specialists, and Batak storytelling is not limited to a ritual context. According to Voorhoeve (1927:15) storytelling usually takes place at night, and often outside the village, for example when people stay in a hut in the fields, or in the jungle. Another context for storytelling is given in Moore’s thesis quoting Pak N. Berutu of Kampung Aornakan: ‘Sukut-sukuten are most often performed when a feast (kerja) is about to be celebrated, when guests from distant regions must be entertained. However, stories performed on these occasions are not regarded as part of the adat ritual’ (Moore 1985:243). The Roman Catholic author Tumangger writes that in Pakpak-Dairi stories are passed on from one generation to another by being told to children at bedtime. He adds that 14 Tumangger gives several examples of simple riddles, such as the following kuning-kuningen: ‘Kade mi sikali gerari panganen, dua kali gerari oda panganen? (What is it that can be eaten when named once, and cannot be eaten when named twice?). Solution: sawi is a type of vegetable; the duplicated form sawi-sawi is the name of a small knife used for cutting rice (Tumangger 1999:75). 15 In his article on Pa Surdam, a Karo shaman, Juara Ginting (1990:87) states that Batak shamans still have knowledge of prayers, incantations and stories.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

these stories are not just entertaining fairy tales but contain useful knowledge (Tumangger 1995:68). The performance of traditional stories (turi-turian) in Angkola and Mandailing is discussed in Susan Rodgers’ recent publication of a Sumatran epic.16 She writes that southern Batak storytelling is a complex communicative act which includes all genres of the oral tradition: women’s lament songs, young people’s courtship poetry, invocations to the ancestors, wedding oratory and verbal duels traded between houses united uneasily through marriage alliance. Moreover, a complete turi-turian would have ‘a sampler of orations like those given by village chiefs at water buffalo sacrifice feasts’. A good turi-turian should also include songs to accompany ritual tortor dances, as well as curse speeches, spell-removal speeches, riddles, and a fragment of mystical camphor gathering speech (Rodgers 2005:27-8). About the turi-turian Datuk Tuongku Aji Malim Leman that Rodgers recorded in 1975 from Baginda Hatimbulan, a male storyteller in his sixties, she writes that: ‘the entire tale was presented in a low-toned, droned chant’ (Rodgers 2005:34). Going on for many hours this chant had ‘the hypnotic alliteration, reliance on formulaic phrases, and repetitive cadences of much bardic performance around the world’.17 The performance of traditional tales in Dairi (sukut-sukuten) is also discussed in Moore’s thesis, in the chapter on songs within narrative. Moore distinguishes three performance modes for Pakpak-Dairi sukutsukuten: 1. one narrator performs a long monologue describing the actions and conversations of the characters, interspersed with songs. 2. the entire story is told in song by two singers who sing alternately without long monologues. 3. two singers tell the story in sung form, alternating the narration. Chanted monologues are often used in this mode (Moore 1985:243). During her research Moore mainly witnessed the first performance mode, a narrative monologue interspersed with songs, which may have been what Van der Tuuk (1971:l) referred to when he wrote that: ‘the larger part is in prose into which, however, a great number of short

16 In 2005 Rodgers published an English translation of the book entitled Datoek Toeongkoe Adji Malim Leman by M.J. Soetan Hasoendoetan published in Pematang Siantar in 1941. 17 Rodgers (2005:36) also writes that: ‘the chants of bardic turi-turian performers are more moaned than sobbed’.

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

verses are introduced’.18 This performance mode seems to resemble the ‘non-casual’ recounting of a story by a professional Malay storyteller as discussed by Sweeney, who writes that: ‘although his narration will mainly be in everyday speech, he may include passages of so-called ‘rhythmical prose’ (Sweeney 1973:4). In Pakpak-Dairi, the telling of stories with songs is regarded as a special skill that only few people master and is, according to Moore, ‘the only vocal service for which performers are paid’. In order to become a storyteller (si mersukuten), ‘a singer must spend a considerable amount of time learning the methods and techniques involved in this song tradition’, which is not necessary when learning other song types. Moore (1985:244-5) signals a decline in storytelling at the time of her research. She attributes this both to a decline in adat practices and to economic reasons, as ‘few of the younger women are willing or able to devote the time necessary to learn the stories and their accompanying songs’.19

performance of the sukut-sukuten si buah mburle The sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle recorded by us in 1979 was a solo performance by the old, male storyteller Sonang Sitakar. His relatively brief performance, lasting about two and a half hours, covered the entire story narrated in prose, poetry and dialogue. The performance was complete and exemplary as it contained all the literary genres discussed above: narrative prose, ende with metric and non-metric free verse, empama, tabas and instruction on Pakpak-Dairi adat. It also featured several different song-types: female laments (tangis) and male odong-odong songs, as well as a lullaby and a dance-song. Formulaic expressions were used in abundance, especially in the chanted parts. During the performance Sonang Sitakar frequently alternated narrative speech with chanting, keeping eye contact and interacting with the audience while speaking, and closing his eyes when chanting. Three men assisted the storyteller, Bapak Kabeaken, Manik and Solin, acting as ‘pengue’, people in the audience who support the storyteller with expres18 The word ‘verses’ of the English translation refers to a couplet or poetry, not necessarily to rhyme. The original Dutch passage says: ‘’t Grootste gedeelte bestaat uit proza, waarin echter een menigte rijmpjes zijn ingevlochten’ (Van der Tuuk 1864:vii). 19 Moore mistakenly assumes that sukut-sukuten are performed only by women.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

sions such as ‘ue’ or ‘tuhu’ (indeed), asking brief questions and singing refrains for some of the songs. Their role was so important that he thanked them at the end of his performance, in Pakpak-Dairi and in Indonesian. In the introduction to his performance, Sonang Sitakar explained that he had selected the story of Si Buah Mburle because it belonged to Pakpak-Dairi culture and contained many wise lessons. During the storytelling he again emphasized the importance of storytelling for the continuation of Pakpak-Dairi customs and identity. He also stated that he wished to formally ask permission from the ancestors (mersintabin) before telling the story, because we respected his traditional culture. This was done in a four line opening verse in empama form, chanted in a very elaborate style. At the conclusion of his performance, Sonang Sitakar said that he would be pleased to tell us more stories in the future, including traditional Pakpak music in the performance. Informally, he told us that his repertoire consisted of ten stories. He had learned these by frequently listening to other storytellers, of whom there were many when he was young. The titles of these stories20 were: 1. Si Buah Mburle 2. Manuk-manuk Si Raja Bayan 3. Si Raja enduma 4. Nangkirlong 5. Uo engket kak 6. Si Sori Ntagan 7. Si Jinaka engket Si Babag 8. Pelanduk engket Silo-silo 9. Nem anak-anak 10. Si Tagendera.

20 The titles are given as noted down in my diary. Except for the third, fourth and ninth item, these stories occur in Voorhoeve’s survey. The fourth title noted down by me corresponds to ‘Nangkerlong’, a story that is retold in a recent publication of Pakpak folk-stories (Banurea 2002:60-70). Moore (1985:246) lists only six stories that were still popular in Pakpak songs. 1. Sitaggendera 2. Nan Tampuk Emas 3. Pake Nangen 4. Sigurah 5. Manuk-manuk Si Raja Bayon 6. Si Buah Mburlae

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1 Literary traditions in North Sumatra |

With a thorough command of different speech types, the storyteller Sonang Sitakar proved to be an experienced verbal artist. He was able to chant invocations, sing poetic verses, imitate natural sounds, insert poetry, proverbs and idiomatic expressions, crack jokes and sing tragic laments. Moreover, he wanted to educate the listeners by transmitting knowledge of the past, and of moral, behavioural and legal codes. His wonderfully dynamic performance of a traditional Pakpak-Dairi sukutsukuten will be discussed in the second part of this book.

content and form of dairi sukut-sukuten When we discussed our research project with the late expert of North Sumatran literature P. Voorhoeve, he pointed at the importance of written versions of Dairi stories in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in the University Library of Leiden. Voorhoeve’s thesis (1927) entitled Overzicht van de volksverhalen der Bataks (Survey of Batak folk-stories), which is based on this collection, gives brief summaries of most of these stories and compares variant versions in different Batak languages. The survey is useful to get an idea of the contents of the Dairi stories in Van der Tuuk’s collection. One story from Sonang Sitakar’s repertoire, Si Sori Ntagan, which has been retold in Dutch in the beginning of Voorhoeve’s survey (1927:31-5), is still popular at present, according to Tumangger. He gave an Indonesian summary of this story as an example of a Pakpak folk-story (cerita rakyat) in his book on the Pakpak-Dairi people. However, it is difficult to find printed texts of Dairi stories, apart from a few summaries in Dutch or, more recently, in modernized Indonesian versions.21 Even educational storybooks do not seem to have been popular in Dairi, as was the case in other North Sumatran regions (Rodgers 2007:485-6). Therefore, the stories collected in Van der Tuuk’s manuscripts and the few specimens in his Batak reader are a very important source of information on Dairi stories. It is to these that our attention will turn in the first part of this study. Besides studying the contents of these stories, 21 Some stories were retold in Dutch in De Vries 1928. Tumangger (1999:68) mentions a version of the story Si Sori Ntagan published in the journal Persada Graha, oktober 1990. More recently, ‘Pakpak folkstories’ have been published in modernized Indonesian versions (Banurea, Banurea and Lumbantobing 2002; Lingga 2006).

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

we will attempt to analyse parallels and differences in form and content between written versions of stories, and between their written versions and oral performance. The survey of stories in Voorhoeve’s thesis shows that various versions of a story may have different titles, which may make them difficult to identify. For example, the story entitled ‘Si Sori Ntagan’, after the name of its hero, may also be called after this hero’s mother, ‘Nan Terter Dahan’. Among other things, this signals the flexibility found in these stories. In Dairi, no evidence was found of a gradual transition from oral transmission to print via the schoolbook culture instigated by Christian missionary or government schools. In any case, such a transition is not just an irreversible, one-way process. Even in Malay-speaking areas of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the so-called ‘shift into print’ is a gradual process, and the characteristics of oral styles are often continued in printed literary works (Rodgers 2005:64-5; Sweeney 1987).

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2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library

The nineteenth-century linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk collected a large number of manuscripts in various Batak languages during his stay on the west coast of Sumatra, first in Sibolga, then in Barus, from 1851 until mid-1857.1 Since 1896 this collection has been kept as his legacy in Leiden University Library. The contents of the collection reflect, besides Van der Tuuk’s own interests, the interest of the Dutch Bible Society that employed him. As his main task was to prepare a translation of ‘the Bible’ and to make a description of ‘the Batak language’2 for the instruction of Protestant missionaries, (Groeneboer 2002:5-10), many manuscripts in the collection deal with Batak religious beliefs and practices. They contain amongst others instructions for divination, magical devices, medical treatment as well as myths and stories with a religious meaning, such as creation myths. However, Van der Tuuk was not a missionary but a scholar with a passion for languages and linguistic problems, and his interest extended well beyond religious matters.3 Therefore he collected much general information on various aspects of Batak languages and cultures that proved useful not only for Christian missionaries but also for Dutch colonial administrators as well as for scholars of literature and of ‘adat-law’. 1 This chapter is based on a paper presented at the 9th International Symposium of the Masyarakat Pernaskahan Nusantara from 5-8 August 2005 at Bau-Bau, Buton, Indonesia. A revised version of the paper appeared in SARI 25, 2007:9-21. 2 There are two main groups of Batak languages: the Northern group contains the related Karo and Pakpak-Dairi and the Alas dialect, the Southern group includes Simalungun, Toba, and AngkolaMandailing (Voorhoeve 1955:9; Kozok 1999:14). Viner (1979:91) distinguishes eight languages, based on the distinction between a Northern and a Southern group, with Pardembanan and Simalungun as ‘mediary’ languages. 3 For information on Van der Tuuk’s interests, see Groeneboer 2000, 2002.

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

Van der Tuuk’s linguistic studies resulted in a Tobasche spraakkunst (Grammar of Toba Batak), a Bataksch-Nederduitsch woordenboek (Toba Batak-Dutch dictionary), and a Bataksch leesboek (Batak reader) with pieces in Toba, Dairi and Mandailing. The manuscripts he collected served as a basis for these publications. He also translated parts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament into Toba and other Batak languages: the books Genesis and Exodus, the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. During the last few decades, the collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library has hardly been touched, as the number of scholars in the field of Batak languages is on the decline. It is possible that the contents of these manuscripts will soon be inaccessible because there will be nobody left who can read them. The relevance of Van der Tuuk’s unique collection is beyond all doubt. In the context of this book, the focus will be on Dairi manuscripts in the collection that have received very little scholarly attention until now. In the Introduction to his Guide for the collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library (Codices Batacici), Voorhoeve (1977:4) writes that Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts is outstanding because it is: ‘the only large collection that has been assembled with full knowledge of the facts’. Van der Tuuk’s collection contains different types of manuscripts: A. 152 tree-bark books (pustaha) made from strips of tree-bark folded like an accordion, with writing in Batak characters;4 B. bamboo pieces or tubes inscribed with Batak characters; C. European paper manuscripts using Batak or Latin characters.

pustaha Since approximately the eighteenth century, pustaha have been purchased and transported to Western countries by collectors. These tree-bark books, presently kept in European libraries and museums, were appreciated not so much for their contents, which were not usually understood by the buyers, but were considered a curiosity or a specimen of tribal art. 4 As described in Kozok’s Warisan leluhur (1999), the variants of Batak script (s) roughly correspond to the main Batak language groups.

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2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

As a preparation for his fieldwork in North Sumatra, Van der Tuuk studied some Batak tree-bark manuscripts kept in Amsterdam and in London. During his stay in North Sumatra he collected pustaha and learned to interpret them with the help of religious experts (datu), who must have been quite numerous at the time. While he was living in Barus he also employed them to write or copy many of the pustaha in his collection. Since he was not a religious person, pustaha must have primarily served him as a means to learn the language. Pustaha contain prestigious secret and sacred knowledge that is not only difficult to learn but also, as Winkler (1925:75) has pointed out, quite expensive to obtain, so that only the sons of wealthy people, clan leaders, or close relatives of a datu had access to it. The fact that Van der Tuuk was interested in pustaha put him in contact with influential people and must have increased his prestige in Batak communities. The process of manufacturing tree-bark books requires much skill as has been described by scholars like Winkler (1925:76) and Kozok (1999:30-3). Teygeler, who is a professional bookbinder, has also given a detailed description of the production process of the pustaha. He considers it ‘very unlikely that the folding book came to the Batak under the influence of Indian culture’ but he is ‘very much inclined to believe that the Batak could well have taken their book form for the pustaha fromt the Chinese, either directly or indirectly’ (Teygeler 1993:600). While the art of manufacturing these books is still practised by a few artisans, mainly for the tourist industry, the knowledge to write the texts which such books used to contain seems to have already been lost (Kozok 1999:30-1). Voorhoeve (1977:4) wrote in the Introduction to his Codices Batacici that a critical text edition with translation of a pustaha text had not yet been published; to my knowledge it has not been published since then. The tree-bark books collected by Van der Tuuk all use the Toba language. The only two pustaha that derive from the Dairi region contain texts with a mixture of Dairi and Toba elements. Pustaha texts typically deal with ritual, prayers, magic and divination and are often illustrated by magic drawings. They are made and used by datu who perform such rituals, and can only be fully understood by these ritual experts. Information on the chain of teachers, the author and his student or commissioner is often given at the beginning of the text. The following three examples may serve to illustrate the nature of these pustaha.

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Or 3429: This Toba text deals with divination in the context of the important buffalo sacrifice (porbuhitan) and has been used for Voorhoeve’s article (1958) on this topic.

Pustaha Or 3429, 27 leaves, 27 x 24 cm, photo Joost Brakel

The two Dairi pustaha in Van der Tuuk’s collection are small and simple, both deal with topics connected with ritual and protective magic.

Pustaha Or 3554, 51 leaves. 6 x 4,05 cm, photo Joost Brakel

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2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

Or 3554: Because the author and his chain of teachers mentioned in this book originate from the Dairi region, this text is considered as Dairi-Batak, although ‘the language is mainly the Toba poda-language’ (Voorhoeve 1977:85-6). The Toba ‘language of instruction’ (hata poda) used in pustaha contains many uncommon words and each type of divination uses specific terminology (Van der Tuuk 1971:xliii). This text starts with the aims of ‘saetan’, or ‘the parts of an animal slaughtered for a ritual feast that must be put aside for the spirits’ (Voorhoeve 1977:86), and also describes some magic means to get rid of enemies.

Pustaha Or 3521, 41 leaves. 13 x 10,3 cm, photo Joost Brakel

Or 3521: This text states that the author is a Dairi named (M)Pu Landa, his teacher Datu Morparang came from Toba. While the language is largely Toba Batak, Voorhoeve (1977:71-2) considers this a Dairi 41

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

text because the spelling is Dairi and it contains many Dairi words. It deals with various topics such as prayers (tabas) for chicken-divination, ritual cleansing, amulets and the interpretation of dreams.

texts inscribed on bamboo As it is easily available, bamboo is closely connected with daily life, and is often inscribed with texts that require less specialized knowledge. In fact bamboo chips served as scribbling boards for students beginning to study the art of writing. Van der Tuuk points at a connection between material and content of the Batak manuscripts: ‘the stories, laments, ditties, narrative riddles and poems are mostly written on bamboo’ and ‘the prescriptions on divination are usually written on bark’ (Van der Tuuk 1971:l). In another publication he also points at a difference in spelling: pustaha use an ‘etymological’ spelling, aiming to be understood by all speakers of Batak languages, the texts on bamboo represent the pronunciation of a word in one particular dialect (Van der Tuuk 1856:53). Letters inscribed on pieces of bamboo prove that the art of reading and writing was not entirely the privilege of religious experts and was not restricted to ritual practices. According to Kozok (2000:50-1) Karo love poems (bilang-bilang) inscribed on bamboo or bone may have functioned as a magic device. The art of inscribing bamboo is not entirely forgotten, as it is possible to find recently made Batak calendars as well as bamboo

Bamboo piece Or 3576, 154 e, photo Joost Brakel 42

2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

utensils and musical instruments inscribed with Batak characters and drawings. Or 3576: The note kept with the piece says that this is a pressing letter from Si-djoda to the pengulu of lau djuur (‘Brandbrief van Si-djoda aan den pengulu van lau djuur’).

manuscripts on european paper in batak and latin characters The manuscripts on European paper in Van der Tuuk’s collection are more personal than the manuscripts on tree-bark or bamboo, as they were produced at his request. The contents of these paper manuscripts cover a great variety of topics that reflect Van der Tuuk’s wide interest. Most of these were written in Batak characters by people he employed to teach him the language, to copy manuscripts, to write down stories and to help in checking his Bible translations. Van der Tuuk also wrote some of the texts, such as transcriptions from pustaha or from bamboo originals, in Latin characters. In Barus Van der Tuuk collected the loose leaves into 25 volumes with numbered pages and a table of contents; these volumes were bound in The Netherlands. Often, texts in different Batak languages and on various topics are found in the same volume. The various types of Batak texts in Leiden University library have been classified in Voorhoeve’s Codices Batacici into the following genres: A. Stories, B. Riddle-stories, C. Riddles, D. Poetry, E. Andung (laments) F. Descriptions of peoples, G. Uhum (law), H. Instruction on the knowledge of the datu, I. Hadatuon (knowledge of the datu), J. Letters, K. Lexicographical data, L. Van der Tuuk’s Bible translation, M. Van der Tuuk’s notes, N. Later pieces. Voorhoeve (1977:3) considered the Leiden collection of Batak manuscripts unique because, besides the written literature that is found in most manuscript collections, these manuscripts contain: ‘a wealth of originally orally transmitted folktales that have been put into writing at the initiative of Dr. H.N. van der Tuuk and Ch.A. van Ophuijsen’. Although Batak peoples had a script before van der Tuuk’s arrival, Batak ‘literature’ was not usually written down. Assumedly, it was Van der Tuuk who started this process. 43

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

Using a different type of classification, Siahaan (1964:69-71) distinguishes five literary genres for Batak languages, based on Toba terminology: umpama, proverbs, maxims and similes, andung-andung, sung lamentations, tonggo-tonggo, poetically arranged prayers, and tabas, spells, huling-hulingan, short riddles, and torhan-torhan, narrative riddles, and turiturian, stories. Among these genres, stories are best represented in Van der Tuuk’s collection. They also have received most attention from scholars, starting with Van der Tuuk (1860-62) himself who used them for his Batak reader (Bataksch leesboek). As an example I present the beginning of a Dairi creation myth that is particularly interesting for the study of religion and folklore.

permungkahen pertengahen ena (the creation of this middle) This Dairi story found in mss Or 3420 and Or 3421 tells about the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. It is the first Dairi story printed in Batak characters in the third part of Van der Tuuk’s Batak reader (1860-62, III:1-44); in the fourth part it is followed by a Dutch translation with comments (Van der Tuuk 1860-62, IV:48-73). Van der Tuuk (1860-62, IV:48) explains the title in a footnote as follows: ‘Batak people divide the world into three sections: 1. heaven as the dwelling place of the actual gods (the Upper Gods) 2. this middle as the dwelling place of the middle-gods (people, lesser spirits, spooks etc.) and 3. the nether world as the dwelling place of Naga padoha, Rangga puri etc.’.5 The story begins as follows:6 the creation of this middle Once upon a time long ago, it is told, the upper-god came down here. The reason why he came down, they say, was that his wife who was pregnant felt a craving for a pregnant male mouse-deer. His wife, it is 5 The passage reads in Dutch: ‘De Batak verdeelt de wereld in drie afdelingen: 1. de hemel als woonplaats der eigentlijke goden (de boven-Goden). 2. dit midden als verblijfplaats der midden-Goden (de mensen, mindere geesten, spoken, enz.) en 3. de beneden-wereld als verblijfplaats van Naga padoha, Rangga puri [...]’. 6 My English translation.

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2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

told, said: ‘If you wish, oh son of my Aunt, that this fruit of my body will come into being, you must get me a pregnant male mouse-deer to eat, so that this fruit of my body will come into being.’ These were the words of the God’s spouse. Then, it is told, the God spoke: ‘If you say that you must eat a pregnant male mouse-deer, so that what is inside your body will see the light of day, oh Uncle’s daughter, then I will order my young men to hunt it. Hopefully the mouse-deer that you desire will soon be found, so that I can soon give it as food to you, and our minds will be calm, and your unborn child will no longer be disturbed by ghosts, oh uncle’s daughter.’ These were, it is said, the words of the God. Then the God ordered his helper Haji Guru to go hunting, and He ordered a crow to go with him. When it was like that Haji Guru really went hunting with the crow. He ordered his seven dogs to come along, and he went hunting. When he had gone, it is told, he incited them to hunt. His dogs vigorously killed all sorts of animals [yet] they did not come across a pregnant male mouse-deer. In modern transcription, the Dairi text reads as follows: Asa lot mo kunuken debata i datas langit susur arnia mi teruh ena. Ia karnana asa susur ia mi teruh ena, bakin berat daging mo jelmana mengidamken pelanduk tonggal balemen. Asa mongkam mo kunuken jelmana idi: ‘Muda naing mo katemu urun ale anak mamberu, mi kenggeluhen berat dagingku ena, tulusken bangku pelanduk tonggal balemen panganenku, asa mun kembali dukak berat dagingku ena.’ Bagi mo kata tinokor debata idi. Asa mongkam mo debata idi kunuken: ‘Muda pelanduk balemen ngo nimu ipangan kono asa mi kelerangen si mi bagasen dagingmu idi ale beru ni puhun, kudokken pe iperburu naposonta. Madatuah jumpa tor pelanduk si nipenggarammu idi, asa entor kubereken ipangan kono, asa pelcik penarihinta, malot nenge itokal begu bertihmu idi ale beru ni puhun.’ Bagi mo kata Debata idi kunuken. Asa idokken Debata idi mo naposona si Haji Guru kunuken merburu. Asa idokken Debata idi mo deket sada kak. Kenca bagidi asa lako mo tuhi si Haji Guru memburu idi deket kak idi. Asa iarahken mo biangna perburu pitu, asa lako mo ia merburu idi. Kenca lako ia iendengken mo kunuken ipejaja pengayakna idi. Gahgah mo kunuken irakasken pengayakna idi nasa gumana binatang, malot jumpa sa pelanduk tonggal balemen.

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First page of the Dairi creation myth ‘Permungkahen pertengahen ena’ (manuscript Or 3420:392), photo Joost Brakel

2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

In his Batak reader Van der Tuuk (1860-62, IV:48-7) gives the following Dutch translation of this fragment: de oorsprong van dit midden De boven-God (d.i. Batara Guru de boven-God bij uitnemendheid) steeg eens, zegt men, nu lang geleden, hier naar beneden. De reden nu dat hij, zegt men, naar beneden steeg, was omdat zijn mensch zwaar van lijf was, en de lusten hebbende trek had aan een zwanger mannetjes-reebokje. Zijn mensch, zegt men, sprak: ‘zoo ge wilt o zoon van Moei! dat deze mijn lijfvrucht ‘t geluk hebbe in ‘t leven te komen, zoek dan voor mij een zwanger mannetjes-reebokje tot mijn eten, opdat deze mijn lijfvrucht ‘t geluk hebbe een kind te worden;’ zoo waren de woorden van ‘t koopsel van den God. Toen sprak, zegt men, de God: ‘indien gij zegt, een zwanger mannetjes-reebokje te moeten eten, opdat wat in uw lijf is tot ‘t daglicht kome, o Ooms dochter! dan zal ik mijn jongeren bevel geven er jagt op te maken. Moge het door u begeerde reebokje spoedig gevonden worden, opdat ik ’t u spoedig te eten geve; opdat ons gemoed gerust zij, dat er geen geest meer uw vrucht verniele, o Ooms dochter!’ aldus waren, zegt men, de woorden van den God. Toen gaf die God, zegt men, aan zijn knecht Hadji Guru bevel, op de jagt te gaan; tevens beval hij een raaf mede te gaan. Toen ‘t aldus reeds was, ging Hadji Guru werkelijk met dien raaf op de jagt; hij beval zijn zeven honden mede te gaan. Hij ging dan op de jagt; toen hij gegaan was, ging hij, zegt men, vervolgens zijn honden aanzetten; met kracht vernielden zijn honden allerlei beesten; hij kwam geen zwanger mannetjes-reebokje te zien. Van der Tuuk’s translation into nineteenth-century Dutch has many lengthy footnotes and closely follows the Dairi idiom, it may even be considered a bit too literal on some points. For example the word ‘tinokor’ has been translated as ‘koopsel, or ‘purchase’. This is explained in a characteristic footnote on page 48: ‘The Batak who buys his wife calls her his person, purchase, what is taken, means to get food (as the work in the fields is usually performed by women), food-server etc. These expressions may not seem very gallant to us, but do nevertheless not prove that the Batak man lacks gallantry, no more than one should conclude from [the French

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expression] ‘je brule’ that Frenchmen feel a stronger love for their fiancée than Dutchmen, who do not complain so quickly about a fire.’7 Another footnote in the same passage explains the terms of address between a Batak husband and wife: ‘The Batak [man] preferably marries a daughter of his uncle from mother’s side [of the family], this is why he calls his beloved or his wife Uncle’s daughter, even if she is not really his cousin; and likewise his wife calls him Aunt’s son, because he is the son of one of her mother’s brothers.’8 Placed appropriately at the beginning of the third volume, this story is one of the origin stories of which Van der Tuuk’s collection of paper manuscripts contains five examples in the Dairi language alone. Origin stories, often with religious connotations, must have had a special attraction for Van der Tuuk, whose linguistic research also served to translate into Batak languages the first book of the Bible, Genesis, with its version of the origin of this world. It is noteworthy that this Dairi creation story shows many parallels with the legend of Hantu Pemburu (Spectre Huntsman) as told by the Perak Malays and published in an English version in Skeat’s well-known book (1967:113-20) on Malay magic. Skeat writes that the Malays attribute the origin of this ‘dreaded demon’ to Katapang in Sumatra, and that he is considered by the Malays to be ‘the king of the Land-folk (Raja orang darat)’. This suggests that the Hantu pemburu of the Malays may derive from, or be related to, Batak concepts of the divine lord of the sky ‘Debata i datas langit’ and his helper Haji Guru, as described in the Dairi creation story collected by Van der Tuuk. In most cases, the stories in Van der Tuuk’s collection are anonymous and give no information about the context in which they are told. The Dairi creation myth simply closes with the remark: ‘Thus ends this one story that I have been told, and I told it to you as I heard it’ (Bagidi mo kunuken pate sukuten si sada bage idi isukutken kalak kudengkoh). Only in a 7 In Dutch the footnote reads (Van der Tuuk 1862, IV:48): ‘De Batak die zijn vrouw koopt, noemt haar zijn mensch, koopsel, neemsel, middel om aan spijs te komen (daar de vrouw meestal den veldarbeid doet), spijs-opschepster, enz, enz., deze uitdrukkingen klinken ons niet zeer galant toe, maar zijn met dat al geen bewijs, dat het den Batak aan galantheid ontbreekt, evenmin als men uit ‘je brule’ zoude mogen opmaken, dat de Franschman sterker liefde voor zijn beminde gevoelt dan de Hollander, die zoo spoedig over geen brand klaagt.’ 8 In Dutch the footnote reads (Van der Tuuk 1862, IV:49): ‘De Batak trouwt ‘t liefst met een dochter van zijn oom aan moeder’s kant; van daar dat hij zijn beminde of wel zijn vrouw, al is zij zijn nicht niet, Oom’s dochter noemt; en evenzoo noemt hem zijn vrouw Moei’s zoon, daar hij de zoon is van een broeder harer moeder.’

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2 Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library |

few cases some information about the author or context of a story are given, such as a poetical Toba prayer (tonggo-tonggo) in manuscript Or 3421 with the origin-story of offering-rice, that was transcribed from a pustaha belonging to Ompu ni Manungkol Langit, the head of Aek na Uli. According to Voorhoeve (1927:62) the owner at first did not want to part with it, and only did so on condition that he would be paid ‘one European dog as large as a calf, a dozen flasks of jenever, ten Spanish mats and three padang rusak (a kind of Acehnese shawl).’ Sometimes contextual information is given at the beginning and/or end of a story: the first and last paragraphs of the text of ‘Guru Tonggal Begu’ (Or 3399) state that the story is told during a ritual involving the planting of a banyan and a fig-tree as medicine and charm (jimat) for the group who organises it. Although some stories have apparently been copied from existing written texts, many stories in this collection must have been written down especially for Van der Tuuk. This holds true particularly for stories belonging to the repertoire of storytellers, told both as a pastime and in order to provide instruction. Such stories are usually composed in performance. Van der Tuuk collected at least 30 different stories from the Dairispeaking area of Kelasen near the town of Barus, some in more than one version. These hold a treasure of information about a language and culture that already in 1977 and 1979, when we visited the region, was considered endangered. We were told that there were few storytellers left and the number of stories they knew was quite small. Thus, Van der Tuuk’s collection of stories has saved an important part of the Dairi cultural heritage from oblivion. Yet, the texts of the stories preserved in writing in the collection of Van der Tuuk are quite different from the texts of stories that are performed. Sweeney has discussed this phenomenon for Malay storytelling in several publications. More recently, Uli Kozok (2000) and Susan Rodgers (2005) have pointed out the differences between oral traditions and written texts in Batak languages. The relationship between written and orally composed versions of Dairi stories is a complex matter that will be discussed in subsequent chapters. In conclusion, Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts is of great historical value since it was established before the combined influences of Christianity, Islam, modernization and globalisation dras49

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

tically changed the world-view and the way of life of the peoples of North Sumatra. It holds a wealth of information on Batak languages and cultures prior to these changes. At present, much of the knowledge preserved in these manuscripts is considered forgotten, and some of the languages documented by Van der Tuuk are now endangered. Hence, it is necessary to study these manuscripts and to publish them, as they constitute an important aspect of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts

voorhoeve on van der tuuk’s collection of batak manuscripts In the preface to his catalogue of Batak manuscripts in Leiden University Library (Codices Batacici), Voorhoeve (1977) writes that this collection is unique because it contains, besides the usual literary documents transmitted in writing, ‘a treasure of folk-stories that originally were transmitted orally’. According to Voorhoeve (1977:3), the process of putting these stories into writing first started at the initiative of H.N. van der Tuuk and Ch.A. van Ophuijsen, to be continued later by Christian missionaries and schoolmasters who followed in his footsteps. In his PhD thesis on Batak folk stories, Voorhoeve (1927:10) was a bit more cautious when he stated that: ‘The stories are almost always written down by or at the request of western researchers. Previous to that, Batak people used their script practically exclusively for books on magic and divination, and for writing letters’.1 In support of this view Voorhoeve quotes a statement from Winkler’s book (1925:12-3) on Toba Batak culture that ‘the entire Batak literature is the work of shamans and their students’.2 What is meant by the modification ‘almost always’ is explained a little later when Voorhoeve (1927:14) remarks that: ‘occasionally Batak people have also written down stories at their own initiative’.3 In fact this remark 1 Voorhoeve’s (1927:10) Dutch text reads: ‘Het op schrift stellen der verhalen is bijna steeds door of op initiatief van westerse onderzoeker geschied. Voor die tijd gebruikten de Bataks hun schrift zo goed als uisluitend voor tover- en wichelboeken en brieven’. 2 Winkler’s German text reads: ‘Die ganze bataksche Literatur ist das Werk der datu und ihre Lehrlinge [...] sind die Zauberbücher in erster Linie als dessen Kolleghefte gedacht’. 3 Voorhoeve’s Dutch text (1927:14) reads: ‘Ook hebben de Bataks wel een enkele maal op eigen initiatief verhalen opgetekend’.

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

refers to tribal legends (tarombo), which are sometimes included in pustaha. The example given by Voorhoeve is a Toba legend about the battle between the two clans (marga) Soba and Sumba. The story, written down in Van der Tuuk’s MS Or 3398 p. 126-148, was copied on paper from a pustaha (Voorhoeve 1927:14). Stories that occur in pustaha are usually connected with the ritual described, such as the story on the origin of cock-divination in pustaha dealing with that type of divination. There are two pustaha with stories in the Van der Tuuk collection that were written at his request.4 van der tuuk’s views on batak literature Voorhoeve’s work that was based on Van der Tuuk’s research also reflects his views of Batak literature as expressed in the letters to his employer, the Dutch Bible Society (Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap). Van der Tuuk’s main task was to translate the Bible into a Batak language and, although he complained that this was very difficult, he managed to translate several parts of the Old and the New Testament. In a letter dated 5 May 1852 Van der Tuuk writes that Batak literature is partly written and partly oral. He distinguishes two types of written literature: poda, instructions of the shaman written in books made from the bark of the alim tree, and andung, litanies inscribed on bamboo pieces: – poda are ‘instructions for the datu on the preparation of preservatives and medicines, how to concoct poisons and anti-dotes, and everything that has to do with investigating the future’. These are couched in ‘a special type of language’ that differs from the language used in daily life, and uses words that are not generally understood.5 – andung are laments about the death of a close relative, written on bamboo. They are written in a special type of language that differs 4 Voorhoeve 1927:14, note 4; 1977:23. According to Voorhoeve (1927:117, 126), pustaha no. 8 in Van der Tuuk’s collection (Or 3430) contains two Toba Batak stories: The quarrel between Si Sangmaima and Datu Dalu, and Sinaboru Saroding. MS Or 3432 contains three stories: Radja Imbulu Man, Nan Djomba Ilik, and Si Djohana (Voorhoeve 1977:23). Voorhoeve (1977:300) mentions two more tree-bark books with Batak stories in Amsterdam and in Dresden. 5 Groeneboer 2002:136. In Dutch the letter says: ‘De poda(s) zijn voorschriften voor de datoes omtrent het vervaardigen zoowel van behoed- als geneesmiddelen, het mengen van vergift en tegengift, en alles wat betrekking heeft tot het raadplegen der toekomst. Zij zijn vervat in een bijzondere taalsoort die hier door den gemeenen man over het algemeen niet volmaaktelijk wordt verstaan, daar een menigte woorden nimmer in het dagelijksche leven worden gebezigd’.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

both from ordinary speech and from poda language. Many words are inexplicable and may be derived from a dialect, or from a Malay word. The andung language derives from litanies sung by women at funeral ceremonies and is generally understood. Andung may be ‘sung’ from the bamboo on which it is inscribed to express feelings of sorrow and loneliness.6 Van der Tuuk distinguishes four oral genres: stories, invocations to the Gods, ditties (‘liedjes’) and anecdotes. He writes that: ‘stories use the language of daily life and comprise fabulous histories as well as stories told as entertainment. These are most peculiar and often very obscene’.7 In this letter Van der Tuuk also mentions the titles of twelve Toba Batak stories8 he has managed to get hold of so far, which were written down for him by ‘a capable datu’ (Guru Saniang Naga from Pasaribu according to Groeneboer 2002:144). He adds that a complete collection of stories would be a good source for understanding Batak mythology, ‘because most Batak gods occur only in stories, therefore one will not learn much about them unless one studies these stories’.9 Invocations (‘aanroepingen der goden’), another oral genre, are said to address various Gods using the poda language, and to attribute different qualities to these Gods. Van der Tuuk considered the study of invocations useful to understand the qualities of the Gods. Although he classified them as an oral genre, he collected quite a number of invocations and spells in written form. 6 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:136): ‘De andoeng’s zijn weeklagten over den dood van iemands naaste bloedverwanten, en worden op bamboe geschreven. Als zich de Battak vermoeid terneder vleit, en zich zijn verlaten toestand voor den geest brengt, ziet men hem zoo’n andoeng afzingen, terwijl hem de tranen de wangen afbiggelen’. Voorhoeve (1977:149) says that the lament written on bamboo using andung-language, in which a young orphan expresses his sadness, is a traditional literary form in Angkola and Mandailing. Kozok (2000:49-50), discussing the laments named bilang-bilang in Karo, considers it unlikely that these texts would be read aloud. 7 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:136): ‘Tot de ongeschrevene letterkunde behooren de verhalen, aanroepingen der Goden, liedjes en anekdoten. De verhalen zijn in de taal van het dagelijksche leven, en behelzen zoowel fabelachtige geschiedenissen als wel loutere vertellingen ter tijdkorting. Zij zijn in alle opzigten zonderling, en dikwijls zeer obsceen’. 8 The titles of the stories mentioned in this letter are: 1. Sie Baoo Paies, 2. Sie Djanggar Djoeiet, 3. Hoeta Pordjolo, 4. Boela-paoto Otohon Mata Nie Arie, 5. Sie Boersok, 6. Datoe Daloe, 7. Radja Nie Antanan, 8. Sie Oerang Mandopa, 9. Sie Boroe Gagan Die Halto, 10. Sie Djohana, 11. Sie Radja Oelang Bada, 12. Sie Baoo Toloe. 9 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:136): ‘Een volledige verzameling dezer verhalen is de bron waaruit men de godenleer zou kunnen te weten krijgen, want met vragen daaromtrent vordert men niet magtig, daar een groot gedeelte der Battaksche goden slechts in de verhalen figureren, en men dus weinig van hen zal vernemen zoo men zich niet de moeite getroosten wil die verhalen te bestuderen’.

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Van der Tuuk writes that ditties (‘liedjes’) are similar to the Malay pantun, and likewise difficult to understand for people who do not live in nature, because they contain allusions to a great many flowers, plants and trees, just like the Malay pantun. They use daily language, embellished now and then with andung words.10 In this letter Van der Tuuk says that he has three collections of these ditties, two in Toba and one in Mandailing dialect, and only six songs in Dairi. The oral genre he calls ‘liedjes’ could be verses with umpama in the form of a four-line rhyming verse, and ende, songs in four-line verse or other forms.

van der tuuk’s manuscripts on paper Besides 152 tree-bark books, Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts contains many texts on small-folio paper he provided to his Batak teachers, informants and helpers. Some of the texts on paper are in his own handwriting, either in Latin or Batak script.11 In Barus Van der Tuuk bundled these papers and put numbers on each page. Later in The Netherlands these were bound into 25 volumes, now kept as manuscripts Or 3398-3422. On the first page of each volume Van der Tuuk noted the titles of the texts it contains. In Barus he made a somewhat more elaborate description of the contents of the first nine volumes (Or 33983406), which is now kept with other loose papers in Or 3386i (Voorhoeve 1977:101). The majority of texts written on paper are stories. Besides these tales there are texts of spells and incantations, songs, letters and treatises on local manners and customs. Voorhoeve’s PhD thesis entitled Overzicht van de volksverhalen der Bataks, published in 1927, gives a survey of the stories with brief outlines of their contents. Nine stories have been retold there more elaborately.12 Some of Voorhoeve’s elaborate excerpts 10 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:137): ‘De liedjes gelijken veel op de Maleische pantoens, en zijn over het algemeen voor ons die niet zooals de Battaks in de natuur leven, zeer duister, daar zij even als de Maleische zinspelingen op een menigte bloemen, planten en boomen bevatten. Ook deze zijn in de dagelijksche taal, en hier en daar met een woord uit de andoeng-taal opgesmukt’. 11 According to Voorhoeve (1977:183), Van der Tuuk copied from pustaha a number of spells (tabas) and invocations (tonggo-tonggo) in Batak characters. 12 Most of Voorhoeve’s summaries of stories were lost during World War II, except for the summaries of trickster stories, copies of which were given to M. Coster-Wijsman for her PhD thesis published in 1929. These are now kept in Or. 12.475.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

were published in Dutch in J. de Vries’ East Indonesian folk-stories (1928). While most stories were written in Batak characters by Van der Tuuk’s teachers and helpers, the stories in Van der Tuuk’s own handwriting are transcriptions from texts written on bamboo, as is indicated in the margin (Voorhoeve 1927:9). Van der Tuuk says in a letter dated 24 August 1852: ‘Every day bamboos with stories etc. are brought to me, which I must first transcribe in the company of the man who wrote them down, then study’.13 Van der Tuuk transcribed texts written on bamboo because the bulky bamboo pieces were difficult to store (Groeneboer 2002:317), or because the owner did not want to part with the text. In a letter dated 5 May 1852 he writes that the stories he had tried to note down ‘from the mouth of some Batak [storytellers]’ were full of mistakes and he did not put much value to them.14 Van der Tuuk’s letters to the Dutch Bible Society often mention the difficulties he experienced in collecting stories and having them written down. In the letter of 24 August 1852 he says that he must ‘sit next to the man who writes the story down in order to correct his writing as much as possible’. He explains that the reason for this is the Batak author’s ‘unclear manner of expression’ because ‘he imagines that the reader already knows the story and has heard it being recited many times’.15 Yet, Van der Tuuk was not always negative about the style of Batak writers, in a letter dated 17 December 1853 he says: ‘Although the Batak in these regions limit their writing almost entirely to letters and magic, their stories, which I have personally corrected in order to regulate their spelling, are so well written that they seem to have been copied from a book. When comparing these with the two stories I found in pustaha, it

13 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:154): ‘[...] want dagelijks worden mij bamboes met verhalen aangebragt, die ik met den man die ze heeft opgeschreven er bij, eerst moet afschrijven en dan bestuderen’. 14 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:136): ‘Die welke ik zelve uit den mond van eenige Battaks heb opgeschreven zal ik hier niet vermelden, daar zij natuurlijk bij het snel schrijven vol fouten zijn geraakt’. 15 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:151): ‘Bij het laten opschrijven hunner verhalen ben ik genoodzaakt, den man die de bij hen bekende verhalen boekt bij mij te nemen, om zooveel mogelijk ze te corrigeren, daar zij alles behalve roem kunnen dragen op een eenigszins heldere wijze van uitdrukking, en zulks wel omdat zij den lezer zich voorstellen als iemand die zoo’n verhaal reeds meermalen heeft hooren opdreunen’.

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became clear to me that the Batak do not have the folly of most nations to write differently from speaking’.16 Yet in a letter dated 27 March 1854 he writes again that he had to edit ‘the very popular story Si Bobak, long-winded and written by a Batak [Guru Tinandangan from Nai Pospos] but edited by me in the writer’s presence’.17 In view of these remarks, it is rather surprising that Voorhoeve considers Van der Tuuk’s role in collecting the texts of the stories as ‘restricted mainly to establish a regular spelling and to correct scribal errors’. It is also hard to believe the next statement that: ‘The writers merely noted the pieces down as they memorized them’, so that ‘the stories give a completely reliable picture of the Batak style, which is now getting lost through western education’.18 This remark suggests that the stories would have existed in the writer’s mind in a more or less fixed form and were written down accordingly. Van der Tuuk’s letters clearly indicate that he not only established a regular spelling and corrected scribal errors, but also influenced the style and content of the stories, which Batak scribes wrote down in his presence. There are several reasons why Van der Tuuk collected so many stories. In the letter to the Dutch Bible Society dated 5 May 1852, he argues that a complete collection of Batak stories forms the best source for getting to know Batak concepts about the gods. This indicates that he is primarily interested in the stories as a source of information. He also states repeatedly that Batak stories must be published in print, in order to create an interest among the Batak population in reading printed books, and ultimately to interest them in reading the Bible. Later, he warns that the stories need to be published to help preserve the 16 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:194): ‘Hoewel de Bataks dezer streken hun schrijven bijna alleen op brieven en tooverij concentreren, zoo zijn toch hunne verhalen die ik door bekwame schrijvers heb laten opschrijven, en die ik zelve heb nagezien om er een geregelde spelling in te brengen, zoo goed geschreven alsof zij uit het een en ander boek waren overgeschreven. En bij vergelijking met de twee verhalen die ik in poestahas opgeschreven vond, bleek het mij dat de Bataks de zotheid nog niet hebben van de meeste natieën anders te schrijven dan zij spreken.’ 17 In Dutch the letter says (Groeneboer 2002:200): ‘Het verhaal Sie Bobak van zeer langen adem en door een Batak zelve geschreven, [Guru Tinandangan from Nai Pospos, Groeneboer 2002: 195, note 8] maar door mij in des schrijver’s bijzijn geredigeerd […]’. 18 Voorhoeve (1927:10) writes: ‘Het aandeel van Van der Tuuk zelf heeft zich, zoals wij boven zagen en ook uit de teksten blijkt, hoofdzakelik bepaald tot het aanbrengen van een regelmatige spelling en het verbeteren van schrijffouten. De schrijvers hebben de stukken eenvoudig opgetekend zoals zij ze in het geheugen hadden. Zo komt het dat de verhalen een volkomen betrouwbaar beeld geven van de Batakse stijl, die tans door het westerse onderwijs hoe langer hoe meer verloren gaat.’

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

Batak language and identity and to protect these against the increasing influence of Malay and Islam (Groeneboer 2002:292-3). However, the Dutch Bible Society decided not to cooperate in publishing the Batak stories he collected (Groeneboer 2002:354, note 4), and the Toba Batak Reader that Van der Tuuk had wished to distribute in North Sumatra in order to strengthen the Batak language19 never appeared. To my knowledge, only the stories he selected for his Bataksch leesboek have appeared in print, and this Batak Reader was published in The Netherlands for the benefit of Dutch students who wished to learn Batak languages, rather than for the use of the Batak peoples of North Sumatra.

dairi stories in manuscript or 3406 Voorhoeve suggested that the texts collected by Van der Tuuk must be investigated in order to research the special style of Batak stories, and that it is best to focus on the literature of one Batak dialect, as there are pronounced differences in language, style, the stereotype elements of the stories and the preference for a particular genre.20 Thus our investigation will focus on Dairi stories, particularly on those collected in Or 3406, number IX of the bound volumes. This volume has 326 pages with a variety of texts in Toba and Dairi dialects, written in Batak characters or in Latin script. While the texts in Batak characters are in different handwritings, the texts in Latin script are all in Van der Tuuk’s own handwriting. Many pages have two (some even three) numbers, one of which is crossed, indicating that the contents must have been changed once or twice. The list on the first page says that the volume contains: 1. a treatise on customs and laws of the people of Pasaribu, 2. ditties, 3. instruction 19 In April 1857 Van der Tuuk writes in a letter to the Bible Society that the Mandhailing language is rapidly changing under Islamic influence. He advises to publish a Toba reader in order to prevent this from happening in the Toba speaking area (Groeneboer 2002:351): ‘want door de aandrang van den Mohammedaanschen invloed ondergaat de Bataksche taal dagelijks veranderingen, [...] Maar zoude het Bijbelgenootschap niet verpligt zijn, zooiets bijtijds voor te komen, door het verspreiden van een Tobasch leesboek, waardoor de taal vastheid zal krijgen?’ 20 In his ‘Introduction’, Voorhoeve (1927:10) writes: ‘Wie een onderzoek naar de Batakse verhaalstijl zal willen instellen zal vooral van de teksten van Van der Tuuk moeten uitgaan [...]. Een afzonderlike behandeling van de literatuur der verschillende Batakse dialekten heeft zeker recht van bestaan. Niet alleen in de taal, maar ook in de stijl, in de stereotype bestanddelen der verhalen, in de voorkeur voor een bepaald genre bestaan geprononceerde verschillen.’

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(poda) on war-statues, and 4. on the Batak calendar [Toba]; 5. the stories Kayuara Merlendung, 6. Si Jinaka, and 7. Si Mbuyak-buyak [Dairi, in Latin script], 8, 9. two different spells (tabas) [Toba], 10. an invocation (tonggotonggo) [Toba, in Latin script], 11. the story Datu Tonggal Begu [Dairi, in Latin script], 12. an explanation of the origin of the magic wand (tunggal panaluan) and the stories 13. Bao Pais, 14. Haniara Mallindang, 15. Si Bobak, 16. Si Robar [Toba, in Latin script], 17. letters and 18. riddles [Toba]. In addition, Voorhoeve’s catalogue mentions the following texts: a fragment about judicature [Toba, in Latin script], and the stories Si Sangmaima and Datu Dalu [Toba], Si Bobak [Toba] (Voorhoeve 1977:113). A note in the margin of Van der Tuuk’s list of contents of the first nine volumes (Or 3386i) says that the Dairi stories on pp. 146-64 are transcriptions from an original text on bamboo (‘transcr. in Ital. kar. van orign. op bamboe’), and likewise the texts on pp. 168-200. The transcriptions and the note are in Van der Tuuk’s own handwriting, so there is no reason to doubt the validity of this remark. As these stories must have been written on bamboo before Van der Tuuk transcribed them, they may be assumed to represent an ‘original Batak style’. a. kayuara merlendung (or 3406:147-148) The first story in the volume, Kayuara merlendung, the shadowy banyan tree, is a Dairi tale about Anak ni Aji, the son of a ruler.21 In Voorhoeve’s thesis it is classified as an animal story, because he considers animals to be the main actors. The first part of this Dairi story appeared in print in one of Van der Tuuk’s earliest articles, published in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde in 1856. According to its subtitle, this article was intended to become the first chapter of a Batak grammar. It deals with the script and pronunciation of the Toba language, to which have been added sections on Mandailing and Dairi. The Dairi text fragment is printed in Batak characters, followed by a transcription in Latin script, without translation.22 21 The list of contents of MS Or 3406 first mentioned the title of this story as ‘anak nie adjie’, which has been crossed out and above it has been written: ‘kajoewara merlendoeng’. The name of the story’s main character has been transcribed both as ‘hanak ni hadji’, and as ‘anak ni aji’.To avoid confusion I am using ‘anak ni aji’, or aji, which is also used by Voorhoeve. Manik’s dictionary gives the term ‘haji’ and says that it is an ancient equivalent of the word ‘raja’. 22 This story has been replaced by another Dairi text fragment in Van der Tuuk’s Toba Batak grammar, published in 1864-67.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

The text in MS Or 3406 clearly is Van der Tuuk’s transcription of the original text on bamboo, with corrected passages, notes in the margin, irregular spelling and without any punctuation. In contrast, the printed text shows Van der Tuuk’s influence in its punctuation marks and some peculiarities in its spelling, such as giving composite words in their complete forms (bagi-idi instead of bagidi). While this is meant to help the student learning to read the Dairi Batak script, there are other changes that must have been meant to improve the style (tinokor hadji instead of tinokor ni hadji). As is common in an oral tradition, this story is preceded by a formulaic opening saying that it is not known whether this story (sukut-sukuten) is true or not, and that it is a sad tale. Then the story proper starts as follows: Once upon a time, it is told, there was the son of a ruler (Anak ni Aji). He built a village, he married a wife, [but] for a long time no child was born to him. Then came a shaman who could tell the future, he found him asleep. Then the shaman woke him up: ‘Wake up, my ruler (rajanami), and cook food for me’, he said. Then Anak ni Aji sat up. ‘What news do you have?’ ‘I bring good news, oh my ruler’. Then he invited him to eat and prepared a nice meal, with fresh fish and meat.

The shaman tells Anak ni Aji to plant a banyan-tree as part of a ritual to obtain offspring. And indeed, his wife becomes pregnant. However, as the banyan-tree keeps growing larger and larger, it becomes enchanted. Small animals that pass beneath the banyan-tree die, and even human beings die when they have been sitting in its shadow. Finally a baganding snake causes the destruction of the tree with the help of a frog. b. si bilalong (or 3406:148-152) After the end of the first story the text continues telling what happened after Anak ni Aji died. Voorhoeve (1927:182) considered this a separate story, entitled ‘Si Bilalong’, (The yam child)23 and classified it as a trickster story. The story was also used by Coster-Wijsman (1929:15). It starts as follows: When Anak ni Aji died, he left his wife a chicken pen. And after a year had passed his child was born. Then the uncle (puhun) of this newborn 23 This story has not been included in the list of contents of MS Or 3406. It is in fact a continuation of the preceding story, starting in the middle of a line on page 148.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling child came, his name was Raja Era,24 and asked for Aji’s legacy (lemba). ‘I cannot yet make a celebration for you, Raja Era. In the future when your new-born cousin will have grown up, I will prepare the saut-saut feast for you,’ said his sister Nan Bunga Buluh. ‘I am not prepared to do that, let me receive it [now], so it’s done,’ said Raja Era. So Raja Era quickly finished off everything that Mahaji’s relations possessed. Now the descendents of Mahaji were left in poverty, moreover their fellow-villagers also behaved unfairly. So Nan Bunga Buluh had nothing left, and she moved. She lived in a hut in the fields [because] she was chased away by the villagers. She brought her child to a deserted house, she did not eat rice, she had no food, no clothes. They just ate yams to keep them alive. Although he only ate sweet potatoes the child grew bigger and bigger. So she called the child Si Bilalong, (‘yam-child’) because he grew up on sweet potatoes.

In the following, the yam-child proves very clever. He manages to get back his father’s lost wealth by pretending to be a diviner who can bring back lost property with the help of the decorated border of a piece of cloth. Once he is prosperous he burns this ‘divination-table’ so that people will no longer trouble him with questions. c. si jinaka (or 3406:152-153) The opening line of this short text that starts in the middle of page 152, says that it gives instruction (pedah) on the words of a sukut-sukuten about Jinaka,25 a man with gambling debts. Once, it is told, there was [a man named] Jinaka who had a lot of gambling debts. Then his creditors came. The creditors said: ‘Pay me, Jinaka,’ that is what they said.

In the manuscript, the name has been transcribed either as Era or as Hera. This is the Dairi and Karo form of the trickster’s name. In Toba and Angkola he is called Jonaha, in Mandailing Jonako (Voorhoeve 1927:175). In Malay there is a written mouse-deer story known as Hikayat Pelanduk Jinaka, about which Winstedt (1969:11) remarked: ‘Van der Tuuk found the derivation of jinaka from the Sanskrit jainaka “a little or contemptible Jaina or Buddhist”, used always of one who took advantage of the credulity of man and applied to mouse-deer as the hero of a romance which has a bias against Buddhism’. However, Gonda (1973:238) disagreed with this and wrote that ‘the word may be regarded as Indonesian’. 24 25

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

Jinaka manages to deceive his creditors who have tied him up and want to bring him to market to sell him as a slave. A Dutch version of this story, based on a summary made by Voorhoeve, was published in the collection of Indonesian folk-stories compiled by De Vries (1928:278). d. si mbuyak-buyak (or 3406:153-159) This is another story (sukut-sukuten) about the son of a ruler, Anak ni Aji, with a similar theme as the story of Si Bilalong. Voorhoeve (1927:153) classified it as a romantic fairy-tale. The story tells what happens to Anak ni Aji’s sons after their father has died. Here is one more story. There was once, it is told, [a man named] Anak ni Aji, his marga (clan) was Berurea. And children were born to him, the eldest was Si Mbuyak-buyak, his younger brother was Tuan Rancang, and the youngest one was Maling Soka. When Mahaji died, the people acted unfair to those he left behind, so Si Mbuyak-buyak, Tuan Rancang and Maling Soka were in debt.

The three brothers decide to go to the jungle to find camphor. They succeed in becoming wealthy by the cleverness of Si Mbuyak-buyak, who initially is boneless. He manages to cure this handicap and eventually sails to Aceh where he marries the daughter of a king. e. datu tonggal ni begu (or 3406:170-174) The last Dairi text in this volume, Datu Tonggal ni Begu, has also been transcribed from an original on bamboo. It is separated from the previous Dairi stories by two spells (tabas) and an incantation (tonggo-tonggo) in Toba. According to its opening line, this Dairi text contains instruction (pedah) on prayers to the gods beyond (mangmang debata mangadai). It opens with an invocation to the gods of the eight points of the compass. The story starts with Tuan Malaheka, a divinity who descends from the sky and marries a woman named Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari. Their child is called Datu Tonggal ni Begu. Well, all of you in the eight directions, bring Tuan Malaheka down from the sky above, he is as large as a male buffalo. And a wife is brought for 61

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First page of Van der Tuuk’s transcription of the story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu (Or 3406:170/175), photo Joost Brakel 62

3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts | him, her name is Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari. Then her child is born, and a buffalo is prepared to bring the newborn child to the river. And the leader is invited to chant the prayers for eating the buffalo. ‘What do you say, oh Tuan Malaheka, why have you called us to eat in the house?’ that is what the people who are invited say. ‘Well, let us bring this newborn child to the river, oh all of you friends.’ ‘If that is what you say, oh our ruler, what is the name of the newborn child?’ the people say. Tuan Malaheka says: ‘Datu Tunggal ni Begu is the name of my child’. ‘If these are your words,’ the people say, ‘let us go home.’

The rest of the story tells how his son, Si Dang Matuhan, marries Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Their daughter named Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala, finally turns into a field spirit named Arlah Tala. While the first Dairi stories are secular texts (sukut-sukuten) dealing with the lives of ordinary village people, this last story belongs to the genre of ritual texts. As it contains an invocation to the Gods,26 this story probably belonged to a shaman. That could be the reason why Van der Tuuk placed this last Dairi story with the preceding Toba prayer texts.

style and contents of the dairi stories in ms or 3406 Three of the four Dairi sukut-sukuten tell about a man named Anak ni Aji, also simply referred to as Aji, or Mahaji. This is not a proper name but refers to a position in society, indicating that one belongs to the clan of village leaders and is addressed as ‘our ruler’ (rajanami).27 Aji and his descendants are the main actors in these stories. The style of the stories is clear and straightforward. Similar to the oral tradition, a number of formulae are used, as for example in the opening line of Kayuara merlendung: Once upon a time a story was told, maybe it is true, maybe not, this is not known, not seen ... (Asa lot nola mo kata ni sukut-sukuten, tah tuhu tah mada oda nibetoh, oda nidah). A similar, simpler formula is used to introduce The present tense is used in the translation to indicate the presence of these Gods and Spirits. According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:292), the word raja means ‘head’ or ‘leader’ (‘kepala’), and also, ‘people who belong to the most powerful marga’. Its meaning in a Batak context was explained as follows by Lance Castles (1975:68): ‘The most common type of raja was the huta chief; the founder of the village became its raja and his descendants in the male line had an inalienable right to it. These formed an important part of the population of any village, and the raja was their direct representative.’

26 27

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the main actor: ‘once upon a time, it is told, there was the son of a ruler’ (‘asa lot mo kunuken Anak ni Aji’). The opening is followed by an exposition of the problem the main actor is facing, and the rest of the story tells how it is solved. Progress is invariably indicated by the word ‘asa’, that may be translated as ‘then’, ‘and’, or ‘so’.28 The passing of a period of time may be marked by a formula such as: ‘asa jumpa mo di arina jumpa di bulanna jumpa di tahunna’, ‘as the days, the months, the years passed by’ [the fig-tree grew up]. Passages of direct speech, which frequently occur in all stories, provide a lot of information about the spoken language and the way people deal with each other in Dairi society. Then the shaman woke him up: ‘Wake up, my ruler, and cook food for me’, he said. And Anak ni Aji sat up: ‘What news do you have?’ ‘I bring good news, oh my ruler.’ Then he invited him to eat, and prepared a nice meal, with fresh fish and meat. After he had eaten he was offered sirih, and Aji gave a speech to the shaman: ‘First I say to you, oh my guru, addressing you, what do you think about this food that was nothing, it so happens that I do not have anything, oh my guru’. ‘If this is what you are saying, I have had enough to eat. But let me tell you the result of my investigation, do you agree, my ruler?’ ‘Please tell me this, oh my guru.’

Another stylistic phenomenon, the repetition of similar events in similar terms, is also a characteristic of oral delivery. It occurs in the story of Si Mbuyak-buyak, and when telling about Si Bilalong’s tricks: Then he took other people’s chickens from seven coops, and hid them in the woods. And when the people were searching them, Si Bilalong said: ‘How much will I receive for calculating where they are?’ ‘If you can find them, half of them will be yours’, they said. Then he brought them from the place where he had hidden them, and received half of them. So he sold these and got himself a cloth. Then Si Bilalong took people’s buffaloes, and hid them in the woods. 28 In fact the word ‘asa’ introduces a new clause, thus helping to interpret texts written in Batak characters that do not use punctuation marks.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts | When the owners of these buffaloes were looking for them, Si Bilalong came and said: ‘How much will be my reward for finding out where they are?’ ‘If you want you can have half, as long as we see our buffaloes back’, they said. He pretended to calculate on the headpiece of the cloth, and indicated them to go to the woods. Then the people searched [there], and found the buffaloes. Then he stole people’s gold. When people heard that Si Bilalong could predict well, they went to see him. ‘And how much will be my reward for predicting?’ ‘If you want you can have half as payment for your prediction, if it is found’, said the owners. Then he took the headpiece of the cloth and pretended to make a calculation on it. And he indicated them to go to the woods in order to get it. When they had found the gold, they gave half of it to Si Bilalong.

Although they are straightforward, these stories are imaginative and full of unexpected turns. Thus, the main character in the fourth story, Si Mbuyak-buyak, is born without bones, but is very clever. When the family is reduced to poverty, he advises his two younger brothers to go to the forest to collect camphor29 from trees. He also tells them to take him along, even though he cannot walk. As soon as the brothers return to the hut in the forest where they have left him, he asks them for the camphor they have collected and eats it. So Maling Soka cried: ‘Ah elder brother, we are all cursed! We were told to go and look for income, but we are just looking for misery. Whatever camphor we find, you eat it all, elder brother.’ That is what Tuan Rancang and Maling Soka said.

But some time later, Si Mbuyak-buyak is able to collect a lot of camphor in an unusual way: Si Mbuyak-buyak slept for seven nights and seven days, and in the middle of the seventh night he woke up. Then he had bones. So he went roaming in the forest in the middle of the night. He tied the end of the rope to a 29 The word used in the text, ‘mertedung’, has been translated as ‘to find incense’ in the first edition of Manik’s dictionary (1977:304) and as ‘to find camphor’ in the later edition (Manik 2002:367)..

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling pole of the house. Then he went out to get incense. He found a camphor tree. And he asked: ‘How much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘I just contain one gantang (half a selup)’ said the camphor tree.

The Dairi stories collected by Van der Tuuk clearly reflect the lives of people living close to nature in Batak villages, and provide good entertainment. But they are more than that, they are also meant to instruct and educate, and set examples of proper and improper behaviour. The story of Si Bilalong gives an example of ‘unfair treatment’, by his uncle and fellow-villagers in the application of inheritance laws. This story shows what dramatic consequences the death of a husband can have for a widow30 if people are merciless to their own kin. While on the one hand this story will arouse the audience’s sympathy for the fate of a young widow, it also shows how misfortune can be turned into one’s favour. In these Anak ni Aji stories the downtrodden manage to overcome their difficulties by perseverance and by playing tricks on their evil-doers, until the balance is restored.

conclusion In contrast with what has been written about Batak storytelling, the style of the Dairi stories discussed above is simple and direct. There is no trace of the overwhelming richness in vocabulary, elaboration and repetition, which according to Braasem (1951:138-9) characterise Batak folk-stories. Neither do they contain embellished expressions that belong to the written language and are rarely used in daily life (Braasem quoting Meerwaldt 1904:115). Even elaborate descriptions of festive meals and customs performed for life-cycle rituals, that according to Voorhoeve (1927:19) characterise the style of Batak folkstories, are missing. So Anak ni Aji’s death is just mentioned, there is no description of his funeral. The most likely explanation for this simplicity is that the stories were written on bamboo primarily as a mnemonic aid, to be elaborated and embellished in oral deliverance, as Kozok (2000:49) describes for the use of bark books by the datu. This implies that Batak stories were not only transmitted orally, but were also transmitted in writing on bamboo. 30 According to Toba Batak inheritance laws discussed in Vergouwen (1964:280) ‘a widow with or without sons cannot inherit’.

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3 Dairi stories originally written on bamboo in Van der Tuuk’s collection of Batak manuscripts |

Therefore, it was not Van der Tuuk who started the process of writing these stories down, as this was already practised before the arrival of western scholars and missionaries. Yet the stories that were originally inscribed on bamboo are different from stories written on paper at the request of Van der Tuuk. The exact nature of these differences will be discussed in the following chapters.

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Sumatran languages (Groeneboer 2002:405, from Voorhoeve 1955)

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk

The way in which Van der Tuuk influenced the form and content of the stories that were written down for him can be studied by comparing versions of stories that were written on paper at the request of Van der Tuuk with versions of the same story that were originally written on bamboo. Unfortunately Van der Tuuk’s collection does not hold different versions of the first four Dairi sukut-sukuten in MS Or 3406, that have been transcribed from originals written on bamboo. A Toba version of the story Kayuara merlendung (Hariara morlindung) in the same MS has also been transcribed from an original on bamboo. But in MS Or 3399, pp. 12071, there is a different version of the story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu (MS Or 3406, pp. 170-4), that was not copied from an original on bamboo. While the story transcribed from bamboo in MS Or 3406 counts 1500 words, the version in MS Or 3399 is much longer and counts 7862 words. In the following, the storyline, narrative structure and stylistic features of the two versions will be compared.

storyline of datu tonggal ni begu in ms or 3406 The story in Or 3406 tells about the origin of a female field spirit named Arlah Tala1 who as a human being was named Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala and descended from a divine ancestor named Tuan Malaheka. Following an invocation to the gods, the text may be divided into six episodes separated by the formulaic phrase: ‘asa dapet mo di arina dapet di bulanna dapet di tahunna’. This phrase, with some small variations, marks the death or birth of one of the spirit’s ancestors. There are four genera1 Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala becomes a spirit named Arlah Tala after marrying the chief of the spirits in the fields (pengulubalang ni begu). The different categories of spirits are discussed by Viner (1979:103-4), based on Tobing’s distinction (1963:107-8) of three types of spirits (begu): 1. lower nature-spirits; 2. higher nature-spirits and 3. deities.

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

tions, from Tuan Malaheka and his wife Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari, their son Datu Tonggal ni Begu (also called Datu Rangkat ni Aji) and his wife Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, their son Si Dang Matuhan and his wife Na Rudang Bulu Begu, to their daughter Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala who turns into the spirit Arlah Tala. The text of Datu Tonggal ni Begu opens with an invocation to the gods of the eight points of the compass, a more or less fixed prayer formula. A. The story starts telling how Tuan Malaheka descends from the sky and marries a woman named Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari. Their child is called Datu Tonggal ni Begu. B. When he has grown up, his father dies and Datu Tonggal ni Begu is pressed by the people to find a wife. He goes east and marries Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. C. She gives birth to a son named Si Dang Matuhan. From then on the father’s name is Datu Rangkat ni Aji. D. When his father Datu Rangkat ni Aji has died, the people urge Si Dang Matuhan to find a wife in his uncle’s village in the east. He goes there, accompanied by seven young people. He is well received in his uncle’s village and announces that he has come to be married to his cousin. When the uncle agrees with the brideprice he has brought, the wedding is celebrated on an auspicious day. The bride’s name is Na Rudang Bulu Begu. After some time they return to Si Dang Matuhan’s village. E. Na Rudang Bulu Begu remains childless, until Batara Guru tells her in a dream to go into the fields. She does this and eats a fruit from the right side of the road. Then she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a girl named Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala. F. When her parents have died Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala goes to the quiet places in the fields, where the chief (pengulubalang) of the spirits marries her. She stays there and becomes the spirit Arlah Tala.

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storyline of pemere beru si pitu in ms or 3399 The story in Or 3399 tells about the origin of a female field spirit named Beru Si Pitu, who descends from a male ancestor named Aji Malakka. There are four generations, from Aji Malakka, his son Guru Tonggal Begu and his wife Beru Rudang ni Begu, their son Aji Rangkat ni Aji and his wife Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, to the twins Si Deang Matuan and his sister Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, who turns into the spirit Beru Si Pitu. The summary of the contents given below follows Voorhoeve’s (1927:72-3) division of the narrative into ten sections. The text opens with an introductory passage stating that this is a shaman’s story (turi-turin ni guru), told by the shaman (guru) when people plant a protective banyan tree. The name of the story is Pemere Beru Si Pitu, offering to Beru Si Pitu.2 A. The story starts with Aji Malakka. His son, Guru Tonggal Begu, marries a woman named Beru Rudang ni Begu. For seven years she remains childless until a shaman prepares a medicine (tambatuah) for her. Then a son is born named Aji Rangkat ni Aji. B. After the death of his parents the people urge Aji Rangkat ni Aji to get married. He asks his relatives to accompany him on his journey to find a bride. A group of seven people travels eastward, with the brideprice. They stay in the village of Aji Gutu, where Aji Rangkat ni Aji is married to his daughter, Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. C. After two years Aji Rangkat ni Aji takes his bride home accompanied by a group of young people. At their arrival these are feasted, then they return. A year later Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy. In the night, a spirit named Alah Tala3 comes and makes the umbilical cord into a baby girl. The mother accepts both of them and warms them near the fire.

The word pemere, translated here as ‘offering’, may also refer to the sister (or her husband) of someone’s husband (Manik 2002:45). 3 The name of the spirit probably derives from the Islamic expression Allah ta’ala. In the story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu in MS Or 3406, Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala becomes a spirit named Arlah Tala after marrying the chief of the field spirits. A similar spirit name is used in other Indonesian languages. As Gonda (1973:218) has written: ‘after the Hindu-Javanese influence has been replaced by the Moslem ascendency the name of the Dayak God of the upper world was altered into Mahatala (Lahatala, Hatala) from the Arabic Allah ta’ala’. 2

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D. The twins are ‘brought to the river’, the boy is named Si Deang Matuan, the girl Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. The boy and the girl grow up together and have sexual relations, which is considered improper. E. At the request of his mother, Si Deang Matuan leaves the village to go and find a bride in the east. When he refuses to take his sister along, she tells him to only accept a girl whose quid tastes like hers. Si Deang Matuan arrives in his uncle’s village and asks whether he could be married to his daughter. The uncle says that he has been expecting him. Before they come to an agreement, Si Deang Matuan asks the girl to prepare him a betel quid. But it does not taste like his sister’s quid, so he cancels the wedding and goes home. F. Then his mother Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari threatens to kill herself, so Si Deang Matuan goes out to find a bride again. In the jungle he sees a girl standing under a figtree near a swamp. He offers her a betel quid, but she refuses. Then she makes him a quid, which tastes like his sister’s quid, so he asks her to marry him. She keeps silent. Finally she agrees on the condition that he will stop having sexual relations with his sister. She brings him to her mother in the swamp, and he gives the brideprice. The mother says that her daughter’s name is Beru Kincir. He must respect her and not call her the daughter of a bargo.4 G. When Si Deang Matuan brings Beru Kincir home his twin-sister is jealous and quarrels. She throws sharp sand at the entrance of the village so that her brother gets wounded as he steps on it. Now she takes away his soul (tendi) and he dies. The people bring his dead body to his father’s house. She goes away to the quiet places in the fields. H. Beru Kincir tells her parents-in-law not to bury her husband’s body while she is away. She goes after his twin sister to fetch his soul back. Various trees are asked where Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala went - the trees that tell her are blessed, while those that do not are cursed. Three spirit beings (Pengulubalang, Beru Seniang Naga, Beru Namora) that cross her path are also cursed, but a tiger is rewarded with meat for not killing her and then showing her the way. When she finds the village where Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala stays, she gives honey to the bees that want to sting her. Seven young men guarding the entrance gate are promised rice for letting her pass. After she has given honey, a firefly shows her the house of Beru 4 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:33) the expression ‘beru (em)bargo’ is used to ridicule or mock someone. The word bargo refers to the taro plant that has an edible root.

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Tinggi Seribu Tala and the place where she has hidden her husband’s soul. She quickly takes this and returns home. I. When Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala discovers that her brother’s soul has been taken away she follows Beru Kincir. Meanwhile, Beru Kincir has arrived in her village and restores Deang Matuan’s soul to his body. J. Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala soon arrives in the village and demands her husband back. Beru Kincir answers that Deang Matuan is her brother, and he himself also says that Beru Kincir is his wife. Now Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala challenges Beru Kincir to fight, calling her a jungle girl and daughter of a bargo. Beru Kincir gets permission from her parents-in-law to fight their daughter. For seven days and nights they fight in the village yard, slapping, kicking, stabbing with knives and wrestling. When Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala is exhausted her mother refuses to give her water or food because she does not want to be married to anyone but her twin-brother. She asks the people but they also refuse. When even her own father refuses to help her unless she agrees to be married to a man who pays a brideprice, she stops fighting. Then she gives instructions about the special food offerings that must be prepared for her. She announces that she will become the spirit ‘Beru Si Pitu’, to whom the food must be offered once every three years, to prevent misfortune. Then the shaman must tell this story.

Landscape in North Sumatra, photo Clara Brakel

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narrative structure and motives of the story in ms or 3406 The narrative in MS Or 3406 mainly concerns the string of generations leading to the birth of the woman who turns into a field spirit. It is brief and simple, especially in the first three episodes. Only the fourth and fifth episodes are more elaborate, with two motives that are told in some detail. 1. The first motive is the wedding of Si Dang Matuhan, the father of the girl who turns into a spirit, which occurs in the fourth and longest episode. Then came the day, the month, and the year, that Datu Rangkat ni Aji died. And the people (anak bayo) in the village spoke: ‘You must go and find a wife in the village of your mother’s family, in the place where the sun rises’. That was what his friends in the village said. And he thought that they were right. When the proper day had come, they went in a group of seven people. And they brought along seven jackets, a golden sirih set, and a kakak kurawang ring. When he arrived in his uncle’s village (kuta ni puhunna), they say just as the sun was rising, the rooster jarum besi crowed, and the dog surang barked, the male buffalo bellowed, the cat lenggen mewed and the goat bleated, announcing the arrival of Si Dang Matuhan. When he arrived in the village of his uncle (puhun), he climbed up [the stairs] and entered the Bale Si Lendung Bulan. That moment the fire flared up in the kitchen, the mats unrolled in the place to sit. His puhun was leaning against the pillar on the left hand side. Then Si Dang Matuhan sat down on a white mat, and he lifted up the sirih set for his puhun. Then the puhun spoke: ‘Si Dang Matuhan, what news do you have?’ ‘I bring respectful news, good news, beautiful news, puhun’. Thus spoke Si Dang Matuhan. ‘If this is what you say, how many are you who have come here?’ said his puhun. ‘Seven of us have come here, puhun’, said Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Alright’, said his puhun. Then the puhun went into the house with seven rooms, he told his wife: ‘Our nephew (kela) has come, you all [must] cook a lot of nice food for him’. These were the words of Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari, that was the name of Si Dang Matuhan’s puhun. 74

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk | When the food was ready in the house, they put it on a ceremonial plate and Si Dang Matuhan was invited to eat. When Si Dang Matuhan had finished eating, the puhun addressed his kela Si Dang Matuhan: ‘Why are you visiting this region, kela?’ These were the words of Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari. Si Dang Matuhan said: ‘[The reason] why I am visiting is [that] I wish your daughter to be mine’. ‘If you speak like that, kela, let us discuss it this evening’. These were the words of his uncle. So in the evening when it had become dark, Si Dang Matuhan was invited into the house. And when he arrived in the house, the sirih set for his puhun arrived, the sirih set of the son-in-law. Thereafter Si Dang Matuhan spoke: ‘Puhun, I have come here to marry your daughter’. These were the words of Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Kela, if this is what you say, [tell me] how much do you pay, so that everybody knows, and I will tell [you] the name of my daughter, kela’, said the puhun. ‘If these are your words, puhun, this is the brideprice for you, seven jackets. What is the name of your daughter?’ ‘My daughter’s name is Na Rudang Bulu Begu’. ‘If these are your words, puhun, in how many days will you celebrate my wedding?’ These were the words of Si Dang Matuhan. When the good day had come, a male buffalo was brought, with horns forming a circle and four crowns [on his head], a beautiful buffalo for the wedding. Then the puhun married off his daughter Na Rudang Bulu Begu to his kela Si Dang Matuhan’.

2. The second motive, the cure of a childless woman, is described in the fifth episode. The childless woman is Na Rudang Bulu Begu, Si Dang Matuhan’s wife. As the days, the months, the years passed by Na Rudang Bulu Begu did not get a child. Then in the middle of the night she dreamed that our grandfather Betara Guru spoke to her, saying: ‘You must go into the fields in the morning, go there quickly. Do not eat the one of the poisonous animal, it may be on the left side or on the right side’. Then Na Rudang Bulu Begu said to herself: ‘Let me go to the fields, just like the spirit said’, that is what Na Rudang Bulu Begu thought. So she went there and found the fruits hanging over the road, one on the left side and one on the right side. As a baganding snake had taken the one on the left side, she ate the one on the right side. So Na Rudang Bulu Begu only took one of the fruits, she respected the baganding snake. Then 75

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling Na Rudang Bulu Begu went home. Now that she has eaten the fruit that was hanging over the road Na Rudang Bulu Begu was blessed. And Na Rudang Bulu Begu became pregnant and gave birth to a girl.

narrative structure and motives of the story in ms or 3399 The narrative in MS Or 3399 is told with so many details that these obscure the structure of the string of generations preceding the female spirit. This version of the story puts much emphasis on explaining why the spirit of Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala must be regularly pacified by food offerings, and specifies what these consist of. This may well have been caused by questions Van der Tuuk asked the man who wrote the story down for him. Although at first sight the two versions are so different that they seem to have little in common, the main structure of the shorter version of the story is maintained in the longer version. The chain of the four generations is given in the first sections of MS Or 3399, and the two main motives, the wedding of the spirit’s father, and the problem of childlessness – not of the spirit’s mother, but of her grandmother – are included in the longer version. 1. The first motive, the wedding of the spirit’s father, Aji Rangkat ni Aji, is described in the beginning of the story. When Aji Rangkat ni Aji had grown up, it is told, his mother and father died, and he was grieving for seven months and seven days. ‘Our ruler, how can you endure sleeping alone? You are not the only one who has lost his parents. Everybody who is alive, oh our ruler, loses his parents and his brothers. You should think about yourself, so you will have someone to support you.’ This is what people said, it is told. ‘It is true what people say, I am an only child. When I am doing nothing all the time, I become more and more miserable.’ This is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji pondered. And he prepared a feast. Then he thought again: ‘I am already preparing my feast. What if I used the gold that was left by my parents for a brideprice, so that there is someone who prepares food for me?’ Such were Aji Rangkat ni Aji’s thoughts, it is said. And he 76

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk | cooked the meat of one animal with rice, to be offered as food to the village. When his fellow villagers had finished eating, the adult young men of the village said: ‘Aji Rangkat ni Aji, we have eaten the meat you prepared. What do you ask from us, your in-laws? Tell us, so that we know.’ These were the words of the adult young men of the village. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘I have made this food that you have eaten, my relatives, because I want to marry, to have a wife who feeds me. Accompany me on my journey. Each of you should help me to make the journey, you must each make a contribution.’ Thus spoke Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Our ruler, if this is what you say, we all feel good about it. Whenever you say you will leave, or how many you say are to come with you, we are willing.’ These were the words of his friends, it is said. Now Aji Rangkat ni Aji prepared the gold (emas) and the cloth (oles) he was bringing. He invited six people to come along, so they were seven. Then they left. Members of each household gave a contribution for the brideprice. When the families had given their contribution, the group of seven people left. They went to the place where the sun rises, it is told. When he arrived in the east, in the village of Aji Gutu, when he arrived in that village, he offered sirih to Aji Gutu. Then Aji Gutu went to get his sirih and gave it to Aji Rangkat ni Aji. When they had both given sirih to each other, the new arrival and the person he visited, Aji Gutu asked Aji Rangkat ni Aji for news: ‘What news do you have, oh silih who has just arrived? Why have you come to see us?’ Thus spoke Aji Gutu. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji answered: ‘Oh silih, we who have just arrived bring good news’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. ‘If you say that you bring good news, with whom will you eat, so that we know what to tell the women in the house’. This is what Aji Gutu said. ‘Well, since you are the headman of the village, we will stay with you’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. And Aji Gutu went into the house to tell his wife Nan Solap ni Ari to prepare food. He told his daughter Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari to go down and call the chicken(s) to serve as food for Aji Rangkat ni Aji. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari brought the bird(s) from the middle of the village square. Aji Rangkat ni Aji saw that Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari had the same shape, the same length and the same age [as he had]. ‘Her I will take for my wife’, Aji Rangkat ni Aji thought. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari went back into the house. She gave the chicken(s) to her brother Aji Layang ni 77

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling Ari to slaughter. When the food was cooked, it was nicely arranged on a plate, and Aji Rangkat ni Aji was told to eat. After Aji Rangkat ni Aji had finished eating, Aji Gutu gave a speech: ‘This is to tell you, my relatives who have come here, that the food was just a little bit. There was not any food I found to give you. Let me know what is the purpose of your visit to me, do not hesitate to tell me’. These were the words of Aji Gutu. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘That we come to your village is [in order] to find a woman for me to marry’. Thus spoke Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘If you are looking for a wife, I have a daughter, let us talk tonight’, said Aji Gutu. ‘Alright’, said Aji Rangkat ni Aji. He was asked [to come] with his friends of the village. When these had assembled, Aji Gutu proceded to distribute sirih. When all who had been invited had sirih, Aji Gutu spoke: ‘You [must] let us know how much your [bridal] payment is, so that I know and the people will hear it’. These were the words of Aji Gutu. Then he told him the number [of goods] he had carried as his bridal payment. When he had done that, Aji Gutu told him that his daughter’s name was Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, and his companions told that his name was Aji Rangkat ni Aji. When the name of the son-in-law and the name of the girl he was to marry were known, the people asked for the sirih-set of the woman and the small knife that Aji Rangkat ni Aji had brought to the hall (bale). And Aji Rangkat ni Aji left his waistband and his knife for Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Then they were told to [have a] dream and go to sleep. On the following day, his friends asked Aji Rangkat ni Aji what he had dreamed, and Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari was asked by her girlfriends what she had dreamed. When both of them told their dream, the people interpreted both these dreams as auspicious. Then the marriage was celebrated on that day. After they had been married on that day, Aji Rangkat ni Aji payed everything he had promised to give as brideprice. After Aji Rangkat ni Aji had finished giving all the gifts of the brideprice, his six companions went back, leaving Aji Rangkat ni Aji behind.

2. The second motive, the cure of the childlessness of Beru Rudang ni Begu, wife of Guru Tonggal Begu, occurs right at the beginning. When he had been married for seven years to his wife Beru Rudang ni Begu, she had not yet given birth to a child. Guru Tonggal Begu felt

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4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk | weary. ‘Why is it that still no child has been born to us?’ This is what Guru Tonggal Begu was thinking. Then came, they say, a shaman who could make tamba-tuah medicine, named Guru Hantar Muda. He asked Guru Tonggal Begu for food. So he told his wife Beru Rudang to cook. When the food prepared by Beru Rudang was ready she arranged it nicely on a plate. She had prepared a dish of fish with lemon and curcuma. Then she told her husband to call the guest. ‘You must call our guest, as we do not have a servant’, said Beru Rudang. And Guru Tonggal Begu went to the bale to call him. ‘Come brother in law (silih), let us eat’, said Guru Tonggal Begu to invite Guru Hantar Muda, and they went to eat. After they had eaten Guru Tonggal Begu picked up the dishes and gave him a quid (sirih). Then Guru Hantar Muda spoke: ‘I see that you are by yourself looking after the guest. I do not see anyone accompanying you in your work’. This is what Guru Hantar Muda said. Then Guru Tonggal Begu spoke: ‘There is nobody to help me, silih, [as] I do not have a child’. This is what Guru Tonggal Begu said. ‘If you have not got a child, silih, I know a special medicine (tamba-tuah). When I prepare this for you, then you will get offspring’. This is what Guru Hantar Muda said. ‘Now that you have told me about the tamba-tuah which, you say, will make that your sister will give birth to our child, make it for us’. That is what Guru Tonggal Begu said. So he made the tamba-tuah, it is told, and gave it to be eaten by Beru Rudang. After he had prepared the tamba-tuah, Guru Hantar Muda returned to his village. A month after Beru Rudang had eaten the tambatuah people were amazed to see that she was pregnant.

The comparison shows that the two versions of the story have the same motives that deal with different, yet related, characters. In MS Or 3406, the wedding motive occurs twice, once very briefly, when Datu Tonggal ni Begu marries Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, then in more detail when their son Dang Matuhan marries Na Rudang Bulu Begu. In MS Or 3399 the wedding motive also occurs twice: once when Aji Rangkat ni Aji is married to Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, in a way similar to the marriage of Dang Matuhan in MS Or 3406. But the second occurrence, when Deang Matuhan rejects his cousin, is very different from the other versions of the wedding motive in both MSS. 79

Traditional house in the village of Lingga, photo Clara Brakel

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk |

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

kesean or village square tunggung or dwelling place of the tendi (soul) of the kuta (village) enclosure of the village, consisting of a pager (fence made of bamboo or wood) or a parik keke (earthen wall planted with sword-grass or bamboo) pintu julu (upstream gate) located in the East pintu jehe (downstream gate) pales or look-out, only used in times of war bagas or dwelling bagas pertaki or house of the village chief bale or village hall without walls; in the attic is the mandah, a wooden box to store the rice of the pertaki ricebarn, named sapo kundul when it has a wall made of boards, and langgih if this is not the case peken or garden, usually with a fence fruit trees or trees to provide shadow parik kerbo or enclosure of the pasture (embal-embal), which may be large or small depending on the number of water-buffaloes Plan of a Dairi village (Ypes 1932:101-2) 81

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Another difference between the two versions of the story is that the motives occur in reverse order: in MS Or 3406 the wedding motive precedes the motive of the childless woman, in MS Or 3399 it follows the motive of the childless woman, which occurs right at the beginning of the story. Besides that, the longer version in MS Or 3399 has additional motives that are told in great detail. The most remarkable addition is the forbidden marriage between twin-brother and sister that dominates the entire second part of the story. Narrative motives are so important for the structure of Batak stories, that Voorhoeve’s book on Batak folkstories has been arranged according to motive. Thus, Voorhoeve (1927:195-7) distinguishes fourteen genres or types of stories based on particular motives. These were characterised either in a brief phrase, such as ‘conception by eating a fruit’, ‘bride whose grooms all die’, or in a single term, such as ‘childlessness’, ‘ghosts’, ‘transformations’, ‘magic ring’ etc. Because they occur in different contexts, narrative motives do not have a single, fixed form. Even when occuring in variant versions of the same story, such as the two examples discussed above, narrative motives may show considerable variation in form and content. For example, another variant of the motive of childlessness occurs in the Dairi version of the story of the enchanted figtree, Kayuara merlendung, where the ritual planting of a figtree has been included in the motive. Once, it is told, there was the son of a nobleman, Anak ni Aji. He built a village, and he married a wife, [but] for a long time no child was born to him. Then came a shaman (guru) who could tell the future, he found him asleep. And the guru woke him up: ‘Wake up, my ruler, and cook food for me’, he said. Then Anak ni Aji sat up. ‘What news do you have?’ ‘I bring good news, oh my ruler (raja)’. Then he invited him to eat, and prepared a nice meal with fresh fish and meat. After he had eaten he was offered sirih [a quid consisting of betel leaf, areca nut, gambier, and lime]. Then Aji gave a speech to the shaman: ‘First I say to you, oh my guru, addressing you, what do you think of this food that was nothing. It so happens that I do not have anything, oh my guru’. ‘If this is what you are saying, I have had enough to eat. But let me tell you the result of my investigation, do you agree, my raja.’ ‘Please tell me, oh my guru’. 82

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk | So the shaman told him, he told Anak ni Aji: ‘You must plant a charm, so that a child will be born to you’. ‘What shall I plant so that my child will be born, oh my guru?’ ‘If this is what you say, [you should] plant a shadowy fig-tree as your charm’.

In this case the motive has been added as an introduction to the story of the poisonous figtree5 and the combined story has in turn been added to the story of Si Bilalong. In this way long stories can be created by accumulating narrative motives as building blocks, which can be added to or abstracted from a narrative to compose a version of a story that suits a particular context.

style and formulae The manuscripts collected by Van der Tuuk seldom mention the name of the author or scribe, one of the rare exceptions is the name of the Dairi Guru Tinuturen mentioned in MS Or 3407 (Voorhoeve 1977:141). The names of some authors are known because Van der Tuuk mentions in his correspondence that he employed them as scribes, such as the Toba Guru Saniang Naga from Pasaribu, who wrote down the first Toba stories collected by Van der Tuuk (Groeneboer 2002:144), but in most cases we do not know who wrote the texts down and it is impossible to distinguish personal styles. While there are many differences in subject matter as well as in style of the texts written for Van der Tuuk, there are characteristics that many of them have in common. Some of the most striking stylistic features are: 1. The textual structure of Batak stories written on bamboo or on paper consists of an alternation of narration and direct speech. Van der Tuuk (1971:l) referred to this in the Introduction to his Grammar of Toba Batak where he wrote: ‘For our knowledge of the language and the people the stories are the most important because the persons who play a part in them frequently occur speaking’. When texts written on bamboo use direct speech, they do not always specify who is the speaker. Often the word ‘nina’, ‘he/she/they said’, 5

This introduction is absent from the Toba version (Voorhoeve 1927:99).

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follows an expression in direct speech. A common characteristic of the texts written for Van der Tuuk is that the speaker is always explicitly mentioned, not only at the beginning but often also at the conclusion of a phrase in direct speech mode, using the expression: ‘bagi(di) mo (per) kata (si) ...’, ‘thus spoke ... [name of the speaker]’. Usually the person addressed is specified as well, as in the following fragment from the story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale in MS Or 3410. Then Rapet Senina, it is told, spoke to his wife Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘What is the use of this child of yours, o uncle’s daughter? Never have I seen a child [shaped] like a wild mangga. Throw this child of yours away. What use is it to you?’ Thus spoke Rapet Senina.

This repeated specification of the speaker and the person who is addressed creates a certain monotony. This may be due to Van der Tuuk’s influence, since it occurs less in texts that were originally written on bamboo. 2. Another common characteristic is that the texts are written in what Voorhoeve (1927:19) calls ’a rather monotonous ‘and then’ style’. This refers to the frequent use of the word ‘asa’ at the beginning of a sentence or phrase, marking progress or the result of an action, either by itself or in a phrase such as: ‘kenca bagidi (...) asa’, ‘when it was like that (...) then’, or when introducing direct speech: ‘asa mongkam mo’, ‘and/so he/she said’. This is not only the case in texts written on paper, the texts written on bamboo also frequently use the word ‘asa’ in this manner. 3. Almost invariably the stories written down for Van der Tuuk open with the formula ‘Asa lot mo (kunuken) sukuten ni (kalak) arnia’, which may be paraphrased as: ‘once upon a time there was (it is told), a story from (people in) the past’. This is followed by the name of the main character, or of his ancestor. In the texts of stories transcribed from bamboo, this opening line often forms part of a more elaborate introduction and is combined with another formula such as: ‘tah tuhu ngidi tah mada malot kubetoh, malot kuidah’, ‘I do not know, I do not see, whether this is true or not’. Remarkably, this opening is not used in the story about Datu Tonggal ni Begu in MS Or 3406 which indeed is not a sukut-sukuten, but a story told during a ritual. The text on Beru Si Pitu in MS Or 3399 conforms 84

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to the majority of texts written on paper by starting with the formulaic ‘Asa lot mo kunuken’, and continues to say that it is a shaman’s story (turiturin ni guru). This introduction is followed by the actual story that starts once more with the formula ‘Asa lot mo kunuken mergerar si Aji Malakka’, ‘once upon a time there was, it is told, [someone] named Aji Malakka’. Thus, the opening of this text conforms to that of other stories written for Van der Tuuk.6 4. Parallel to the formulaic opening, Dairi stories usually feature a closing formula indicating the end of the story. It may be a simple phrase such as: ‘asa pate sukut-sukuten, ale kaltu’, ‘and this is the end of the story, my friend’, ending the story of Jinaka in MS Or 3406, or: ‘mate sukuten Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, ale tuannami’, ‘finished is the story of Mbacang Gumale-gale, my lord’ in MS Or 3410. To this, the writer may add an excuse about his humble background, as in the story of Si Bilalong: ‘asa idi mo pate ni sukut-sukuten ale, ulang roh pusuhmu midah singgodo’, ‘so this is the end of the story, well, do not be angry seeing [that I am] an ugly person’ in MS Or 3406. As Voorhoeve points out in the introduction to his survey of Batak folkstories, it is in fact customary for the Batak storyteller to present himself as incompetent, poor and unhappy. Voorhoeve (1927:18) attributes this self-humiliation to the faith the storyteller has in the power of the heroes he describes in the story, which may also be expressed at the beginning of a story in an excuse for the ‘ugly and inharmonious sounds that he, poor devil, will produce’.7 5. Besides formal opening and end phrases, Dairi stories also feature formulaic expressions at other points in the text. Some are simple and occur frequently throughout the text in passages with direct speach, such as the introduction to the words of a speaker: ‘asa mongkam mo debata idi kunuken ...’, ‘then, it is told, the God said ...’, or to indicate a reply to the previous speaker by the person addressed: ‘muda bagi ngo katamu, ale ...’, ‘if this is what you say, oh ...’.8 Others occur only in a specific situation: 6 There may be a reference to Van der Tuuk in the opening of the story ‘Manuk-manuk Saip Ladang’. 7 In Dutch the text says: ‘Daarvoor heeft hij reeds de toegeeflijkheid van de geesten van de grond aangeroepen voor de onschone en onwelluidende klanken, die hij, arme drommel, ten gehore zal brengen’. 8 In his recent PhD thesis on the Old Javanese Dharma Patanjala, Andrea Acri (2011:26) signals a strikingly similar expression in Old Javanese treatises.

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‘(kenca bagidi) asa samah sip mo ia merkata idi’, ‘after that those who were speaking kept silent’, which often marks the end of a passage or section. The passing of time may be indicated by (a variant of) the formula: ‘asa jumpa mo di arina, jumpa di bulanna, jumpa di tahunna’, ‘as the days, months, years went by’. This formula usually marks the beginning of a new series of events in the story. Another formula is used that specifies the passage of a time period using the number seven: ‘pitu tahun pitu bulan pitu hari’, ‘[for] seven years, seven months, and seven days’. Part of this formula may also be used: ‘pitu tahun’, [he had been married to his wife Beru Rudang] ‘for seven years’. Another combination is: ‘pitu tahun pitu bulan’, [he waited for the child to be born] ‘for seven years and seven months’. And another is: ‘pitu bulan pitu ari’, [and Aji Rangkat ni Aji was mourning] ‘for seven months and seven days’. Moreover there is a different variant of this formula: ‘si pitu ari si pitu berngin’, [and they continued to wrestle, it is told, rolling over] for seven days and seven nights’. Seven is also a favorite number for specifying the size of groups of people or objects: the hero Si Dang Matuhan went in a group of seven people, bringing along seven jackets as his brideprice. Having arrived in his uncle’s village, the uncle went into a house with seven sections. And when Si Mbacang gumale-gale went on a trip with his uncle, he asked his mother to prepare seven gourds filled with rice-grains for him. 6. The word ‘kunuken’, ‘they say’, often occurs in the opening phrase in more or less fixed combinations like ‘asa lot mo kunuken’. To this another formula expressing uncertainty may be added: ‘tah tuhu ngidi tah mada malot kubetoh’, ‘I do not know whether this is true or not’. The word ‘kunuken’ may also be added to other expressions such as ‘kenca bagidi kunuken’, ‘when it was like that, they say’, ‘asa menter mongkam mo kunuken’, ‘and then he spoke, they say’. The Dairi creation myth Permungkahen Pertengahen Ena (The creation of this Middle), uses the word ‘kunuken’ so often, that Van der Tuuk added the following note to his translation:9 ‘this ‘they say’ is used over and over again, especially in Dairi stories, because the storytellers fear that the spirits of the persons they are telling about will be angry if they would 9 The Dutch translation of this Dairi creation myth (‘De Oorsprong van dit Midden’) was published in Van der Tuuk 1860-62, IV:48-73.

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say anything that is untrue, or insulting [to them]. By using ’they say’ they disclaim responsibility; that is why many Batak stories start with an excuse about the liberties taken with the names of the heroes’.10 As this comment is written in a passage where the High God is speaking to his wife, the storyteller has every reason to be fearful. In fact, not all texts use the word kunuken so often, in texts written on bamboo it may be used just once in the beginning, or only a few times in the course of the story. The word kunuken may have a special function as a structural marker. In the story about Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, kunuken is used primarily, though not exclusively, at the beginning of a new section. It occurs in different combinations of formulaic expressions, such as ‘kenca bagidi, mate mo kunuken si Rapet Senina’, ‘when it was like that, they say that Rapet Senina died’. 7. Most Dairi stories contain standard scenes and dialogues. One of these is the arrival of a visitor. The following scene from Datu Tonggal ni Begu, a story transcribed from bamboo, tells how Si Dang Matuhan meets his uncle when he goes to to the east to find a bride (Or 3406): Then Si Dang Matuhan sat down on a white mat, and he lifted up the sirih set for his puhun. Then the puhun spoke: ‘Si Dang Matuhan, what news do you have?’ ‘I bring respectful news, good news, beautiful news, puhun’. Thus spoke Si Dang Matuhan. ‘If this is what you say, how many are you who have come here?’ said his puhun. ‘Seven of us have come here, puhun’, said Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Alright’, said his puhun.

A similar scene in the story of Beru Si Pitu written down for van der Tuuk is more detailed (Or 3399): When he arrived in the east, in the village of Aji Gutu, when he arrived in that village, he offered sirih to Aji Gutu. Then Aji Gutu went to get his sirih and gave it to Aji Rangkat ni Aji. When they had both given sirih to 10 Van der Tuuk (1860-62, IV:49, note 4) says: ‘Dit zegt men wordt vooral in de Dairische verhalen tot vervelens toe gebezigd, uit een zekere vrees, die de verhalers voor de toorn der geesten van de personen die zij ten tooneele voeren, koesteren, zoo zij iets mogten zeggen, dat bezijden de waarheid is, ofwel beleedigend mogt zijn. Zij schuiven door zegt men de verantwoordelijkheid van zich; van daar dan ook dat vele Bataksche verhalen met een verontschuldiging beginnen over de vrijheid die met de namen der helden genomen wordt.’

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling each other, the new arrival and the person he visited, Aji Gutu asked Aji Rangkat ni Aji for news: ‘What news do you have, oh silih who has just arrived? Why have you come to see us?’ Thus spoke Aji Gutu. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji answered: ‘Oh silih, we who have just arrived bring good news’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. ‘If you say that you bring good news, with whom will you eat, so that we know what to tell the women in the house’. This is what Aji Gutu said. ‘Well, since you are the headman of the village, we will stay with you’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said.

Descriptions of meals are foremost among standard scenes, especially ritual meals with meat and rice as the main components. A buffalo is slaughtered for important rituals attended by many guests, as for the name-giving ceremony of a newborn child described in in the story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu (Or 3406). The festive meal is attended by ritual specialists (permangmang, persinabul) and followed by a speech in which the organisor states the reason for which the feast has been prepared. In this text, which was originally written on bamboo, the description is rather compact. When her child was born, a buffalo was prepared to carry the newborn child to the river. Then ritual specialists were invited [to chant the prayers] for eating the buffalo. ‘What are your words oh Tuan Malaheka, why you have called us to eat in the house?’ That is what the people who were invited said. ‘Well, friends, we are bringing the new-born child to the river’. ‘If that is what you say, our ruler, what is the name of this newborn child?’ the people said. Tuan Malaheka said: ‘Datu Tonggal ni Begu is the name of my child’. ‘If these are your words’, the people said, ‘we’ll go home’.

In the texts that were written down for Van der Tuuk, the festive meal is described with many details, as when Si Mbacang Gumale-gale offers a ritual meal to his relatives (Or 3410): After that, it is said, Rapet Senina died. When he had died Si Mbacang Gumale-gale spoke to his mother: ‘Father has died, mother. Take a buffalo as food for uncle’s ritual feast’. ‘Yes, child’, said Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, and she told her helpers to prepare a buffalo. Many people helped her to cook rice. 88

4 Dairi stories written on paper for Van der Tuuk | When the meat and the rice were ready, all the inhabitants of the village were fed. When they had eaten they chewed areca nut and after that Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘I give a speech to ask what you think, grandfather and you, uncle (puhun), of our food, there happened to be almost nothing. It is not because I am too stingy to offer you nice food to eat, we just did not have more. That I have prepared this little bit of food for you, that you have eaten, is to inform you that father has died. This is called “sahut-sahut”. Please inform me what sum we inherit so that I know the payment for my mother and me’. These were the words of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And Jembut Murle-urle said: ‘As for the food, grandson, we have all eaten enough rice and we have eaten our fill of meat. As for the customary heritage payment, grandson, this is 12 reyal’.11 Thus spoke Jembut Murle-urle.

For less important occasions smaller animals suffice. Thus, before going to the forest, Si Mbuyak-buyak and his brothers offer a meal with pork and chicken meat to their mother (Or 3406): A pig and a chicken were slaughtered. When the rice and the meat were ready, Si Maling Soka offered it with the pig’s meat to their mother. ‘Now we offer food to you, dearest mother, so that we may find cash for you in the future, so that we will collect enough to feed you, mother’. ‘Yes, allright son’, she said. And all of them ate together with Si Mbuyak-buyak; they ate the ritual meal. When they had finished eating, he addressed their mother in a speech: ‘Let me say one thing to us here, both to mother, to Tuan Rancang and to Malin Soka, as well as to our sister Nam Bunga Bulung, this is what I say to us all. We have eaten our fill [and] our souls are satisfied. The three of us are going to get camphor. You must pray nicely so that we will have luck in finding it. We will redeem you in the future’. ‘Well if you say that, it’s allright. When are you going?’ ‘We will leave tomorrow.’

Animals may also be slaughtered and prepared for a specific ritual that involves an offfering made to one or more spirits. The story about the 11 According to Manik (2002:304), the word ‘riar’ refers to a silver Spanish coin equal to 400 ‘duit’ [an ancient Dutch coin]. Coleman (1983:258) explains that: ‘the gold coins referred to above (riar) are a pre-Dutch unit of calculation Pakpak use in discussing bridewealth sizes’.

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poisonous figtree (Kayuara merlendung), which was transcribed from bamboo, describes an offering made for the ritual planting of a tree to obtain offspring (Or 3406): ‘If you say that, [you must] bring a male pig, with ginger wrapped in leaves, with flowers for the female and male shamans, with all sorts of ritual food, all the different fishes, and a chicken’s egg. When you have collected all these ingredients, [you must] perform [the ritual] at the top of the field outside the village’. [...] So the pig was slaughtered, prepared and fanned. When the rice and the meat were cooked, they invoked the souls of the ancestors and the spirits and honoured them, and the shaman planted what had to be planted. Then they ate.

Again, the story of Si Mbuyak-mbuyak features a large ritual meal in the jungle, where a buffalo and a goat are slaughtered. The goat is offered to the spirit of Si Jagar. The buffalo is prepared for a large group of relatives including the mother and members of her family (puang), members of the father’s family (senina) as well as two ritual practitioners, the permangmang and the persinabul, who receive a share of the camphor the brothers have collected.12 And Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ’You [must] go and bring our mother and sister, you invite our relatives, invite the ritual specialists (permangmang, persinabul) who will get the middle and side parts. You bring a buffalo, [and] a goat, so we feast in this camphor house to celebrate our luck with the camphor, and finally chopped meat, to enjoy our blessing of [finding] camphor’. Then the mother came to the camphor house, and those who had been invited came together in the camphor forest. Then they feasted and ate the buffalo. They prepared a goat with yellow rice to give to the spirit (sembahen) Si Jagar. After it was offered to the spirit, they ate what remained.

12 Coleman (1983:383) explains that the term permangmang, which refers to a ritual practitioner, also ‘labels eldest-brother descent category in a ‘one rube’, that is the genealogically most superior ‘one lebuh’ category in a planting ritual territory’. The permangmang and persinabul are entitled to receive specific parts of a four-legged sacrificial animal slaughtered at a large feast. The portions referred to here may also refer to their share of the camphor, for which the participants are asking after the meal.

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The story about Beru Si Pitu that was written down for Van der Tuuk gives very detailed information about ritual meals, describing which ingredients must be offered and how the ritual should be performed. A relatively simple case is the description of the name-giving ceremony for Aji Rangkat ni Aji’s newborn twins (Or 3399). On the following day Aji Rangkat ni Aji prepared a female chicken as food for Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, it is called balbal susu [to stimulate the flow of milk]. And he looked up the right moment for the newborn children. It looked good, so he took a buffalo for [the ceremony of] bringing the newborn children to the river. Then he told his helpers to cook the buffalo, [and] he told the young unmarried women to cook rice for many people. When the buffalo meat and the rice were cooked, Aji Rangkat ni Aji told the people who had cooked the meat to prepare one separate plate that should be given to Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari to eat together with the rice. When she had eaten, Aji Rangkat ni Aji told all the women of each household to walk to the river accompanying Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. And they walked to the river, it is told, where Aji Rangkat ni Aji offered crushed sirih leaves with rice flour, a complete sirih quid and various flowers. When he had made the offering, they were told to take a bath. Then they returned home. When they had come home, he invited everybody in the village to eat. When all of them had eaten, the other villagers (anak bayo) said: ‘We have already eaten our fill, Aji Rangkat ni Aji, why have we come’? This is what the anak bayo said. ‘The reason why I have invited you all, my companions in this village, is to celebrate the birth of my children. I am happy with my son and my daughter. Let us give them a name’. These were the words of Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘If we are in fact celebrating the birth of these children, you must prepare a selup of rice, a sirih quid and a hard areca nut, to give the children a name’. That is what the anak bayo said. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari prepared these and gave them to the wives of the anak bayo.

8. Verses seldom occur in the written versions of Dairi stories collected by Van der Tuuk. Therefore the remark in the Introduction to his Grammar of Toba Batak that: ‘the larger part [of the literature] is in prose into which, however, a great number of short verses are introduced’ (Van der Tuuk 1971:l) probably refers to oral literature. 91

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Voorhoeve’s thesis (1927:33) includes a rare example of a verse in a written Dairi story. It occurs in the elaborate Dutch summary of the story of Si Sori Ntagan and announces the arrival of a large monster from the jungle (entuwara): Tung! tung! tongketku tongket besi Dalanku mengelangkah Kuangkat kenca menter soh Mi sapo kempungku adena. Boing, boing! my walking stick is made of iron I walk with large steps One more jump, then I arrive Over there in my granddaughter’s hut. A verse cited in Manik’s Dairi Pakpak-Indonesian dictionary (2002:277) has the form of a four-line umpama with the simile in the first two lines and the message in the last two lines. This is an end verse indicating that the storyteller wants to take leave, which occurs at the end of the story of Kerbo Si Ranggir (Or 3403). Embagas urat ni jering Embabo urat perira, Embagas mo ena berngin Medem mo kita kerina. Deep go the roots of the jering tree Superficial are the roots of the perira tree,13 Deep is the night by now Let us all [go to] sleep.

conclusion Even though there are just a few stories to make a comparison, it seems obvious that Van der Tuuk’s presence resulted in versions of stories that 13

Both trees have foul-smelling, yet edible fruits.

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were longer than texts inscribed on bamboo. Moreover it seems likely that the elaborate descriptive passages in many stories collected by Van der Tuuk have been caused by his presence. Another factor that may well have influenced the length of the texts written for Van der Tuuk was that it was easier for Batak scribes to write long stories on the European paper provided by Van der Tuuk, than on the bamboo or treebark they used before his arrival. For Van der Tuuk’s writers, who were accustomed to storytelling and to adjusting the contents of stories to the demands of the audience, it may not have been so important to stick to a storyline. Later, when the writers of Batak texts were not necessarily storytellers or part of the storytelling tradition, the storyline became more important and lengthy descriptions disappeared from written texts, as Voorhoeve (1927:19) pointed out. As was shown above, many stylistic features of the texts written down for Van der Tuuk, including the use of formulae and standard scenes, are quite common in oral deliverance.

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the shadowy figtree Once upon a time a story was told, maybe it is true, maybe not, this is not known, not seen. I have listened well to the words of this story. I am bringing a sad message; the news I am reporting is that there were people made to feel anxious. Once, it is told, there was the son of a nobleman, Anak ni Aji. He built a village, and he married a wife, [but] for a long time no child was born to him. Then came a shaman (guru) who could tell the future, he found him asleep. And the guru woke him up: ‘Wake up, my ruler (rajanami), and cook food for me’, he said. Then Anak ni Aji sat up. ‘What news do you have?’ ‘I bring good news, oh my raja’. Then he invited him to eat, and prepared a nice meal with fresh fish and meat. After he had eaten he was offered sirih [a quid consisting of betel leaf, areca nut, gambier, and lime]. Then Aji gave a speech to the shaman: ‘First I say to you, oh my guru, addressing you, what do you think of this food that was nothing. It so happens that I do not have anything, oh my guru’. ‘If this is what you are saying, I have had enough to eat. But let me tell you the result of my investigation, do you agree, my raja.’ ‘Please tell me, oh my guru.’ So Anak ni Aji was told by the shaman, he said to him: ‘You must plant a charm, so that a child will be born to you’. ‘What shall I plant so that my child will be born, oh my guru?’ ‘If this is what you say, [you should] plant a shadowy figtree as your charm.’ Then he brought a figtree. And he asked the shaman: ‘What are the ingredients for the offering, tell me so that I know what to bring’. ‘If you say that, bring a male pig, with ginger wrapped in leaves, with flowers for the female and male shamans (sibaso, guru), with all sorts of ritual food, all the different fishes, and a chicken’s egg. When you have collected all these ingredients, [you must] perform [the ritual] at the top of the field outside the village.’ And he went around the village, he invited the female and male shamans, he invited the drummers and shawm (serunai) players, he also invited his in-laws (kula-kula) and their children. Then all of them went to the top of the field; they brought along a fig-tree as well as medicinal herbs and green plants. 96

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kayuara merlendung (or 3406:147-149) Asa lot nola mo kata ni sukut-sukuten, tah tuhu tah mada oda nibetoh, oda nidah. Kata ni tori-torin ni simpantas ngo kudengkoh, buliga kubuligaken merlanja-lanja raru, berita kuberitaken asa lot kalak haru1 di bakin katena. Asa lot mo kunuken Anak ni Aji. Asa dibahan mo kutana, ditokor mo sada jelmana, tunggari mada tubuh anakna. Asa roh mo guru persuleng, didapet mo Aji medem. Asa disunggul guru persuleng: ‘Keke kono rajanami, pertasak panganenku’, nina. Asa kundul mo Anak ni Aji. ‘Kade beritamu?’ ‘Beritangku berita melias beritangku, ale rajanami’. Asa diarahken mo mangan, asa dihidang mo pengke merikan meratah mo dibakin ia. Kenca salpun mangan diduduri mo marapurun. Asa disahutken Haji mo guru persuleng: ‘Sada katangku bamu, ale gurunami, sahutken penarihinmu dipanganen somada idi, bilangna somada ngo jumpaku kade, ale gurunami’. ‘Muda bagidi katamu enggo aku besur mangan. Tapi kata ni tulutenku lot jadi kubagahken katemu, rajanami’. ‘Jadi bagahken bangku, ale gurunami’. Asa didokken guru persuleng, asa dokken mo Anak ni Aji: ‘Menuan gemgemen mo kono, asa tubuh anakmu’. ‘Kade mo kusuan asa tubuh anakku, ale gurunami?’ ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, suan mo kayuara merlendung mahan gemgemenmu’. Asa dibuat mo kayuara sada. Asa dikuso mo guru persuleng: ‘Kade mo deba pantunen, bagahken bangku asa kubetoh buatenku’. ‘Muda bagi nimu, buat mo babi tonggal sada, merbahing bulung-bulungen, merbunga kembang ni sibaso merguru, mernakan nasa si lotna, ikan nasa si lotna, mertinaruh manuk sada. Muda enggo pulung kerina pinantunmu idi, asa sibakin mo di pucuk ni perpadangen mo sibakin’. Asa merkarah mia di kutana idi diarahken mo sibaso, diarahken mo guru, diarahken mo pegendang, diarahken mo penarune, diarahken mo puangna, diarahken mo ni anakkenna. Asa lako mia kerina mi pucuk ni perpadangen, dipulung mo kayuara deket ketonggo sangka sipilit turbangen. 1 The word ‘haru’, which makes sense here, occurs in the printed passage (Van der Tuuk 1856), as it is unclear in the transcription.

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And they gave these to the shaman. ‘What are the things we should do, guru?’ said the people. ‘You [must] play the drum, then I will say spells over the offerings and they will be planted.’ So the pig was slaughtered, prepared and fanned. When the rice and the meat were cooked, they invoked the souls of the ancestors (sumangan) and spirits (begu) and honoured them, and the shaman planted what had to be planted. Then they ate. After the meal he gave a speech to all the people: ‘What I am saying to all of you who are assembled here, both in-laws and relatives, as well as the male and female shamans, I say to you: if you think that this food is not enough, it so happens that I do not have much food, oh all of you [here]’. These were the words of Anak ni Aji. Then the people said: ‘We have eaten our fill of rice and meat. What do you [have to] say?’ ‘As for the speech for my festive meal, we have planted a shadowy fig-tree as my charm, so that a son will be born to me, says father guru, and lady sibaso’. The people said: ‘If these are your words, our raja, may this happen, oh our raja’. And they went back home. As the days, months, and years went by, the fig-tree grew large. Then a bird flew under the fig-tree and died. When a mouse-deer walked past, it also died because it happened to be in the shadow of the fig-tree. Then Aji’s wife became pregnant. And as Aji’s charm, the fig-tree, grew larger and larger, it became more and more enchanted. Whoever passed under the shadowy fig-tree, either a small animal or even a human being, they would die after they had been in the shadow. Now a baganding snake happened to come across the fig-tree, and said: ‘What have I heard about you, shadowy fig-tree? All those who walk beneath you die. Now when I will go on, let us not make each other ashamed and frighten each other in competing to be honoured; let me walk on, shadowy fig-tree, can’t you do that?’ ‘If you pass beneath me, I will kill you’. The baganding snake said: ‘Oh shadowy fig-tree, how can I succeed to pass beneath you?’ ‘If you don’t have the right to pass, you will die’, said he. Then the baganding snake went on his way, and he was cut in half, only one yard [of its body] was left from its head. So the baganding snake saved his body. Then he went away and met a frog (pangpan lalun). And the baganding snake said: ‘Let us take revenge together, oh pangpang lalun’. Then he saw that the baganding snake had been cut in two by the shadowy fig-tree. 98

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Asa dibereken mo bai guru persuleng. ‘Kade deba bahanennami guru?’ Bagidi mo kata tuan sinterem. ‘Mergendang mo kene, asa kutabasi mo pinantun ena, asa si suanken’. Asa diseat mo babina, dihantari, dinderu. Kenca tasak nakan deket jukut, dipesiar sumangan, dipesiar mo begu jinujungna, asa disuang suange guru mo sinuanna idi. Asa mangan ni pe. Salpun mangan disahutken mo kalak sinterem: ‘Sada katangku bamu ko sinterem idi, barang kula-kula, barang senina, barang guru, barang ko sibaso tumampak kono kerina. Sahutken kene katemu panganen somada idi, bilangna somada ngo ‘mbue jumpaku panganen, ale tuan sinterem’. Bagidi mo kata Anak ni Aji. Asa merkata nola mo sinterem: ‘Enggo kami besur mangan nakan, mangan jukut; kade katana?’ ‘Hakum kata ni nakanku idi, aku sumuan gemgemenku mo kita ena kayuara merlendung, asa tubuhken mata ni aringku, dok bapa guru, dok beru sibaso’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu rajanami jadi midi, ale rajanami’, bagidi mo perkata sinterem. Asa molih mo mia mi rumah. Asa jumpa mo di arina, jumpa di bulanna, jumpa di tahunna, belgah mo kayuara merlendung. Asa kabang mo pidup rap teruh kayuara merlendung, menter mate. Asa merdalan mo pelanduk, menter mate ngo kena lendung ni kayuara idi. Asa berat daging mo tinokor ni Aji. Asa makin jumerangkar mo gemgemenna asa makin begun mo kayuara gemgemen ni Aji. Asa makin masakade pe si merdalan teruh kayuara merlendung barang pinakan ni deba barang jelma pe kena lendungna nasa idi, menter mate. Asa merdalan mo nipe sibaganding asa jumpa mia rebak kayuara merlendung. Asa merkata mo nipe sibagandung: ‘Kade berita mo kono, ale kayuara merlendung? Nasa idi kalak merdalan rap teruhmu ena nasa idi kalak mate. Aku naing aku merdalan rap ena ulang kita mersipemelan tengam mersipetengamen jembut mersiperjembuten kita asa aku merdalan rap ena, ale kayuara merlendung, mada norok bagidi?’ ‘Muda rap teruhku ena ngo kono, mate ngo kubakin’. ‘Barang katera kin mo dibakin kono rap teruhmu ena ngaku asa jadi, ale kayuara merlendung’, dokken nipe sibaganding. ‘Muda mada hukum ni kalak merdalan, mate mo tuhu’, nina. Asa lako mo nipe sibaganding merdalan. Menter mo merpenggelpenggel tading siatta nari kanca tan takalna. Asa ditawar nipe sibaganding mo dagingna. 99

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‘Do you know how to fight the shadowy fig-tree, what can be done to oppose him, oh grandfather?’ ‘You have the power to stop the rain for days, to cause a storm that goes on for days. Stop the rain for days, let us make it last seven years, seven months, and seven days, let us do just that’. Then the water dried up, the earth became like dust, and Mahaji’s charm, the fig-tree, felt that he cracked. Then his leaves were destroyed, his branches fell, and his trunk died. Now the shadowy fig-tree paid his respect: ‘You are the ruler, oh baganding snake, please don’t let me die. If you want to be like [you were] before, I will make you live, if [only] you don’t set me on fire’, he said. Then he was burned and destroyed. And after that the frog made a storm, and [many] days of rain came, so that the rivers flooded. He was washed away with the charcoal. And since then there is no shadowy fig-tree any more. So the baganding snake has become short because they made each other ashamed. Because of the conflict one became short and the other was destroyed.

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Asa laus mia jumpasa mo pangpang lalun. Asa merkata mo nipe sibaganding: ‘Sada lui ni ate kita, ale pangpang lalun’. Idah nari ngo nipe sibaganding enggo merpenggel-penggel di bakin kayuara merlendung. ‘Kade mo ngo betoh kono alo ni kayuara merlendung, kade nola mo dibakin alona, ale empung?’ ‘Hapembisa bamu penarangen di ari udan, pengkaba-kaba di ari lek go. Sarang mo ari udan, asa lek go mo bakin kita pitu tahun pitu bulan pitu ari, lek go sambing dibakin’. Asa marrak mo lae, bage sirabun mo tanoh, ‘nggargar mo diakap gemgemen Mahaji kayuara merlendung. Asa merrakas mo bulungna, meruntuh mo dahanna, mate mo batangna. Asa menembah mo kayuara merlendung: ’Raja mo kono, ale nipe sibaganding, ulang aku mate ale. Muda suang ngo geut dang nola nipe sibaganding, geluh ngo ko kubakin hakum mada ngo suangku suluhi mo’, nina. Menter mo disuluhi merakas. Asa menter mo dibahan pangpang lalun mo pengkaba-kaba. Asa roh mo hari udan, asa mbelgah mo lae. Dianun mo deket harangna. Asa i mo asa manenge lot kayuara merlendung. Enggo jempek nipe sibaganding baing mersipemelan mo ia. Asa meradu kanjal sada jempek sada merakas.

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si bilalong When Anak ni Aji died, he left his wife a pen with chickens. And after a year had passed his child was born. Then the uncle (puhun) of this newborn child came, his name was Raja Eran, to ask for Aji’s legacy (lemba). ‘I cannot yet make you the saut-saut [ritual meal, to settle the legacy] for you, oh Raja Eran. In the future I will prepare the saut-saut feast for you, when your new-born cousin will have grown-up’, said his sister Nan Bunga Buluh. ‘I don’t agree with that, let me receive it [now] so it gets done’, said Raja Eran. So all of a sudden Raja Eran took away all the goods that Mahaji had left behind. Now the descendents of Mahaji were left in misery, and the fellowvillagers were also unjust. As Nan Bunga Buluh had nothing left, she moved. She was chased away by the villagers and had to live in a hut in the fields. She brought her child to a deserted house; she had no rice, nothing to eat, [and] no clothes. The only food they had to keep them alive was sweet potato. Although he only ate sweet potatoes, the child grew up well. So she called the child Si Bilalong [a kind of sweet potato], because he grew up on sweet potatoes. As the months passed by, and the years passed by, the child Si Bilalong grew taller and taller. ‘Mother, where is a cloth (oles) for me to wear around my hips and a shawl to cover my shoulders, I feel cold, mother’. ‘We don’t have clothes, child’. Then the mother went to people’s homes to ask for worn-out clothes [but] they did not give them. When she returned to her house, she told her child Si Bilalong: ‘Child, the people have not even given me rags’. ‘If this is what you say, mother, just find me some sweet potato as provision. I am going to follow people carrying [goods] on the shoulder to earn a salary, I’ll just do that’, said Si Bilalong. And he went away. He met someone who carried incense: ‘Let me carry that incense, friend. When you have sold your incense, [you can] give me your cloth. Please have pity on an orphan who has no father, and no clothes’. ‘If this is what you say, [you may] carry my incense’. And he walked carrying the man’s incense on his shoulder.

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si bilalong (or 3406:149-151) Asa mate mo Anak ni Aji tumadingken jelmana kurungen manuk. Asa jumpa di tahunna tubuh mo anakna sada. Asa roh puhunna ni anak tubuh idi, si Raja Era gerarna, asa dipengido mo lemba ni Aji. ‘Mak deng kubetoh menahutken kono, ale Radja Era. Lebe belgah mo kelamu tubuh ena, asa kusahutken kono’, dok turangna Nan Bunga Buluh. ‘Mada norok bagidi, kujalo ngo asa jadi’, dok Raja Era. Asa itartar ikeriken Raja Era mo nasa ugasen tading-tadingen ni Mahaji. Asa pesges mo tading-tadingin Mahaji janah dikilang denganna kutana nola. Asa kadena pe ma nenge. Asa ‘mbungkas mo Nan Bunga Buluh. Mersapo juma dipepuar dengan kutana. Dientat mo anakna mi sapo terulang, oda mangan nakan, oda mangan sira, oda meroles. Gadong sambing dipangan mahan kenggeluhenna. Kasa pe gadong sambing dipangan, makin belgah ma ngo anakna idi. Asa digerari mo anakna idi Si Bilalong, bakin nipebelgah ni gadong. Asa jumpa mo leleng di bulanna, jumpa leleng di tahunna, makin belgah mo anakna Si Bilalong. ‘Dike nang olesta naing aku merabit, naing aku mercabing. Bergohen maku, ale nang’. ‘Malot olesta ale bapa’. Asa lako mo inangna mi rumah mengido rapak-rapak ni deba. Malot dibere deba. Asa molih nola mia mi sapona, dibagahken mo bai anakna Si Bilalong: ‘Malot aku dibere deba giam rapak-rapakna ale bapa’. ‘Muda bagi ngo nimu ale nang, tulus mo giam bangku gadong ni deba idi mahan battangku. Naing kalak kuekut-ekut giam lako merlanja mahan gajen ni kalak aku giamken’, dok Si Bilalong. Asa lako mia. Jumpasa mo perlanja kemenjen: ‘Niang kulanja kemenjenmidi ale supan. Bere aku rambanmu kenca dea kono kemenjenmu ena. Masih mo atemu midah si tading melumang, oda merbapa, oda meroles’. ‘Muda bagi ngo nimu, entat mo kemenjenku ena’. Asa lako mia, dilanja mo kemenjen ni deba idi. Asa soh mia mi pangkalen. Didea mo kemenjenna idi. Asa payu mo kemenjenna idi bai perpangkalen. Asa dijalo mo tokor ni kemenjenna idi. Dipengido mo gajina idi: ‘Bere maku rambanmu idi ale supan’, dok Si Bilalong. Asa diberekenna mo takal ni ramban dua jari belangna.

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When they came to the market, the incense was offered for sale. Now this incense was much in demand with the traders, so the incense buyers received it [all]. He asked for his reward: ‘Now give me your cloth, friend’, Si Bilalong said. Then he gave him the border of the cloth, which was [just] two ‘fingers’ wide. ‘What use is that to me, friend?’ ‘Do with it whatever you want’, he said. Then he hid the border of the cloth he had received and went home again. ‘What have you earned, Bilalong?’ his mother asked. ‘Nothing, mother, the people only gave me the border of a cloth for us’. Then the mother went to the houses to borrow a needle. ‘Just so that I can sow up your cloth’, she said. And the mother went to the houses to borrow a needle from someone. She sowed up his cloth. Then Si Bilalong hid his mother’s needle, and she was looking for it. ‘Bilalong, where is my needle?’ Please roast this sweet potato for me first, mother. I will find it for you by divination’. ‘If you say that, I will make that you can eat your fill. You find out’, she said. Then he took the border of the cloth that was two fingers wide, because he pretended to predict [where the needle was] with this border. Then he gave the needle to his mother, and she returned it to the person who lent it [to her]. Then he took people’s chickens from seven coops and hid them in the forest. And when the people were searching them, Si Bilalong said: ‘How much will I receive for finding out by divination where they are?’ ‘Half will be for you, if you can find them’, they said. Then he brought them from where he had hidden them, and half was for him. So he sold these and got his cloth. Then Si Bilalong took people’s buffaloes, and hid them in the forest. When the owners of these buffaloes were looking for them, Si Bilalong came and said: ‘How much will be my reward for finding out where they are?’ ‘If you want you can have half, provided that we see our buffaloes back’, they said. He pretended to make a divination on the border of the cloth, and indicated them to go to the forest. Then the people searched [there] and found the buffaloes. Then he stole people’s gold. When people heard the news that Si Bilalong could predict well, they went to see him. ‘And how much will be my reward for predicting?’ 104

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‘Mahan kadengku mena, ale kaltu?’ ‘Barang mahan kademu’, nina. Asa dibonikin mo takal ni ramban jinalona idi. Asa molih mia mi sapona. ‘Kade ma ngo luahmu, ale Bilalong?’ dok inangna. ‘Kade pe malot. Takal ramban sambing ngo banta dibere deba bangku ale nang’. Asa lako mo inangna mi rumah, menginjam jarum. ‘Asa kujarumi giam olesmu idi’, nina. Asa lako mo inangna mi rumah, diinjam mo jarum ni deba. Dijarumi mo olesna. Asa dibonikin Si Bilalong mo jarum ni inangna idi. Asa tulus-tulus mo inangna. ‘Dike jarumku, ale Bilalong?’ ‘Dalang lebeken bangku gadong idi. Kuketikaken, ale nang’. ‘Muda bagi nimu kubesuri pe kono. Ketikaken mo’, nina. Asa dibuat mo takal ni ramban si dua jari idi, ai ipekulah mo dititi takal ni rambanna idi. Asa dibereken mo jarum ni inangna idi. Asa diolihken inangna idi mo ni injamna idi. Asa dibuat mo manuk ni deba pitu ranjang, diboniken mi kerangen. Asa tulus-tulus mo kalak. Asa merkata mo kalak Si Bilalong: ‘Masakade upahku asa ku ketikaken?’ dok Si Bilalong. ‘Bamu pe sitengah ulang so jumpa nari ngo’, nina. Asa dialeng mo dibonen nari. Asa bana mo sitengah. Asa dideaken mo muat olesna. Asa dibuat Si Bilalong nola mo kerbo ni deba, diboniken mi kerangen. Asa tulus-tulus mo kalak sidasa kerbo idi. Asa roh mo Si Bilalong: ‘Masakade upahku asa kuketikaken?’ dok Si Bilalong. ‘Atena bamu sitengah, ulang so kuidah nari ngo kerbangku idi’, nina nola. Dipekulah mo dititi takal ni rambanna idi, asa dituduhken mo mi kerangen. Asa ditulus deba, asa jumpasa mo kerbo idi. Asa ditangko nola mo emas ni kalak. Asa dibege deba berita Si Bilalong perketika senteng. Asa dialeng deba. ‘Asa masakade ma ngo upahku asa kuketikaken’. ‘Atena bamu sitengah upahmu merketika ulang so jumpa nari ngo’, dok sidasa idi. Asa dibuat nola mo takal ni rambanna idi, dipekulah nola mo dititi takal ni rambanna idi. Asa dituduhken mo mi kerangen. Asa dialengi deba mo. Asa jumpa mo emasna idi. Dibereken mo sitengah bai Bilalong. Asa dibege perayar mo berita Si Bilalong perketika senteng. Asa dientat mo kunuken emas sada bungki tabu-tabu pitu mahan taruhtaruhenna. Terberita mo Si Bilalong terketika senteng.

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‘If you want you can have half [of it] as payment for your prediction, provided that it is found again’, said the owners. Then he got the border of the cloth and pretended to make a divination on it. And he indicated them to [go to] the forest in order to get it. When they had found the gold, they gave half of it to Si Bilalong. Then sailors heard the news that Si Bilalong could predict well. So they brought, it is told, a canoe with gold transported in seven gourds. It was reported that Si Bilalong was a good predictor. ‘If he knows the contents of our seven gourds, our gold in this one prow will be his’, said the sailors. Then the sailors sent for Si Bilalong, they told their helper to fetch him. ‘Bilalong, we happened to hear that you can predict well, so meet us at the sea side. You [must] come tomorrow’. ‘Alright’, said Si Bilalong, and the messenger returned. Then Si Bilalong thought: ’Let me run fast now, to overhear what the sailors are discussing’, he thought. So he went, and listened. And he overheard what they were discussing. ‘If that Bilalong will come tomorrow, how much are the contents of these gourds of us?’ said those who were in the boat. Then the clerk said: ‘The large[st] one contains seven, the second contains six, the third contains five, the fourth contains four, the fifth contains three, the sixth contains two, and the seventh contains one’, said the clerk. When Si Bilalong had heard what they said, he went back. So the next day the people called him to come with them so the sailors would question him. And they said when they met him: ‘If you know how much these gourds contain, our gold will be yours’, the sailors said. ‘Alright’, said Si Bilalong, and he pretended to make a divination on the border of the cloth. Then he said what he had calculated. He first picked up the smallest one: ‘This holds one, the second has two, the third has three, the fourth I received has four, the fifth I received has five, the sixth I received has six and the seventh contains seven. This is what my divination says. Split the gourds in two, and see whether my predictions are correct’, said Si Bilalong. Then the eldest person split them up, and the contents were really like that. So the sailors gave all the gold of the prow to Si Bilalong, and he brought it home. Then Si Bilalong thought: ‘Maybe people will steal it, [or] maybe people might eat me if they do not find what I have told them by divination some times. Now I already have many buffaloes and a lot of gold, 106

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‘Muda dibetoh ngo buwah tabu tabunta si pitu ena katena mo bana emasta si sada bungki ena’, dok perayar. Asa ditenahken perayar mo Si Bilalong asa dipesulak perayar mo naposona meraleng Si Bilalong. ‘Ape murmur mo kono perketika senteng jumpai kami dibiding laut, ale Bilalong. Beremben kono roh’. ‘Ue’, dok Si Bilalong. Asa molih mo si peraleng idi. Asa pikir mo Si Bilalong: ‘Lako nari ngaku kudengkoh-dengkohken persungkunen perayar idi’, katena. Asa lako mo ia. Asa dibegeken asa mersungkunen mo dibege: ‘Muda roh ma ngo Si Bilalong idi beremben, katera ma ngo bilangen ni buah tabutabunta ena?’ dok anak si ni bungki idi. Asa merkata mo ujurtulisna: ‘Buah simbelgahna pitu buahna, si peduaken enem buahna, sipeteluken lima buahna, si pempatken empat buahna, si pelimaken telu buahna, si penemken dua buahna, si pepituken sada buahna’, dok ujurtulisna. Kenca dibege Si Bilalong bage katana molih mia. Asa mahar mari dikarah mo kalak mahan denganna asa ditongkir mo perayar idi. Asa merkata mia kenca jumpa ia: ‘Muda dibetoh kono ngo ilangen ni buah tabu-tabungku ena, bamu emasnami ena’, didokken perayar idi. ‘Ue’, dok Si Bilalong. Asa dipekulah mo dititi takal ni rambanna idi. Menter mo dibetoh bilangen ni buah tabu-tabu idi. ‘Bamu emasnami sisada bungki ena’, nina. Asa dipekulah mo dititi takal ni rambanna idi. Asa dikataken mo kata ni ketikana. Si kedekna mo mulana dijamah:’Sada buahna, peduaken dua buahna, peteluken telu buahna, pempatken dijalo empat buahna, lima dijalo lima buahna, enem dijalo enem buahna, pitu dijalo pitu buahna, bagi ngo kata ni ketikangku ena. Beka kene mo tabu-tabu idi, tah tuhu ma ngo kata ni ketikangku ena’, dok Si Bilalong. Asa ditaka sintua mo. Bagi ngo tuhu buahna. Asa dibereken perayar mo emasna si sada bungki idi bagi Si Bilalong. Asa ditaruh mo mi sapona. Asa pikir mo Si Bilalong: ‘Tah kalak menangko, tah diolihi deba didokken aku merketika malot jumpa, tah dipangan deba mo Si Bilalong. Ena enggo ‘mbue kerbona enggo, ‘mbue emasna so kade takal ni ramban mahan ura-urangku ngidi, baing leja sambing aku merlanja kemenjen ni deba idi, takal ni ramban ngo kanca dibereken deba bangku asa kubahan bagidi. Asa dibahan mo pantangenna sipuluh pitu tingkah datasna. Dibahan mo kerjana mahan saru ni emasna nina mengempo pantangenna. Asa 107

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simply by using the border of a cloth as a trick, while my only effort was to carry incense for someone; someone just gave me a border piece of cloth and I have done this’. Then he made a shaman’s house (pantangen) seventeen steps high. He made a feast to celebrate his good luck with the gold; he said [it was] to inaugurate the pantangen. So he brought a buffalo, it was prepared and he invited the people to eat. When they had eaten those who had been invited addressed him: ‘What do you say about this meal, Bilalong?’ ‘Just this, I have gold now’, he said. ‘I am inaugurating my pantangen to celebrate my birth, because I have gotten back my [father’s] wealth. That is why I am making this celebration for my birth’, said Si Bilalong. ‘If you say that, it’s alright’, the people said. Then they went home. And Si Bilalong went to his pantangen, he brought the border of the cloth. Then he set fire to the pantangen, and pretended to be weeping. In the evening, people came together to the house, and Si Bilalong offered sirih to everybody. ‘What is said about this sirih, why are you offering it to us?’ ‘Just this, it is to tell you that my prediction-cloth and my pantangen are burned. So tell those who work in the fields with you, that whenever something bad has happened to them, I should not be called upon any more. I no longer have a prediction-cloth’, said Si Bilalong. ‘Alright’, said the people. So this is the end of the story. Do not be angry seeing a miserable person.

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dibuat mo kerbo sada, dipertasak asa ditenggoi mo sinterem mangan. Asa salpun mia mangan disahutken mo dinilona idi: ‘Kade kata ni nakanmu ena, ale Bilalong?’ ‘Kade nola mo. Meremas ngo aku’, nina. ’Mengempo pantangenku aku mahan perkerohenku, ala enggo mo suang bage beaku. Ena mo asa kubahan perkerohenku ena’, dok Si Bilalong. ‘Muda bagi katamu jadi midi’, dok sinterem. Asa molih mo kalak. Asa lako mo Si Bilalong mi pantangenna, dientat mo takal ni rambanna idi. Asa menter mo disuluhi pantangenna idi. Asa dipekulah mo tangis. Asa bon ari pulung mo kalak mi rumah, asa dipedudur Si Bilalong mo parapurunna bai sinterem. ‘Kade nidok parapurunmu ena asa diduduri kono kami?’ ‘Kade nola mo. Magahken enggo meseng ketikangku deket pantangenku, asa bagahken kene bai dengen ladang ena, mago pe barang kade ni deba, ulang aku diserea deba nenge. Malot nenge ketikangku’, dok Si Bilalong. ‘Ia ue’, dok sinterem. Asa idi mo pate ni sukut-sukuten ale, ulang roh pusuhmu midah singgodo.

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si jinaka This is instruction in telling a story. Once, it is told, there was [a man named] Si Jinaka who had a lot of gambling debts. Then his creditors came. The creditors said: ‘Pay me, Jinaka’, that is what they said. ‘I cannot pay you, creditors’. ‘Jinaka, if you do not pay, we will tie you up’, said the creditors. ‘If you do not allow me to go and find the payment, do what you want with me’, said Si Jinaka. Then the creditors came and tied him up, in order to sell him later [as a slave]. They said: ‘If we sell you, Jinaka, you will need a sacrificial animal to set you free. So we will receive the payment and we’ll have food to eat when we have sold you, Jinaka’. Then the creditors went to sell Si Jinaka, and the two of them went [by boat] to the market place of Lae Polet. Shortly before they arrived at the rapids of Batu Lugup, Si Jinaka said: ‘Let me sing a song for you to remember, friends’. ‘If you say that, what are the words of your song?’ ‘If you say that: ‘He climbs upon a stone, Si Jinaka; row on so that we’ll soon arrive. These are the words’, said Si Jinaka. ‘That’s okay’, said the creditors, and they sang: ‘He climbs upon a stone, Si Jinaka’, said the man in the back; ‘Row on, so that we’ll soon arrive’, said the man who was rowing in front. When they came to the rapids, Si Jinaka jumped out and went off. ‘He jumped out and went away, we have been deceived.’ He pretended to be singing, just as a way to go and leave the sellers behind. After this happened, the sellers arrived at the market of Lae Polet. ‘Where is Si Jinaka, rower in the back?’ said the man who was in front. ‘Well, I told you: Si Jinaka jumped out and ran away. That’s what I said. And you in front said: Row on so that we’ll arrive soon. So you are the one who let him go’. That’s what he [i. e. the man in the back] said. Then they argued, they stabbed and finally killed each other. And Si Jinaka returned to his village. This is the end of the story, my friend.

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si jinaka (or 3406:152/57-153/58) Pedah ni kata-kata ni sukut-sukuten midi ale. Asa lot mo kunuken Si Jinaka perutang jodi oda mangkar. Asa roh mo kunuken si mertunggu Si Jinaka. Asa merkata mo si mertunggu idi: Garar aku, ale Si Jinaka’, i mo kata ni si mertunggu idi. ‘Asa madang lot gararku, ale kono si mertunggu idi’. ‘Muda mada lot gararmu kueketi mo kono, ale Jinaka’, i mo perkata-kata ni si mertunggu idi. ‘Muda madang nimu diduweko aku tumulus gararku kira-kiramu male midah aku’, i mo perkata ni Si Jinaka. Asa roh mo si persido idi menter mo dieketi. Asa menter mo didea nina. ‘Muda didea ke pe, ale Si Jinaka, buat kene sada jukut mahan keberkatendene. Asa kujalo simolihna asa kupangan muda dea kene mo Si Jinaka kepeken tuhu. Asa lako mo si perido idi merdea Si Jinaka. Asa berkat perido idi dua kalak mi pangkalen Lae Polet. Asa meragak roh mo ia mi kedabuhen Batu Lugup. Asa merkata nola mo Si Jinaka: ‘Merende maku lebeken asa lot mahan penget-engetendene kaltu’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu katera sora ni endemu idi?’ ‘Muda bagi katamu: ‘Bangkit Si Jinaka babo batu, empet kayuh asa tor kita roh mo katandene’. I mo kata ni Jinaka. ‘Ia ue’, dok si merdea idi. Asa merende mo ia: ‘Bangkit Si Jinaka babo batu’, dok si mengemodi. ‘Empet kayuh asa tor kita roh’. I mo perkata si merkayuh si halun. Asa jumpa mo kedabuhen, asa mengangkat mo laus mo Si Jinaka. ‘Mengangkat mo laus enggo kita dihura-hura, dipekulah merende. Asa lot ngo dalanna laus kepeken asa lot ngo dalan tumadingken si merdea. Asa idi ngo kepeken. Asa roh mi datas si merdea idi mi datas Lae pangkalen Polet idi. ‘Dike Si Jinaka pande pengemodi?’ bagidi mo kata ni si nihalun. Asa kubagahken ngo ndai enggo: Laus mengangkat Si Jinaka, i ngo katangku’, ‘empet kayuh asa tor kita roh’, nimu di halun nari. Asa ko peluahken’, idi mo katana. Asa menter ia merubat mersiturahken mersibunuken mersimaten. Asa molih mo Si Jinaka mi kutana. Asa pate sukut-sukuten, ale kaltu.

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si mbuyak-buyak So one more story next. There was once, it is told, [a man named] Anak ni Aji of the Bunurea clan. His children were born, the eldest was Si Mbuyak-buyak, his younger brother was Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka was the youngest. When Mahaji died, people acted unjust towards Aji’s heir Si Mbuyakbuyak, so he was in debt together with Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka. Then he discussed with his brothers: ‘Let us pay off the people’s unjust claims, brothers’. That is what they decided. In order to pay off the debts, to pay off the buffalo, to pay the brideprice, [and] to pay the money, their mother was brought to the creditors as a laborer, they pawned the house, their sister was also brought as laborer, even the hall (bale) was pawned. And Si Mbuyak-buyak deliberated again: ‘Well, brothers, where shall we go?’ ‘What can we do? Whatever we carry on the shoulders, you cannot do it, Mbuyak-buyak’. Because Si Mbuyak-buyak had no bones, only Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka had bones. ‘Oh younger brothers, although I have no bones, let us get camphor. We can buy food on advanced money, Tuan Rancang, and then we can leave the house. Our mother must not be seen [working] as a servant of other people’. ‘Well, if that’s what you say, brother, let us go and buy on credit’. So they bought rice for seven ‘reyal’ and stored it. Then they bought a sacrificial animal, they bought various chickens, and they bought various kinds of betel. ‘Now everything has been collected, Mbuyak-buyak’. ‘When you have collected everything, bring a pickaxe, a curved knife and a basket for the camphor. When everything has been collected, oh friends, let us eat the farewell meal (keberkaten) today, and first offer sirih to those who [will] give food to our mother’. ‘Let us first get together with our mother, we shall eat the ritual meal, oh relatives (kula-kula). We will go to look for camphor’, said Si Mbuyakbuyak. ‘If you speak like that, it is alright that you go and bring [her] today, but one day only, it’s alright like that’. And his mother came. A pig and a chicken were slaughtered. When the rice and the meat were ready, Si Maling Soka offered it [lit: put into the mouth] with the pig’s meat to their mother.

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si mbuyak-buyak (or 3406:153/58-159/64) Asa sada nola sukut-sukuten nola. Asa lot mo kunuken Anak ni Aji, Bunurea margana. Asa tubuh mo anakna Si Mbuyak-buyak sada, Si Tuan Rancang anggina, Si Maling Soka sada siampunen. Asa mate mo Mahaji. Asa menter dikilangi deba mo tading-tadingin ni Aji Si Mbuyakbuyak. Asa merutang mo Si Mbuyak-buyak rebak Si Tuan Rancang rebak Si Maling Soka. Asa mersungkunen mia si sibeltek idi: ‘Asa garar kita mo kilang ni deba idi kaltu’, idi mo persungkunenna. Asa digarari mo utangna idi, digararken mo kerbona, digararken mo masna, digararken mo riarna, dipertigaken mo inangna, dipergadeken mo bagasna, dipertigaken rebak turangna, tergade deket balena. Asa diolihi Si Mbuyak-buyak mo mersungkunen: ‘Ia mo kita kaltu, mike dalanenta’, nina. ‘Merkade nola mo kita. Merlanja kita gia oda terbahan kono, ale Mbuyak-buyak’. Ai mada mertulan-tulan Si Mbuyak-buyak. Si Tuan Rancang deket Si Maling Soka kanca mertulan-tulan. ‘Asa mada pe aku mertulan-tulan aku, ale anggingku, mertedung ngo kita. Asa mersambut mo kita panganenta, ale Tuan Rancang, asa kita laus di rumah ena nari. Ulang nipidah-idah giam inangta dibagah deba’. ‘Asa muda bagi ngo nimu, ale kaka oli. Lako mo kami mersambut’. Asa disambut mo page pitu riar. Asa ditutu mo pagena idi. Asa disambut mo sada jukut, disambut sada manuk ni deba, disambut napurun ni deba. ‘Asa enggo pulung kerina, ale Mbuyak-buyak’. ‘Muda enggo pulung kerina haliunta beliung tersada, tangkir mbulu tersada, lembuten tersada. Muda enggo pulung kerina jadi, ale kaltu, mangan keberkaten mo kita harena, asa siduduri lebeken si mereken panganen inangta idi. Rebak kami lebeken inang, naing kami mangan keberkaten naing kami pulung mangan keberkaten, ale kula-kula nami. Naing kami mertedung’. I mo didokken Si Mbuyak-buyak. ‘Muda bagi ngo nimu jadi ngo aleng kene harena, tapi sidari ena ngo kanca jadi bagidi’. Asa roh mo inangna idi. Diseat mo babi sada, manuk sada. Asa tasak mo nakanna, tasak jukutna. Asa disulang Si Maling Soka mo inangna deket jukut babi idi. ‘Asa kusulang kami kono ale inang kesian, kami mencari asa kutebus kami kene segen, asa kita pulung nola diukat kono, ale inangku’. ‘Ue, ale bapa’, nina. Asa mangan mia kerina pulung rebak Si Mbuyak-buyak, mangan keberkatenna idi. Asa enggo ia salpun mang113

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‘Now we offer food to you, oh dearest mother, so that we may find cash for you in the future, so that we will collect enough to feed you, mother’. ‘Yes, alright, son’, she said. And they all ate together with Si Mbuyak-buyak, they ate the ritual meal. When they had finished eating, he addressed their mother: ‘Let me say one thing to us here, both to mother, to Tuan Rancang and to Maling Soka, and also to our sister Nam Bunga Bulung. This is what I say to us all. We have eaten our fill, our souls (tendi) are satisfied. The three of us are going to find camphor. You must say nice prayers so that we will have luck in finding it. We will redeem you in the future’. ‘Well if you say that, it’s alright. When are you going?’ ‘We will leave tomorrow’. So the next morning Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘One of you must carry our rice on a pole, and the other must carry me’. ‘Yes alright, elder brother’, said Si Maling Soka. Then they left. Si Tuan Rancang carried Si Mbuyak-mbuyak in a shawl and Si Maling Soka carried the rice on a pole. They went to the Si Jagar mountain, and they arrived there. ‘Where will we stay, friend?’ ‘Here we will make a shelter’. ‘If you speak like that, we will make it. Teach us how to make it’, they said. ‘Yes. Make it quickly, brothers’, he said. Then the house was finished, it was made by the younger brothers. ‘Well what else must we do?’ ‘You must make rice-flour. The other must light a fire’. Then Si Mbuyak-buyak made a betel quid. And when the rice-flour was ready, they worked hard to make the penempusen, a place to present offerings [to the spirits]. When the rice was ready, he took a tree with resin to attach the betel quid. And he said prayers over the flour and the betel quid for the field spirits (sembahen). When he finished praying, he said ‘let us eat’. And they did like that unanimously. ‘Well, Tuan Rancang, you go roaming the forest with Maling Soka to find camphor. I [will] stay home, making ropes while I am left at home to cook. But you must collect many young terep trees (artocarpus alastisa), so that I’ll have stuff to make ropes from every day’, he said. ‘I [will] cook what you have found when you return from roaming around, so we eat only when you come back from roaming around, younger brothers’. So the two younger brothers went looking for camphor. When they had found a cupak of camphor they came back. ‘How much have you found, younger brothers?’ ‘This is what we have found’, said Si Tuan Rancang. ‘Give it so I can see’, said Si Mbuyak114

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an asa disahutken inangna: ‘Asa sada katangku banta ena barang inang barang Si Tuan Rancang, Si Maling Soka barang turangta Nan Bunga Bulung pe bagidi katangku banta ena kerina. Enggo kita besur mangan persikatan tendinta mena. Kami si telu kalak ena mertedung. Mersodip kene pengke mo asa kami menalbang. Tertebus kami ngo kene segen’. ‘Ia muda bagidi nimu jadi midi’, nina. ‘Ndigan mo ke[ne] lako?’ ‘Beremben mo kami berkat’. Asa mahar mari berembenna: ‘Asa sada kalak mo kene merlanja berasta. Sada merembah aku’. Bagi mo kata ni Si Mbuyak-buyak. ‘Ia ue, ale kaka oli’, idok Si Maling Soka. Asa berkat mia. Si Tuan Rancang merembah Si Mbuyak-buyak, Si Maling Soka merlanja berasna. Asa lako mi Deleng Si Jagar. Asa soh mia mi Si Jagar. ‘Dike kita mersapo, ale kaltu?’ ‘Disenna mo kita mahan sapo’. ‘Muda bagidi nimu kubahan kami mo. Ajar-ajari kami memahan’, nina. ‘Ue tor-tor bahani kene nggia’, nina. Asa jadi mo sapona dibahan anggina. ‘Ia kade deba bahanennami?’ ‘Asa mengitak kene. Sada kalak menempul api’. Asa dibahan Si Mbuyak-buyak napurun ginonting. Asa enggo jadi nitak, asa dijalangi mo penempusen bekasna menibal. Asa tasak mo nakanna. Asa dibuat mo sada kayu merduruh mahan penalepen napurun ginonting. Asa disodipken mo nitak rebak napurun ginonting bai sembahen ni ladang. Asa enggo mo salpun dikataken ‘asa mangan mo kita’ nina. Asa diolihi mo mersada kata. ‘Ia kene mo kawar, ale Tuan Rancang deket Si Maling Soka. Aku mengian sapo, menali-menali maku tading di sapo ena mertasak. Tapi getes pepulung kene mbue, asa lot talinku ganep ari’, nina. ‘Mertasak aku dapetendene mo molih kawar, asa ripe mangan kita soh kenca kene di kawaren nari, alenggia’. Asa lako mo anggina si dua kalak idi kawar. Jumpasa mo keberun sicupak. Asa molih mia mi sapo. Soh kenca anggina idi. ‘Masakade ma ngo jumpa kene arena, alenggia?’ ‘Ena mo si jumpa kami’, dok Si Tuan Rancang. ‘Niang mo asa kuidah’, dok Si Mbuyak-buyak. Asa dibereken anggina idi mo keberun si jumpasa idi. Asa dijalo Si Mbuyak-buyak mo keberun idi. ‘Menter mo didohom kono menter keberunta idi, ale bae’. ‘Beli kupangan, merbales ngidi segen. Ulang aku perarang-rarang kene. Mi gandana ngidi segen’.

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buyak. The brothers gave Si Mbuyak-buyak the camphor they had found, and he received it. ‘Now you bite our camphor, man!’ ‘Let me eat it, I will compensate [you for it] later. Don’t you forbid me [now], you will profit from it later’. So he ate it, and then they went roaming around the forest again. When they had found a gantang of camphor they went back. And they took a lot of young terep trees for their elder brother to make ropes from. Then they came home. ‘Where is the camphor you found today?’ ‘Here’, said Si Maling Soka. Then Si Mbuyak-buyak ate it. ‘Didn’t we work hard enough to collect camphor! You have eaten up all that we collected, all the camphor we have got’. That’s what Si Tuan Rancang said. ‘Don’t you worry, I will definitely repay you. If there is not enough rice, you must go home to get it, keep buying a lot on credit. In the future you will get compensation, if only you bring me many young terep trees’, said their elder brother. So all he did day and night was to make rope and to eat. However much camphor was found by Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka, it ended up being tasted and eaten. The debt had accumulated to 7.770 for a perbean of rice for each of them, the land was pawned, the house was pawned, even the bale had been pawned for food. So Si Maling Soka cried: ‘Oh God, we are all cursed, elder brother! You told us to go and look for income, but we are only looking for misery. All the camphor we find is eaten straightaway by you, eldest brother’. That is what Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka said. And Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘Don’t you cry, younger brothers. You must go home, my hatchet is for you to get taro leaves, the ... [unclear] to get banana leaves, my machete to get bajora manggun [plant with thorny leaves], you work [with] the size of my handle. When it is done, carry it to the forest’. So it was done alright. And he was given everything that they had done, Si Mbuyak-buyak received the hatchet. And he cooked rice in the camphor house, they all ate yellow rice as a cure for their lack [of food]. So they ate. Then the night fell. The two younger brothers slept, and Si Mbuyakbuyak slept for seven nights and seven days. And when he woke up in the middle of the seventh night, he had bones. Then he went into the forest in the middle of the night. He tied the end of the rope to the pole of the house and went roaming around in the forest. 116

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Asa mangan mia. Asa diolihi nola mo kawar. Jumpasa nola mo sigantang keberun idi. Asa molih mia. Asa dibuati getes embue mahan talin ni kakana idi. Asa roh nola mia mi sapo. ‘Dike mo si jumpa kene arena keberun idi?’ ‘Ena mo’, dok Si Maling Soka. Asa menter mo idohom Si Mbuyak-buyak. ‘Kadem bahanennami mertedung ena. Nasa idi jumpa kita kepeken menter ngo dikeri didohom kaltu tinalbangta’. Bagi mo kata Si Tuan Rancang. ‘Asa ulang kene rusak ia sikali mertumbas ngidi kubakin. Sikurangna berasta alengi kene di rumah nari, gahgah sambuti kene mbue-bue. Merolih ngidi segen. Ulang so embue buati kene getes idi bangku’, dok kakana idi. Asa ganep ari ganep berngin menali deket mangan sambing gananna masakade pe ditalbang Si Tuan Rancang deket Si Maling Soka sun didohom ngo dipangan nakan nonggal perbean pitu ribu pitu ratus pitu puluh utang sambut, tergade tanoh, tergade bagasna, tergade balena utang pinanganna. Asa tangis mo Si Maling Soka: ‘Iale kaka oli, mago mo kita kepeken kerina. Lako mencari kita nidok, kepe mencari jaya ngo kita. Masa idi jumpa keberun, masa idi menter didohom kaltu sibelgahen’. Bagidi mo perkata Si Tuan Rancang deket Si Tuan Maling Soka. Asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak: ‘Ulang kene tangis alenggia. Lako kene mi rumah bahan kene beliungku masa bulung birah belangna [?] masa bulung galuh, bedungku masa bajora manggun belgah ni perdahku bakin kene. Muda enggo jadi entah kene mi kerangen ena’. Asa dibahan mo enggo jadi. Asa dibereken mo kerina si nibahanna idi. Asa dijalo Si Mbuyak-buyak mo beliungna idi. Asa merdakan mia di sapo tedung, mangani peleng mahan pertambar kengalenna. Asa mangan mia. Asa gelap mo ari. Medem mo anggina si dua kalak idi. Asa medem mo Si Mbuyak-buyak pitu berngin pitu ari. Asa keke mia papituken bernginken tengah berngin. Asa enggo mia mertulan-tulan. Asa lako mia kawar tengah berngin. Diberetken mo punca tinalina di binangun sapona idi. Asa lako mia kawar. Jumpasa mo kayu keberun. Dikuso mo: ‘Masakade ma ngo isimu, ale kayu suya?’ ‘Sigantang kanca isingku’, bagi mo kata si kayu suya idi. Jumpasa peduaken. ‘Masakade isimu, ale kayu suya?’

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When he found a camphor tree, he asked: ‘How much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘I just contain one gantang’, said the camphor tree. He found a second one: ‘How much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘I contain one selup’, it said. Then he tied it with the rope. Then he asked a third one: ‘How much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘I just contain two selup’, it said. ‘That’s not enough’, he said, and he tied a mark on it. Then he continued to walk. He found a fifth [tree], and asked: ‘How much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘I contain six selup’. ‘That’s not enough for me’. He tied it and went straight on. When he found a camphor tree, he asked: ‘How much do you contain?’ ‘A perbean’. ‘That’s not enough for me’. He tied it and went straight on. He found a[nother] camphor tree and asked: ‘Well, how much do you contain, camphor tree?’ ‘A bakul’. ‘That’s not enough for me’, he said. When he had tied it, he pulled the rope fast. Again he found a camphor tree. ‘How much do you contain?’ ‘I contain two bakul’. ‘That’s not yet enough’. He tied that tree, and when he went he pulled at the rope. Then he found a[nother] camphor tree. ‘Well, how much do you contain?’ ‘I contain four bakul’. ‘That’s not yet enough for me’, he said, and tied the tree. Then he pulled at the rope. So he always said that it was not enough when he asked how much [it contained], but all [trees] were tied as an indication. And he walked continuously throughout that one night. He questioned all of them and they all let him know how much they contained. When he had almost reached the end of the rope, he came across one camphor tree that was extremely large and extremely tall. He asked for its contents: ‘How much do you contain, oh camphor tree?’ ‘I contain a lot. Inside me is all you have finished [so far], or as much as you have already found’. So he tied it and went back to the house. Then Si Mbuyak-buyak said to Si Tuan Rancang and Si Maling Soka: ‘You must collect bird-nests and provisions and bags. Then we will go to collect camphor. I have seen a lot’, he said. ‘Let us go and fell the camphor tree’. So the three of them went out and felled the camphor tree. Then they saw very much camphor, they saw that it contained as much as two large bamboo containers (garung-garung).

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‘Si selup isingku’, nina. Asa dirakutken tinalina idi. Asa dikuso nola peteluken: ‘Masakade isimu, ale kayu suya?’ ‘Dua selup kanca isingku’, nina. ‘Ma denga bias’, nina. Asa dieketi tandana. Asa digahgahi ngo laus. Jumpasa pelimaken. Dikuso: ‘Masakade isimu, ale kayu?’ ‘Enem selup isingku’. ‘Ma denga bias bangku’. Asa dieketi. Dipepenter laus. Jumpasa kayu suya nola. Dikuso ma ngo: ‘Masakade isimu?’ ‘Simperbean’. ‘Ma denga bias idi bangku’. Dieketi nola, asa dipepenter laus. Jumpasa nola kayu suya. Dikuso: ‘Masakade ma ngo isimu, ale kayu suya?’ ‘Sibakul’. ‘Ma denga bias bangku idi’, nina. Jumpasa nola mo kayu suya. ‘Masakade isimu?’ ‘Dua bakul isingku’. ‘Ma denga ma ngo bias idi’. Asa di eketi kayu idi. Asa laus ia dirintak tinalina. Jumpasa nola mo kayu suya. ‘Masakade ma ngo isimu?’ ‘Empat bakul isingku’. ‘Ma denga bias bangku’, nina, asa dieketi mo kayu idi. Asa disaran mo tinalina. Asa masakade pe dikuso mato so bias nina, tapi kerina dieketi mahan tandana. Asa digahgahi merdalan sada berngin idi. Kerina mo dikusoi. Kerina magahken isina. Asa merayak punca tinalina idi, jumpasa mo sada kayu suya songket ni belgah, songket ni gedang. Dikuso mo isina: ‘Masakade ma ngo isimu, ale kayu suya?’ ‘Mbue isingku. Nasa si keri kono barang masakade katemu keri kono, lot ngo isingku’. Asa dieketi, asa molih mia mi sapo. Asa didokken Si Mbuyak-buyak bai Si Tuan Rancang deket Si Maling Soka: ‘Pepulung kene asar-asarta rebak perbaktanta, rebak tempusen asa lako kita merpaku suya. Enggo kuidah mbue suya’, nina. ‘Asa lako mo kita tumabah kayu suya’. Asa lako mia telu-teluna. Asa ditabah mo kayu suya idi. Idah mo suya mbue nari ngo idah menter bage garung-garung ngo di bagasen. ‘Asa lot mo ukurta kaltu. Lompat kita saponta misena, ulang kita lejasu molih-olih merpaku suyanta ena’. Asa lompat mia mi kayu pakunna idi. Asa dipaku mo suyana. Ditinggang empak Si Mbuyak-buyak, kena pe rigarung mate dibakin bisana. Asa diokali mo suyana, dibakini asarasarna, didomi baka perbaktanna. ‘Asa lako mo kene enggia mi rumah. Entat kene suyanta ena. Dea kene lebeken suyanta ena. Tebusi kene inangta deket turangta, tebus balenta, tebus kene bagasta, asa garar kene utangta sambut. Asa enggo 119

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‘Well this is what I am thinking, brothers. Let us move our house here, so that we don’t become tired returning all the time to where we are hacking out our camphor’. So they moved to the tree they were hacking and [started] hacking out the camphor. Si Mbuyak-buyak swung the knife with such force that he could have killed a sheep. Then they took out the camphor, put it into nests and filled the supply baskets. ‘Now brothers, you go home and bring our camphor [there]. First you [must] sell our camphor. You redeem our mother and sister, our bale, our house, and you pay our credit debts. When you have payed [off] all our debts, you buy a lot of rice for getting camphor, you buy salt and some betel so that we will have food when we are cutting out the camphor’. When all was there that Si Mbuyak-buyak had told them, they went back to the jungle. They found Si Mbuyak-buyak, and they continued to cut every day, they went on cutting for as long as seven months and seven days. They filled the baskets, they filled the house, it could not all go inside. They made 70 treebark containers but when these were full it still did not all go inside. Even when they had filled 770 large plaited baskets all [the camphor] could not yet go inside. Then they carried it home on the shoulder and filled their attic [but] it could not all fit inside. Then they sold it to people and used it to get buffaloes, they bought horses, cows, goats, pigs, dogs, they bought chickens, they bought dishes, so [with] all this they set up their household. When they had assembled the household for their mother, they told her to look after these belongings. ‘We are going back now to cut out more camphor’, they said. Then Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘Let us take a rest for a period of seven [days], we must not hack, so that we will give [people] their share’. And they all stayed at home together. And Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘You [must] go and bring our mother and sister, you invite our relatives, invite the ritual specialists (permangmang, persinabul) who will get the middle and side parts. You bring a buffalo, [and] a goat, so we feast in this camphor house to celebrate our luck with the camphor, and finally chopped meat, to enjoy our blessing of [finding] camphor’. Then the mother came to the camphor house, and those who had been invited came together in the camphor forest. Then they feasted

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mergarar utangta kerina, tokori kene mbue berasta merpaku kayunta ena, tokori kene siranta, napurunta deba asa lot panganenta merpaku suyanta ena’. Kenca lot kerina si ni tenahken Si Mbuyak-buyak idi, asa molih mia mi kerangen. Didapeti Si Mbuyak-buyak. Asa diendengken merpaku ganep ari si pitu bulan pitu ari bekasna merpaku. Didomi mo bakana didomi sapona. Ma denga ma ngo siat. Dibahan mo kebenna pitu puluh. Didomi pe ma denga ma ngo siat. Didomi pe baka tempusen pitu ratus pitu puluh ma denga ma ngo siat. Asa dilanjai mo mi rumah. Didomi mo langgihna, ma denga ma ngo siat. Asa dideaken mo deba, asa dibakin muat kerbo, ditokor kuda, ditokor lembu, ditokor kambing, ditokor mo babina, ditokor mo biangna, ditokor mo manukna, ditokor mo pingganna, ai kerina kin mo memungkah nola ia pendirinna. Asa enggo dipepulung pendirin ninangna, asa didokken diperpatoh inangna ugasenna idi. ‘Kami molih denga kami, merpaku suya denga mo kami’, nina. Asa molih mia mi sapona. Diolihi dipaku suya idi. Asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak: ‘Ahanken kita pitung kelang. Ulang nenge paku kita. Asa si kira alahku idi’. Asa dipepulung mo kerina mi sapo. Asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak: ‘Lako alengi kene inangta deket turangta, arahken kene pekunta, karah kene permangmang persinabul, terpuk tengah, turpuk sok. Entat kene kerbo sada, kambing sada, asa merkerja kita di sapo tedungta ena mahan saru ni suyanta ena, si pispisi nirabar, asa senang kita diserang suyanta ena’. Asa roh mo inangna mi sapo tedung idi. Asa roh mo kinarahna pulung mi kerangen tedung idi. Asa merkerja mia, dipangan mo kerbona idi. Di[h]antari mo kambingna idi nakan gersing denganna, asa diberi bai sembahen Si Jagar. Asa kenca dibereken bai sembahen idi, dipangan mo iba-ibana. Asa dibere mangan mo kinarahna idi, disulangi inangna deket si malum-malum, disabingken oles gandan. ‘Asa sarintua kono geluh, kenan kami mencari’, nina. Asa disulang mo puhunna dibereken gandan sada. Asa salpun mo mangan kerina, disahutkenna Si Mbuyak-buyak mo nasa kinarahna kerina: ‘Ia barang kono puang, barang kono senina, barang kono permangmang, persinabul. Sahutken kene penarihindene panganen somada idi. Dibetoh kene ngo kami ena perutang-utang kami ena, ulang menumpaki kene panganen somada idi, ale tuan sinterem’. 121

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and ate the buffalo. They prepared a goat with yellow rice to give to the spirit (sembahen) of Si Jagar. After it was offered to the spirit, they ate what remained. And food was given to those who were invited, they put food into the mouth of their mother and [offered her] water (simalum-malum), they wrapped an expensive shawl around her. ‘May you be blessed with a long and healthy life, we obtained the income we were looking for’, they said. And they wrapped their puhun, giving him an expensive shawl. When everybody had finished eating, Si Mbuyak-buyak addressed all those who were invited: ‘Both you wife-givers (puang), and you who belong to the same clan (senina), and you permangmang and persinabul, I say to you that you may think this meal is not sufficient. You know, all of you, that we made a lot of debts, do not be offended about this insufficient meal’. ‘We have eaten our fill of rice and meat. Give us part of your fortune’. Then they really gave it, and the guests went back. The members of the family remained in the camphor house. And Si Mbuyak-buyak gave brideprice money to Si Tuan Rancang and Si Tuan Maling Soka. When he had given this to his two younger brothers, he slaughtered a pig and told his mother to prepare rice. The rice and the meat were cooked and arranged nicely on a winnowing basket. ‘Now let us all get together. We must not eat separately’. Then they assembled to eat [together]. After they had eaten, Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘Well both you, mother, and you, sister, and you also, my younger brothers. Now we have finished eating together, I will depart. Don’t you keep waiting for me to come [back]’, he said. Then his mother said: ‘Oh son (bapa), you say that you will go away, who will look after me then? Formerly you did not have bones. Now after you have gone to find camphor and you do have bones, all of us and all our belongings have been redeemed, I feel that our wealth has come back. And now you say that you are going away’. That is what his mother said. ‘Whatever you may say, mother, it will not keep me from going’, Si Mbuyak-buyak said. On the right day, the ends of the camphor tree were joined and dragged to the seashore. Then he stepped inside the camphor tree, and he told Si Tuan Rancang to push it off. He went to the other side [of the sea] and came to the bathing place of the ruler (raja) of Aceh.

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‘Enggo kami besur mangan nakan, mangan jukut. Bere kene kami deba tinalbang dene idi ale’. Ibere mo tuhu. Asa molih mo kinarahna idi. Tading ia si sada jabu nari di sapo tedung. Asa diperunjukken Si Mbuyak-buyak mo Si Tuan Rancang, diperunjukken Si Tuan Maling Soka. Asa enggo diperunjukken anggina si dua idi, asa diseat nola mo sada babi, didokken merdakan turangna. Tasak nakanna, tasak jukutna, asa diantari mo di nderu pengke. ‘Asa mari ke pulung kita kerina. Ulang kita pejae-jae mangan ena’. Asa pulung mo ia manganken idi. Asa kenca salpun mangan, asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak: ‘Ia barang ko, ale nang, barang ko turangku, barang kono anggingku ena. Enggo enggonta pulung mena mangan. Aku naing laus aku merayar. Ulang kene terpema-pema manenge aku roh’, nina. Asa merkata inangna: ‘Iale bapa, laus nola mo ko nimu. Ise menggeluhi aku? Dekah ni arena malot kono mertulan-tulan. Kenca nari kono mertedung enggo mertulan-tulan tebu-tebusen mo kerina kami tertebusen mo nasa gumana ugasenta enggo suang kinigabenta di katengku. Ena laus nola mo kono nimu. Barang kira-kiramu ngo, ale bapa, midah kami ena’. Bagidi mo kata ninangna. ‘Katera nola pe katamu, ale nang, malot nenge tersabat aku oda laus’, dok Si Mbuyak-buyak. Asa jumpa mo ari pengke. Asa digala-gala mo penampaken ni kayu suya idi. Asa disaran mo mi biding laut. Asa bengket ia mi bagasen kayu suya i[di]. Asa didokken ia ditulak Si Tuan Rancang. Asa laus mo ia mi kepar. Asa lako mia mi dasan raja ni Acih. Asa mi lae mo kunuken beru ni soripada ni Acih, didapet enggo barteng kayu di tapinna. Asa molih mia mi rumah, sondat ia meridi. Asa dibagahken mo bai bapana: ‘Batang-batang tah kayu kade i dasanku idi, ale pa. Dokken di tulak naposomu unang. Songket peridinku’, dok si beru soripada. Asa dipesulak raja ni Acih naposona. Asa lako mo kalak mi batangbatang, asa di tulak pe malot kumisir. Asa di karah mo kalak kerina lako menulak, asa moros laus. Asa molih kalak mi rumah. Diolihi nola mo roh kayu idi, barteng nola. Asa dibagahken beru soripada nola bai bapana. Asa dikarah nola mo kalak kerina lako menulak kayu batang-batang idi, asa moros laus. Asa meridi beru soripada. Asa molih mi rumah. Diolihi kayu idi nola mo roh. Ai pitu kali ditulak, pitu kali roh. 123

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It is told that when the daughter of the Soripada of Aceh went to the water, she found a tree lying across her bathing place. So she went back home, without taking a bath. And she said to her father: ‘There is a trunk of some tree in my bathing place, dad. Tell your helpers to remove it, I cannot take a bath’, said the Soripada’s daughter. So the raja of Aceh ordered his helpers to go [there]. But when they went to the treetrunk to push it away it was not rolling. When all the people were asked to come and help to push, it seemed to move away. So they went back home. Then the tree came once more to lie across. And the princess (beru soripada) told it to her father. And all the people were asked to come and help to push the treetrunk away, and it seemed to move away. So the princess took a bath, and she went back home. Then the tree came back once more. Because it was pushed away seven times, it came [back] seven times. So the people said: ‘It cannot be pushed away, seven times we pushed it, and seven times it came [back]. Let it be like that, it will serve as a place to put the clothes on’, said the people. ‘If you are tired, leave it like that’, he said. Then the princess took a bath, she put down her clothes (oles) and her knife (rabi), and her false hair, all she was wearing was put on that tree. And Si Mbuyak-buyak made an opening in the camphor tree, he snatched all that the girl was wearing and took it inside the tree. When the princess came out [of the water], she did not find her clothes there. She looked around but could not see them anywhere. And she asked all the people, [but] nobody could tell her. Then she cried on that tree-trunk. And Si Mbuyak-buyak spoke [from] inside: ‘Don’t you cry, you who are above me. Your clothes are here, but you belong to me if you want to see the clothes’. ‘Let me be yours, but first I [want to] see your shape, and I [must] know what your name is, so I can tell my father’, she said. Then Si Mbuyak-buyak opened up the camphor tree, and it became clear that he looked like the rising sun. They were as similar as the leaf of the areca nut and the leaf of the kempawa palm, the same shape and the same size. The camphor inside the tree became visible now, she saw that it was full. Then she received her clothes. And he said: ‘Shall I offer the brideprice to your father?’ ‘I will tell our father. If it is alright that I will be yours, I will come and bring you

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Asa merkata mo sinterem: ‘Ma nenge mi tulaken. Pitu kali mo nitulak, pitu kali mo roh. Nibeli mi bagidi. Mahan ampen ni ugasen midi nibakin’, dok sinterem. ‘Muda enggo kepeaken beli kene mo bagidi’, nina. Asa meridi mo si beru soripada, di ampeken mo olesna deket rabina deket leamna, kerina nasa ugasenna diampeken di babo kayu idi. Asa dirigat Si Mbuyak-buyak mo kayu suya idi, dirintak mo nasa ugasen daberu idi mi bagasen kayu idi. Asa mi darat mo daberu ni soripada. Didapet ma nenge disendi ugasenna. Ditulusi pe malot nenge diidah. Asa dinungnungi kalak kerina. Ise pe malot magahken. Asa tangis mia di babo batang-batang idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Mmbuyak-buyak di bagasen nari: ‘Ulang ko tangis ale di babongku idi. Ena ngo ugasen midi, tapi bangku kono asa didah kono ugasen midi. ‘Bamu pe aku jadi ngo, tapi kuidah lebeken tempamu, asa kubetoh barangkade gerarmu, asa kubagahken bai bapa’, nina. Asa dirigat Si Mbuyak-buyak mo kayu suya idi. Asa teridah mo tempana bage mata ni ari bincar, pesama-sama mo bulung ni pinang deket bulung kempawa, todes belgahna. Teridah mo suya di bagasen kayu idi, dom nari ngo diidah. Asa dijalo mo ugasenna idi. Asa merkata mia: ‘Kade mo perunjukmu bai bapa?’ ‘Suya ena mo perbagah bai bapanta. Muda jadi ngo suyangku ena, asa alengi aku nakan’. Bagidi mo kunu katana. Asa lako mo mi rumah beru ni soripada idi. ‘Di pa [?] anak ni kalak di bagasen kayu barteng di dasanku idi. Bana aku nina. Suya nina bamu, ale pa’, nina. ‘Muda bagidi katana, alengi kene mo, asa kuidah kelangku idi’. Asa lako mo dialengi daberu idi. ‘Beta mo kita mi rumah. Jadi ngo bamu aku dok bapa’. Asa perotor mia mi rumah. Asa kundul mia mi bagas ni bapana. ‘Ena mo kelamu todes belgahku. Jadi ngo bagidi’. ‘Muda jadi ngo dokken kene alengi naposomu di dasan nari ditaruh mi rumah ena suya’. Asa ditaruh deba mo mi rumah. Asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak: ‘Aku da puhun, kadengku pe ma lot. Suya ngidi kanca perbageken kene. Kono ngo dasa kira-kirana idi’. Asa dibuat raja ni Aceh mi kerbo sada mahan perbayona Si Mbuyak-buyak rebak beruna si soripada. Dikarah sinterem mangan kerbo idi magahken dipangir mo beruna idi. 125

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food [to wellcome the bridegroom]’. That’s what she said, and she went home, the Soripada’s daughter. ‘There is a human being inside the tree that is lying across my bathing place. He says that I am his. His camphor is for you, father’, she said. ‘If this is what you say, you must bring him so that I [can] see my son-inlaw’. And the girl went to bring him. ‘Come, let us go home. Father says it is alright that I will be yours’. Then he walked home behind her, and they sat down in her father’s house. ‘This is your son in law, he is the same size as me’. ‘It is alright like this’. ‘If you say that it is alright, then call your helpers to go to the bathing place and bring the camphor to this house’. So they brought it to the house. And Si Mbuyak-buak said: ‘I, fatherin law (puhun), will not handle it. You just do what you want with this camphor. You are considered its owner’. Then the raja of Aceh took a buffalo to be sacrificed for Si Mbuyak-buyak and his daughter. And the people were invited to eat the buffalo for the daughter’s wedding ceremony. The guests went back. And Si Mbuyak-buyak said: ‘Father in law, I have been given a wedding ceremony by you. I am founding our own settlement (kuta). Please give us provisions so we’ll have capital’. ‘Yes, there are provisions, as many as you say, it’s alright’, said the father in law. And he received them and founded a settlement. He invited his in-law relatives, and there were many [people] in this settlement. Then people called him Raja Pinangkabo, it is told. His teeth are [like] seven large baskets, he never dies. These are the words of the people’s story. Whether it is really like that or not, I do not know. It is a story of the old people that I have written, that I have told.

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Molih mo kinarahna idi. Asa merkata mo Si Mbuyak-buyak nola: ‘Aku puhun. Enggo aku dipangir kene. Kupungkah kami mo kutanami. Bere kene belanja kami asa lot pangkal nami’. ‘Ue, lot mo belanja barang masa kade nimu jadi ngo’, dok puhunna. Asa dijalo mo belanjana idi. Asa dipungkah mo kutana. Dikarah mo peripena, asa mbue ia sada kuta idi. Asa didokken deba mia raja Pinangkabo kunuken. Pitu batu sasapna kunu, epenna malot tunggari mate. Idi mo kata ni sukut-sukuten ni kalak. Bagi mo tah tuhu tah mada oda kuidah. Sukuten ni pertua ngidi ale, asa kusuratken, kutori-toriken.

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datu tunggal ni begu a dairi story This is instruction in the words of the invocation (mangmang) to the gods beyond, oh lord. Descend, you Gods from above Ascend, you Gods from below Sit, you Gods in the middle And descend to the middle Oh my Guru, oh powerful Guru Oh mighty, powerful, mighty Guru I utter a prayer to the Gods beyond Telling the story is a debt, may there be credit, there is even. Si Dayang, goddess in the East Si Dayang, goddess in the South-east Si Dayang, goddess in the South Si Dayang, goddess in the South-west Si Dayang, goddess in the West Si Dayang, goddess in the North-west Si Dayang, goddess in the North Si Dayang, goddess in the North-east So all of you in the eight directions, make Tuan Malaheka come down from the sky above. As large as a male buffalo is he. And he takes himself a wife, her name is Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari. Then her child is born. And a buffalo is taken to bring the newborn child to the river. And ritual specialists (permangmang, persinabul) are invited for eating this buffalo. ‘What do you say, oh Tuan Malaheka, as you called us to [come to] the house to eat?’ These are the words of those who have been invited. ‘Well, we are bringing our newborn child to the river, oh friends altogether.’ ‘If that is what you say, oh our ruler (raja), what is the name of the newborn child?’ the people say. ‘Datu Tunggal ni Begu is the name of my child.’ This is what Tuan Malaheka says. ‘If these are your words, let us go home’, the people say.

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datu tunggal ni begu (or 3406:170/175 -173/178) Pedah ni kata-kata ni mangmang debata mangadai mi, ale tuan. Asa turun ma kamu debata di atas Manangke ma kamu debata di teruh Tumundul ma kamu debata di tengah Asa tengah turun ma kamu Na gurungku na guru songta Na guru sungti songta sungti do Aku tumabasken mangmang debata mangadai Tumuri-turiken utang mada lot ido lagia lot. Asa Si Dayang batari debata di purba Si Dayang batari debata di hagoni Si Dayang batari debata di dangsina Si Dayang batari debata di nariti Si Dayang batari debata di pastima Si Dayang batara debata di manabia Si Dayang batari debata di otara Si Dayang batari debata di irisanna. Asa kerina mo kono si uwaluh desa ena, tumantanken Tuan Malaheka di datas langit nari. Asa kerbo tonggal belgahna. Asa dibuat mo tinokorna, Si Beru Tendel Mata ni Ari gerarna. Asa tubuh nola anakna. Asa dibuat kerbo sada mahan pemaba mi lae anakna tubuh idi. Asa dikarah mo permangmang persinabul manganken kerbo idi. ‘Kade katamu, ale Tuan Malaheka, asa didilo ko kami mangan mi bagas ena?’. I mo perkata kalak dinilo idi. ‘Ia kita maba mi lae anak tubuh ena kita, ale kaltu sinterem’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, ale rajanami, sikade mo gerar ni anak tubuh idi?’ perkata kalak sinterem. ‘Datu Tunggal ni Begu mo gerar ni anakku idi’. I mo perkata Tuan Malaheka. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, molih mo kami’, perkata sinterem. Asa dapet mo di arina dapet di bulanna dapet di tahunna, belgah mo Datu Tunggal ni Begu. Mate nola mo bapana Tuan Malaheka. Asa merkata nola mo sinterem: ‘Enggo mate Tuan Malaheka, ale Datu Tunggal ni Begu, lako nola mo kono merunjuk mi kepeltaken mata ni ari’.

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Then the day, the month, and the year comes that Datu Tunggal ni Begu is grown-up. Then his father Tuan Malaheka passes away. And the people say: ‘Tuan Malaheka has passed away, oh Datu Tunggal ni Begu. Now you [should] go to where the sun rises and get married’. So he marries Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, she becomes his wife. The name of the father-in-law (puhun) is Raja Nakar. Then Raja Nakar says to him: ‘You must go, my son-in-law (kela), and return to your village in the place where the sun sets’. These are the words of his father-in-law. So then when it happens to be a good day he returns to the place where the sun sets. Now when a day, a month, and a year have passed Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari gets pregnant. And she gives birth to a child. Then a male buffalo is taken to bring this child to the river, together with all his friends. And he invites his friends and the others to eat in his house. And those who have been invited eat. When they have finished eating he gives a speech to the guests. ‘Why, Datu Rangkat ni Aji, do we have a feast, why have you invited us to eat?’ This is what the people say. ‘Why I have invited you, is that we bring my new-born child to the river.’ That is what Datu Rangkat ni Aji says. ‘If these are your words, what is his name?’ This is what the people say. ‘Si Dang Matuhan is the name of my child.’ These are the words of Datu Rangkat ni Aji. ‘If this is what you say, our raja, we know now, let us go home’, the group of people says. And the people leave the hall (bale). And then the day, the month, and the year comes that Datu Rangkat ni Aji dies. And the other people (anak bayo) in the village say: ‘You must go to find a wife in the village of your mother’s family (puang), in the place where the sun rises’. These are the words of his co-villagers. He thinks that they are right. When it happens to be the proper day, they go in a group of seven. And they bring as bride-price seven jackets, a golden sirih set, a kakkak kurawang ring. When he reaches the village of his uncle (puhun), they say just as the sun is rising, the rooster jarum besi crows. And the dog si surang barks, the male buffalo bellows, the cat si lenggen mews and the goat bleats, announcing the arrival of Si Dang Matuhan. When he has arrived in the village of his puhun, he climbs up [the stairs] and enters the Si Lendung Bulan hall (bale). That moment the fire flares up in the kitchen, the mats unroll in the place to sit. His puhun is leaning against the pillar on the left-hand side. 130

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Asa ditokor mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mahan jelmana. Raja Nakar gerar ni puhunna idi. Asa merkata nola mo Raja Nakar: ‘Lako kene kelangku, molih mi kutandene mi kasunduten mata ni ari’. I mo kata ni puhunna idi. Asa jumpa nola hari pengke, asa molih mia mi kasunduten mata ni hari. Asa dapet nola di arina dapet di bulanna dapet di tahunna, berat daging nola mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa tubuh mo anakna sada. Asa dibuat nola mo sada kerbo tonggal mahan maba mi lae anakna tubuh idi rebak nasa kaltuna. Didilo nola mo kaltuna rebak bayona mangan ni bagasna. Mangan mo dinilona idi. Asa salpun mo mangan, asa disahutken dinilona idi. ‘Kade kerjanta, ale Datu Rangkat ni Aji, asa didilo pe kono kami mangan?’ I mo perkata sinterem. ‘Kade nola asa kudilo pe kene kita maba mi lae anakku tubuh ena kita’. I mo perkata ni Datu Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, sikade mo gerarna?’ I mo perkata sinterem. ‘Si Dang Matuhan mo gerar ni anakku idi’. I mo perkata ni Datu Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, rajanami, enggo mi kubetoh, kami molih mo kami idi mo’, perkata kalak sinterem. Asa turun mo kalak mi bale. Asa dapet nola di arina dapet di bulanna dapet di tahunna, mate nola mo Datu Rangkat ni Aji. Asa merkata nola mo anak bayona di kuta idi: ‘Lako kono merunjuk mi kuta ni puangmu mi kapeltaken mata ni ari’. I mo perkata denganna kuta idi. Tuhu ta pe di katena. Asa jumpa mo ari pengke lako mia pitu kalak. Asa dientat mo emas pitu tangan baju, parapurun emas sada, cincin kakkak kurawang sada. Asa soh kenca ia mi kuta ni puhunna kunukun goling-goling mata ni ari, tekuwah mo manuk jarum besi. Asa mereng mo biang si surang, mernguwa kerbo tonggal, mermeyong mo kocing si lenggen, mermekeh mo kambingna, kumataken roh Si Dang Matuhan. Asa soh kenca ia mi kuta ni puhunna idi, bangkit mia mi bale si lendung bulan. Teka nola lakat api do ketaring, kimbang belagen di papan kundul. Puhunna tunande di binangun. Asa kundul mo Si Dang Matuhan di belagen bentar. Asa keke parapurunna bai puhunna idi. Asa merkata nola mo puhunna idi: ‘Kade beritamu, ale Si Dang Matuhan?’ ‘Beritangku berita mahalop, berita melias, berita pengke beritangku, ale puhun’. I mo kata ni Si Dang Matuhan.

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Then Si Dang Matuhan sits down on a white mat, and lifts up his sirih set to his puhun. Then the puhun speaks: ‘Si Dang Matuhan, what news do you have?’ ‘My news is respectful, it is good news, my news is beautiful news, oh puhun.’ These are the words of Si Dang Matuhan. ‘If this is what you say, how many are you who have come here?’ says his puhun. ‘Seven of us have come here, puhun’, says Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Alright’, says his puhun. Then the uncle goes into the house with seven rooms, he tells his wife: ‘Our nephew (kela) has come, you all [must] cook a lot of nice food for him’. These are the words of Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari, that is the name of Si Dang Matuhan’s puhun. When the food is ready in the house, they put it on a ceremonial plate and Si Dang Matuhan is invited to eat. When Si Dang Matuhan has finished eating, the uncle addresses his nephew Si Dang Matuhan: ‘Why are you visiting this region, kela?’ These are the words of Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari. Si Dang Matuhan says: ‘[The reason] why I am visiting is [that] I wish your daughter to be mine’. ‘If you speak like that, kela, let us discuss it this evening.’ These are the words of his puhun. So in the evening when it has become dark, Si Dang Matuhan is invited into the house. And when he arrives in the house, the sirih set of the puhun arrives, [and] the sirih set of the kela arrives. Thereafter Si Dang Matuhan speaks: ‘I have come here, puhun, to marry your daughter’. These are the words of Si Dang Matuhan. ‘If this is what you say, kela, how much do you pay, so that everybody knows, and I will tell [you] the name of my daughter’, says the puhun. ‘Oh puhun, if these are your words, this is the bride-price (emas) for you, seven jackets. What is the name of your daughter?’ ‘My daughter’s name is Na Rudang Bulu Begu.’ ‘If your words are like that, oh puhun, in how many days will you celebrate the wedding for me?’ These are the words of Si Dang Matuhan. When the proper day has come, a male buffalo is brought, with horns forming a circle and four crowns [on his head], a beautiful buffalo for the wedding feast. Then the uncle celebrates the wedding of his nephew Si Dang Matuhan with his daughter Na Rudang Bulu Begu. ‘When the next suitable day comes, you [must] go, my son-in-law, and return to your village in the place where the sun sets, together with

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‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, piga kene si roh idi nola mo?’ perkata ni puhunna idi. ‘Pitu kami, ale puhun idi nola mo’, perkata ni Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Ue’, dok puhunna idi. Asa lako nola mo puhunna idi mi bagas si pitu ruang, dibagahken mo bai tinokorna idi: ‘Soh kelanta, ale nake, belgang kene panganenna pengke bakin kene’. I mo perkata ni Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari, asa i mo gerar si puhun Si Dang Matuhan. Asa tasak mo panganen di bagas. Asa dibakin di pinggan pasu, asa didiloken mo mangan Si Dang Matuhan. Asa kenca mangan Si Dang Matuhan, asa disahutken puhunna idi mo kelana Si Dang Matuhan idi: ‘Kade tinongkirmu mi ladang ena, ale kela’. I mo kata ni Tuan Gindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Kade nola tinongkirku berumu idi naing bangku’. I mo kata ni Si Dang Matuhan. ’Muda bagi ngo katamu, ale kela, merkata sibon mo kita’. I mo kata ni puhunna idi. Asa gelap mo hari sibonna. Asa terdiloken nola mo mi bagas Si Dang Matuhan. Asa soh kenca mi bagas asa soh parapurunna [mi?] puhunna soh parapurun ni kelana. Asa merkata nola mo Si Dang Matuhan: ‘Aku puhun roh pe aku tumokor berumu idi ngo aku’. I mo kata ni Si Dang Matuhan. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, ale kela, masakade ngo gararmu, asa dibetoh tuan sinterem. Asa kubagahken gerar ni berungku, ale kela’. I mo kata ni puhunna idi. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, ale puhun, i mo emas bamu pitu tangan baju. Sikade mo gerar ni berumu idi?’ ‘Na Rudang Bulu Begu mo gerar ni berungku idi’. ‘Muda bagi katamu, ale puhun, piga ari nari aku dipangir kono?’ I mo kata ni Si Dang Matuhan. Asa jumpa ari pengke, asa dibuat mo kerbo sada tonggal cengko tanduk si empat poser si camba ekor mahan perbayona. Asa dipangir puhunna idi mo kelana Si Dang Matuhan rebak si beru Na Rudang Bulu Begu. ‘Asa jumpa nola ari pengke, asa lako kene kelangku, molih mi kutandene mi kasunduten mata ni ari rebak berungku idi’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu puhun, endigan ari pengke asa kami molih idi nola mo’, kata ni Si Dang Matuhan. Asa jumpa nola ari pengke asa ditaruh deba mo molih mi kutana Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa soh mia mi kasunduten mata ni ari goling-goling mata ni ari endabuh mo horpih [?]) ni pinang mangan ma anak sada kasoroh ni kalak di banua kuta sada nari. 133

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my daughter.’ ‘If you say so, father-in-law, we [will] return when the day is proper’, says Si Dang Matuhan. And when the suitable day has come he returns to his village with a group of people accompanying Na Rudang Bulu Begu. They arrive in the place where the sun sets at dusk, just before sunset, they are met and offered [?] areca nuts to eat, a child is sent by those in the region of the village, just one. When they arrive in the village, the men enter the bale, the women the house. And one animal is brought to feed the companions [of the bride], as their reward. Then these companions return to their village. As the days, the months, [and] the years pass by, Na Rudang Bulu Begu does not get a child. Then in the middle of the night she dreams that our grandfather Betara Guru speaks to her, saying: ‘You must go into the fields in the morning, go there quickly. Do not eat the one of the poisonous animal, it may be the one on the left side [or] on the right side.’ And Na Rudang Bulu Begu thinks: ‘I’ll go into the fields, as the spirit (begu) says’. That is what Na Rudang Bulu Begu thinks. When she goes there she finds fruits hanging over the road, one on the left side and one on the right side. And as a baganding snake has taken the one on the left side, she eats the one on the right side. So Na Rudang Bulu Begu only takes one [fruit], she respects the baganding snake. Then Na Rudang Bulu Begu goes home. Now she has eaten the fruit hanging over the road she is blessed. And Na Rudang Bulu Begu becomes pregnant, she gives birth to a girl. Then a pig is brought to bring this baby-girl to the river, and the meat of the pig is cooked. After the meat and the rice are cooked, the people of the village are invited and the food is offered to the guests. When those who have been invited have finished eating, they are addressed. ‘We have had enough to eat, our raja. What do you celebrate?’ These are the people’s words. ‘We are bringing my new-born daughter to the river.’ ‘Our raja, if this is what you say, what is her name?’ ‘Her name is Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala.’ ‘If this is what you say, our raja, we now know that your daughter’s name is Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala.’ As the days, months, [and] years pass, her father Si Dang Matuhan dies. And a month after her father, Si Dang Matuhan, has died, the spirit (sumangan) of her father comes. Then the sumangan of her mother arrives [and] Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala becomes entranced; she is possessed. 134

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Asa soh mia ni kutana, bangkit mo daholi mi bale, mi bagas daberu. Asa dibuat mo jukut sada panganen si menaruh idi upahna. Asa molih mo si menaruh idi mi kutana. Asa dapet nola mo di arina dapet nola di bulanna dapet nola di tahunna, mada lot gabe si beru Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa mernipi mo tengah berngin Na Rudang Bulu Begu, asa merkata mo empungta Betara Guru doki: ‘Lako kono mi juma mahar kenca ari tor kono lako. Ulang dipangan binatang aji sada sendah tan kambirang sada tan kamuhen’. ‘Asa lako nari ngaku mi juma’, dikatena Na Rudang Bulu Begu, ‘bagidi kata ni begu’. Asa bagi mo katena Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa lako mia asa jumpasa mo buah kanteng babon dalan, sada tan kambirang sada tan kamuhen. Asa dibuat mo tan kambirang dibuat nipe si baganding, dipangan mo tan kamuhen idi. Asa sada nari ngo kanca jumpa si beru Na Rudang Bulu Begu, asa mersangapen ngo nipe si baganding, asa Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa molih mo mi rumahna Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa dipangan mo buah kanteng babon dalan i mo mahan kinigabena. Asa sandangen mo Na Rudang Bulu Begu. Asa tubuh mo beruna sada. Asa dibuat babina sada mahan pemaba mi lae beruna tubuh idi. Asa dipertasak mo jukut babina idi. Asa kenca tasak jukut tasak nakan didilo mo peripena di kutana idi, asa disibali mo berena panganenna idi. Asa salpun mo mangan dinilona idi, asa disahutken mo dinilona idi. ‘Asa enggo kami besur mangan kami rajanami, kade kerjanta?’ I mo perkata tuan sinterem. ‘Kita maba mi lae berungku tubuh ena’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, rajanami, sikade mo gerarna?’ ‘Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala gerarna’. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, rajanami, enggo kubetoh kami berumidi Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala gerarna rajanami’. Asa dapet di arina dapet di bulanna dapet ditahunna, asa mate nola mo bapana Si Dang Matuhan. Asa dapet nola mo di bulanna mate nola mo bapana Si Dang Matuhan, asa soh nola sumangan ni bapana. Soh nola sumangan ni inangna di gila-gila disiari mo Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala. Asa laus mia mi kalip-kalip ni ladang mi seding-seding ni desa. Asa soh mia mi kalip-kalip ni ladang. Asa soh mo pengulubalang ni begu, dipertinokor nola mo Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala. Asa di sende mia merkuta. Asa i mo menjadiken Harlah Tala.

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Then Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala leaves for the quiet places in the fields, in remote areas. When she has arrived in the quiet places in the fields, the chief (pengulubalang) of the [field] spirits (begu) comes and marries Si Beru Tinggi Saribu Tala. Then she settles there and becomes Arlah Tala. So far for the words of the story of the ancient people, oh Tuan. This is what happens in the story. Do not be angry with the person who instructed it nor with me who wrote it down, oh raja.

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Datang bagena kata ni kalak turi-turian ni pertua midi, ale tuan, na memasa turi-turian ena. Ulang roh pusuhan ni perajar denga aku menurat, ale raja.

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guru tonggal begu/pemere beru si pitu Now there is a shaman’s story named ‘Offering to Beru Si Pitu’, it is told when planting a banyan and a figtree as a remedy. People do this as a charm for the group, so that they will be given what they ask for. Then the shaman tells the story of the offering to Beru Si Pitu. Once upon a time, it is told, there was someone named Si Aji Malakka, his son was named Guru Tonggal Begu. Guru Tonggal Begu married, the woman he took, it is told, was named Si Beru Rudang ni Begu. When he had been married for seven years to his wife Beru Rudang ni Begu, she had not yet given birth to a child. Guru Tonggal Begu felt weary. ‘Why is it that still no child has been born to us?’ This is what Guru Tonggal Begu was thinking. Then came, they say, a shaman who could make tamba-tuah medicine, named Guru Hantar Muda. He asked Guru Tonggal Begu for food. So he told his wife Beru Rudang to cook. When the food prepared by Beru Rudang was ready she arranged it nicely on a plate. She had prepared a dish of fish with lemon and curcuma. Then she told her husband to call the guest. ‘You must call our guest, as we do not have a servant’, said Beru Rudang. And Guru Tonggal Begu went to the hall (bale) to call him. ‘Come, brother-in-law (silih), let us eat’, said Guru Tonggal Begu to invite Guru Hantar Muda, and they went to eat. After they had eaten Guru Tonggal Begu picked up the dishes and gave him a quid (sirih). Then Guru Hantar Muda spoke: ‘I see that you are looking after the guest by yourself. I do not see anyone accompanying you in your work.’ This is what Guru Hantar Muda said. Then Guru Tonggal Begu spoke: ‘There is nobody to help me, silih, [as] I do not have a child’. This is what Guru Tonggal Begu said. ‘If you have not got a child, silih, I know a special medicine for planting (tambatuah). When I prepare this for you then you will get offspring.’ This is what Guru Hantar Muda said. Now that you have told me about the tambatuah which you say will make that your sister will give birth to our child, make it for us’. That is what Guru Tonggal Begu said. So he made the tambatuah, it is told, and gave it to be eaten by Beru Rudang. After he had prepared the tambatuah, Guru Hantar Muda returned to his village.

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guru tonggal begu/ pemere beru si pitu (or 3399:120-171; 12.475 iv:143-163) Asa lot mo kunuken turi-turin ni guru Memere Beru Si Pitu gerarna, barang menuan beringin deket kayuara tambar si lakon kalak mahan gemgemen ni kalak, nahan berenna mengidokensa. Asa ituriken guru mo i Pemere Beru Si Pitu idi. Asa lot mo kunuken mergerar Si Aji Malakka, anakna mergerar Guru Tonggal Begu. Asa merunjuk mo Guru Tonggal Begu, ibuat mo kunuken Si Beru Rudang ni Begu gerarna. Asa ipertinokor mo jelmana Si Beru Rudang idi pitu tahun, tunggarina malot tubuhen dukak. Peahen mo penarihin Guru Tonggal Begu. ‘Katera mo kami ena endia, asa malot tubuh dukaknami?’ Bagi mo pikir Guru Tonggal Begu. Asa roh mo kunuken guru pertamba-tuah, Guru Hantar Muda gerarna. Idokken mo panganen bai Guru Tonggal Begu. Asa idokken mo mertasak tinokorna Si Beru Rudang. Kenca tasak panganen idi ibakin Si Beru Rudang, asa ipesel mo pengke i babo pinggan, merikan meratah ibakin. Asa idokken itenggoi niukatna idi berenna panganenna idi. ‘Kono mo menenggoi berenta panganen idi, malot kita merbagahen.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Rudang. Asa lako mo Guru Tonggal Begu menenggoi mi bale. ‘Beta kita mangan, ale silih.’ Bagi mo kata Guru Tonggal Begu mengarahken Guru Hantar Muda. Asa lako mo ia mangan. Kenca salpun mangan Guru Tonggal Begu ma ngo pekekeken permanganen deket bereken parapurun. Asa mongkam mo Guru Hantar Muda: ‘Sada ko ngo kuidah kemayang kemuyung. Malot kuidah si mendengani kono barang kade ibahan kono.’ Bagi mo kata Guru Hantar Muda. Asa mongkam mo Guru Tonggal Begu: ‘Malot ise sereanku, ale silih. Malot aku tubuhen anak.’ Bagi mo kata Guru Tonggal Begu. ‘Muda malot kunu tubuhen dukak, ale silih, aku betoh-betohen tamba tuah lalu nisuan. Muda kubakinken kenca ngo tamba-tuahku ena, mertunas ngo menter.’ Bagi mo kata Guru Hantar Muda. ‘Lot ngo ibetoh kono nimu tamba-tuah, asa tubuhen anak kami deket turangmu ena. Bahan kita mo.’ Bagi mo kata Guru Tonggal Begu. Asa ibakin mo kunuken tamba tuah idi ibereken ipangan Si Beru Rudang.

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A month after Beru Rudang had eaten the tamba-tuah, people were amazed to see that she was pregnant. And they said: ‘We have seen that Beru Rudang will be sick for a year. Make a charm (pangir pendedah) for your wife so that the spirits (begu) will not bother you.’ This is what people said. So Guru Tonggal Begu made the charm. After he had made it for Beru Rudang, she was pregnant for a year. After she had been pregnant for a full year, it is told, Beru Rudang started to give birth as the sun was setting, and a boy was born, it is said. Thereafter, when her child had been kept near the fire for four nights, it was brought to the river (baba mi lae). The name given to the baby was Aji Rangkat ni Aji, that was the name of the baby that was brought to the river. After that, it is told, Aji Rangkat ni Aji grew up. He did not get a younger brother or sister; he was the only child of Guru Tonggal Begu. When Aji Rangkat ni Aji had grown up, it is told, his mother and father died, and he was grieving for seven months and seven days. ‘Our raja, how can you endure sleeping alone? You are not the only one who has lost his parents. Everybody who is alive, oh our raja, loses his parents and his brothers. You should think about yourself, there should be someone to support you.’ This is what people said, it is told. ‘It is true what people say, I am an only child. When I am doing nothing all the time, I become more and more miserable.’ This is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji pondered. And he prepared a feast. Then he thought again: ‘I am already preparing my feast. What if I used the gold that was left by my parents for a brideprice, so that there is someone who prepares food for me?’ Such were Aji Rangkat ni Aji’s thoughts, it is said. And he cooked the meat of one animal with rice, to be offered as food to the village. When his fellow villagers had finished eating, the adult young men (anak bayo) of the village said: ‘Aji Rangkat ni Aji, we have eaten the meat you prepared. What do you ask from us, your inlaws (peripé)? Tell us, so that we know.’ These were the words of the adult young men of the village. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘I have made this food that you have eaten, my relatives (kade-kade), because I want to marry, to have a wife who feeds me. Accompany me on my journey. Each of you should help me to make the journey, you must each make a contribution.’ Thus spoke Aji Rangkat ni Aji.

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Kenca salpun ibahan tamba tuah idi, asa molih mo Guru Hantar Muda mi kutana. Asa lot kenca sibulan, kenca ipangan tamba tuah idi, merpenise mo mata sinterem. Enggo idah berat daging Si Beru Rudang. Asa mongkam mo sinterem: ‘Enggo kuidah kami idahi sakit sitahun Si Beru Rudang. Bahanken pangir pendedah jelmamu idi, ulang bage sampang ni atemu dop ni atemu ibakin begu.’ Bagi mo dok sinterem. Asa ibahan Guru Tonggal Begu mo pangir pendedah. Kenca ibahan pangir pendedah Si Beru Rudang, asa iperentat-entatken mi sitahun. Kenca iperentat-entatken kunuken si sitahun menirsir idi, asa mengintubuh mo Si Beru Rudang goling-goling mata ni ari. Asa tubuh mo kunuken daholi. Asa menter mo itunduken api anakna idi. Kenca salpun si empat berngin, asa ibaba mi lae mo anak tubuh idi. Ibahan mo gerar anak tubuh idi Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Imo gerar ni anak tubuh baba mi lae idi. Kenca bagi kunuken, embelgah mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Malot tunggari mertinadahken. Sada Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji ngo kenca anak Guru Tonggal Begu. Kenca tanggung buatna kunuken Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji, mate mo inangna deket bapana. Asa merhendem mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji pitu bulan pitu ari. ‘Kasa mo kono mertahan medem sambing, ale rajanami. Oda bang kono kenca kepaten pertua. Kerina ngo nasa jelma singgeluh ena, ale rajanami, kepaten pertua, kepaten dengan sibeltek. Dirimu mo pikirken asa lot kenggeluhenmu.’ Bagi mo kata sinterem kunuken. ‘Tuhu ngo kata sinterem ena, sadaku ngo kanca sibeltek. Tunggari maku komkom, makin mi magona mo.’ Bagi mo kunuken penarihin Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Asa ikebasken mo bahanenna. Asa pikir nola mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji: ‘Bahanenku enggo kubahan. Emas nitadingken ni pertuangku lot. Kune kuperunjukken idi asa lot si menghidang aku?’ Bagi mo kunuken penarihin Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Asa ipertasak mo sada jukut merdengan nakan ibakin ibereken panganen kuta idi. Kenca salpun ipangan denganna kuta idi, asa mongkam mo anak bayona embelgah i kuta idi: ‘Enggo kami mangan jukut ibakin kono, ale Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Kade dokenenkenmu bainami peripemu ena? Bagahken bainami asa kubetoh kami.’ Bagi mo kata anak bayo embelgah i kuta idi.

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‘Our raja, if this is what you say, we all feel good about it. Whenever you say you will leave, or how many you say are to come with you, we are willing.’ These were the words of his friends, it is said. Now Aji Rangkat ni Aji prepared the gold (emas) and the cloth (oles) he was bringing. He invited six people to come along, so they were seven. Then they left. Members of each household gave a contribution for the brideprice. When the families had given their contribution, the group of seven people left. They went to the place where the sun rises, it is told. When he arrived in the east, in the village of Aji Gutu, when he arrived in that village, he offered sirih to Aji Gutu. Then Aji Gutu went to get his sirih and gave it to Aji Rangkat ni Aji. When they had both given sirih to each other, the new arrival and the person he visited, Aji Gutu asked Aji Rangkat ni Aji for news: ‘What news do you have, oh silih who has just arrived? Why have you come to see us?’ Thus spoke Aji Gutu. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji answered: ‘Oh silih, we who have just arrived bring good news’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. ‘If you say that you bring good news, with whom will you eat, so that we know what to tell the women in the house.’ This is what Aji Gutu said. ‘Well, since you are the headman of the village, we will stay with you.’ That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. And Aji Gutu went into the house to tell his wife Nan Solap ni Ari to prepare food. He told his daughter Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari to go down and call the chicken(s) to serve as food for Aji Rangkat ni Aji. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari brought the bird(s) from the middle of the village square. Aji Rangkat ni Aji saw that Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari had the same shape, the same length and the same age [as he had]. ‘Her I will take for my wife’, Aji Rangkat ni Aji thought. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari went back into the house. She gave the chicken(s) to her brother Aji Layang ni Ari to slaughter. When the food was cooked, it was nicely arranged on a plate, and Aji Rangkat ni Aji was told to eat. After Aji Rangkat ni Aji had eaten, Aji Gutu gave a speech: ‘This is to tell you, my relatives (kade-kade) who have come here, that the food was just a little bit. There was not any food I found to give you. Let me know what is the purpose of your visit to me, do not hesitate to tell me.’ These were the words of Aji Gutu. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘We come to your village in order to find a woman for me to marry’. Thus spoke Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘If you are looking for a wife, I have a daughter, let us talk tonight’, said Aji Gutu. ‘Alright’, said Aji Rangkat ni Aji. 142

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Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji: ‘Asa kubuat pe panganenku idi ipangan kene kade-kadengku ena, aku naing merunjuk mahan si ukat panganenku. Dengani kene aku merdalan. Mersientat tompangendene kene bangku.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Muda bagidi nimu, ale rajanami, pengke mo penarihinnami kerina. Barang endigan nimu berkat, barang piga nimu denganmu kami ena, enggeut ngo kami.’ Bagi mo kunuken kata peripena idi. Asa ikebasi Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji mo entatenna emasna deket oles. Iarahken mo enem kalak dengan kuta idi, asa pitu ia nina. Asa berkat mo ia. Genep jabu mo peripena idi mereken tompangna merunjuk idi. Kenca ibereken peripena idi tompangna, berkat mo ia si pitu kalak idi. Asa lako mo ia kunuken mi kebincaren mata ni ari. Kenca soh ia mi kebincaren mata ni ari, mi kuta Si Aji Gutu, soh kenca ia mi kuta idi, asa ipedudur mo parapurunna bai Si Aji Gutu. Ialeng Si Aji Gutu nola mo parapurunna, ibereken bai Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Kenca samah mersibereken parapurunna, si roh deket dapeten idi kunuken, asa ikuso Si Aji Gutu mo berita Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji: ‘Kade beritamu, kono si roh idi, ale silih? Kade si nitongkirinmu bainami ena?’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Gutu. Asa mengaloi mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji: ‘Beritanami, ale silih, kami si roh ena, berita melias ngo’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Muda berita melias ngo nimu, ale silih, baise panganenendene, asa nibetoh bagahenenken bai perempun ni bages.’ Bagi mo dok Si Aji Gutu. ‘Kene ngo pertua i kuta ena. Kene ngo serangennami.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Asa lako mo Si Aji Gutu mi bages mendokken panganen bai jelmana Nan Solap ni Ari. Asa ipertasak Nan Solap ni Ari mo panganen. Idokken mo beruna Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari susur mengkurna manuk mahan panganen Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Asa ibuat Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo manuk i tengah kesean nari. Idah Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari enggo todes tempana, todes gedangna, todes belgahna. ‘I mo kubuat mahan jelmangku.’ Bagi mo penarihin Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Asa molih mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mi bages. Ibereken mo manuk idi iseat turangna Si Aji Layang ni Ari. Kenca tasak panganen idi, asa ihidang mo pengke. Asa idokken mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji mangan. Kenca salpun mangan Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji, asa isahutken Si Aji Gutu mo: ‘Sahutken atemu kono kade-kadengku si roh ena i panganen 143

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

He was asked [to come] with his friends of the village. When these had assembled, Aji Gutu proceded to distribute sirih. When all who had been invited had sirih, Aji Gutu spoke: ‘You [must] let us know how much your payment is, so that I know and the people will hear it’. These were the words of Aji Gutu. Then he told him the number [of goods] he had carried as his payment. When he had done that, Aji Gutu told him that his daughter’s name was Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, and his companions told that his name was Aji Rangkat ni Aji. When the name of the son-in-law (kela) and the name of the girl he was to marry were known, the people asked for the sirih set of the woman and the small knife that Aji Rangkat ni Aji had brought to the bale. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji left his waistband and his knife for Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Then they were told to [have a] dream and go to sleep. The following day, his friends asked Aji Rangkat ni Aji what he had dreamed, and Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari was asked by her girlfriends what she had dreamed. When both of them told their dream, the people interpreted both these dreams as auspicious. Then the marriage was celebrated on that day. After they had been married on that day, Aji Rangkat ni Aji payed everything he had promised to give as brideprice. After Aji Rangkat ni Aji had finished giving all the gifts of the brideprice, his six companions went back, leaving Aji Rangkat ni Aji behind. ‘I have been staying here in the village of my wife’s family (kula-kula) for two years already, and all this time no child has been born to us. We had better go home, I am disappointed.’ This is what he thought, it is told. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji offered sirih to his parents-in-law (nampuhun) and to his brother-in-law (silih) Aji Layang. After that Aji Rangkat ni Aji addressed him: ‘I am offering you my sirih that you have eaten, silih, because I wish to return to my village with your sister. Please accompany us’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. And Aji Layang said: ‘Silih, if you wish to go home, that’s alright. If you say so, I will accompany you. You find a good day.’ Then boys and girls came, it is told, to accompany Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari and Aji Rangkat ni Aji, complete with all types of food that were carried as presents (luah) for the hosts. It is told that they arrived n the early afternoon. When they were getting close, they first instructed one of the group to tell that the hosts must beat the drum for the girl who arrived, and prepare a beras banu offering near the river.

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somada lot idi. Mada pe lot panganen jumpaku berenkenku, kade si nidahindene bangku, asa kubetoh. Ulang kene alang-alangen magahken bangku’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Gutu. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji: ‘Asa roh pe kami mi kutamu ena menongkir beru tokoren mo aku’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Muda menongkir beru ngo kono, lot ngo bangku beru. Merkata sibon mo kita.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Gutu. ‘Ue’, dok Si Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Idiloi mo deket denganna kuta. Kenca pulung idiloi, asa merdalan mo parapurun ibakin Si Aji Gutu. Kenca marapurun kerina nasa si niarahkenna idi, asa mongkam mo Si Aji Gutu: ‘Masakade mo gararendene, bagahken kene mo, asa kubetoh, asa ibege sinterem’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Gutu. Asa ibagahken mo bilangen nientatna mahan gararenkenna. Kenca ibagahken bilangen gararna, asa ibagahken Si Aji Gutu mo gerar beruna Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa ibagahken dengan Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo gerar Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Kenca ibetoh gerar ni kela deket gerar ni beru tokorenna idi, asa ipengido sinterem mo parapurun daberu idi deket rabi kedekna entaten Si Aji Rangkati Aji mi bale. Asa itadingken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo bebetna deket golok mengadepna bai Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa mersitenahi nipina mo ia berkat medem. Kenca mahar ari siberembenna, asa ikuso kaltuna mo nipi Si Aji Rangkat Aji, ikuso kaltu daberu mo nipi Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Kenca mersibagahken nipina ia meraduna, asa iarusi sinterem mo nipina idi meraduna pengke. Asa menter mo ipangir arinna idi. Kenca ipangir arinna idi, igarar Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo nasa si niperbagahken mahan perunjuken idi. Kenca pate kerina igarar Si Aji Rangkat Aji perunjukna idi, asa molih mo dengan Si Aji Rangkat Aji si enem kalak. Tading mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji. ‘Enggo mo dua tahun kuingani i kuta kula-kulangku ena, tunggari ngo malot tubuh parangennami. Molih mo kami kuuluken.’ Bagi mo kunuken pikirenna. Asa ipedudur Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo parapurunna bai nampuhunna deket bai silihna Si Aji Layang. Kenca iduduri, asa mendok kata Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Asa kududurken pe parapurunku idi ipangan kene, ale silih, kami naing molih mi kutanami deket turangendene. Taruhken kene kami.’ Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji.

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So the hosts played the drum to [welcome] Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. When she arrived, they prepared the beras banu offering for her, and thereafter people showed her the bridal bed (ngean) of happiness: ‘This is your bridal bed of happiness, oh sister-in law (eda). You must look after this. One is [for] Aji Rangkat ni Aji being an only child, and one [for] you his wife. Now you are the owner of this sleeping-place.’ These were the words of her sisters in law. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari went there. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji took an animal to feed the people who had accompanied him, this is called lempoh panas. On the following day he prepared a feast with the meat of the animal for those who had accompanied him, it is called kemolih-molihin. When they had eaten, Aji Rangkat ni Aji gave them the customary upah menaruh: a jacket, a piece of cloth and a head-cloth. When Aji Rangkat ni Aji had given this, all those who accompanied them went home to their village in the place where the sun rises. They left Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari behind. One year later, it is told, Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari became pregnant. And the wives of the other men (anak bayo) in the village said: ‘Aji Rangkat ni Aji, you should make a charm (pangir pengian) to protect our eda. We are amazed to see that she is in a blessed condition, brother (tang).’ These were the words of the wives of the anak bayo. So Aji Rangkat ni Aji made the pangir pengian for Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. After that he saw that the omens were good. And he waited for seven years and seven months for the child to be born. It was born in the middle of the night, they say. When it was born he looked at the child: ‘This child of mine is in fact a boy’, he thought. And he cut off the umbilical cord [lit: younger brother or sister] of the baby, placed it in a large basket and hung it on the outside of the wall. When he had hung it there, the baby was kept near the fire. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari fell asleep sitting near the fire. Then came the spirit (begu) Ala Talagen, it is told, and made the baby’s umbilical cord into a human being, in the form of a girl. When that baby cried, it is told, the spirit left. Then, it is told, an old woman heard the crying outside the wall. So she lit a torch, and when she had done that she found a crying girl. ‘You have in fact two babies, Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Why do you look after only one of them?’ That is what the old lady said. ‘If I have in fact two children, granny (pung), give her and I will keep them near the fire together.’ Thus spoke Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Then [the child] that the 146

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Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Layang: ‘Muda naing kene molih silih, jadi ngidi. Endigan kene katendene kutaruhken kami. Tengen kene ari pengke.’ Asa lako mo kunuken daholi daberu menaruhken Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari deket Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Kuh mo kerina pangan-panganen ientat mahan luahna bai dapetenna idi. Iunjui mo kunuken goling-goling ari. Merayak soh idokken mo lebe sada kalak mendokken mendudu dapeten beru si roh idi deket memaken lae beras banu. Asa mendudu mo dapeten Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Kenca soh, asa merberas banu mo ibakin dapetenna idi. Kenca salpun merberas banu, asa ituduhken deba mo ngean si metuana. ‘Idi mo ngean si metuamu, ale eda. Kono mo merjinampuken bekasna idi. Sada Si Aji Rangkat Aji ngo kanca anak. Sada kono ngo kanca jelmana. I mo asa kono nola sidasa perbekasen idi.’ Bagi mo kata ni edana sijae bapa. Asa misendi mo tuhu Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa ibuat Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo jukut sada panganen si menaruh idi, silempoh panas gerarna. Siberembenna pe ibuat nola ma ngo jukut sada panganen si menaruh idi, kemolih-molihin gerarna. Kenca salpun mangan asa ibereken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo hukumen upah menaruh, baju sada, oles sada, bulang-bulang sada. Kenca ibereken Si Aji Rangkat Aji upah menaruh idi, molih mo nasa si menaruh idi mi kutana, mi kebincaren mata ni ari. Tading mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Dapet kenca mo sitahun kunuken, berat daging mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa mongkam mo kunuken jelma ni anak bayona i kuta idi: ‘Bahan kene Aji Rangkat Aji pangir pengian edangku idi. Enggo merpenise matangku i dagingna, tumagam kerohen edangku idi, ale tang.’ Bagi mo kata jelma anak bayona idi. Asa ibahan Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo pangir pengian ni Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Kenca ibahan pangir pengian Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, enggo pengke tuhu idah tulutenna, asa ipema mo pertubuh parangenna idi pitu tahun pitu bulan asa tubuh dukakna idi. Tubuh mo kunuken tengah berngin. Kenca tubuh itengen mo dukakna idi. ‘Daholi kepeken dukakku ena.’ Bagi mo penarihinna. Asa igetap mo anggi ni anak tubuh idi, ibakin mo i baka sehele, igantung mo i balik dingding. Kenca igantung ibalik dingding, asa itundunken api mo dukakna idi, menter mo terpedem Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari menundunken api idi. Roh mo kunuken begu Alah Talagenna. Ijadiken nola mo anggi anak 147

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old woman held on her lap was given to Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, and both of them were kept near the fire. On the following day Aji Rangkat ni Aji prepared a female chicken as food for Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, it is called balbal susu [to stimulate the flow of milk]. And he looked up the right moment (ketika) for the newborn children. It looked good, so he took a buffalo for [the ceremony of] bringing the newborn children to the river. Then he told his helpers to cook the buffalo, [and] he told the young unmarried women (si merbaju) to cook rice for many people. When the buffalo meat and the rice were cooked, Aji Rangkat ni Aji told the people who had cooked the meat to prepare one separate plate that should be given to Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari to eat with the rice. When she had eaten, Aji Rangkat ni Aji told all the women of each household to walk to the river accompanying Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. And they walked to the river, it is told, where Aji Rangkat ni Aji offered crushed sirih leaves with rice flour, a complete sirih quid and various flowers. When he had made the offering, they were told to take a bath. Then they returned home. When they had come home, he invited everybody in the village to eat. When all of them had eaten, the anak bayo said: ‘We have eaten our fill, Aji Rangkat ni Aji, why have we come?’ This is what the anak bayo said. ‘The reason why I have invited you all, my companions in this village, is to celebrate the birth of my children. I am happy with my son and my daughter. Let us give them a name.’ These were the words of Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘If we are in fact celebrating the birth of these children, you must prepare a selup of rice, a sirih quid and a hard areca nut, to give the children a name.’ That is what the anak bayo said. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari prepared these and gave them to the wives of the anak bayo. When these wives (eda) received them [they said]: ‘Now that you have given this to us, you must decide about the name of the babies. You must tell us the name, we do not know it.’ That is what the eda said. ‘Yes eda, then you must make the prediction’, said Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. And the eda asked for the name of the baby: ‘What is the name of the boy, you should tell us’, the women said. ‘Sisters (tang), you make the name of this newborn child Si Deang Matuan’, said Aji Rangkat ni Aji. And while they were sitting in a circle they made the prediction in turn going around the circle.

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tubuh idi gabe jelma, irupa mo gabe daberu. Menter mo kunuken tangis anak idi, menter mo laus begu idi. Lot mo kunuken beru kube-kuben, ibege mo tangis i balik ni dinding idi. Asa ilakati mo kunuken suluh, menter mo isuluhi, idapet mo daberu si tangis idi. ‘Dua kepeken dukakmu idi, ale Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Kasa si sada idi kanca iperpatoh kono?’ Bagi mo dok beru kube-kuben idi. ‘Muda dua kepeken dukakku idi, ale pung, niang mo rebak kutundunken api.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Menter mo iabingken beru kube-kuben idi, ibereken bai Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, asa itundunken api meraduna. Mahar mo ari, asa ibuat Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo manuk mertinaruh sada panganen Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari, ‘balbal susu’ gerarna, asa itengen ketika anak tubuh idi. Idah pengke, asa ibuat mo sada kerbo mahan pemaba mi lae dukak si tubuh idi. Asa idokken mo ipertasak naposona kerbo idi, idokken mo merdakan si merbaju. Kenca tasak jukut kerbo idi deket nakan idi, asa idokken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo ibakin si mertasak jukut idi ipejae sada cawan, ibereken ipangan Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari merdengan nakan idi. Kenca salpun ipangan Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari asa ipendoki Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo genep jabu nasa daberu lako mi lae mendengani Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa lako mo kunuken mi lae, asa isembahken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo napurun ginonting deket nitak merbecih, mernapurun kiniripit, merbunga-bunga. Kenca salpun isembahken Si Aji Rangkat Aji, asa idokken mo iperidi. Asa molih mia mi rumah. Kenca soh mi rumah, asa idiloken mo kerina si ni kuta idi mangan. Kenca salpun mangan ia kerina, asa mongkam mo anak bayona kuta idi: ‘Enggo kami besur mangan, ale Aji Rangkat Aji, kade kerohenta’. Bagi mo kata anak bayona idi. ‘Asa kudilo pe kene kerina nasa denganku kuta ena, merkerohen anakku tubuh ngo kita. Sampang enggo atengku laki beru anakku idi. Mahan gerarna mo kita.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat Aji. ‘Muda merkerohen anak tubuh idi ngo kita kepeken, pekena kene mo beras siselup, napurun kiniripit sada, pinang guguren sada, asa sibahan gerar anak tubuh idi.’ Bagi mo kata anak bayona idi. Asa ipekena Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo, ibereken mo bai jelma anak bayona idi.

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‘We have seen that this is good, brother. You must shout “hurray!”’, the relatives said. So everybody in the house shouted joyfully. Then they asked the name of the girl: ‘What is the name of your daughter? Tell us, so that we can make the prediction’, the women said. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari told them: ‘Eda, you make the name of my daughter Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala’. That is what Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari said. The prediction was that it was good, so they told everybody in the house to shout ‘hurray!’ After they had given a name to the children of Aji Rangkat ni Aji, the people returned each to their own house. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari and Aji Rangkat ni Aji raised the boy and the girl together. When Si Deang Matuan and Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala had grown up, they fondled each other behind the curtain of the bed and in the village square. Then people said: ‘Aji Rangkat ni Aji, marry off your daughter, get a wife for your son, what we see is illegal according to our law (hukum)’. That is what people said. ‘Alright’, said Aji Rangkat ni Aji. [But] his daughter Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala did not want to be married off [to someone else] and his son Si Deang Matuan did not want to marry [someone else]. And Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said: ‘People should not reprimand us; people should not forbid us. We will do as we feel, we were born together and we have grown up together.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. And it is told that Si Deang Matuan indeed continued to have Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala as his wife. Then Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari said: ‘Do not continue to commit these wrong actions, Deang Matuan. If you go on doing this all the time, I will commit suicide in front of you. I am so ashamed toward the others, never before have anybody’s children done like you.’ These were the words of Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. And Si Deang Matuan thought: ‘Mother says she will kill herself if I do not stop doing what people have forbidden, [so] let me go and find a wife. I will go to her brother in the place where the sun rises.’ That is what he thought, Si Deang Matuan, it is told. So Si Deang Matuan asked his mother for gold, and he left. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala followed [him]: ‘If you go to find a wife, you must let your sister come with you, let me come along, so that I will see the woman you will take. If the body of the woman you take is not the same as my body, you must not do it. Remember that I am in fact your wife.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. 150

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Kenca ijalo edana idi: ‘Enggo mo bangku ibereken kene jojaken gerar anak tubuh ena. Kene ngo magahken gerar, malot kubetoh mungkah gerar.’ Bagi mo dok edana idi. ‘Ue, ale eda. Menikko-nikkoken idi ngo kono kenca.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa ikuso edana idi mo gerar anak tubuh idi: ‘Sikade mo gerar ni anak laki, bagahken kene mo bangku’. Bagi mo dok daberu idi. ‘Si Deang Matuan mo bakin kene, ale tang, gerar ni anak tubuh idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa isikko-sikkoken mo enggo pangpang endukur singko merkelolo. ‘Enggo mo pengke kuidah, ale turang. Olop-olopken kene mo.’ Bagi mo dok turangna idi. Asa menter mo meroang kerina ia si sada bagas idi. Asa ikuso nola mo gerar ni daberu: ‘Sikade gerar beruendene idi. Bagahken kene mo eda, asa kusikko-sikkoken’. Bagi mo dok edana idi. Asa ibagahken Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo: ‘Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mo gerar berungku ena bakin kene eda.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa isikko-sikkoken mo enggo pengke. Asa idokken merolop kerina ia si sada bagasna idi. Kenca salpun ibahan gerar dukak Si Aji Rangkat Aji, asa mersitepet bagasna mo sinterem molih. Asa ipebelgah-belgah Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo deket Si Aji Rangkat Aji anakna idi deket beruna idi. Kenca samah embelgah Si Deang Matuan deket Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, asa merlagu-lagu mo i balik kire-kire, merlagu-lagu i kesean. Asa mongkam mo sinterem: ‘Pejaheken berumu idi, ale Aji Rangkat Aji, perunjukken anakmidi somada hukum kuidah kami hukumna’. Bagi mo kata sinterem. ‘Ue’, dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Ipejaheken mo beruna Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, malot enggeut. Iperunjukken mo anakna Si Deang Matuan, malot enggeut merunjuk. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Ulang kami isincal deba, ulang irarang deba. Bagi ngo kami katenami naing kami, rebak tubuh kami rebak embelgah.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Iendengken ngo kunuken ipertinokor Si Deang Matuan Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam nola mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari: ‘Ulang tipat endengken kene pengelakoendene somada jadi idi, ale Si Deang Matuan. Muda iendengken kene ngo gahgah, mendeles ngo aku i adepenendene. Melasu maku midah kalak, malot madun bage pengelakoendene idi pengelako anak ni kalak.’ Bagi mo kata Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. 151

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‘Yes, [but] don’t you come with me, you must stay behind’, said Si Deang Matuan. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala gave him a quid: ‘Here is a quid, you must first eat this quid. If the quid of the other girl is the same as the quid I have given to you, you take the other girl. If it has a different taste, you must not take her.’ These were the words of Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then Si Deang Matuan went to the place where the sun rises, to the village of Aji Layang. When he came there, Aji Layang asked Si Deang Matuan: ‘What news do you have, nephew (kela), why have you come here?’ That is what Aji Layang said. And Si Deang Matuan said: ‘I have come here, uncle (puhun), to visit your daughter. I wish to marry her.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said. Then Aji Layang went inside to ask for food: ‘You must cook. Our kela has come, the son of Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari’. That is what Aji Layang said, and his wife Beru Rendeng quickly started cooking. When the food was ready, Si Deang Matuan was invited to eat. When he had finished eating, Aji Layang said: ‘This is my daughter. I made her wait for you, her name is Kumirlo. All the time I have not married her off, waiting for you.’ That is what Aji Layang said. Then Si Deang Matuan said: ‘We will talk [about it] tonight, puhun’. Thus spoke Si Deang Matuan, and he went to the bale. When darkness fell everybody came together in the house, all the men from the entire village. When they had all assembled in Aji Layang’s house, he spoke: ‘Fellow villagers, I have invited you to my house, to listen to what we [have to] say’. These were Aji Layang’s words. Then Si Deang Matuan said: ‘The wedding gift for the young girl has been fixed at twelve buffaloes. Please first tell my wife-to-be to make a quid, so that I will eat it first, to know whether it is going to happen or not.’ These were Si Deang Matuan’s words. So Kumirlo prepared a quid, which was given to Si Deang Matuan to eat. When he ate it, he felt that it did not have the same taste [as his sister’s]. ‘Puhun, my marriage with your daughter is not going to happen, [because] your daughter’s quid does not taste the same as my [sister’s] quid.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said, and everybody went down [the stairs], all those who had been discussing in the house. The next day Aji Layang prepared a meal for Si Deang Matuan, [and] he gave him a plaited bag [for tabacco]. When he had given it, Si Deang Matuan said: ‘Puhun, I have received a plaited bag, and a chicken 152

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Asa pikir mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Ibunuh inang ena nina dirina muda malot kupekom kami si nirarang ni deba idi. Kune, laus aku merunjuk, kudahi turang ena mi kebincaren.’ Bagi mo kunuken pikirin Si Deang Matuan. Asa ipengido Si Deang Matuan idi mo emas bai inangna nai. Berkat mo ia. Asa menter mo mengekut Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Muda lako merunjuk mo kono, asa laus kono idi da denganku tubuh, deket ngaku, asa kuidah beru buatenmu idi. Hakum malot todes tempangku deket tempa beru buatenmidi, malot jadi buat kono. Enget ngo aku jelmamu.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Ue’, ulang mo kono deket. Tading mo kono. Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa ibereken Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mo marapurun kiniripit sada. ‘Parapurun ena mo napurun panganenmu lebeken. Todes bage napurun si kubereken ena napurun beru ni kalak, asa buat beru ni kalak. Hakum pejae-jae ngo rasana ulang saut ibuat kono’. Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa lako mo Si Deang Matuan mi kebincaren mata ni ari, mi kuta Si Aji Layang. Kenca soh ia, asa ikuso Si Aji Layang mo berita Si Deang Matuan: ‘Kade beritamu, ale kela, asa roh kono?’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Layang. Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Asa roh pe aku, ale puhun, menongkir berumu ngo aku, naing kutokor.’ Bagi mo kata Si Deang Matuan. Asa lako mo Si Aji Layang mendokken panganen mi bagas: ‘Mertasak kene. Idi roh kelanta, anak Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Layang. Asa menter rudu-rudu mo mertasak jelmana Si Beru Rendeng. Kenca tasak panganen idi, asa itenggoken mo mangan Si Deang Matuan. Kenca salpun mangan Si Deang Matuan, asa mongkam mo Si Aji Layang: ‘Idi mo berungku kupemaken bamu, mergerar Si Kumirlo. Malot tunggari kupejaheken memaken bamu’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Layang. Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Merkata sibon mo kita ale puhun’. Bagi mo kata Si Deang Matuan. Asa lako mo ia mi bale. Kenca gelap ari, asa merpulung mo mi bagas ia kerina, ia si sada kuta idi nasa daholi. Kenca merpulung ia kerina mi bagas Si Aji Layang, asa mongkam mo Si Aji Layang: ‘Asa kuarah pe kene dengan kuta ena mi bagasku ena, asa lot ngo sidengkohen katanami’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Layang. 153

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as my goodbye meal (kemolih-molihen). Now you [may] marry your daughter off [to someone else]’. That is what Si Deang Matuan said, and he returned to his village, he went back to his wife Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari said: ‘You have come back, so apparently your trip was not successful, Deang Matuan. Now I will really kill myself, I am so ashamed to see what you are doing.’ That is what Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari said. ‘Although I gave you much gold to get a wife, you have not succeeded to get one.’ These were the words of Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘If you tell me to get married, mother, prepare gold for me to bring [with me] and I will go.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said. Then Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari gave Si Deang Matuan gold to bring [along]. And he went to the wild jungle, to a mossy dike. There he found, it is told, a girl standing under a figtree (kayuara) close to a swamp. And he saw that they had the same height, the same age, and the same shape. ‘Her I will make my wife. I already see that she suits me’, Si Deang Matuan thought. And he offered sirih to the girl, [but] she did not want to accept it. The girl made a quid. When he ate it, the girl’s quid tasted the same as the quid prepared by Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then Si Deang Matuan said: ‘I have fallen in love with you, oh uncle’s daughter (beru ni puhun), you are for me’. That is what Si Deang Matuan said. The girl just kept silent. Then Si Deang Matuan took seven leaves from a large tree, folded them and gave them to the girl, but she still did not want to speak. Si Deang Matuan broke them [but] she still did not want to speak. Then Si Deang Matuan took seven leaves from the sigogo ate tree, folded them and gave them to the girl. Then the girl said: ‘Because you see that I am a girl from the jungle, you have given me leaves from large trees and leaves from the sigogo ate tree’. That is what the girl said. And Si Deang Matuan spoke: ‘I gave you the leaves of the sigogo ate tree because you did not speak when I talked to you. Now that you are speaking, please eat my quid, so that you may become mine.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said. And the girl spoke: ‘I did not answer anything to what you said and do not eat your quid, because I see that your rules are different from everybody else’s. You have married your own sister. I would be ashamed if people called us sisters-in-law (eda). That is why I did not answer you’, the girl said. ‘This is no longer my rule, I will stop doing what should not be done. You must become my wife’, said Si Deang Matuan. So the girl 154

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Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Utang merunjuk anak bebere enggo kin ngidi mertitik sipuluh dua kerbo. Napurun beru tokorenku idi mo lebeken dokken kene ibahan, asa kupangan lebeken, asa kubetoh saut deket mada.’ Bagi mo kata Si Deang Matuan. Asa ibahan Si Kumirlo mo napurun tinasaken, ibereken ipangan Si Deang Matuan. Asa ipangan mo, malot todes rasa napurun iakap. ‘Malot saut aku menokor beruendene idi, puhun. Malot todes rasa napurunku ena deket rasa napurun berundene idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan, asa samah susur mo ia kerina nasa si mersungkunen mi bagas idi. Mahar ari si berembenna asa ibuat Si Aji Layang mo sada panganen Si Deang Matuan, ucang sada rawanen ibereken Si Aji Layang. Kenca ibereken, asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Enggo mo kujalo ucang sada puhun, manuk sada kemolih-molihinku. Pejaheken kene beruendene idi.’ Bagidi mo kata Si Deang Matuan. Asa molih mia mi kutana. Iolihi nola mo ipertinokor Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam nola mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari: ‘Iolihi kene nola mo rupana pengelako somada jadi idi, ale Si Deang Matuan. Kubunuh mo tuhu diringku da. Melasu maku midah pengelakoendene idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Barang masakade nimu emas mahan perunjukmu lot ngo berenkenku, ulang so merunjuk nari ngo kono.’ Bagi mo kata Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Muda merunjuk aku nimu, ale nang, pekena mo entatenku emas asa lako aku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa ibereken Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo emas entaten Si Deang Matuan. Asa laus mo ia mi kerangen rimbu raya, mi tambak lumuten. Asa jumpasa mo kunuken daberu sada i teruh kayu ara i lambung pea-pea. Enggo idah todes gedangna, todes belgahna, todes tempana. ‘Ena mo kubuat mahan jelmangku. Enggo kuidah serung bage penarihinku.’ Bagi mo penarihin Si Deang Matuan. Asa iduduri mo daberu idi, malot enggeut menjalo. Ibuat parapurun daberu idi, ipangan mo napurun enggo todes iakap rasa napurun nitasaken Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala deket rasa napurun daberu idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Enggo embelgah atengku bamu, ale beru ni puhun. Bangku mo kono.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Tunggari ngo sip daberu idi. Asa ibuat Si Deang Matuan mo

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said: ‘If you say that you [will] stop being married to your own sister, I will become yours’. ‘I am prepared to swear this, if only you will be mine then’, Si Deang Matuan said. And he made the vow, it is told. ‘If you want me to be your wife you must break up your marriage with your own sister. I am a girl from the jungle, the daughter of a bargo. I accept your vow, you are cursed if it is false’, said the girl. ‘Alright’, said Si Deang Matuan. ‘Where is your mother, so I will give her gold and cloth.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said. Then she went ahead of him to the swamp, and showed him her mother, a bargo: ‘This is our mother’, the girl said. ‘Alright’, said Si Deang Matuan, and he gave the gold and the cloth. Then the bargo said: ‘If my daughter will be yours, you must not quarrel with her for being the child of a bargo. Her name is Beru Kincir.’ That is what the bargo said. Then Si Deang Matuan asked Beru Kincir to go home with him. When they came home, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala quarrelled with Beru Kincir. ‘You have got a girl from the jungle, my twin-brother, with whom I have grown up, so you want to get rid of me’, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. And Si Deang Matuan said: ‘Do not listen to these words. Listen to what I say, and what mother and father say.’ That is what Si Deang Matuan said to his wife Beru Kincir. Then Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari prepared the bridal bed (ngean) for the bride, and Aji Rangkat ni Aji made a wedding enclosure (pangir pengerungkas) for his son and the bride. Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala saw sharp sand and placed it in the entrance of the main gate. Si Deang Matuan was the first one to go to the river for the wedding ceremony, and the sharp sand pierced him [his foot]. Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala took the soul (tendi) of Si Deang Matuan from the top of his head and he died. When Si Deang Matuan was dead, people carried him to the house to be wrapped by his father. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala went to the quiet places in the fields (kalip-kalip ladang). When Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala had gone, Si Deang Matuan was laid [?] in a hole in the centre. But he did not yet have a bad smell. His body did not move from there. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘What does the bride say about Deang Matuan? Must he be buried, [as] his body does not move? [Or] should he remain in the house, [although] he does not breathe any more?’ This is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said.

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bulung kayu ageng pitu rambar, ikeripit ibereken mo bai daberu idi, mada ma ngo enggeut mongkam. Iperpengeah Si Deang Matuan, ma denga ngo enggeut mongkam. Asa ibuat Si Deang Matuan nola mo bulung sigogo ate, ikeripit pitu rambar ibereken bai daberu idi. Asa mongkam mo daberu idi: ‘Bakin daberu ni kerangen ena aku idah kono, ibereken kono mo bangku bulung kayu ageng deket bulung sigogo ate’. Bagi mo dok daberu idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan idi: ‘Asa kubereken pe bamu bulung sigogo ate idi, bakin mada mongkam ngo kono kuperkataken. Ena enggo kono mongkam, napurunku ena mo napangan. Bangku ngo kono asa jadi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa mongkam mo daberu idi: ‘Asa mada pe kualoi kono mongkam idi deket asa mada kupangan napurunmu idi, otang bage hukum sinterem hukummu kuidah. Iperjelma kono turangmu. Mela aku midah kalak mersiembangken edana. I mo asa malot kono kualoi mongkam.’ Bagi mo dok daberu idi. ‘Malot nenge bagidi hukumku. Kupekom pengelakongku somada jadi idi. Kono mo mahan jelmangku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. ‘Muda ipekom kono mo nimu ipertinokor kono turangmu idi, bamu pe aku jadi ngo.’ Bagi mo kata daberu idi. ‘Atena kita bulawan, ulang so bangku nari ngo kono.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa bulawan mo ia kunuken. ‘Muda ipertinokor kono nola ngo turangmu idi barang iperpengeahken kono aku beru ni kerangen, beru ni bargo, kena bulawanta ena mo kono. Mago mahar, mago berngin.’ Bagi mo kata daberu idi. ‘Ue’, dok Si Deang Matuan. ‘Idike inangta, asa kubere emas deket kubere oles.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa iuluken mo mi peapea. Ituduhken mo inangna bargo. ‘Ena mo inangta.’ Bagi mo dok daberu idi. ‘Ue’, dok Si Deang Matuan. Asa ibereken mo emas deket oles. Asa mongkam mo bargo idi: ‘Muda baindene mo berungku idi, ulang pengeahken kene beru ni bargo berungku idi. Si Beru Kincir gerar berungku idi.’ Bagi mo dok bargo idi. Asa iarahken Si Deang Matuan mo Si Beru Kincir mi rumah. Kenca soh ia mi rumah, menter mo merubat Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala deket Si Beru Kincir. ‘Enggo mo kenan beru ni kerangen, ale deng-

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Beru Kincir said: ‘My husband (anak namberu) must not be buried before I have come [back]. I will go and find Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Maybe I will be able to get the soul (tendi) of my husband from her. You must prepare for me: seven wrapped portions of rice, seven portions of rice flour in a leaf, seven pieces of meat, seven plaited bags, various flower(s), blackening leaves, various types of honey, sirih leaves piled up in a basket. Then I will go.’ That is what Beru Kincir said. So Aji Rangkat ni Aji prepared everything Beru Kincir had asked, and she took it all and left. She followed Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala and came upon an areca tree full of nuts. ‘Where has Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala gone from here, areca tree?’ said Beru Kincir. ‘I saw her go that way’, said the areca tree. ‘If this is what you say, you will always bear fruit and have fresh leaves’, she said. And she went on following that way. She came upon a coconut tree and asked: ‘Coconut tree, where have you seen Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go from here?’ This is what she said. ‘I saw her go there’, the coconut tree said. ‘If this is what you say, coconut tree, you will bear fruit and have fresh leaves, and be entered by spirits (begu), Muslim and Batak.’ That is what Beru Kincir said, and she wiped [her sweat], it is told, walking up. So she went, and she came across a sugarpalm. ‘Sugarpalm, where has Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala gone?’ said Beru Kincir. ‘I do not know, I have not seen anybody going’, said the sugarpalm. ‘If you do not tell me, you will not have fresh leaves after you bear fruit, you will fall down’, said Beru Kincir. She walked on and came across a figtree. ‘Figtree, where have you seen Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go from here? Tell me please’, said Beru Kincir. The figtree said: ‘I saw her going that way, walking quickly.’ ‘If you say it is like that, you will indeed become a place for spirits (begu). You will have fruits and many different birds will come to you’, said Beru Kincir. And she went on, following Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala on her way as pointed out by the figtree. Then she met a statue (pengulubalang) of Si Kawar-kawar. ‘Grandfather, where have you seen Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go from here?’ said Beru Kincir. ‘I have not noticed anyone going’, said the pengulubalang. ‘If this is what you say, speaking to me in defiance, the food you will get is what is thrown away by people.’ This is what she said to the pengulubalang.

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anku tubuh, denganku embelgah, asa terbalang aku katemu’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Deang Matuan: ‘Ulang dengkoh kono katana idi. Katangku deket kata inang deket kata bapa asa dengkohken.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan mendokken jelmana Si Beru Kincir. Asa ibahan Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari mo ngean purmainna idi. Asa ibahan Si Aji Rangkat Aji pangir pengerungkas anakna idi deket purmainna idi. Idah Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mo bacir kelang isuan i babah pentu rea. Lumebe mo Si Deang Matuan lako mi lae merpangir idi. Menter mo ipantem bacir kelang idi Si Daeng Matuan. Menter mo ibuat Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala tendi Si Deang Matuan i kalimbubuna nari, menter mo mate Si Deang Matuan. Kenca mate Si Deang Matuan, ientat deba mo mi bagas isaput bapana. Menter laus mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mi kalip-kalip ladang. Kenca laus Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, igenduren mo Si Deang Matuan i ruang tengah. Tunggari malot macik kesahna. Mada isendi ngo, tempana malot mobah. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Katera mo dok purmain nibakin Si Deang Matuan ena. Nitanem gia malot mobah tempana. Nibeli gia ibages ena, malot nenge merkesah.’ Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Mongkam mo Si Beru Kincir: ‘Ulang nitanem anak namberu hakum mada aku roh. Laus ngo aku menulus Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, tah jumpa buatenku tendi anak namberu ena bai Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala nari. Pekena kene bangku nakan pitu kepel, nitak pitung kupul, jukut pitu jambaren, ucang pitu rawanen, bunga deba, baja minak, tenggoli deba, napurun sada baka silampis, asa lako aku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Asa ipekena Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo kerina si nipengido Si Beru Kincir idi. Asa ientat mo kerina laus ia. Iekutken mo dalan Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Jumpasa mo pinang merbuah. ‘Rap dike, ale pinang, Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Rap ena ngo kuidah laus.’ Bagi mo dok pinang idi. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, tipat merbuah mo kono, merbulung menguda.’ Bagi mo nina. Asa laus nola mia iekutken dalanna idi, jumpasa mo kerambir. Ikuso nola mo: ‘Rap dike, ale kerambir, idah kono Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Rap ena ngo kuidah laus.’ Bagi mo (dok) kerambir idi. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, ale kerambir, merbuah kono, merbulung menguda, bengket bai begu, bengket bai selam, beng159

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On she went, and she met Beru Seniang Naga. ‘Where have you seen Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go, carrying off my husband?’ said Beru Kincir. ‘I do not know where she went from here’, spoke Beru Seniang Naga. ‘If you say that you have not seen her, although you have eyes, you do as though you are blind. Your bathing place will be downstream, it will not be upstream’, said Beru Kincir. Then she went on and met Beru Namora, she asked her: ‘Which way did you see Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go from here, Beru Namora?’ she said. ‘I have not seen anybody going’, Beru Namora said. ‘If you do not tell what your eyes have seen, Beru Namora, even though you say you are the daughter of a ruler, the longest tailfeather of a bird will be your share when an offering is made for the spirits (kemban), you will not share in eating the meat’, Beru Kincir said. Then she went on and met a tiger. ‘Oh tiger, where have you seen Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala go from here?’ thus spoke Beru Kincir. ‘I am afraid to tell, I have made a promise. If someone would come to follow her, she said I should kill him. That’s it, Beru Kincir. I will not kill you, but I can really not tell you which way [she went]’, the tiger said. ‘Please tell me, tiger, here is your reward. You must tell me. She has acted against the law, taking her brother as her husband’, said Beru Kincir. ‘If this is what you say, give me the meat to eat. She went that way’, said the tiger. And she went on following that way. When she came to the village where Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala was staying, she found all sorts of stinging insects waiting on the road. When she arrived, the insects swarmed around Beru Kincir wanting to sting her. ‘Do not sting me, bees, I am carrying out the law, I am looking for my husband’s soul, which has been taken by Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala.’ Thus spoke Beru Kincir. ‘If this is what you say, what is our reward for letting you go?’, said the bees. Then Beru Kincir gave honey and flowers to the bees. On went Beru Kincir. She arrived at the entrance of the main gate where she found a group of seven young men. When they saw Beru Kincir, these seven men drew their swords in order to kill her. ‘Do not kill me, brothers. Let us talk first so that you will know the sin of Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. She took her own brother as husband. Her mother forbade her, saying: “it is not in accordance with the law”. When the husband took me for his wife, we quarrelled. And when she saw that the wedding ceremony was made for me, we quarrelled again. She made a trap of 160

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ket mi Batak.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir iapus kunuken lako mi datas. Asa laus mo ia. Jumpasa nola mo pola. ‘Rap dike, ale pola, Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Malot kubetoh, tah ise laus, malot kuidah’. Bagi mo dok pola idi. ‘Muda mada ngo ibagahken kono bangku, merkalto kenca kono, menter malot ne merbulung menguda, rubuh mo.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kincir. Asa lako mo ia. Jumpasa nola kayuara. ‘Rap dike, ale kayuara, idah kono Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala? Bagahken bangku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Rap ena ngo kuidah laus merlojang.’ Bagi mo dok kayuara idi. ‘Muda bagi ma ngo nimu, ale kayuara, jadi midi. Bekas ni begu kono. Merbuah kenca perpulungen manuk-manuk.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Asa laus nola mo, iekutken ituduhken kayu ara idi dalan Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala idi. Jumpasa nola mo pengulubalang si kawar-kawar. ‘Rap dike idah kono Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, ale empung?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Malot kalak kutulutken laus.’ Bagi mo dok pengulubalang si kawar-kawar idi. ‘Muda bagi ngo katamu, embisa pe kono nimu, si nipistiken ni deba kono asa merorih panganen.’ Bagi mo nina mendokken pengulubalang idi. Laus ia, jumpasa nola mo Beru Seniang Naga. ‘Rap dike idah kono Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala ibabana niukatku mangan?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Malot kubetoh rap dike kalak laus.’ Bagi mo dok Beru Seniang Naga idi. ‘Muda mada nimu kalak idah kono, mermata pe kono pekamat somada mermata ngo kono. Ijehen tapin bekasmu. Ulang kono mi julun tapin.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kincir. Asa laus nola mo ia. Jumpasa nola mo Beru Namora, ikuso nola mo. ‘Rap dike dalan Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala idah kono, ale Beru Namora?’ nina. ‘Malot kupidah-idah mengelaus.’ Bagi mo dok Beru Namora idi. ‘Muda mada ngo ibagahken kono nidah ni matamu, Beru Namora, ni raja pe kono nimu, muda mere kemban, lawi manuk kanca jambarmu. Malot kono jadi deket mangan sukana.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Asa laus nola mia. Jumpasa nola mo biahat. ‘Rap dike idah kono, ale biahat, Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Embiar aku magahken, ipadani aku enggo. Muda roh nina si mengekutkensa, bunuh nina. Ena pe, ale Beru Kincir. Malot kono kubunuh giam, ulang kubagahken dalanna.’ Bagi mo dok biahat idi.

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sharp sand in the entrance gate, and the sharp sand pierced her brother’s footsole. Then she took his soul from the top of his head and carried it away. Then I followed her until here.’ This is what Beru Kincir said. ‘If this is your story, sister, what is our reward, what excuse do we have for not keeping our promise to Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala?’, the young men said. ‘This is your reward, brothers, rice and seven plaited bags, one for each of you’, said Beru Kincir. Then these seven young men accepted the reward, and Beru Kincir went to the house. When she arrived at the house where Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala was staying, she stood still in the middle of the village square (kesean). She inspected the houses of all the inhabitants of the village, wondering in which one Si Deang Matuan would be staying. A firefly came and perched on Beru Kincir’s shoulder. ‘Why do you stand still in the middle of the square? What have you come to find here?’, said the firefly. ‘I am looking for what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala has carried away.’ ‘If this is in fact your husband, tell me first what you will give me as a reward, then I will show you.’ Thus spoke the firefly, and Beru Kincir gave it honey. When she had given the honey, the firefly showed her the house where Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala was staying. ‘There is Si Deang Matuan under that raised seat. Take it quickly, before Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala will come back from the river.’ Thus spoke the firefly. Then Beru Kincir took the soul of Si Deang Matuan and went home. When Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala felt that she had been separated from her own blood, she returned home. She found that he had been taken away by Beru Kincir and followed her. When Beru Kincir arrived at her village, she put Si Deang Matuan’s soul into his mouth, and he ate. After he had taken food, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala arrived. ‘Give [me] my husband, Beru Kincir’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘For me he is not your husband, for me he is your brother. He would be a stranger to me if he would be your husband.’ This is how Beru Kincir answered. ‘Come here, my twin-brother’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘You are not my wife, she is my wife’, said Si Deang Matuan. ‘If you do not want to be my husband any more, because she has become your wife, this jungle girl, tell this wife of yours to come down [the stairs] so that I can fight with her. Come down, you bargo-girl, jungle-girl, swamp-girl.’ Thus spoke Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then Beru Kincir said: ‘What do you think, mother-in-law, and you also, my father-in law, should I oppose my sister-in-law who wants to 162

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‘Bagahken bangku, ale biahat. En bamu upahmu. Bagahken bangku. Si somada hukum ngo si nibakinna idi, turangna mahan niukatna.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. ‘Muda bagi ngo nimu, niang mo jukut idi asa kupangan. Rap ena mia.’ Bagi mo dok biahat idi. Asa lako mia mengekutken idi. Mendapetken kuta bekas Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala idi mo idapet nasa gumana pineren mema i dalan idi. Roh kenca mo Si Beru Kincir, mercembur mo pineren idi naing menoro Si Beru Kincir. ‘Ulang aku isoro kono, ale pineren. Hukum ngo si kuperdalani. Menulus tendi anak namberu iku ibabaken Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala.’ Bagi mo (dok) Si Beru Kincir. ‘Muda bagi katamu, kade upahnami, asa kudue kami kono laus?’ Bagi mo dok pineren idi. Asa ibereken Si Beru Kincir mo tenggoli deket bunga pahpah pineren idi. Laus mo Si Beru Kincir. Soh ia i babah pentu rea idapet mo daholi anak perana pitu kalak. Idah kenca mo Si Beru Kincir, menter mersisintak golokna si pitu kalak idi naing ibunuh Si Beru Kincir. ‘Ulang aku ibunuh kono, ale turang. Merkata kita lebeken, asa betoh kono jahat Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, turangna mahan niukatna.’ Menggera mo inangna: ‘Malot jadi bagi hukum’, nina. Ibuat anak namberu idi mo aku mahan jelmana, menter mo merubat kami. Idah kenca aku mahan pangir pengerungkasi, merubat nola mo kami. Itogong bacir kelang i babah pentu rea, menter mo ipantem bacir kelang idi pegu nehe turangna idi, menter ibuat tendina i kalimbubuna nari, ibabaken, menter kuekutken misenda, ale turang’. Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kincir. ‘Muda bagi ngo sukutenmu ale tang, kade upahnami, kade cidalihinnami ulang kena kata kami ibakin Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala.’ Bagi mo kata anak perana idi. ‘Ena mo upahendene, ale turang, nakan deket ucang pitu rawanen, tersada kene si pitu idi.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kincir. Asa ijalo anak perana si pitu kalak idi mo upahna idi. Lako mo Si Beru Kincir mi rumah. Kenca soh ia mi rumah bekas Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, menter mo cender ia i tengah kesean. Itengeni mo bagas kerina nasa si ni bagasen kuta idi, tah apai bekas Si Deang Matuan di katena. Roh mo kelompetpet, menter mo senggep ia i bara Si Beru Kincir: ‘Kasa kom kono i tengah kesean ena. Kade si nitulusenmu misenda?’ Bagi mo dok kelompetpet idi. ‘Menulus nientat Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala.’

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destroy me?’ That is what Beru Kincir said. Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘Oh bride, if you will cause the death of Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, let it be. We are very ashamed that her rules do not agree with everybody else’s.’ That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. So Beru Kincir went down into the village square. Then Beru Kincir was slapped in the face by Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Beru Kincir hit her back, and was slapped again by Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. After they had slapped they pinched each other, then they kicked each other. When they were tired from kicking they stabbed each other, neither of them was wounded. Then they wrestled, rolling over in the middle of the yard, neither of them suffered defeat. Beru Kincir had a bad taste in her mouth. ‘I want to chew betel, mother-in-law (namberu)’, she said. Then Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari put a quid into the mouth of Beru Kincir. ‘My mouth has a bad taste, mother (nang), give me a quid’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Go up [into the house] yourself and tell the servant that you need a quid, daughter (inang)’, said Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘I am thirsty, mother-in-law, please give me water to drink’, said Beru Kincir, and Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari gave her a drink. ‘I am thirsty, mother, give me water to drink’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘There is no water, daughter. First our servant must come from the river, then there will be water that I can give you, daughter. At the moment there is no water to give you. First my servant must go to the river, so that there will be water’, said Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘I am hungry, mother-in-law, give me food’, said Beru Kincir. Then she was given food, cooked rice was put into the mouth of the bride. ‘I am hungry, mother’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘The rice that we have spread out is not yet dry and my servant has not yet pounded it, there is no rice that can be cooked and eaten, daughter’, said Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. They continued to wrestle for seven days and nights, it is told. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said: ‘I have become tired, mother. You should mediate between us.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. And Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari spoke: ‘I will find you a husband, daughter. Don’t fight with your sister-in-law; stop having your brother as your husband. You should be married here.’ That is what Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari said.

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‘Muda idi ngo kepeken si nitongkirmu, aku betoh-betohen. Kade bakin kono upahku, asa kutuduhken.’ Bagi mo dokken kelompetpet idi. Ibereken Si Beru Kincir mo tenggoli. Kenca ibereken tenggoli idi, asa iuluken kalempetpet idi mo mi bagas bekas Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala idi. ‘Ena mo Si Deang Matuan i teruh pentas ena. Buat tor, ulang roh nola nahan Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala i lae nari.’ Bagi dok kalompetpet idi. Menter mo ibuat Si Beru Kincir tendi Si Deang Matuan idi, menter ia molih. Menter mo sursar iakap Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala darohna, menter mia molih mi rumah. Idapet mo enggo ibuat Si Beru Kincir. Menter mo iekutken Si Beru Kincir. Kenca soh mi kutana Si Beru Kincir, menter mo ibakin i babah Si Deang Matuan tendina, menter mo kudap Si Deang Matuan. Kenca kudap Si Deang Matuan, menter mo roh Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Niang niukatku mangan idi, ale Beru Kincir.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Malot bangku niukatmu mangan. Turangmu ngo bangku. Bayongku ngo muda niukatmu’. Bagi mo pengaloi Si Beru Kincir. ‘Mari kono, ale denganku tubuh.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Otang kono jelmangku. Ena ngo enggo jelmangku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Deang Matuan. ‘Muda malot kono enggeut nenge mahan niukatku, bakin enggo idi lot jelmamu, beru ni kerangen idi, dokken mo susur jelmamu idi, asa kualo merubat. Susur kono beru ni bargo, beru ni kerangen, beru ni pea-pea.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Kincir: ‘Katera namberu katendene, barang mamberu gia, barang kono si dasa turang gia, jadi kualo edangku si mermengeahken aku idi?’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Alo purmain, barang mate bakin purmain Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, jadi ngo. Melasu mo kita malot bage hukum sinterem hukumna.’ Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa susur mo Si Beru Kincir mi kesean. Menter mo iparap Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala Si Beru Kincir. Menter mo ibales Si Beru Kincir, menter iparap nola Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Kenca iparap, menter mo ia mersigetuken, menter ia mersitunjangen. Kenca leja mersitunjangen, menter ia mersitampulen, malot samah ugahen. Menter mo ia merakep, mergiling-giling i tengah kesean, malot lebeken mersitalun.

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Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘Mother, my feelings tell me that what you say cannot happen. I remember that we were born together and that we grew up together. I do not allow another person to be his wife, it should be me.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. ‘If this is what you say, I don’t know [how] to mediate between you and your sister-in-law’, said Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. So she continued to wrestle, it is told, rolling over for seven days and seven nights without stopping, all the time she did not eat. Beru Kincir did eat and take sirih every day. [But] even when Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala asked for water, her mother did not want to give it to her. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala addressed the onlookers as follows: ‘My own mother and father, people, do not want to give me any food whatsoever. You should give me the same food as my opponant in the fight; give me water and a quid too. People, please take pity upon me. ‘Don’t you give it to her’, Aji Rangkat ni Aji whispered. So the people said: ‘We don’t want to give you food, oh Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, it is up to your parents to feed you. We will not give it to you, [because] we are afraid that your parents will be angry with us.’ That is what the people said to Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. And Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘If none of you gives me food, you should just intercede between us to end our fight’. That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. ‘Listen, if you say that we, the people, must intercede for you, you must take another man for your husband, do not have your own brother for your husband. Nobody has ever had a law like that’, the people said. ‘I hear that you are not going tor intercede either’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then she told her father Aji Rangkat ni Aji to intercede. ‘Mediate between us, father, I have become tired, I am hungry. You have not even given me any water to drink since we started fighting. To my enemy you gave food, you gave quids, you gave water. Why have you not given anything to me?’ This is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji spoke: ‘I [shall] mediate if you agree that the law is that a daughter must be given in marriage (nipejaheken), and a son must give a brideprice (niperunjukken) to marry’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. ‘I hear that you are not going to intercede. You do not know how to pass judgment, none of you who I told to intercede. [So] I will make an end to the fighting myself. I have become tired of fighting. I feel that I will be the loser because I had nothing to eat.’ This is what Beru Tinggi 166

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Embari mo babah Si Beru Kincir. ‘Marapurun aku namberu’, nina. Menter mo isulangken Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari napurun bai Si Beru Kincir. ‘Embari babahku, ale nang. Bere napurun aku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Menangkih denga nahan naposo nidokken, asa lot napurun, ale inang.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Muas maku, ale namberu, pinumi lae maku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Menter mo ipinumi Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Muas aku, ale nang, pinumi lae aku’, dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Malot lae, inang. Lebeken roh mo nahan naposonta i lae nari, asa lot lae berenkenku bamu, ale inang. Karangken ena malot lae berenken bamu. Lebe mi lae nahan naposongku asa lot lae.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. ‘Melehe aku, ale namberu. Bere panganen aku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kincir. Menter mo ibereken panganen isulangken bai purmainna idi nakan. ‘Melehe maku, ale nang’, dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Malot denga tasak cinarta, malot menutu denga naposongku, malot beras dakanen mahan panganen, ale inang.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Iendengken mo kunuken merakep pitu ari pitu berngin. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Enggo maku leja, ale nang. Telahi kene mo kami’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari: ‘Kupejaheken kono, ale inang. Ulang ngo irubati kono edamu idi. Ulang mo tipat niukatmu mangan nimu turangmu idi. Perbayonmu ngidi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Malot jadi dok penarihinku katamu idi, ale nang. Kuenget ngo denganku tubuh, kuenget ngo denganku embelgah. Malot kudue kalak merniukatken mangan idi. Aku ngo asa jadi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Muda bagi ngo nimu, ale inang, malot kubetoh menelahi kene deket edamu idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Tapi Sindar Mata ni Ari. Asa iendengken mo kunuken merakep, gahgah mergiling-giling si pitu ari si pitu berngin idi, malot mangan tunggari. Si Beru Kincir genep ari ngo mangan deket marapurun. Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala lae pe ipengido malot enggeut inangna idi mereken.

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Seribu Tala said. ‘How is your law to end the fighting yourself ? Tell us so that we know’, said the people. ‘If you want me to let you know how to put an end to our fighting, you must tell everybody, all my relatives, to assemble in the middle of the village square’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji called all the relatives to the village square. When all of them were assembled, the people said: ‘What law have you made, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala? Our eyes are tired from watching you and our ears are tired from hearing your screams while fighting.’ Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said: ‘If all of you, my relatives, are assembled here below, tell my opponent in the fight that I am stopping, so that we will talk’. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji spoke: ‘Daughter-in-law, please stop now, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala will put an end to the fight’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said to his daughter-in-law Beru Kincir. ‘Alright’, said the daughter-in-law, and both of them stopped. After they had stopped, Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘You should speak to us, we are listening to your rules’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. And Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘You must prepare a male pig for me with nakan sinube-sube’. This is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘What is this nakan sinube-sube daughter? You must tell me, so that I know what to do.’ That is what her father said. ‘So to explain what is called nakan sinube-sube, this is made with pumpkin seeds, banana, yam and sweet potato (lupo) and different spices that are used to cook rice.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said, and again Aji Rangkat ni Aji said: ‘What else besides that, tell me everything, so that we know what to collect’. That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. Then she told everything Aji Rangkat ni Aji had to prepare: ‘When you make a statue you should prepare seven side dishes. You make it complete with ginger wrapped up in leaves, plain fish, a railing of flowers, one blooming hibiscus, one sugarpalm, a tube of seven bamboo joints, one bamboo fence, a square of sirih leaves with stalks, shining with rice flour, a square of folded sirih leaves, a square of rolled up leaves, yellow rice that was flavoured seven times seven to ward off evil spirits and one selungsung of cooked rice. When everything I told you is there, the male pig is cooked smeared with blood, roasted, [and] cut up with spices. You prepare it finely chopped, cut into pieces, to pay the parents, to pay the wife-givers (perbenan), to pay the wife-takers (nianakken). Make a mark (kilapah) with a sprouting stalk. After all I have said is there, our fight is over. I will always 168

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Asa bai sinterem nola mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mendok kata: ‘Bang ale sinterem, inang deket bapa malot enggeut mereken barang panganen kade. Sada alongku merubat ena ngo kanca ibere kene panganen aku deket bere kene lae deket napurun. Masih atendene midah aku, ale sinterem.’ ‘Ulang bereken kene.’ Bagi mo iobitken Si Aji Rangkat Aji bibirna. Asa mongkam mo sinterem: ‘Malot kami enggeut mereken panganen bamu, ale Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Panganen kade pe lot ngo jumpa partuamu. Mada naing ibereken ngo bamu. Embiar kami ipusuhi partuamu.’ Bagi mo dok sinterem mendokken Si Beru Tinggi SeribuTala. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Muda ise pe kene malot bere aku panganen, telahi kene mo kami giamken, asa kom rubatnami ena’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Muda telahnami sinterem mo nimu idengkoh kono, anak laki sideban mo mahan niukatmu, ulang turangmu idi mahan niukatmu. Malot madun hukum nise bagidi.’ Bagi mo kata sinterem. ‘Malot jadi telahendene idi kubege denga.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa idokken nola ia telahi bapana Si Aji Rangkat Aji. ‘Telah kami, ale pa. Enggo maku leja, enggo maku melehe. Lae pe malot kuinum giamken kenca nari kami merubat ibaing kene. Alongku merubat ena bere kene panganen, ibere kene napurun, ibere kene lae. Aku kade pe malot ibereken kene bangku.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Muda iuei kene ngo telahku, hukum ni beru nipejaheken, hukum ni anak niperunjukken’. Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Malot jadi kubege telahendene. Ise pe kene kudokken menelahi kami, malot ibetoh kene mendabuh hukum. Aku mo menelahi diringku. Enggo maku leja merubat ena. Enggeut talu maku kuakap bakin malot mangan idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Katera mo hukummu menelahi dirimu. Bagahken mo asa kubetoh kami.’ Bagi mo dok sinterem. ‘Muda naing mo ibetoh kene kepaten rubatnami ena, dokken kene mo kerina pulung nasa kade-kadengku mi tengah kesean ena.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa iarahken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo nasa kade-kadena mi kesean. Kenca kerina pulung: ‘Katera mo hukum, ale Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, ibakin kono. Enggo peahen matanami 169

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remember that my brother became my husband.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. After Aji Rangkat ni Aji had made everything, it was arranged on a winnowing basket [covered] with young bamboo leaves. When he finished arranging the food, he invited Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Here daughter, we have done everything as you told us. Please eat [it]’, said Aji Rangkat ni Aji. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘All of you must come here. First we sit facing the rice, and I first tell father to tell the story’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. And all the inhabitants of the village came together. After all of them were sitting together in a circle, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala asked Si Deang Matuan for a [piece of] iron a cubit long. She asked a mat from Beru Kincir, a bag of cooked rice, six selup of raw rice, and seven quids of sirih ready to be eaten. So Si Deang Matuan gave her the iron, and Beru Kincir gave her the six selup of raw rice, the bag of cooked rice and the seven quids ready to be eaten. When Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala had received it, she gave one quid to her father, Aji Rangkat ni Aji, one to the wife-givers, one to the wifetakers, one to the person giving the festive speech, one to the elders, one to the sprout, one to the stalk, and one quid was left. When all the quids had been distributed, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘Oh father, give a speech, tell me the story of the origin of grandfather having a child and you marrying mother and how I was born and you brought us to the river, so that I know. When you have told it and I know everthing, the food you have prepared will be eaten.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. Then Aji Rangkat ni Aji told the story. After he had told it, they ate the rice that was prepared. When it had been eaten, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke: ‘You should address me in a speech, and I will reply to it’. This is what she said. So Aji Rangkat ni Aji gave a speech: ‘Well, the rice and the meat have been eaten, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Don’t you become angry any more when you see your sister-in-law. Remember that Deang Matuan is your brother. He is married to her. You must not speak improper words to her.’ These were Aji Rangkat ni Aji’s words. ‘Yes, father’, said Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘What else do you have to say daughter, say it, so that we know.’ That is what Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke the [following] words: ‘I am no longer your child. I will become a spirit 170

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pidah-idah kene deket penggelnami pedengkoh-dengkoh soraendene merubat idi.’ Bagi mo dok sinterem. ‘Muda enggo kerina pulung kene nasa kade-kadengku mi teruh ena, dokken kene mo alongku merubat ena, asa kom aku, asa merkata kita.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Kom mo lebeken purmain, asa ibakin Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala kepaten rubatendene idi’. Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji mendokken purmainna Si Beru Kincir. ‘Ue’, dok purmainna idi. Asa samah kom mo ia. Kenca kom mo ia, asa merkata mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Katakan kene mo kubege kami hukumendene’. Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Pekena kene mo bangku babi tonggal sada merdengan nakan sinube-sube bakin kene’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Katera nakan sinube-sube, ale inang, bagahken kene bangku, asa kubetoh bahanenku’. Bagi mo dok bapana idi. ‘Asa ibagahken mo nakan sinube-sube gerarna merdengan motik tabunggala, merdengan galuh, merdengan obi deket lupe [?] baubaun nasa gumana baubaun nisiran merdakan idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam nola mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Kade deba denganna, bagahken kene mo kerina, asa kubetoh kami pepulungennami’. Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa ibagahken mo kerina si pekenan Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Mergana-gana bakin kene pelangkahna idi pitu merhembun-hembun. Kubakin kene merbahing bulung-bulungen, merikan cayur, meraman bunga-bunga, merbunga-bunga kembang sipatu sada, merpola sada, jantar pitu ngawan, buluh merkurung-kurungen sada, mernapurun rayung-rayungen merbecih mernitak si empat soki, mernapurun kiniripit si empat soki, mersumpilang si empat soki, merpeleng pepolih pertambar kengalen pitu kali pitu puru mernakan selungsung sada. Kenca lot idi kerina nasa si kubagahken idi, asa ipertasak mo babi tonggal idi merdinarohen, merdinalangen, mersalintoktok. Mernirabar mo bakin kene, merniadepen, merupah sintua, merupah perbenan, merupah nianakken. Mermil serungkung bakin si kilapah idi. Kenca lot kerina si nidokken idi, pate ngo rubatnami ena. Kuenget ngo tunggari mahan niukatku mangan denganku tubuh idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala idi.

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(begu). From now on I will be Beru Si Pitu for the people, a sigunja spirit [who kills women in labour] looking for my husband, causing people to lose their child. If I am not implored and given a nice offering once every three years, I will torture people with their richess [offspring].’ These were Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala’s words. And Aji Rangkat ni Aji spoke: ‘What must people prepare as an offering for you, so you should not cause sorrow in the future?’ Aji Rangkat ni Aji said. Then Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala instructed him: ‘In order to protect them, [they should] offer me brown chickens, a rooster and a hen. The rooster is the part of the women, the hen is for the men. Once the coloured (sinube-sube) birds are assembled, the musical instruments (kerajat) are played, then the guru tells the story after the offerings have been placed, and the food is eaten. If people lose a child, and mother and child have both died, people [should] take a sapling of a banyan tree for the burial ritual (menuanken cilaka). If [it is] a sapling of a fig tree, [also] have a plow and a fishtrap, low bushes and medicinal herbs [used by women after childbirth]. Certainly use one cup, a cupak of raw rice for the beras banu offering, a chickens’ egg, an unfolded betel leaf [offered to dangerous spirits], a crushed betel leaf, leaves for tooth-blackening and different flowers. After that, dig [a hole] in the earth. When you think that the plants can enter, say that the gendang si empat kali [a special type of drum played for small family and agricultural rituals] must be played, and the guru [should] pray to me, my name must be predicted in the guru’s prayers. Then you plant [the tree] and shout ‘oang’. When you have planted and washed the foot of the tree, the guru chants a prayer (mangmang) over the male pig. After the chanting, the guru gives the beras banu to the pig. Then it is slaughtered and cooked. The person dividing the meat in various [portions] should not break the bones; the divisions must be marked, to make portions for the people. When the meat and the sinube-sube rice have been cooked, these are placed near the foot of the planted tree. Assemble all the musical instruments (kerajat). When [the offerings] have been placed, play music. The soul (tendi) of the deceased child should be invoked. When the soul of the deceased child has been invoked, the spirits (sumangen) of the ancestors should be invoked. After that, I should be invoked [by] my elder relatives. All those who have invoked dance [for]

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Kenca jadi kerina ibahan Si Aji Rangkat Aji, asa ihantari mo enderu merbulung urtup. Kenca sun ihantari, asa iarahken mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Ena mo ale inang, enggo jadi kubahan kami nasa si nidokkenmidi. Pangan mo’, dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Mari mo kene kerina. Adep-adepi kita lebeken nakan ena, asa kudokken lebeken bapa mersukuten.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa pulung mo kunuken kerina ia sada kuta idi. Kenca pulung mercingko ia kerina, asa ipengido Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala bai Si Deang Matuan nari besi siasta. Ipengido bai Si Beru Kincir nari belagen sada, bakal kembal sada, page enem selup, napurun tinasaken pitu babombaka. Asa ibereken Si Deang Matuan mo besi, ibereken Si Beru Kincir mo page enem selup idi deket baka kembal idi, deket napurun tinasaken si pitu babombaka idi. Kenca ijalo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala, ibereken mo napurun idi sada babombaka bai bapana, Si Aji Rangkat Aji, ibereken sada babombaka bai perbenana, sada babombaka bai nianakken, sada babombaka bai si sahutken kerjana, sada babombaka bai sintua, sada babombaka bai milna, sada babombaka bai rungkungna, sada babombaka na tading. Kenca kerina ipedalan parapurun idi, asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Sahutken mo, ale pa, mula ni empung tubuhen anak deket kono memuat inang ena deket tubuhku deket kami ibaba kono mi lae nari mo sukutken bangku, ale pa, asa kubetoh. Kenca isukutken kono pe kerina kubetoh, asa jadi panganen si nihantaren ena.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa isukutken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo. Kenca isukutken, asa ipangan mo nakan nihantaren idi. Kenca salpun ipangan, asa mongkam mo Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala: ‘Sahutken kene mo aku, asa ku aloi sahutendene idi’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa isahutken Si Aji Rangkat Aji mo: ‘Enggo mo sipangan nakan deket jukut, ale Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Ulang nenge mo roh pusuhmu midah edamu idi. Enget mo turangmu si Deang Matuan. Perbayonmu idi. Malot jadi kono merkata berangsi misendi.’ Bagi mo kata Si Aji Rangkat Aji. ‘Ue, ale pa’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Kade denga katanta, ale inang. Kataken mo, asa kubetoh kami’. Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa idokken Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mo katana: ‘Otang aku parangenmu nenge. Menjadi begu maku. 173

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the food and the planted tree. Then the planted [tree] is made to grow for me. ‘Oh Beru Si Pitu, this is the place of the deceased child. Please do not cause us sorrow. Here we have planted a place for you to stay.’ These are the words you should speak to me after you have invoked me.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. ‘After having danced for me, all the organisors of the ceremony should sit in a circle facing the rice that has been prepared. Then it must be announced that the story is told from father’s origin until my arrival. After the guru has told about the beginning when grandfather married, about father marrying mother, my birth, until my quarrel with Beru Kincir, he also tells about the end of our fight. When everything has been told, the chant for the nakan tendi offering must be chanted. When this has been chanted, and the chant to ward off spirits that cause the death of babies (pertambar kengalen), then the meat of the ritual animal to make the statue is eaten. When everybody has eaten this meat, the yellow rice that was perfumed seven times seven is eaten. When all have finished eating the yellow rice, the [rest of the] prepared food is eaten. Those who are eating must not drop [any] crumbs [when] putting rice into the mouth with their hands. The food must be carried with the four [fingers]. If the si empat kali [players] leave remnants they are wrong in doing that. When the rice has been eaten, the people are given food; everybody is given his share of the meat. When all have eaten the guru is given a fee of one mat, a bag of cooked rice, [and] six selup of raw rice. The fee for the sibaso is one mat, a cupak of yellow rice, a portion of the food, a cutting of the pig’s cheek, a cutting of the middle bone. That is the fee for the sibaso. A bag of cooked rice, a middle bone with the portion of meat that comes with it is the fee for the gendang players. The fee for the sarune player is the cheek of the animal with a portion of rice, that is the sarune player’s fee. One cutting of the middle bone is the fee for the wife-givers. One cutting is the fee for the person giving the speech. After all the fees have been distributed to the people, the total amount that has been spent to make this feast is determined. After it has been established, a period of rest (rebu-rebun) for eight nights is announced. Everybody must keep it. If there are people breaking the rebu-rebun, the planting and all the work done by the people who organised the ritual is in vain, and what was done by the organisors, the feast and what was planted. So, if people do not want to pay, and even are against it, the or174

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Aku mo kembali Beru Si Pitu ni kalak i podin datang segen. Sigunja mo kutulus mahan niukatku mangan, cilaka ni kalak. Muda malot aku pengke ialop-alop ibere telu tahun sikali, meniksa ngo aku mi cinametna, meniksa jelma.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Asa mongkam mo Si Aji Rangkat Aji: ‘Ulang kono mahan persakitin katera ibakin deba segen mere kene’. Bagi mo dok Si Aji Rangkat Aji. Asa itenahi Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mo. ‘Muda pangirin kalak, ibere mo kami manuk embara, sabungan sada, manuk beru-beru sada. Si kira alah daberu manuk sabungan, manuk beru-beru si kira alah daholi. Manuk sinube-sube kin kuh mo ibakin kerajatna, asa ituriken guru kenca ihantari, asa ipangan si panganen idi. Muda cilakan kalak mermaten anakna deket beruna. Menuanken cilaka kalak, ibuat mo anak beringin. Muda anak kayu ara (sa) mertinggal mertanggal sipilit merturbangen. Mernatan idi cawan sada, beras sicupak mahan beras banu, tinaruh manuk sada, mernapurun penter sada, mernapurun kiniripit sada, merbaja minak, merbunga-bunga. Kenca bagi, asa nikurak mo tanoh. Nikira-kira siat kenca sinuan idi, asa merkata mo ibakin gendang si empat kali, asa isodipken guru mo bangku, isurirang mo gerarku menodipken idi guru idi. Kenca isurirang, asa isuan mo, merolop menuan idi. Kenca salpun isuan iborihi benana idi, asa imangmangi guru mo babi tonggal idi. Kenca imangmangi guru, asa iberas banu guru idi mo babi idi, asa iseat, asa ipertasak mo. Ibakin pande jukut idi ragam-ragamenna ulang engkeah tulan jukut idi ibakin pekilapan mahan pedalanen, mahan jambar ni deba. Kenca tasak ibakin jukut idi, tasak nakan sinube-sube, asa ihantari mo i lambung bena sinuan idi. Kuh mo ibakin nasa kerajatna idi. Kenca sun ihantari, asa mergendang mo. Nipesiar mo tendi si cilaka idi. Kenca nipesiar tendi si cilakan idi, asa ipesiar mo sumangen ni empungna. Kenca ipesiar sumangan ni empungna, asa ipesiar mo aku, partuaku sebeltek. Kerina ngidi siar menataki nakan idi deket sinuan idi. Asa iturahken mo sinuanna idi bai kami. ‘Ena mo, ale Beru Si Pitu, bekas cilaka. Ulang kono mahan persakitin bangku. Ena mo kusuan bekasmu.’ Bagi mo kata magahken bainami ipesiar kenca kami’. Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Kenca salpun kutataki kami, asa mercingko mo kerina nasa sukut idi iadep-adep nakan si nihantaren idi. Asa idokken mo ituriken permungkahen bai bapa(na) nari soh bangku ituriken.

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ganisors of the feast will win. Those who break the rebu-rebun are wrong. If people oppose [it] their debt will be larger.’ These were the words Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala spoke to Aji Rangkat ni Aji. ‘Do not forget all my instructions to you, so that you will feel happy, father. Teach it to Deang Matuan, so that he will teach it to his children later. All the future generations of Dairi [people] who have a wife must give an offering to Beru Si Pitu, just once every three years it should be given to me. If they do not give us an offering once every three years we will cause misfortune in the fields or in the house, we cause misfortune so the people will make a feast.’ This is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. ‘If you remember to give us an offering once every three years, those who have offered to me will not have misfortune, misfortune will not come to people when they meet with potential danger. This is my rule, Deang Matuan. You must remember to offer to me everything as I instructed you. Then the guru tells the story, he tells about grandfather and father, then about Si Deang Matuan, until myself and Beru Kincir. After everything has been told, the pertambar kengalen spell (tabas) must be uttered. After that the guru does the chant (mamang) for the nakan tendi. This is how our fight with Beru Kincir ends’, Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. ‘Now I am going away to my village, to the desolate areas, to quiet places in the fields. I am no longer a human being, I have become a begu.’ That is what Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala said. Then she flew away, longing to be there, they say. Thus is the beginning, it is told, of the Dairi people’s [offering to] Beru Si Pitu. From ancient times until now people have been told to plant what is called a beringin tepet cilaka, to perform a ritual once in every three years offering a male pig, to make an offering of planting [a tree] for the death of young children, every three years. What is offered is rice flour (ugup pagen), one chicken’s egg, one fish, plain cooked rice with the egg and the fish. When the ugup pagen has been offered, then the rice container (cupak) is filled with water instead of rice and the rice [flour] is mixed with the water. When it has been mixed the banyan tree for deceased children (beringin tepet cilaka) is cleaned with it. After the cleaning the rest of the mixture is carried home and all the marga relatives (sibeltek) drink it to purify themselves. So, every year it is done, it is done like that by all those who are planting, that is what the Pakpak people’s tepet cilaka is like, oh raja. 176

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Kenca ituriken guru pemungkahen ni empung merunjuk soh bai bapa merunjuk memuat inang, soh i pertubuhku, soh mi perubaten deket Si Beru Kincir ena ituriken deket kepaten rubatnami ena, kenca ituriken kerina, asa imangmangken mangmang nakan tendi. Kenca salpun imangmang nakan tendi, asa mangmang pertambar kengalen, asa ipangan mo jukut i pelangkah-pelangkah mergana-gana idi. Kenca kerina ipangan jukut merpelangkah-pelangkah merganagana idi, asa ipangan mo peleng si nipurpur pitu kali pitu idi. Kenca keri ipangan peleng idi kerina, ipangan nakan si nihantaren idi. Ulang pisik ibakin si mangan idi mengalbak nakan idi ia. Ientat si empat ngalbak idi. Muda pisik ngi mengalbak idi mi empat kali idi pelak sibakinken pisik idi. Kenca salpun ipangan nakan idi, asa ibere panganen mo sinterem. Ibereken mo jambar sinterem jambar jukut. Kenca salpun mangan kerina asa ibereken mo upah guru belagen sada, baka kembal sada, page enem selup. Upah sibaso belagen sada, peleng sicupak, beras nakan singkepel, pipi babi simpenggel, tulan tengah simpenggel. Upah sibaso midi. Baka kembal sada, tulan tengah jukut idi rangrang denganna. idi upah mergendang. Upah menurune kurun ni jukut idi deket nakan singkepel. Upah menurune idi. Tulan tengah simpenggel upah perbenan. Simpenggel upah si sahutken kata. Kenca merdalan kerina perupahi ni deba, asa niharga nasa si keri ibakin kerjana si sikali idi. Kenca niarga, nibagahken mo rebu-rebun ualuh berngin. Irubati pe kalak malot jadi. Irubati deba pe sukut idi malot jadi. Muda lot kalak mengkeahken rebu-rebun idi pesuangenna nasa si keri nibakin ni sukut menuan cilaka idi, asa ibahan sukut idi nola ikerjai nola si nisuanna. Ia muda malot kalak enggeut menggarar, nialo pe kalak mergeraha, menang ngo sukut ni kerja idi. Si keahken rebun-rebun idi ngo talu. Pebelgahken utangna ngo kalak muda ialo’. Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala mendokken Si Aji Rangkat Aji. ‘Ulang kene lupa nasa tenahku idi, asa senang iakap kene, ale pa. Ajarken nola mo bai Si Deang Matuan, asa iajarken Si Deang Matuan nola segen bai anakna. Genep ngo segen nasa peparen Dairi merjelma kenca kalak ibere Beru Si Pitu telu tahun sikali ibere kami. Muda malot kami ibere telu tahun sikali kubahan kami datang-datangen i juma, barang i bagasna kubakin kami datang-datangen asa merkerja kalak’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala.

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‘Muda ienget ngo kami, ibere telu tahun sikali dumatang pe datangdatang malot ijaya idi bainami ibereken, ulang roh bai si jumpan datangdatangen idi jaya. Bagi mo tenahku, ale Si Deang Matuan. Menget mo kene nasa si kutenahi idi memere kami. Kenca merturi-turin mo guru, ituriken mo bai empung nari deket bapa nola bai Si Deang Matuan, soh bangku, soh bai Beru Kincir. Kenca ituriken kerina, asa itabasken pertambar kengalen. Kenca itabasken pertambar kengalen, mamang nakan tendi ibakin guru. Bagi mo kunuken kepaten rubatnami deket Si Beru Kincir ena’. Bagi mo dok Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. ‘Laus maku mi kutangku, mi langlang ni desa, mi kalip-kalip ni ladang. Otang nenge aku jelma. Menjadi begu mo enggo.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Tinggi Seribu Tala. Menter mia kabang kenca lot nina tedoh bekasna. Bagi mo permungkahen kunuken arnia asa lot anak Dairi mer-Beru Si Pitu datang bagena dokken menuan beringin tepet cilaka gerarna mahan kerja ni kalak telu tahun sikali ikerjai babi tonggal, asa lot mahan pemere si tuan tepet cilaka perkelangen si telu tahun idi. Ibereken ugup pagena, tinaruh manuk sada, ikan sada, nakan-rentang dengan tinaruh manuk idi deket ikan idi. Kenca ibereken ugup pagena idi, asa ibakin nola mo beras si cupak isian bakin malot kin lae, asa irames mo beras idi deket lae idi. Kenca irames asa ipengapusken mi beringin tepat cilakanna idi. Kenca ipengapusken idi asa ientat mo iba-iba pengapusken idi mi rumah. Kerina mo ia si sibeltek idi menginum, asa ipengapusken i dagingna. Bagi mo genep tahun ibakin, bagidi ibakin nasa persinuan, tepet cilaka kalak Pakpak ngo bagidi, ale raja.

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si mbacang gumale-gale Now there is, it is told, an ancient story of a man named Raja Jembut Murle-urle, his wife was named Beru Rendang ni Bulan. And they had one daughter, it is told, they gave her the name Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. When Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari grew up like that, another child was born, a boy. Jembut Murle-urle gave him the name Raja Tumantan. When Raja Tumantan had grown up, it is told, someone named Rapet Senina came to marry Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. And Rapet Senina gave his brideprice (emas) to Jembut Murle-urle. Then Jembut Murle-urle married his daughter Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari off to his son-in-law (kela) Rapet Senina. Rapet Senina united in love with Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. And it is told that she gave birth to a child shaped like a wild mango fruit. But, although it had the form of a wild mango, it had eyes, a mouth, a nose, ears and it could speak. Then Rapet Senina, it is told, spoke to his wife Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘What is the use of this child of yours, uncle’s daughter? Never have I seen any child [shaped] like a wild mango. Throw this child of yours away. What use is it to you?’ Thus spoke Rapet Senina. Now Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari kept silent, she did not reply to what her husband said. She thought, it is told: ‘Whatever it looks like, this is my fate. Everybody I have seen, all the other people had human babies, only my fate is, to give birth to a child shaped like a wild mango. I am ashamed to face people.’ This is what she thought, Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Soon thereafter, it is said, the wild mango baby of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari spoke: ‘Mother, I have seen that you are confused because I look like a wild mango. If you listen to what father said you will throw me away. Do not listen, mother, to father’s words. Cherish me! Later on I will make you happy.’ These were the words of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari ‘s child. When Raja Tumantan heard these words of his sister’s child, he said: ‘Don’t you throw my nephew (kela) away, sister. You must keep him, we will not regret it.’ These were the words of Raja Tumantan. Then Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari said: ‘If you tell me to take care of your nephew (pinu-

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si mbacang gumale-gale (or 3410:1-20; or 3420:361-376; or 12.475 iv:164-172) Asa lot mo kunuken sukuten ni kalak arnia mergerar Si Raja Jembut Murle-urle, tinokorna mergerar Si Beru Rendang ni Bulan. Asa tubuh mo kunuken sada beruna. Ibahan mo gerarna Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Kenca bagidi embelgah mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, asa tubuh mo tinadahkenna daholi sada. Ibahan Si Jembut Murle-urle mo gerar anakna idi Si Raja Tumantan. Kenca embelgah Si Radja Tumantan, asa roh mo kunuken si menokor Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mergerar Rapet Senina. Asa ibereken Si Rapet Senina mo emasna bai Si Jembut Murle-urle. Asa ipangir Si Jembut Murle-urle mo beruna Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari deket kelana Si Rapet Senina idi. Kenca bagidi asa mersada penarihin mo Si Rapet Senina deket Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa tubuh mo kunuken anak Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari bage embacang tempana. Tapi bage embacang pe tempana, mermata ngo, merbabah ngo, meregung ngo, merpenggel ngo, mongkam ngo. Kenca bagidi kunuken asa mongkam mo Si Rapet Senina bai jelmana Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Mahan kademu anakmu idi, ale beru ni puhun? Malot madun kuidah anak ni kalak embacang. Embalangken mo anakmu idi. Mahan kademu idi?’ Bagi mo kata Si Rapet Senina. Asa mertahan sip mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, malot ialoi kata niukatna idi. Pikiranna kunuken: ‘Katera mo kepeken perejekinku ena. Kerina kuidah nasa si merdukak kalak jelma ngo dukak ni deba, sumalin mo perejekinku ena. Embacang kutubuhken anak. Melasu maku midah sinterem.’ Bagi mo pikirin Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa menter mongkam mo kunuken embacang si nitubuhken Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Enggo kuidah, ale nang, merbage-bage pikirinmu bakin embacang idi idah kono tempangku naing ibalangken kono bakin mendengkohken kata ni bapa idi. Ulang, ale nang, idengkohken kono kata bapa idi. Perpatoh ngo aku. Lot ngo segen sampang penarihinmu kubakin.’ Bagi mo kata anak si nitubuhken Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari idi. Ibege Si Raja Tumantan mo bagidi kata beberena idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘Ulang, ale tang, imbalangken kene kelangku idi. Perpatoh kene ngo, ulang ikelsohken kita.’ Bagi mo kata ni Si Raja Tumantan. 181

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pus), brother, I will not throw him away’. These were Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari’s words, and indeed she took care of her child. After that, it is said, Rapet Senina died. When he had died Si Mbacang gumale-gale spoke to his mother: ‘Father has died, mother. Take a buffalo as food for uncle’s sahut-sahut feast’. ‘Yes, child (pa)’, said Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, and she told her helpers (naposo) to prepare a buffalo. Many people helped her to cook rice. When the meat and the rice were ready, all the inhabitants of the village were fed. When they had eaten they chewed areca nut and after that Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘I give a speech to ask what you think, grandfather and you, uncle (puhun), of our food. There happened to be almost nothing. It is not because I am too stingy to offer you nice food to eat, we just did not have more. I have prepared this little bit of food for you, that you have eaten, to inform you that father has died. This is called sahut-sahut. Please inform me what sum we inherit (utang lemba) so that I know the payment for me and my mother’. These were the words of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And Jembut Murle-urle said: ‘As for the food, grandson, we have all eaten enough rice and we have eaten our fill of meat. As for the customary heritage payment, grandson, this is 12 reyal.’ Thus spoke Jembut Murle-urle. And Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari was given 12 reyal as payment of the utang lemba for Rapet Senina’s death. After that all who had spoken were silent. Then Raja Tumantan got married, it is told, the wife he took was named Beru Terding, it is told. After that a daughter was born to Raja Tumantan, the name given to the girl was Beru Seang ni Ate. After this girl was born, Raja Tumantan spoke to his father Jembut Murle-urle: ‘Please take care of the village for a while, I am leaving now to go sailing’. These were the words of Raja Tumantan. And his father said: ‘If you say you are going, son (bapa), do not stay away for too long’. These were his father’s words. Si Mbacang Gumalegale heard that his uncle planned to go on a sailing trip. Then he said: ‘Mother, I heard that uncle is preparing to leave. Tell him that I will go sailing with him.’ These were his words. And Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari said: ‘How are you going to do that, son, to go with your uncle on his sailing trip, while it’s clear that you are not able to walk?’ These were the words of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari.

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Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Muda kuperpatoh ngo nimu, ale tang, pinupusmu idi, ale tang, mada mo kumbalangken’. Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa iperpatoh mo tuhu anakna idi. Kenca bagidi, mate mo kunuken Si Rapet Senina. Kenca mate Si Rapet Senina, asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale bai inangna idi: ‘Enggo mate bapa, ale nang. Buat mo sada kerbo mahan panganen puhun mahan sahut-sahut.’ Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Ue, ale pa.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa idokken Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo ipertasak naposona kerbo sada. Asa merdakani mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Kenca tasak jukut deket nakan ibere mangan mo kerina si ni kuta idi. Kenca mangan asa marapurun. Kenca marapurun, asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Sahutken nari penarihinmu, ale empung, deket kono, ale puhun, i panganen somada lot jumpa kami idi. Mada ngo kukelit kami panganen merasa ipangan kono. Mada lot ngo jumpa kami. Asa kubuat kami pe citok panganen idi ipangan kene, magahken bapa enggo mate midi. Sahut-sahut mo gerarna idi. Bagahken kene bangku belgah utang lemba asa kubetoh gararennami deket inang ena.’ Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa mongkam mo Si Jembut Murle-urle: ‘Hakum i panganen idi, ale kempu, enggo mo kami besur mangan nakan, mangan jukut isi, ale kempu. Asa kum hukumenna utang lemba, ale kempu, sipuluh dua riar.’ Bagi mo dok Si Jembut Murle-urle. Asa ibereken Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo riar sipuluh dua menggarar utang lemba Si Rapet Senina mate idi. Kenca bagidi asa samah sip mo ia merkata idi. Asa merunjuk mo kunuken Si Raja Tumantan. Ibuat mo kunuken jelmana mergerar Si Beru Terding. Kenca bagidi, asa tubuh mo kunuken beru Si Raja Tumantan sada, igerari mo beruna idi mergerar Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Kenca tubuh beruna idi, asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan bai bapana Si Jembut Murle-urle: ‘Kono mo lebeken, ale, mengeramotken kuta. Laus aku lebeken merayar.’ Bagi mo kata Si Raja Tumantan. Asa mongkam mo bapana idi: ‘Muda laus ngo kono nimu, ale bapa, ulang kono endekahsu i dalanen’. Bagi mo kata bapana idi. Idengkoh Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo arkat laus merayar puhunna idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Kebas laus kudengkoh puhun, ale nang. Bagahken bai puhun deket aku merayar idi.’ Bagi mo katana.

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Then Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘Although I cannot walk, mother, it can be done if uncle carries me. Go and tell uncle.’ Thus spoke Mbacang Gumale-gale. So Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari went indeed and told Raja Tumantan. ‘Brother, your nephew says that he wants to come with you. If you carry him he says it can be done.’ These were the words of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Then Raja Tumantan said: ‘If Si Mbacang Gumale-gale says that he absolutely wants to come along, it’s alright, sister’. Thus spoke Raja Tumantan. So Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari returned and told Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘You may come along with uncle, o son. What will you take [with you]?’ That is what his mother said. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘Prepare seven gourds for me, mother, fill them all with rice-grains’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumalegale. And Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari filled the seven [gourds] with rice. After that Raja Tumantan really went away. He thought he could leave Si Mbacang Gumale-gale behind, it is told. He was rowing the boat [but] it kept returning to the shore, the boat did not want to move. So Raja Tumantan said: ‘Maybe our boat is not leaving because Si Mbacang Gumale-gale is not with us, friends. Go and fetch him.’ Thus spoke Raja Tumantan to his helpers. Then they went to fetch Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. When these people came to Si Mbacang Gumale-gale he said: ‘If you all have come to fetch me, you must carry my seven gourds. If you do not carry them, I am not coming with you.’ These were his words. So those who came to fetch him carried the seven gourds, and Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari put her child Si Mbacang Gumale-gale in a plaited bag (ucang) and brought him to Raja Tumantan’s boat. Then Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari said: ‘Please, brother, do not throw your nephew away, bring him back with you’. These were the words of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. ‘Alright’, said Raja Tumantan, and he rowed the boat. Then it went [away]. After a while, Si Mbacang Gumale-gale asked his uncle: ‘I do not know the name of the islands in the sea, uncle. You are the one who knows. Please, when we’ll get to the mouse-island, let me visit it.’ Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Alright’, said Raja Tumantan. Then they came across the mouse-island, it is told, and Raja Tumantan really enabled Si Mbacang Gumale-gale to visit it, he left him [there] with the seven round gourds. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale 184

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Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Kade mo bahanenmu deket, ale bapa, mengekutken puhun midi merayar. Oda enteng terbakin mo merdalan.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa mongkam nola mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘ Malot pe, ale nang, terbakin aku merdalan, ientat puhun ngo aku asa jadi. Lako ngo bagahken bai puhun.’ Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa lako mo tuhu Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari magahken bai Si Raja Tumantan. ‘Deket nina beberemu marayar idi, ale tang. Entat kene ngo ia nina asa jadi.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘Muda sikali deket ngo nina Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, jadi ngo, ale tang’. Bagi mo kata Si Raja Tumantan. Asa molih mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa ibagahken mo bai Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Jadi ngo kono deket puhunmu, ale bapa. Kade mo entatenmu?’ Bagi mo kata inangna idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Pekena mo tabutabu bangku pitu, ale nang. Kerina dom page bakin.’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa ibakini Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo tuhu si pitu idi deket pagi. Kenca bagidi, asa lako tuhu Si Raja Tumantan merayar idi. Itadingken mo kunuken di katena Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Ikayuhken mo kunuken bungkina, molih-olih mi dasan ngo gahgah, malot enggeut merdalan bungkina. Asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘Tah bakin malot idi ngo deket Si Mbacang Gumale-gale asa malot merdalan bungkinta ena, ale kaltu. Lako mo aleng kene.’ Bagi mo dok Si Raja Tumantan mendokken naposona. Asa lako mo tuhu naposona meraleng Si Mbacang Gumalegale. Kenca soh si meraleng Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Muda meraleng aku mo kene, ale kelake, asa roh, entat kene mo tabu-tabungku si pitu idi. Hakum malot ientat kene tabu-tabungku idi, malot aku deket.’ Bagi mo katana. Asa ientat si meraleng idi mo tabu-tabu si pitu idi. Asa ibakin Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo i ucang-ucang anakna Si Mbacang Gumale-gale itaruhken mi bungki Si Raja Tumantan. Kenca idi asa mongkam mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Ulang, ale tang, iembalangken kene bebereendene ena. Entat kene ngo molih.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. ‘Ue’, dok Si Raja Tumantan. Asa ikayuh mo bungkina idi. Menter mo merdalan.

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spoke: ‘Please come back later, uncle, you [must] visit me’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘It’s alright, nephew’, said Raja Tumantan and sailed away. When Si Mbacang Gumale-gale’s uncle had gone, it is told, a mouse came that was as large as an adult male sheep. And the mouse said: ‘I smell food. Now it is already night-time, from where could that possibly come?’ Thus spoke the mouse. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale quickly emerged from inside the wild mango and changed into a beautiful, adult young man, who was charmingly dressed. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale spoke: ‘O Sangkar Margem, I have come to this island looking for a merchant to do business with me’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And mouse Margem spoke: ‘What are your goods, my ruler (rajanami)? Tell me so that I know.’ Thus spoke Sangkar Margem. And Si Mbacang Gumale-gale answered: ‘The goods I have come to trade on this island, Sangkar Margem, is the rice in these seven gourds’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Then Sangkar Margem spoke: ‘How do I buy the rice in your seven gourds, oh my ruler? Tell me so that I know how all there is becomes ours. When l know the price we can start doing business.’ These were the words of Sangkar Margem. And Si Mbacang Gumale-gale answered: ‘If you buy the rice in my seven gourds, Sangkar Margem, the price for this is that you fill all of them again’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Then Sangkar Margem spoke: ‘With what shall I fill these seven gourds of yours after we have eaten your rice, oh my ruler?’ Thus spoke Sangkar Margem. And Si Mbacang Gumale-gale answered, it is said: ‘In order to buy the rice in my seven gourds, oh Sangkar Margem, you must fill them with gold’. Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘If you say that gold is to be the replacement for your rice, then I accept that.’ That is what Margem said. Then they opened the lids of the gourds. When they had eaten the rice of the seven gourds, Sangkar Margem spoke: ‘The rice of this ruler has been eaten, oh friends. Now we must fill the gourds with gold.’ Thus spoke Sangkar Margem. Then, it is told, they quickly filled up all the gourds with gold. And when all were full, they were closed well and given to Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Here are your gourds back, we have filled them up completely, my ruler.’ Thus spoke mouse Margem. ‘Alright’, said Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And after that those who had spoken kept silent. 186

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Kenca bagidi, asa ikuso Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo puhunna idi: ‘Malot kubetoh gerar pulo i laut ena, ale puhun. Kono ngo betohbetohen. Muda jumpa kita kenca pulo menci, singgahken kene aku i pulo menci idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Ue’, dok Si Raja Tumantan. Asa jumpasa mo kunuken pulo menci idi. Asa isinggahken Si Raja Tumantan mo tuhu Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, itadingken mo deket tabu-tabu si pitu kibul idi. Kenca bagidi, asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Molih kenca kene segen, ale puhun, singgahi kene ngo aku’. Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Ue, ale kela’, bagi mo dok Si Raja Tumantan. Asa laus mo Si Raja Tumantan merayar. Kenca laus puhun Si Mbacang Gumale-gale idi, asa roh mo kunuken menci masa kambing bajar belgahna. Asa mongkam mo menci idi: ‘Bau pangan-panganen kuanggoh. Enggo masa berngin ena i dike nari rohna idi endia?’ Bagi mo kata menci idi. Asa meter mo remuar Si Mbacang Gumale-gale i bagasen embacang idi nari, menter mo kembali jelma anak perana embelgah mengkar-engkar merpaken randat-rundut. Kenca bagidi asa menter mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Aku ngo, ale Sangkar Margem, roh mi pulo ena lako merbinaga tumulus bangku’. Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa mongkam mo menci Margem idi: ‘Kade mo binaga midi, ale rajanami? Bagahken mo asa kubetoh.’ Bagi mo kata Sangkar Margem idi. Asa ibagahken Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo: ‘Hakum tiga-tigangku asa roh pe aku mi pulo ena, ale Sangkar Margem, ena mo page pitu tabu-tabu’. Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa mongkam nola mo Sangkar Margem idi: ‘Kade mo tokor pagemu si pitu tabu-tabu idi, ale rajanami? Bagahken mo asa kubetoh kami si lotna jumpa kami, asa kubetoh nibuka harga binaganta ena.’ Bagi mo kata Sangkar Margem idi. Asa ibagahken Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Hakum tokor pagengku si pitu tabu-tabu idi, ale Sangkar Margem, sama isina ngo sibahan hargana’. Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumalegale. Asa mongkam mo Sangkar Margem idi: ‘Kade mo isi tabu-tabumu si pitu idi bakininkennami kenca kupangan kami pagemu idi, ale rajanami?’ Bagi mo dok Sangkar Margem idi. Asa ibagahken Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo kunuken. ‘Hakum tokor pagengku si pitu tabu-tabu

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So Si Mbacang Gumale-gale was waiting for his uncle who was travelling. When he saw his uncle coming from afar, he quickly changed himself back into a wild mango. And his uncle came to the island where he was staying. When Raja Tumantan arrived, he spoke: ‘Where are you Mbacang Gumale-gale?’ These were the words of Raja Tumantan. ‘Here I am, uncle. Tell your helpers to bring these gourds into your boat and carry me also, uncle, so we’ll go away.’ That’s what Si Mbacang Gumalegale said. Then Raja Tumantan told his helpers to carry Si Mbacang Gumale-gale and his gourds into the boat. Then Raja Tumantan spoke: ‘Who have you actually visited, Mbacang Gumale-gale?’ That’s what he said. ‘I have not met anybody on this mouse-island, uncle. I just wanted to see [it], so I told you to let me visit that mouse island. I have not been accompanied by anyone and I have not met anybody.’ These were the words of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Then, it is told, they arrived at the landing place of their village, and Raja Tumantan went home. He told Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘You should fetch Mbacang Gumale-gale from the ship in the harbour’. Thus spoke Raja Tumantan. And indeed Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari went to the landing place to meet Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. When Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari arrived she asked Si Mbacang Gumalegale: ‘Oh son, why have you actually brought back what you took with you on your trip? I have sent you on your trip with seven gourds, seven gourds have I given you to carry. I see that you just brought these seven gourds back. I do not see any change in what you brought back, son. I see that your uncle has brought many different things.’ These were the words Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari spoke to her child. And Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘I only followed on the trip to see the countries of other people for myself ’. That is what Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said. As she lifted the gourds up, Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari felt: ‘They feel heavy, these gourds have become more heavy, son. When you went away and I filled these gourds for you, they did not feel so heavy. What have you put inside them?’ Thus spoke Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said: ‘Whatever the contents of our gourds is, mother, carry them into the house, and bring me next’. That’s what he said. And Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari really carried them into the

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idi, ale Sangkar Margem, emas mo bakinken kene dom tabu-tabungku si pitu idi.’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Hakum emas ngo nimu bakininkennami singkat pagemu idi, lot ngo jumpa kami.’ Bagi mo dok Margem idi. Asa ibukai mo langkep tabutabu idi. Kenca ipangan page si pitu tabu-tabu idi, asa mongkam mo Sangkar Margem idi: ‘Enggo mo nipangan, ale kaltu, pagi raja idi. Bakin kita emas mi tabuh-tabuna idi.’ Bagi mo dok Sangkar Margem idi. Asa menter mo kunuken iasaki kerina tabu-tabu idi deket emas. Hure kenca idomi kerina, asa ilangkepi mo pengke, asa ibereken bai Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Ena mo, ale rajanami, tabu-tabumu molih, enggo kudomi kami pelangkah hure.’ Bagi mo dok Margem idi. ‘Ue’, dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa samah sip mo ia mongkam idi. Asa ipema-pema Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo puhunna merayar idi. Kenca itatap roh puhunna idi, asa menter mo ijadiken dirina kembali embacang. Kenca ia kembali embacang, asa roh mo puhunna idi mi pulo bekas Si Mbacang Gumale-gale idi. Kenca soh Si Raja Tumantan, asa mongkam mo raja idi: ‘I dike ngo kono, ale Mbacang Gumale-gale?’ Bagi mo kata Si Raja Tumantan. ‘Ena ngo aku, ale puhun. Dokken ibakin naposomu idi tabu-tabu ena, ale puhun, si bungkimu idi, ikanting deket aku asa laus kita.’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa idokken Si Raja Tumantan ibakin naposona mi bungkina idi Si Mbacang Gumale-gale deket tabutabuna idi. Kenca bagidi asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘Kade ngo kepeken si nitongkirmu, ale Mbacang Gumale-gale?’ Bagi mo katana. ‘Kade pe malot, ale puhun, si nialengenku i pulo menci idi nari. Lehe penarihinku ngo kanca, naing kuidah asa kudokken aku singgahken kene mi pulo menci idi. Kade pe malot si kutaruhken, kade pe malot si kualeng.’ Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Kenca bagidi, soh mo ia kunuken mi dasan kutana. Asa mi rumah mo Si Raja Tumantan. Asa ibagahken mo bai Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Aleng kene Si Mbacang Gumale-gale i bungki i dasan nari’. Bagi mo dok Si Raja Tumantan. Asa lako mo tuhu Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mi dasan menongkir Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Kenca soh Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, asa ikuso mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Kade ngo kepeken, ale bapa, sialengmu molih i perdalanen idi nari? Tabu-tabu ngo kupeberkat. Pitu ientat kono tabu-tabu kuber189

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house. When she had carried them all, she also brought Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Then, it is said, on the following morning Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said to his mother Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ’Mother, buy me a buffalo to give uncle to eat first, and we may ask him if he wants to give us his daughter’. That is what Si Mbacang Gumale-gale said. ‘That’s alright, son’, said Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari, and she really took a buffalo. Thereafter she told her helpers to cook the buffalo. When the meat and the rice were ready, Raja Tumantan was invited and all the inhabitants of the village were also invited. When all the inhabitants of the village had come, they were all fed. After they had eaten Mbacang Gumale-gale addressed Raja Tumantan: ‘As for the food, uncle, it was nothing much, I am telling [you]. If you have not had enough to eat, it is not because mother and I are lacking in esteem for you. May you be blessed with honour, blessed be your soul. We prepared this food that you have eaten, uncle, as a means to discuss. Here is cloth (oles) and here is gold (emas) for you.’ Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Then he gave, it is told, five gourds with gold. ‘This is the bride-price for you, uncle. Now your daughter is mine.’ These were his words. Then Raja Tumantan spoke: ‘As for the food, nephew, we all have eaten enough rice and enough meat. In fact you have prepared these rice and meat-dishes and you have given me your gold so that you may marry my daughter. Well, I will do as you said, nephew. When do you wish me to celebrate the wedding?’ These were Raja Tumantan’s words. Then the shaman (guru) looked for a good day. And when he had calculated it, he told the number of nights until the wedding celebration. When the good day arrived, Raja Tumantan gave his daughter Beru Seang ni Ate in marriage to Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And after the wedding Si Mbacang Gumale-gale was placed beneath the wedding bed. Thereafter, it is told, it was time to plant rice in the fields. So people went to plant rice, and Beru Seang ni Ate was asked to join the workers. When all the people had gone planting, not a single person remained in the house. Only Si Mbacang Gumale-gale was left behind in the house, it is told. When it was noon, it is told, Si Mbacang Gumale-gale emerged from inside the wild mango fruit, and when he was outside, he dressed up. After he had dressed, he went down to the village yard (kesean), and when 190

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eken. Tabu-tabu si pitu idi ma ngo kanca kuidah molih ientat kono. Malot kuidah dike si mobah ientat kono, ale bapa. Puhunmu kuidah merbage-bage mo ientat palah pilih.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mendokken anakna idi. Asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Ulang so kuidah sambing ngo ladang ni kalak asa mengekut aku merayar idi’. Bagi mo kata Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa ikanting Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo tabu-tabu idi, iakap mo: ‘Embotong enggo kuakap kalih embotong tabu-tabu ena, bapa. Berkat pe kono kin aku ngo mengisi tabu-tabu ena, malot kuakap bagena botongna. Ena enggo lebih kuakap botongan. Kade enggo isina bakin kono?’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa mongkam nola mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale: ‘Kade gia isi tabutabunta idi, ale nang, taruhi mo mi rumah idi, asa aleng nola aku nahan’, bagi mo nina. Asa itaruhi Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo tuhu. Kenca kerina itaruhi, asa ialeng nola mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Kenca bagidi kunuken, mahar mo ari si berembenna. Asa mongkam mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale bai inangna Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Tokor mo, ale nang, kerbo idi sada, asa nibereken lebeken ipangan puhun, asa nikuso ia tah ibereken ma ngo banta beruna idi’. Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. ‘Ue, ale bapa’, bagi mo dok Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa ibuat Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari mo tuhu kerbo sada. Kenca bagidi asa idokken mo ipertasak naposo kerbo idi. Kenca tasak nakan deket jukut idi, asa iarahken mo Si Raja Tumantan, iarahken mo kerina denganna kuta idi. Kenca roh kerina denganna kuta idi asa ibere panganen mo kerina nasa si ni kuta idi. Kenca mangan asa isahutken Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘I panganen i, ale puhun, malot masakade sahutenkenku. Mada pe kono besur ulang menerita sangapmu bainami deket inang ena. Mengidupi mo sangapmu, mengidupi pertendinmu. Asa kubuat kami pe panganen idi ipangan kono, ale puhun, dalan mersisungkunen mo. Ena bamu oles, ena bamu emas.’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumalegale. Asa menter ibereken mo kunuken emas lima tabu-tabu. ‘Ena mo mahan perunjuken bamu, ale puhun. Bangku mo berumu idi.’ Bagi mo katana. Asa mongkam mo Si Raja Tumantan: ‘I panganen idi, ale kela, enggo mo kami kerina besur mangan nakan, mangan jukut. Asa ibuat kono pe kepeken nakan deket jukut idi, ibereken kono emasmu idi 191

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he came there he addressed the trough. When he had summoned it, it became a horse, which he mounted to go to those who were planting. When he arrived where they were planting, all who were planting, absolutely everybody looked [at him] because he was so charming, it is told. All the people received a quid (sirih) from Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, [but] he did not give it to Beru Seang ni Ate. When they were all chewing the sirih he gave to the people, he went back home. When he arrived at the house, he struck the pseudo-horse and it turned into a trough. Then he became a wild mango again. Every day, it is told, the people of the village planted rice, and every day Si Mbacang Gumale-gale emerged and went to the planters. So Beru Seang ni Ate said to herself: ‘Where does this man on horseback come from every day? I see that he comes from the road to [our] house, and he also goes back on the road home. He gives sirih to everybody, only to me he does not give it. I will watch him closely so that I will know from where he comes.’ This is what Beru Seang ni Ate said to herself. When the others went to plant, Beru Seang ni Ate acted as though she was coming along. When they arrived outside the village, Beru Seang ni Ate hid in the lower part of a bamboo-bush. The people went on to plant. Then at noon Si Mbacang Gumale-gale turned himself into a man again, he mounted his horse and went to where they were planting. When Beru Seang ni Ate saw that he came from the house, she went home. Finding the skin of the wild mango under her sleeping place, she said to herself: ‘This man on the horse must be my husband, the wild mango fruit must have turned into a human being. Here I see his cover.’ Then she burned the cover of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale in the fire, it is told. When Si Mbacang Gumale-gale smelled that his cover was burning, he went back home. He found his wife burning it. Then he said: ‘Why do you burn my cover, uncle’s daughter?’ Thus spoke Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. And Beru Seang ni Ate said: ‘Because I think that once it is burned you can never become a wild mango any more. So I will sit and walk with my husband like everybody else.’ That is what Beru Seang ni Ate said. Then Si Mbacang Gumale-gale kept silent, he did not protest against what his wife said. After that, when the people returned from the fields, they found Si Mbacang Gumale-gale and Beru Seang ni Ate having intercourse. Then 192

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bangku mahan penokormu berungku idi mo kepeken. Aku pe, ale kela, jadi mo ningku. Endigan mo kono kupangir?’ Bagi mo kata Si Raja Tumantan. Asa, itengen guru mo ari pengke. Kenca ititi guru ari pengke, asa ibagahken guru mo bilangen bernginna bekasna merbayo idi. Kenca jumpa ari pengke asa ipangir Si Raja Tumantan mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale deket beruna Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Kenca ipangir asa cibal-cibal mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale i teruh ngeanna idi. Kenca bagidi kunuken masa mo juma ardangen. Asa mardangi mo kalak. Asa ikua si mardang i mo Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Kenca kalak soh kerina mi ardangen idi, ise pe malot nenge tading i rumah. Sada Si Mbacang Gumale-gale nari ngo kanca kunuken i rumah tading. Kenca ceger ari kunuken, menter mo remuar Si Mbacang Gumale-gale i bagasen embacang idi nari. Kenca ia remuar, menter mo ia memake. Kenca ia memake, asa susur mo ia mi kesean. Kenca soh ia mi kesean asa menter isebut Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo pelangkah. Kenca isebut menter mo kembali kuda, menter mo ibajakken lako mi ardangen idi. Kenca ia soh mi ardangen idi, kerina mo kunuken penisen-isen nasa si ni ardangen idi bakin jengkarna idah si mardang idi. Kerina mo sinterem iduduri Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Si Beru Seang ni Ate malot ibere marapurun. Kenca kerina marapurun ibakin sinterem, menter mo ia molih mi rumah. Kenca soh ia mi rumah, menter mo ilipat kudana idi, menter kembali pelangkah, menter mo ia kembali embacang. Genep ari mo kunuken mardang kalak si ni kuta idi. Genep ari mo remuar Si Mbacang Gumale-gale lako mi ardangen. Asa pikir mo Si Beru Seang ni Ate: ‘I dike nari ngo endia si roh merkuda genep ari idi? Idalan rumah i nari kuidah rohna, mi dalan rumah idi ngo molihna. Kerina kalak iduduri, sumalin aku malot iduduri. Kuipa-ipa nari ngo asa kubetoh bekasna roh.’ Bagi mo pikirin Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Asa lako mo kalak mi ardangen. Ipekulah Si Beru Seang ni Ate mo deket. Kenca soh mi perpadangen, menter mo merleku Si Beru Seang ni Ate i benambuluh. Laus mo sinterem mi ardangen. Kenca ceger ari ikembaliken Si Mbacang Gumale-gale mo dirina kembali jelma, ibajak mo kudana. Lako mo ia mi ardangen. Idah Si Beru Seang ni Ate mo ia rumah nari rohna. Menter mo mi rumah Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Idapet mo lambak embacang i teruh ngeanna. Pikir mo ia: ‘Niukatku mangan ngo kepeken si merkuda idi. Enggo ngo kepeken 193

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Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari took a large pig. She told her helpers to cook it and to prepare rice. When the meat and the rice were ready, they were placed on banana leaves in the central part of the house. Then everybody in the village was invited, and when they had all come, they sat down in a large circle to eat. After they had eaten they chewed sirih, [and] after they had chewed sirih the speech was given. After the speech the people said: ‘We have all had enough to eat, oh daughter of the ruler. What is the name of this meal of rice?’ These were their words. Then Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari said: ‘This is called nakan gohon-gohon. I am happy that my child has become a human being.’ These were the words of Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. And when she had finished speaking the people left the house. Finished is the story of Si Mbacang Gumalegale, our lord.

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kembali jelma embacang idi. Ena kuidah sembungna.’ Menter mo kunuken iletup mi api sembung Si Mbacang Gumale-gale idi. Menter mo ianggoh Si Mbacang Gumale-gale bajuna enggo meseng. Menter mo ia molih mi rumah. Idapet mo jelmana menutungi sembungna idi. Menter mo ia mongkam: ‘Kasa mo itutungi kono sembungku idi, ale beru ni puhun?’ Bagi mo dok Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Seang ni Ate: ‘Naing katengku kututungi ulang tunggari kono kembali embacang. Asa bage sinterem aku rebak kundul rebak merdalan deket niukatku mangan.’ Bagi mo dok Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Asa sip mo Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, malot nenge itongkah kata jelmana idi. Kenca bagidi roh mo sinterem i juma nari, idapetsa mo enggo petare petongkap Si Mbacang Gumale-gale deket Si Beru Seang ni Ate. Asa menter mo ibuat Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari sada babi embelen. Idokken ipertasak naposona, idakani nakan. Kenca tasak jukut deket nakan, asa ihantari mo i bulung galuh i urang tengah bagas. Asa itenggo mo kerina nasa si ni kutana idi. Kenca roh kerina si ni kuta idi, asa mercingko mo ia kerina mangan idi. Kenca mangan asa marapurun. Kenca marapurun asa isahutken. Kenca isahutken, asa mongkam mo sinterem: ‘I panganen idi enggo mo kami besur, ale beru ni raja. Dike mo gerar nakan si pangan idi?’ Bagi mo katana. Asa mongkam mo Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari: ‘Nakan gohon-gohon mo gerarna idi. Enggo sampang atengku enggo kembali jelma anakku ena.’ Bagi mo kata Si Beru Kilap Mata ni Ari. Asa sun mo ia merkata idi samah susur mo kalak sinterem. Mate sukuten Si Mbacang Gumalegale, ale tuannami!

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6 The story of Si Buah Mburle in various versions

the story of si mbacang gumale-gale in van der tuuk’s collection The story of a child that is born in the shape of a wild mango (embacang) is present in Van der Tuuk’s collection in two different versions: a Dairi story named Si Mbacang Gumale-gale (Or 3410:1-20 and 3420:361-76), and a Toba story named Si Ambasang Gumale-gale (Or 3417:229-31). The motif of conception by eating a fruit, which explains the child’s shape in our recorded story Si Buah Mburle, does not form part of the written Dairi version of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale. Yet it occurs in some other stories collected by Van der Tuuk, such as the story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu (Or 3406). As indicated by the title, the Dairi story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, written down for Van der Tuuk, features a hero in the shape of a wild mango. First the story tells that the child in this unusual shape is born from the union of normal parents. The father wants to reject it, but the mother decides to keep it. The remainder of the story deals with two main events: 1. the hero’s visit to an island inhabited by a giant mouse, exchanging seven gourds filled with rice for gold that will later serve him as his bride-price. 2. the hero’s marriage to the youngest daughter of his uncle and eventual loss of his cover, so that he keeps a human shape. Voorhoeve (1927:106-9) regards the Dairi story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale as a combination of two Toba stories: 1. the first part corresponds with the story of Si Bunga Ihur (Or 3413:4754), in which a young man accompanies his uncle on a sailing trip

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

and visits a mouse-island, where he exchanges gourds filled with rice for gold. 2. the second part corresponds with the story of Si Robar, in which a woman gives birth to a child in the shape of an iguana, who marries the youngest daughter of his uncle and eventually loses his cover (Or 3413:149-56). Voorhoeve’s outline of Si Robar is similar to the last part of the story of Si Buah Mburle as performed by Sonang Sitakar. A. A woman gives birth to a son in the form of an iguana and is expelled from the village. B. She asks the seven daughters of her brother one after the other to marry him; the youngest one agrees. C. He emerges from his cover, changes a stone into a horse and rides into the field. His sisters-in-law hope that the stranger will marry them and tease the youngest sister with her iguana. D. When an old woman informs the youngest sister about her husband, she spies on him and burns his cover.

the sukut-sukuten si buah mburle by m.r. solin After the performance, an Indonesian summary of the sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle was written for us by M.R. Solin, the cultural officer from Sidikalang who participated in the performance in Sukarame as pengue to the storyteller. As an introduction, he gives the following information about the performance: the story (ceritera) of Si Buah Mburle1 was told by Sonang Sitakar from the village of Kuta Tonggal, Kecamatan Kerajaan, aged 87 years. He has not gone to school, his hobby is to listen to stories told by old people. The translator (alih bahasa) is M.R. Solin BA, cultural officer at the office of the Department of Education and Culture of the Kabupaten Dairi in Sidikalang. Solin’s excellent summary contains more than the basic plot, it also explains the situation in which the hero of the story is conceived, the feelings of the main characters and what happens to the hero and his mother. Moreover it provides explanations for and terminology of traditional Pakpak-Dairi customs and concepts. In this respect the summary 1 In Solin’s typescript the word is spelled mbulle, which is not found in Manik’s dictionary. The spelling mburle which is also used by Moore is used here to avoid confusion.

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resembles the stories written down on paper for Van der Tuuk. The English translation of this summary is given below. the story of si buah mburle Long ago a man named Si Haji2 was living with his queen in the land of Dairi. Batara Guru blessed them with twins, one of whom was a boy and the other a girl. Now, according to the belief of the people in the land of Pakpak, the birth of such a pair of twins is called ‘merperkas’ which means that if they are not immediately separated they will become husband and wife. In Dairi, such a thing is considered taboo (pantang), and accursed. In order to prevent this from happening, Si Haji organised a large feast for which seven water buffaloes were slaughtered in the upstream direction, seven in the downstream direction, and one buffalo in the middle for the children. The aim of this feast was, to request from the gods and goddesses that these children would later be happy, not merperkas, intelligent, a priest, or a commander, beautiful and handsome. All the inhabitants were invited, the family as well as chiefs of neighbouring districts (pertaki si cibal baleng). A special guest was Si Haji’s brother-in-law (puhun pemupus, his wife’s brother), who was invited to perform the ritual (menokor-nokori) for the two children, to cut their hair and to give them names. A merry feast was held with the beating of drums (genderang), small and large gongs (gung, gerantang), cilat-cilat, etc.3 All the guests and the master of the house danced (tumatak) to their heart’s content. They thought that Maha Dewa Batara Guru would fulfill Si Haji’s wish. On the seventh day of the feast, the puhun cut the hair of his nephew and niece according to the adat ritual, then he continued to ‘menokor-nokori’ the two of them with toasted rice (becih page simbernaik), and a chicken’s egg was given to make their teeth grow soon. Then he named the boy ‘Si Raja Kelendungan’ and the girl ‘Nan Tampuk Emas’. The well-known main character in many Dairi stories is known as hajii, aji, mahaji, or his descendant anak ni aji. 3 Artur Simon (1987:342-3) points out that the relationship between traditional music and dance varies from one Batak group to another. The Pakpak communities have a special repertory for the different stages of a ritual: ‘the ritual character of every step of a ceremony is underlined and accompanied by a special piece of genderang music, which is played by five musicians on a set of nine drums (if complete) as well as on three gongs, a percussion plate or split gong called pongpong, a sarune, optional a gerantung (a set of 3-4 iron plates or flat gongs) and cilat-cilat (small cymbals)’. 2

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When the puhun had properly given the children a name and cut their hair he asked for his share (upah) in accordance with the adat law, that is ‘emas gersing’ and ‘oles metem’. But Si Haji answered: ‘We do not have gold as you request, what there is, is the people’s gold; and similarly cloth, there is only cloth for the people, but no cloth as a reward for giving names’. That is what he said. Parombak Bolon was so very disappointed and angry with Si Haji, because he had ridiculed his in-laws (kula-kula), that he prayed to Batara Guru to curse his brother-in-law and sister who did not know the adat, as he returned to his country in the west (kesunduten) feeling resentful. Some time later, the curse sent by Debata Guru came to the country of Si Haji. A contagious disease (smallpox) spread over the country, it is named wabba. All the inhabitants died, among them Si Haji and his wife, but not their two children Nan Tampuk Emas and Si Raja Kelendungan. The two children felt very sad, because their parents and all the inhabitants of the country had perished. As the days and months and years went by, the two children grew up and became young adolescents, called boang-boang boringin. Before an unlawful incestuous marriage could happen, as had been feared by their late father, Si Raja Kelendungen called his sister and informed her that he wished to go to the west to visit his uncle (puhun) and ask him to be married to one of his daughters. Then he would return again to meet his sister Nan Tampuk Emas. His sister cried and lamented to prohibit Si Raja Kelendungen from leaving, because she was afraid to be left even for just a short while, the more so for such a long time. Nan Tampuk Emas lamented day and night, we do not know for how long, until she fainted. But her brother Si Raja Kelendungen did not pay attention, because if he would not go, he did not doubt that the accursed thing was definitely going to happen, even though it was strongly disapproved by everybody and forbidden by law. While she was in such a state Debata Guru dropped something down that was round and the size of a chicken’s egg, it fell into the wide-open mouth of Nan Tampuk Emas and entered her throat. When she came to herself she was startled, feeling that something had entered her throat. She tried to spit it out, but did not succeed, and when she tried to swal-

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low it this was painful, so she squeezed her throat until the fruit that was inside it fell down into her stomach. Nan Tampuk Emas became even more startled when the thing inside her womb was speaking and singing, giving advice to his mother that she need not be afraid. This creature was sent by Batara Guru and his name was Si Buah Mburle. He was a handsome, intelligent, charming person of high standing, a ‘datu’, powerful and beautiful, just as the king Si Haji had wished, as summarized in the expression: Si Buah Mburle, simbahken sangap simbahken tuah, simbahken perolihen bana bilalang, bana biruru bana pangkat, bana bincoli bana ulubalang, janah guru bana berpangkat janah maholi. He is without any blemish or shortcoming, fully perfect. The story goes that Nan Tampuk Emas had been pregnant for seven years and seven months, but Si Buah Mburle was still not born. She was so desperate that she wanted to commit suicide, she threw herself down from a hut on stilts (pantar), but she was unhurt. Then she flung herself into a fast-flowing river, but she was carried on land by the waves, onto the sloping white shores, so nothing happened to her. In the meantime Si Buah Mburle frequently gave his mother advice, humming from inside her womb that she must not despair, but patiently endure her fate. He advised his mother to go and find her elder brother Si Raja Kelendungen in the west, because he was married there to Nan Bunga Buluh, a daughter of Parombah Bolon, and already had many sons and daughters. His youngest daughter was also named Nan Tampuk Emas, just like the sister whom he left behind about twenty years ago. Nan Tampuk Emas, the mother of Si Buah Mburle, went to the west after she had made charms to protect her from the wild animals, following the advice of Si Buah Mburle. But when she arrived at the house of Si Raja Kelendungen, she was chased away because she was accused of being Si Raja Kelendungen’s first wife, and also bcause the baby singing inside her was considered a bad omen. Therefore she was locked up behind the house, in a place near the toilet. 203

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Si Buah Mburle told his mother to pray to Debata Guru asking to give her a magic ring (cincin pejadi-jadi). With that magic ring they escaped from the place where they were locked up and built a house with seven rooms (si lendung bulan). Then Si Buah Mburle was finally born in the form of a chicken’s egg, and he was kept in a plaited bag (ucang) in a room of that beautiful house. At that time Si Raja Kelendungen fell ill and was paralysed for several years. The people advised him to ask forgiveness from his sister whom he had maltreated before. And indeed, after he had done this he was cured from the disease. And Si Buah Mburle requested his mother to ask for the hand of one of the daughters of his uncle Si Raja Kelendungen to become his wife, starting from the eldest one. But all the daughters of his uncle refused, except the youngest one. In fact they felt humiliated because her child Si Buah Mburle was merely a strange egg. It was different for the youngest one, who was also called Nan Tampuk Emas. She accepted the proposal by Si Buah Mburle’s mother, and they were married. Si Buah Mburle and Nan Tampuk Emas had already been married for several months, but they had never met, they had just heard each other’s voice. As he still had the shape of a chicken’s egg, his wife was almost desperate. Whatever was asked by his uncle Si Raja Kelendungen, or by her elder sisters Si Ranting Dahan, Si Tampuk Bunga and the others, could be fulfilled with the help of the magic ring that was kept by Si Buah Mburle’s mother. Once Si Raja Kelendungen was planting rice in the dry fields (ladang), and his daughter Nan Tampuk Emas also followed together with her elder sisters. When they were having a break to eat, the people heard the sound of a drum (genderang) in the village. The people were amazed, because everyone who could play the drum had come to the fields. In fact Si Buah Mburle had changed his shape, he had emerged from his hiding place and become a strong and handsome young man. When he took an ugly piece of cloth and hit it, this became a nice cloth, and when he hit a stone this became a horse. Then Si Buah Mburle also went to the fields to visit the people who were planting rice. Everyone who saw the young man was surprised about his strength and beauty. All the daughters of Si Raja Kelendungen smiled at him and wished to capture his heart. His wife Nan Tampuk Emas was just collecting fire-wood. Then he wished to test his wife’s faithfulness and he 204

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coaxed her to become his wife. But Nan Tampuk Emas refused because she was already married to Si Buah Mburle. She was very faithful to her husband, even though he only had the shape of a chicken’s egg. Granny Kube-kuben, who found out Si Buah Mburle’s secret, told this to Nan Tampuk Emas. At the time when Nan Tampuk Emas went to plant rice in the fields with her sisters, Si Buah Mburle emerged from his cover, struck the drum, and rode on horseback to the field. But Nan Tampuk Emas had not really gone to the fields, she had hidden in a heap of rubbish. She took the cover of Si Buah Mburle and burned half of it to ashes, the other half she kept between her breasts. When Si Buah Mburle returned, he looked for the cover in which he had been hiding, but it was no longer there. So he asked for it from his wife. Nan Tampuk Emas said that she had burned half of it to ashes, and had hidden the other half between her breasts, and she showed this to him. Now he asked forgiveness for having played around all this time, and they fondly embraced each other. Since then they became husband and wife like normal human beings, as he no longer had his magic cover, the chicken’s egg, to hide inside. And he lived happily together with his wife. Unfortunately, his mother now tempted Si Buah Mburle, her child, she wished him to become her husband. Si Buah Mburle suggested that she should wash the magic ring which was in her possession, and keep it in a room for seven days and seven nights. It should only be opened on the eighth day. ‘If there will be a man there, he will be your husband, he will look like Si Raja Kelendungen and Si Buah Mburle’. The mother Nan Tampuk Emas did as her son had told her, and indeed on the eighth day she had a man as he had said. Then there were two newly-wed couples, Si Buah Mburle with his wife and Nan Tampuk Emas with her husband who looked both like Si Raja Kelendungen and like her son Si Buah Mburle. Thus ends the story of Si Buah Mburle, a story of which the Pakpak-Dairi people are proud.

another recorded version of si buah mburle The story of Si Buah Mburle is also discussed in Lynnette Moore’s unpublished PhD thesis entitled: ‘Songs of the Pakpak of North Sumatra’, Monash University 1985. The thesis gives a synopsis of the fragment 205

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of Si Buah Mburle performed by the female storyteller Mpung Sumar in Aornakan on 13 November 1980. This tells about the despair of a girl left alone in a village, and her unusual pregnancy. Moore (1985:247-54) summarizes the narrative of the fragment she recorded, which took two hours, including the songs, as follows.4 ‘A plague decimates the population of an area, the only two survivors being a boy and a girl. Neither character is given a personal name in the story, they are referred to only as daholi (boy) and daberu (girl). The boy is about eighteen and the girl is slightly younger. The youth decides to leave the village to see if there are any survivors in other areas. Searching the village for food to take on his journey, he finds among other things an egg, which he leaves as a parting gift for the girl. The girl says she wishes to accompany him, but the youth tells her she must remain in the village until his return, as there are many dangers which might befall him on his travels. The girl begs him to go quickly so that he will be able to return soon.5 When evening falls and the youth has gone, the girl boils the egg and swallows it whole, crying all the while. Unknown to her, the egg is magic, and having swallowed it, it lodges in her stomach and begins to grow, giving her the appearance of pregnancy over a period of time. Eventually she falls asleep and wakes up next morning thinking that the youth might return that day. (He actually stays away for a year). Several months pass, during which the girl sees no other human being. One day however, she observes a man from the Boang district approaching the village. Frightened, the girl hides. By the time she comes out of hiding the following day, the traveller has already left. Sitting down she weeps and sings the following song: Song 1. She cries so much that she forgets to eat and falls asleep. The magic egg within her, which by this time has grown quite large, begins to sing: Song 2. After another few months of loneliness in the village, the girl loses hope of ever seeing another human being. She is also worried because she looks pregnant, not knowing that this is due to the egg growing in her. In desperation she goes to the forest to find some rucing bamboo (buluh rucThe songs sung during this fragment will be discussed later. In some renditions of this story, a song is inserted at this point. The text of this song is also used in another sukut-sukuten, see Moore 1985:620, song 73. 4 5

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6 The story of Si Buah Mburle in various versions | ing), from which she fashions a knife and tries to stab herself. However, the magic properties of the egg save her from harming herself. She tries various other ways of committing suicide but fails each time, finally resigning herself to the fact that she is not meant to die. Not so long after these attempts at suicide, the girl sees another person from the Boang district approaching the village in a great hurry. She lights a fire to indicate that there is still someone in the village. It is at this moment that the magic egg, inside the girl, decides to be born. Once born, the egg, taking on human form, calls itself Si Buah Mburlae and sings the following song: Song 3. In two further songs Si Buah Mburlae then instructs the girl on what to do if the Boang man wishes to remain in the village overnight: Song 4. and Song 5. The final song in this section of the story is sung by the girl as she recalls the loss of her family: Song 6. This song concluded the excerpt performed by Mpung Sumar. The fate of the girl and the youth is left up in the air’.

conclusion Although the main character in Mpung Sumar’s version is also called Si Buah Mburle, the summary of the fragment recorded by Moore in 1980 differs in many respects from the story we recorded in 1979. It is strange that, according to Moore, in Mpung Sumar’s version the main character Si Buah Mburle is said to have been born from an egg, and no reference is made to the wild mango fruit (mburle) after which he has been named. The fragment recorded by Moore does not deal with the birth of Si Buah Mburle’s mother, and therefore does not contain the motive of an incestuous relation between twin brother and sister, which is so important in Sonang Sitakar’s version. The reason for the brother’s departure in Mpung Sumar’s version is not to find a bride, but merely to look for other survivors. So there is no need for Si Buah Mburle’s mother to go and travel to the west to find her twin-brother. On the other hand, Mpung Sumar’s version features a visiting man from Boang, which is not found in the other versions discussed here. In fact, Mpung Sumar’s version of the story of Si Buah Mburle is very different from the story told by Sonang Sitakar in 1979. Moreover it has very little in common 207

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with the story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale written for Van der Tuuk in the nineteenth century. Despite a certain thematic correspondence, the various versions of the story of the wild mango child discussed here, both in written form and in the recorded versions, show considerable variation. It is difficult to determine whether these versions should be considered as variants of the same story, or as different stories about the same character. Is there one basic plot, or are these stories merely variations on a common theme? To find such variety is not surprising in an oral literary tradition, as Lord (2003:22) remarked in his classic work The singer of tales: ‘The oral poet has no idea of a fixed model text to serve as his guide’. In fact in cultures throughout Indonesia textual variation is quite common for both oral and written literary works. Many scholars who studied Indonesian texts from manuscripts have noticed this and tried to come to terms with it by comparing variant versions or by producing stemmata of handwritten versions of texts. The great variation found in different versions of Batak stories is also discussed in Susan Rodgers’ publication of Datuk Tuongku Aji Malim Leman, ‘a Sumatran epic’ by the Sipirok-born novelist M. J. St. Hasoendoetan. According to this Sumatran novelist the main cause of this flexibility is the way in which the art of storytelling is transmitted, as explained in the following passage in English translation (Rodgers 2005:109): [...] the words of the turi-turian of Datuk Tuongku Aji Malim Leman have been exceedingly hard to array in good order here, for when different people tell this turi-turian the story always follows along somewhat different paths, for after all, there is really no set and orderly way to go about studying how to relate the tale. Why, to learn it you just have to sort of hang around those flimsy, makeshift lean-tos, out there in the deep forestlands, maybe hoping against hope to pick up a little bit of knowledge! And then when you travel around the countryside you simply have to try to learn a little more as you go along, there on your travels on the road. Now, back when Jasinambur was still alive, this particular story was sometimes sung at large horja feasts of merit […]. And then too, this turi-turian is different in Padang Bolak, and different again in the Mandailing realm […]. In short: different people, different ways of telling the tale.

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Besides the manner of transmission, other causes for the great flexibility of a story are the performance manner, and in connection with this the expectations of the participants in the performance act. In an oral tradition in fact each performance is unique. As stated by Sweeney (1994:93) in one of his publications on Malay storytelling: ‘A performance once given, is “lost”, as the exact choice of words in one performance can be heard but once; it can never be reproduced’. How various contextual factors influence the form and contribute to the flexibility of content of a story will be discussed in the following chapters.

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7 Comments on the performance of Si Buah Mburle

The story of Si Buah Mburle which we recorded in 1979 is a unique text, composed during a performance to suit our expectations as perceived by Sonang Sitakar and those who had invited him. At the request of the cultural officer M.R. Solin the storyteller explains a little about his life before he begins the storytelling. He mentions some special circumstances during his birth, how his name was changed from Sempa into Sonang because he was a sickly child, and how he has experienced poverty. He also declares that he has never been able to go to school and has not received any official form of education – he has learned to tell stories by listening to others. The storyteller ends the performance by expressing the wish that his tale may please God and be useful to teach other people in foreign countries, as well as the Pakpak-Dairi listeners. Although he arrives in the morning, the storyteller says that his performance is (part of) a malam kesenian, a modern Indonesian expression for a cultural evening. He also explains that the story he has selected is typical for Pakpak-Dairi culture and also educational, it is ‘full of teaching and different kinds of advice’. As he considers us as people who respect Pakpak-Dairi culture, the sukut-sukuten is performed in the traditional manner: before telling the story, the storyteller addresses the ancestral spirits to ask permission (mersintabin). The performance of the sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle alternates between spoken narration in which the storyteller interacts with some people in the audience who support him as pengue, and chanting or singing of songs, usually with closed eyes, in which there is no such interaction. There are two main chanting styles: stylized weeping or laments (tangis) for the main female character, and loud chanting (odong-odong) for the

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

main male character.1 While the sections of storytelling usually last much longer than the chanting, these chanted passages occur quite frequently and take approximately one third of the performance time.

spoken sections The spoken sections contain, besides the narrative, comments on the happenings described in the narrative and explain poetic expressions used in the chanted texts. Influenced by questions and remarks of the pengue, they are more than a straightforward monologue. As in any informal conversation, some passages seem confused when heard out of context, because the speaker may leave a line unfinished, or suddenly change the topic when he is interrupted or distracted. Still, the spoken parts of the performance are most similar to the written prose texts in Van der Tuuk’s manuscripts, with which they share the following features. 1. In the spoken passages narrative frequently alternates with direct speech, as in the very beginning of the story: ‘So go [there] first, to see if it is true or not,’ said the puhun’s wife. His name was Perubak Bolon. So he really went and found his brother-in-law (silih) Si Haji.’Oh, silih, you have come,’ said his brother-in-law Si Haji [standing] on top of the wall, because formerly the villages were surrounded by a wall.

While the use of direct speech makes the narrative more lively, if the speaker is not mentioned (as is often the case), it may cause confusion or even misinterpretation. Sometimes the pengue make a remark or pose a question in order to clarify who is speaking. 2. Long spoken sections use what Voorhoeve characterized as ‘a rather monotonous ‘and then’ style’, which is common in daily conversation. A new passage is usually marked by a fixed word or expression, the most frequent of which is the word ‘jadi’ or ‘jadi bagi mo’. As in written texts, 1 The word chant here refers to an oral form ‘intermediate between speech and song’, similar to David Goldsworthy’s use (1978:34) of this word in his article on honey-collecting songs in the Malay East coast area of North Sumatra.

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the word ‘asa’, or ‘asa bagi mo’ indicates progress. In a similar sense the expression ‘kenca bagidi’ or ‘(enggo) kesa bagi’, which also frequently occurs in written texts, is used. During the second half of the performance the expression ‘finally’, ‘ujung’ or‘ujungna’, ‘ujungna katende’ or ‘ujungna dah ke’ is used ever more often. Similarly, the frequent use of the expression ’in brief ’, ‘pendek rana’, towards the end seems to indicate that the storyteller feels he must speed up – as he explicitly says a few times. 3. The beginning of the story is marked by an opening formula starting with the word ‘permula(a)n’ that has a similar meaning in Pakpak-Dairi and in Indonesian. This twentieth century form of the nineteenth century opening ‘asa lot mo kunuken’ also contains the word ‘dah ke’, or ‘dokke’, used in the same sense as the word ‘kunuken’ in Van der Tuuk’s texts. According to Van der Tuuk the frequent use of this word indicates that storytellers fear the spirits of the persons they are telling about; by using ’it is told’ they disclaim responsibility for possible mistakes.2 4. The end of the story is marked by the closing formula: ‘Aku enggo leja, meradi lebe cituk’, ‘I am already tired, let me now rest a bit’, which is followed by some closing remarks.3 In nineteenth century written versions a phrase with the word ‘pate’ (finished) usually marks the end of a story. 5. The passage of time is often indicated by a formula with the number seven: Si Buah Mburle is said to have been in his mother’s womb for seven years, seven months and seven days: ‘pitu tahun ia i bagasen kandongen, pitu bulan pitu ari’. Similarly, the number seven is a favorite to indicate the size of a group of people, or a frequent occurance: Raja Kelendungen has seven daughters, Nan Tampuk Emas was rejected seven times from her brother’s house.

Van der Tuuk’s original Dutch text (1860-62, IV:49, note 4) says: ‘Dit zegt men wordt vooral in de Dairische verhalen tot vervelens toe gebezigd, uit een zekere vrees, die de verhalers voor de toorn der geesten van de personen die zij ten tooneele voeren, koesteren, zoo zij iets mogten zeggen, dat bezijden de waarheid is, of wel beleedigend mogt zijn. Zij schuiven door zegt men de verantwoordelijkheid van zich; van daar dan ook dat vele Bataksche verhalen met een verontschuldiging beginnen over de vrijheid die met de namen der helden genomen wordt.’ 3 This formula is also mentioned in Moore’s thesis. 2

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chanted sections Chanted sections which directly express the thoughts and feelings of the story’s main characters are distinguished from spoken sections by their textual structure and musical form. They are mostly sung with closed eyes and seem to be less closely connected with their performance context than the spoken sections. The pengue are less active and just confirm what is said with a simple ‘ue’ or ‘tuhu’ from time to time, occasionally singing a brief closing refrain. In a way, these chants are similar to standard scenes in written stories, as they function as points of reference in the performance. While their musical form may help to remember the text of these chants, this does not imply that they are completely fixed or always (re)produced in the same way. The two main styles of chanting used during the performance of Si Buah Mburle are the sobbed female lament, tangis(-tangis), and the loud male singing style (odong-odong). laments (tangis) All laments are expressions of grief of Nan Tampuk Emas, the mother of Si Buah Mburle. Their special textual structure is connected with their musical form and contains the following: 1. Poetic formulae, or phrases using particular words and expressions that occur mainly in laments. As many of these are not generally known, most people find them difficult to understand. While many of these poetic formulae are exclusively used in laments, some may occur also in other Pakpak-Dairi songtypes. As Moore (1985:40) writes: ‘some poetic formulae are found in a wide variety of song texts and are consequently known to many singers’. Moore (1985:39) considers the formulae as ‘the text’s most stable elements, changing little from song to song and from singer to singer’. 2. Vocables or syllables, words and short phrases that are mainly used as ‘fillers’ in alternation with meaningful phrases. These occur in almost every song text and do not contribute much to its grammatic or semantic meaning. Moore (1985:40) distinguishes lexical and non-lexical vocables: lexical vocables may be masculine, feminine or neutral, while non-lexical vocables are meaningless. An analysis of the text of the first lament will 214

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illustrate how poetic formulae and vocables or short filler phrases4 are combined in a chant’s poetic structure. Text of the first lament Ong, ong puhun ni turang Dua kin kita sibeltek, puhun ni turang, sai merdekon bage lubang ni jarum, tapi roh nola kidah Dua pe kita sibeltek, bage sirang bungkulalam, turang Raja Kelendungen Ulang keah pemakinendene, bage sirang bengkulalam, sada kesunduten sada kepeltaken Nai tabahan pinang ngo katendene, pepulung bana embulak mada mertunas, turang Raja Kelendungen. *ong, puhun ni turang The chant is introduced by vocables: the sobbed non-lexical vocable ‘ong’, expressing sadness, followed by the short masculine vocable ‘puhun ni turang’ (uncle of brother/sister) *Dua kin kita sibeltek, puhun ni turang, sai merdekon bage lubang ni jarum The first poetic line addressing the brother who has left is divided by the phrase: puhun ni turang into a first part part: ‘dua kin kita sibeltek’, ‘the two of us are in fact born from the same womb’, and a second part: ‘sai merdekon bage lubang ni jarum’, ‘just like the eye (hole) is part of the needle’. The following phrase: ‘tapi roh nola kidah’, ‘but then I saw [him] come’, has no clear connection with the preceding or following lines. *Dua pe kita sibeltek, bage sirang bungkulalam, turang Raja Kelendungen The second line starts by repeating the first poetic line: ‘dua pe kita sibeltek’, then has a variation of the second, comparative part: ‘bage sirang bungkulalam’, followed by the name of the person addressed: ‘turang Raja Kelendungen’, ‘the two of us are born from the same womb, like separate fires rising up straight, brother Raja Kelendungen’. *Ulang keah pemakinendene, bage sirang bengkulalam The third line combines a new first part: ‘ulang keah pemakinendene’ with the repeated second part of the second line: ‘bage sirang bengkulalam’, ‘do not 4

Vocables and short filler phrases are printed in italics.

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break us up, like separate fires rising up straight’. The following phrase: ‘sada kesunduten sada kepeltaken’, ‘one in the west and one in the east’, is loosely connected with the preceding line. *Nai tabahan pinang ngo katendene, pepulung bana embulak mada mertunas, turang Raja Kelendungen. The fourth poetic line, a simile for the speaker’s despair, is broken up into a first part: ‘nai tabahan pinang ngo, katendene’, and a second part: ‘pepulung bana embulak mada mertunas’, ‘when areca palmtrees are felled, [as] you think, a pile of treetrunks does not sprout’, followed again by the name of the person addressed ‘brother Raja Kelendungen’. poetic formulae and vocables used in the laments All laments sung by Sonang Sitakar are similarly composed of poetic formulae alternating with vocables and introduced by the vocable ‘ong’, that probably derives from the wellknown Sanskrit syllable ‘ohm’ used in Hindu sacred texts. While the relatively short first lament of Nan Tampuk Emas has been analysed as a four line verse, the storyteller and his audience did not necessarily experience it as such. It is difficult to find a similar four-line structure in the other laments. According to Moore (1985:206) ‘no consistent form is used in crying songs, all examples being differently structured’. The phrase puhun ni turang is the most frequently used ‘filler’ in the laments of Nan Tampuk Emas. It also occurs in the crying song of a bride in Moore’s thesis (1985:212), in which similar feelings of loneliness after separation from one’s relatives are expressed. Less frequently used vocables are nang, ninang, ninangna, which are variants of the word inang (mother) that often occur in crying songs. As Moore (1985:213) remarks, vocables are only ‘moderately used’ in crying songs. While all laments contain different poetic formulae, repetition of formulae frequently occurs, usually with some variation. The formula dua kin kita sibeltek is repeated as dua pe kita sibeltek in the same lament and combined with a different second formula. It is used again in the second lament, in combination with one new and another repeated formula. The complex formula in the final line is also used, with variation, in the final lines of the second and third lament. The expression daging si melala which is repeatedly used in the second and following laments expresses a nega216

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tive state of mind or condition. It also occurs in crying songs recorded by Moore, among these is a lament of Nan Tampuk Emas in another version of the story of Si Buah Mburle (Moore 1985:253). Moore (1985:208-10, 253, 463) translates it either as ‘the body is shy’ or as ‘evil spirits’. The structure of the three first lines of the first lament is similar: a statement is followed by a simile marked by the word ‘bage’, ‘like’, which is added as a relatively independent unit that may be used in variant forms and different combinations.

chants (odong-odong) There are more odong-odong than laments in this performance, possibly because the storyteller is a man. All odong-odong are chanted by Si Buah Mburle and address his mother Nan Tampuk Emas. While they also contain poetic formulae and vocables, the poetic structure of these chants differs somewhat from the laments. They consist of relatively long phrases, which according to Moore (1985:128) is connected with the special odong-odong singing style that uses a ‘diaphragm-abdominal breathing technique’.5 An analysis of the text of the second odong-odong will serve to illustrate some characteristic features of the chant’s poetic structure. Text of the second odong-odong He, odong-odong ko da nang Ia, ulang tabah ko buluh laga, ulang kitei ko perbanton, le nang Ulang dak ijuljulken ko laga i pusuhmi, ulang dak ijembai ko lapang kemagonmu En ngo da nang, kudoken bamu pama situa-tua Mula nggo embelgah daging, embelgah mahan sarihinken Mula kedek deng daging, kedek mahan pikirinkin Ia, maremben da nang, kudoken bamu Ulang, da nang, sitadingkin en mahan pikirinken Ia, ulang ko, da nang, tangis tereluh tumataken bamu Ia, ukum dukakmu Si Buah Mburle 5 Moore (1985:128) writes that: ‘a major reason why phrase lengths in kemenjen tree songs can be so much longer than in other Pakpak song types is due to the diaphragm-abdominal breathing technique that is employed by singers in the loud singing style’.

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Sonang Sitakar chanting, photo Clara Brakel

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Si embahken sangap ngo, si embahken tua Bana bilalang, bana biruru, bana pangkat, bana bincoli Kalak ulubalang, bana guru si perpantas, bana maholi, ale. *He, odong-odong ko da nang The chant is introduced by the vocable ‘heee’, followed by the expression ‘odong-odong ko’ and the feminine vocable ‘da nang’ indicating that the song is addressed to his mother, ‘the song is for you, mother’. The feminine vocable ‘da nang’ is used throughout the chant in various positions. *Ia, ulang tabah ko buluh laga, ulang kitei ko perbanton, le nang Introduced by the vocable ‘ia’, the first poetic line consists of two parts with similar structures, advising the mother in metaphoric phrases not to give in to feelings of anger and sadness: ‘do not cut down buluh laga [a sharp, thin type of bamboo], do not make a bridge in the top of a tree’. *Ulang dak ijuljulken ko laga i pusuhmi, ulang dak ijembai ko lapang kemagonmu Repeating the structure of the first line, the second line gives the same advice in a straightforward manner: ‘don’t continue being angry and upset, don’t you take shelter on the road of sorrow’. *En ngo da nang, kudoken bamu, pama situa-tua The third line announces a proverb (empama), with the formulaic expression ‘kudoken bamu’6, ‘I tell you’, that is frequently inserted in this and other odong-odong chants: ‘this is, mother, I am telling you, a saying of the old people’. *Mula nggo embelgah daging, embelgah mahan sarihinken The first line of the proverb starts with the word ‘mula’ that may be translated as ‘origin, cause’ or ‘if, when’ and says: ‘when one’s body is grown-up, one’s thinking is also mature’.

6

The expression ‘kudoken’ may also be spelled as ‘kudokken’.

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*Mula kedek deng daging, kedek mahan pikirinkin The second line of the proverb has a similar structure starting with the word ‘mula’ and says: ‘when one’s body is small, one’s thinking is also small’. *Ia maremben, da nang, kudoken bamu A brief phrase introduced by the vocable ‘ia’, ‘indeed’, announces the following admonition: ‘indeed tomorrow, mother, I am telling you’. *Ulang, da nang, sitadingkin en mahan pikirinken The seventh line forms a pair with the eighth line, both starting with the word ‘ulang’,’do not’: ‘don’t keep thinking of being left alone’. *Ia, ulang ko, da nang, tangis tereluh tumataken bamu The eighth line repeats the structure of the preceding line: ‘don’t you weep and cry, I am telling you’. *Ia, ukum dukakmu Si Buah Mburle A brief phrase introduced by the vocable ‘ia’ announces the final part of the poem: ‘indeed, the rule of your child Si Buah Mburle’. *Si embahken sangap ngo, si embahken tua(h) The tenth line forms the first part of a mantra-like expression which refers to Si Buah Mburle and occurs, with some variation, in other chants: ‘he is honoured, he is blessed’. *Bana bilalang, bana biruru, bana pangkat, bana bincoli The eleventh line consists of a string of four words, all preceded by the word ‘bana’, ‘to him’: ‘a bird’s gizzard, a hen’s gizzard, a [high] status, bincoli wood. *Kalak ulubalang, bana guru si perpantas, bana maholi, ale. The twelfth line still refers to Si Buah Mburle: ‘[he is] a heroic person, a shaman who is beautiful and handsome’. It ends with the vocable ‘ale’. A fixed final part chanted by one of the pengue follows this, as well as several other, odong-odong. It consists of apparently meaningless expressions.

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paired structures in odong-odong chants All odong-odong chanted by Sonang Sitakar are introduced by the loudly sung vocable ‘heee’, often followed by an expression with the word ‘odongodong’. A characteristic feature of these chants is the frequent use of paired phrases with parallel grammatical structures, often starting with the same word. The paired phrases in the second odong-odong chant start with the word ‘ulang’, ‘do not’, or ‘mula’, ‘because, if ’. Paired phrases with parallel grammatical structures are often arranged into four-line phrases, as in the third chant: Ulang laling mi liang batu Ulang laling mi liang kayu Ulang laling tendi dukakku Si Buah Mburle Ulang laling mi liang tanoh. Do not get lost in a grotto in the rocks, Do not get lost in the hole of a tree, Do not lose the soul of your child Sibuah Mburle, Do not get lost in a hole in the earth. Several chants contain empama in the well-known four-line verse form. The empama in the first chant consists of two pairs of lines with alternatively rhyming final syllables in the first and second phrase of each pair (a-b-a-b). The first part contains a simile, the second part the solution.7 Ulang itapel ko buluh laga Ulang pucukna mi perbanton Ulang dak ijuljulken ko kata ni laga Ulang jemba ko mi lapang kemagon. Don’t be attached to buluh laga [a thin type of bamboo] Don’t hide in the top of a tree [a place to catch birds] Don’t continue to use words of anger Don’t you take shelter on the road of sorrow. 7

The second odong-odong chant contains a less ‘correct’ variant of this empama.

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A line starting with ‘ulang’ followed by (paired) lines starting with ‘mula’ frequently occurs in odong-odong chants, as in the first chant: Ulang ko tangis, le nang, petangis-tangis ko bamu Mula tangis ko, le nang, roh nan kata ni laga Mula roh, nang, kata ni laga, masa lagan masa roga Don’t you cry, oh mother, you are crying and crying If you are crying, mother, angry words come If angry words come, all become angry, all become nervous. In most odong-odong chanted by Sonang Sitakar, paired phrases alternate with non-paired phrases of varying length and are interspersed by vocables, which is why these chants do not have a regular structure. They can be considered as ‘free-metred’, like the kemenjen tree worksongs discussed by Moore. In her thesis, Moore (1985:104) concludes that ‘no consistent poetic form is found among kemenjen tree worksongs, as most songs are uniquely structured’. The vocables used in various positions in all chants of Si Buah Mburle are ‘le nang’ or ‘da nang’, often combined with the formulaic expression ‘kudokken bamu’. The poetic formulae used in these chants seem to be specific for odong-odong, as they do not occur in the laments.8 Some apparently independent poetic expressions used in odong-odong chants may in fact derive from empama. An example is the expression ‘kata ni laga’, ‘words of anger’, used in the first chant, and again in the third chant. The expression ‘kata ni laga’ makes sense in the context of the empama quoted above, where it occurs in the third line and rhymes with ‘buluh laga’, a species of bamboo, in the first line. But it sounds somewhat enigmatic as an independent poetic expression, at least if one is not familiar with this empama. Formulaic expressions are often used with minor variations in parallel expressions: in the first chant the expression ‘kata ni begu’, ‘words of the spirits’ is used as a parallel to ‘kata ni laga’.9 A new combination oc8 Moore writes on the use of formulae that ‘formulae may occur in a variety of song categories, or exclusively in only one song class’, and ‘some poetic formulae are found in a wide variety of song types and are consequently known to many singers’ (Moore 1985:39-40). On the kemenjen tree songs she writes that these are ‘distinguishable from other songs in the Pakpak tradition by the inclusion of poetic and/or melodic formulae that are distinct to the kemenjen tree song style’ (Moore 1985:106). 9 The expression ‘kata ni begu’ suggests that some poetic formulae are not directed to humans but to spirits.

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curs in the third chant ‘Mula itersusun ko, dah ko, kata ni laga i menusahi mo engket begu’, ‘if you are arranging words of anger, you will be troubled by spirits’. Some lines are formed by repeating a phrase with minor variation, resulting in a dyadic set, as for example in the fourth chant ‘ulang ko tading i kata, ulang ko tading i sodip, le nang’, ‘do not lag behind in speaking, do not lag behind in praying, mother’. And in the eleventh chant ‘kade-kade kin ngo asa kade-kade, ia, kula-kula kin ngo asa kula-kula’, ‘after all family is family, and in-laws are in-laws’. songs (ende-ende) Songs have more regular textual structures and melodic patterns than odong-odong and laments. Two different songs, a lullaby and a dance song, are sung during the performance of Si Buah Mburle. The lullaby is sung by Nan Tampuk Emas to her baby when he is finally born in the shape of a chicken’s egg. Lullabies are sung with a soft voice to calm a small infant held in the arms or carried in a sling. To sing a lullaby is called ‘mengurih-urihken’, derived from ‘urih’ or ‘orih’, that is singing to calm a child. The poetic structure of the lullaby is discussed first. Text of the lullaby Urih-urih ko urih, ulang tangis, ulang melaga Endepur ko angin i deleng Bulung arum, bulung rintua Ia, endepur mo nemu, bapa, dagingmu embelen Asa lot dengan sayurntua. Ia, ia le, ia, ia le, asa meria-ia kade sisuan Iah ia, kurna ale manuk Ia, embelgah kidah deleng Si Budunni Asa kuanggon-anggon ia, asa ulang ko tangis meraluh. Daging niaru da puhunmu idi Ia sanggohen ninangna, asa kade penalu puhunmu Si Raja Kelendungen i Tah piga tahun bekas inangmu mengandung-andung Ia, ia, kin ulang ko tangis, ulang melaga.

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*Urih, urih ko urih, ulang tangis, ulang melaga The song is introduced by the word ‘urih’, ‘hush’, and a dyadic expression telling the child ‘don’t cry, don’t be cross’. *Endepur ko angin i deleng The second line starts with the word ‘endepur’, ‘to be blown at by the wind’, which is repeated in the beginning of the fourth line ‘the mountain wind blows at you’. *Bulung arum, bulung rintua The third line mentions the leaves of two plants that refer in sound form to an expression in the fifth line, ‘leaf of spinach, leaf of the rintua’ [tree]. *Ia, endepur mo nemu, bapa, dagingmu embelen Introduced by the syllable ‘ia’, the fourth line also starts with the word ‘endepur’, then continues the expression in the second line. The child is addressed as ‘bapa’, ‘father’, which is not unusual: ‘yes, when the wind blows at you, my boy, your body will grow big’. *Asa lot dengan sayurntua The fifth line finishes the statement of the preceding line: ‘so that there will be someone to grow old with [me]’. *Ia ia le, ia ia le, asa meria-ria kade sisuan A new couplet is introduced by the vocables ‘ia ia le ia ia le’, followed by the question: ‘what to plant to make you happy’. *Iah ia kurna ale manuk Introduced by the vocables ‘iah’ and ‘ia’, the seventh line calls the chickens: ‘alright, krrr, come chickens’. *Ia embelgah kidah deleng Si Budunni The eighth line is also introduced by the vocable ‘ia’ and encourages the child to grow: ‘I see you’ll be as big as mount Budunni’. *Asa kuanggon-anggon ia, asa ulang ko tangis meraluh. The ninth line ends the couplet: ‘I am rocking you, so don’t you cry and weep’. 224

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*Daging niaru da puhunmu idi The last last couplet starts with a change of subject: ‘your uncle is a peddlar’ *Da, sanggohen ninangna, asa kade penalu puhunmu Si Raja Kelendungen i The eleventh line explains why the mother wishes the child to grow up: ‘mother is kissing you, so you will conquer your uncle Raja Kelendungen’. *Tah piga tahun bekas inangmu mengandung-andung The twelfth line emphasises that the child is indebted to his mother: ‘for so many years your mother has been pregnant [with you]’ *Ia ia kin ulang tangis, ulang melaga Introduced by the vocable ‘ia’ the song is closed off as it started ‘now don’t cry, do not be cross’. characteristics of the lullaby The lullaby sung by Nan Tampuk Emas uses formulaic expressions, but few vocables, which occur mainly at the beginning of a line. Following the first line, the text can be considered to consist of four-line verses which are not separated by a pause. The verse lines are of irregular length and have different grammatical structures. According to Moore, lullabies can have either strict metric forms or be free-metred. The differences in performance manner is explained as follows: ‘the extensive use of ornaments and the resulting rhythmic complexities are two of the main aspects which differentiate free-metred songs from their metred counterparts’ (Moore 1985:81). As the poetic formulae used in this song typically belong to the lullaby repertoire, several of these also occur in lullabies recorded by Moore. Besides the obvious expression ‘ulang (ko) tangis’, a formula that many lullabies have in common is ‘endepur ko angin i deleng’, ‘the mountain wind blows at you’. In one of the lullabies recorded by Moore (1985:73) this is also combined with the wish that the child may grow big, ‘ko daging mbelen’. The mother’s wish for the child to grow big and strong in order to

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improve her social condition, as expressed in the last part of the lullaby, is a theme that often occurs in lullabies.10 dance song ‘tading ucangku’ In Sonang Sitakar’s performance of Si Buah Mburle, the song starting with the words ‘tading ucangku’, ‘I have left my bag’, occurs in the context of a spoken passage that comments on the second odong-odong. Its text is first spoken, then sung, following a remark of the pengue. Unlike the other chants or songs, this song does not represent the thoughts or feelings of one of the story’s main characters. It is a dialogue between an elder and a younger sibling (sister/brother), who address each other as kaka and anggi. In fact, the song does not form part of the story of Si Buah Mburle and is followed by a symbolic interpretation after it has been sung. The text consists of three regular four-line verses sung to the same melody. The lines contain ten syllables11 and are divided into two identical parts, separated by the word ‘kaka’ or ‘anggi’. Text of the dance song Tading ucangku, kaka, tading ucangku Tading olihen, anggi, tading olihen Si gelap ari, kaka, si gelap ari Parparken banggar, anggi, parparken banggar. Endalit dalan, kaka, sindalit dalan, Tangga-tanggai, anggi, tangga-tanggai, Siroh udan, kaka, siroh udan Tabahken saong, anggi, tabahken saong. Simbelgah lae, kaka, simbelgah lae Tabahken kite, anggi, tabahken kite Simbiar kami, kaka, simbiar kami Si mada mbiar, anggi, si mada mbiar.

10 Moore (1985:76) remarks that: ‘the hopes of the singer for the growth and betterment of the child in social and economic standing are but two themes used in lullabies’. 11 The only exception is the third line of the second verse, which has a paired phrase with four syllables: ‘siroh udan, kaka, siroh udan’.

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I’ve left my bag, kaka, I’ve left my bag Return and fetch it, anggi, return and fetch it It is dark now, kaka, it is dark now Take a torch, anggi, take a torch. The path is slippery, kaka, the path is slippery Make a ladder, anggi, make a ladder The rain has come, kaka, the rain has come Cut a banana leaf, anggi, cut a banana leaf [as umbrella]. The river is swollen, kaka, the river is swollen [Cut a tree to] make a bridge, anggi, make a bridge I am afraid, kaka, I am afraid Do not be afraid, anggi, do not be afraid.

variant versions of the song ‘tading ucangku’ The song ‘tading ucangku’ must be well-known, as Moore recorded several different versions of it. According to Moore12 one version that is quite different from the song performed by Sonang Sitakar used to be part of a story entitled ‘Si Haji Pitu Beru’. Lot ngo riar ta mbue, beru Lot ngo emas tanggersing, beru Oda mang kadi puhunmu Tading ucangku tiko, tading ucangku Tading ucangku ko ti mahan olihen, tik Pitu tiko beru Si Haji Si otang sada ko, le nang, Nan Tampuk Emas, nang Tading ucangku, le ko, tading ucangku Tading ucangku, ulang ko mahan olihenna.

12 Moore 1985:263, 457. The texts of this song on p. 263 and p. 457 are similar but not identical, They may actually come from different stories, as the title on p. 457 indicates: ‘Sukut-sukuten pitu beruna sada anak ale’. Moore (1985:262) says that: ‘The six songs found in the extract from Si Haji Pitu Beru would once have commented on the story’s plot, although the spoken narrative is no longer performed in conjunction with the songs’.

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There is much money for the daughter There is much gold Your uncle doesn’t want to receive you I’ve forgotten my bag, I’ve forgotten my bag I’ve forgotten my bag. Collect it when you return Si Haji has seven daughters Only one daughter is called Nan Tampuk Emas I’ve forgotten my bag, I’ve forgotten my bag I’ve forgotten my bag. Don’t you go back to collect it. Other versions that are more similar to the song performed by Sonang Sitakar are sung to accompany a game-dance known as ‘dembasken’ (Moore 1985:293-4, 473-4). In Tindi Radja Manik’s dictionary the word ‘dembas’ is said to be a dance performed by two lines of girls standing opposite each other; they walk forward and backward while singing (Manik 2002:87). Moore writes that the songs which are used to accompany dembasken include ende-ende dembas (dembas song) and ende-ende tading ucangku (song of the lost bag). Both these titles are usually found in some lines in the song text. In one song these two phrases comprise the major part of the song text (Moore 1985:294, 474): Tading ucangku, da nang, tading ucangku Tading ucangku, da nang le, tading olihi Tading ucangku, da nang, tading ucangku Tading ucangku, da nang, tading olihi. Ref: Dembasken kita, mo kaltu, tataken kita mo, ue Dembasken kita, muda kaltu, tataken kita muda, ue. I’ve left my bag, I’ve left my bag I’ve left my bag, return and fetch it I’ve left my bag, I’ve left my bag I’ve left my bag, return and fetch it Ref: (Let us) dance, friends, (let us) dance my friends (Let us) dance, young friends, (let us) dance, young friends, yes.

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Characteristically, dance songs are metred ‘as befits music whose primary function is to accompany dancing’ (Moore 1985:297). A stylistic feature most texts of dance songs have in common is that ‘the four-line stanza-strophe is the basic poetic-melodic structural division of most dance songs’ (Moore 1985:301). This is also the case in another version of this dance song (ende-ende dembas), that uses the same phrases as the song performed by Sonang Sitakar, but in different combinations (Moore 1985:473-4): Tading ucangku, nang, tading ucangku Tading olihi, anggi, tading olihi si, da Sambiar aku, kaka, sambiar aku Samah da mbiar pe, anggi, so mada mbiar, da. Sagillup ari, kaka, sagillup ari Tak parparken banggar pe, anggi, parparken banggar, da Saudan ari, kaka, saudan ari Tabahken tudung pe, anggi, tabahken tudung, da. Sandalit dalan, kaka, sandalit dalan Tangga-tangga i pe, anggi, tangga-tangga i, da Sambelgah lae, kaka, sambelgah lae Tabahken kite pe, anggi, tabahken kite, da. I’ve forgotten my bag, I’ve forgotten my bag Return and fetch it little sister, return and fetch it I am afraid older sister, I am afraid I am not afraid, little sister, don’t be frightened. It is night, it is night Don’t split the woodchips, the woodchips The rain came today, came today Cut an umbrella, cut an umbrella.

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The pathway is slippery, the pathway is slippery, (Use) stairs, stairs, sister The river has become swollen, the river has become swollen Cut a bridge, cut a bridge. prayers (tonggo-tonggo) In the first part of the story, Raja Kelendungen addresses the spirits and deities at his departure. His prayer forms part of a spoken narrative passage and is referred to as ‘tamiang’ or ‘pesodip’. In the course of this prayer a formula is used to invoke the deities. Sumusur mo ko Empung Debata i Dates. Merpemege mo ko Debata. Menangkih mo ko Debata Teruh. Asa kumundul mo ko Empung Debata Tengah. Lot pengidonku bamu, dokenkenku bamu. Descend, Grandfather Debata up high, Please listen to me Debata, Ascend, Debata down below, And stay, Grandfather Debata in the middle. This is my invocation to you, I am speaking to you. The same formulaic invocation to deities and spirits is used to open the story of Datu Tunggal ni Begu in MS Or 3406. In the context of the sukut-sukuten, Raja Kelendungen’s prayer contains informal phrases. The ancient formula, inserted into a spoken passage, is uttered at great speed rather than chanted. Possibly, the reason for that was the fear of being considered a ‘heathen’ – the storyteller emphasizes that these are words of the past (‘en mo kata arnia’), this is what people used to say. proverbial expressions (empama) Proverbial expressions based on a simile are used throughout the performance, both during narrative passages and in songs or chants, with the exception of the laments. While in song texts empama in the form of a four-line verse are used as a structuring device, in the context of a nar230

7 Comments on the performance of Si Buah Mburle |

rative passage other empama forms occur as well. Essentially, the empama functions as an educational tool, expressing in a compact way the lesson or instruction contained in the story. As the above analysis shows, the performance of the sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle includes all the genres of traditional Dairi literature. Even a riddle has been inserted into the narration of the hero’s wedding.

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The sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle was recorded on 11 January 1979 in the house of Bapak Kabeaken, leader (pertaki) of the village of Sukarame, in the Simsim area to the south of Sidikalang, Kecamatan Kerajaan. During the previous evening we had discussed Pakpak music and culture with our host, who showed us his set of musical instruments and played the sordam flute for us. Sonang Sitakar, a frail old man, arrived early in the morning, telling us that he had come walking a long distance through the hills. In spite of his age he performed with a strong voice, enchanting his audience of villagers and children – and us. As an introduction M.R. Solin, the official from the District Department of Education and Culture in Sidikalang who had arranged the performance, briefly interviewed the storyteller. Then Sonang Sitakar opened his performance with a loud chant to ask permission from the ancestors (mersintabin). The chant, which lasts more than five minutes and is performed with many repetitions and elaborate embellishments, is based on a traditional four-line empama: Rabi-rabi i babo page dukut-dukut i teruh bungke mersintabi mo, le nang, kita lebe sisukutken adat si perlebe. Cutting the shrubs [growing] above the riceplants And the weeds below the turkeyberry (Solanum torvum) First we ask to be forgiven For telling about the customs of old.

| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

The storytelling begins as follows: ‘Permulaan sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle dokke i mo kerna dua ngo ia sibeltek’, ‘The beginning of the story of Si Buah Mburle, they say, is because they were twins [literally: two of the same womb]’. This opening line, including the frequently repeated word ‘dokke’, ‘they say’,1 is followed by narration describing what is happening, interspersed with direct speech representing the words or thoughts of the story’s main characters. The storyteller’s brief pauses are filled by the pengue, with affirmatons like ‘ue’,‘yes’, ‘tuhu’, ‘indeed’, or ‘nina’, ‘he/she/ they said’, and with brief questions or comments. After about ten minutes of narration, the storyteller chants in a sobbing style a lament (tangis) of Nan Tampuk Emas who is complaining about the separation from her twin brother. It is said that young girls like to sing this at dusk. This first lament is followed by about nine minutes of storytelling. Then there is a second, longer lament of Nan Tampuk Emas, after she has eaten the wild mango (mburle) fruit. The storyteller says that he will not give too much detail, in order to speed up, and proceeds with the next chant that is sung by Si Buah Mburle inside his mother’s womb. It is performed in a loud style called odong-odong and contains a spell. This song is completed by one of the pengue, who sings a formulaic endpiece. From that point on, the amount of time spent in storytelling decreases, while the chanting increases for a while. During the last half hour there is mainly storytelling and hardly any chanting. The main elements of the story from Sonang Sitakar’s performance are presented below in the order in which they occurred. While the translations of the narrated passages try to closely follow the text, the chanted and sung sections can for the most part only be paraphrased, as their texts are composed in a special manner: much of their contents consist of vocables or wordplay in the form of phrases that often do not follow the rules of regular spoken language. This makes them difficult to understand, which is done deliberately, as opaqueness is a characteristic feature of chanted expressions.

1 The handwritten transcription has ‘dokke’, or ‘dakke’, spelled as one word. In Tindi Radja Manik’s typed transcription the same word is mostly spelled as ‘dah ke’.

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Sonang Sitakar with the pengue, the wife and son of Bapak Kabeaken and Lode, photo Clara Brakel

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the sukut-sukuten si buah mburle 1. introduction The first theme of the story of Si Buah Mburle is an unfortunate event: the birth of twins, a boy and a girl.1 In order to prevent illegitimate sexual relations between the two, the father, Si Haji, organises a large feast and sacrifices 15 buffaloes requesting from the gods that the children will be happy, handsome and intelligent and not breach the taboo. His wife’s brother (puhun) is invited to perform the ritual cutting of the children’s hair and give them names. A problem arises when Si Haji refuses to pay the customary reward for performing this task. Angered, the uncle prays to the gods to curse his brother and sister and goes home full of resentment. In due time, Si Haji’s country is struck by a contagious disease which kills all the inhabitants, including Si Haji and his wife, except the two children named Nan Tampuk Emas and Si Raja Kelendungan. 1. first narration The beginning of the story of Si Buah Mburle they say is because there was a pair of twins. They were born on the same day, with about one hour in between, the boy was born first, and then the girl. [News of] this birth apparently reached the mother’s brother (puhun) in the west, who was informed by word of mouth (saying): ‘Two cousins were born to you, and these two are a boy and a girl, so it is merperkas’. That’s how they used to call this. ‘So go [there] first, to see if it is true or not’, said the puhun ’s wife. His name was Perubak Bolon. So he arrived and found his brother-in-law (silih) Si Haji. Oh, silih, you have come’, said his brother-in-law Si Haji [standing] on top of the wall, because villages used to be surrounded by a wall. ‘Why have you come, silih?’ said Si Haji. ‘But there is a rumour I have heard, they say that my sister has given birth to twin children, a boy and a girl’. ‘A boy and a girl is not good?’ ‘No, if one is a boy and the other a girl, that is merperkas’. ‘Well, let us go into the house, silih’, said Si Haji.

1 As pointed out in Brakel (1976:36, note 65), the birth of twins of different gender is considered unfortunate in many Indonesian cultures, and the children are often separated soon after being born.

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1. text of the first narration Permulaan sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle, dokke, i mo kerna dua ngo ia sibeltek. Tubuh sidarinna nai kira-kira perantaranna sejam ngo jolon daholi en tubuh asa si daberu. Asa pertubuhna en roh mo rupani puhunna i kesunduten nai ibagahken angin lumang-lumang memagahken: ‘Tubuh da beberemu dua. Bakune asa dua, sada daholi sada daberu, jadi merperkas’. I mo kata siarnia. ‘Jadi dahi mo lebe tah tuhu tah oda’, nina dengan jabu puhunna nai, Perubak Bolon gerar puhunna endai. Jadi roh ia. Jumpa mo tuhu deket silihna si Haji. ‘O silih, enggo roh ke’, kata mo silihna si Haji en i balik pagar, kerna kuta merpagar ngo dokke arnia. ‘Kasa asa roh ke silih?’ nina si Haji. ‘Tapi lot kudengkoh kabar angin lumang-lumang, tubuh nina beberengku dua, sada daholi sada daberu’. ‘Daholi daberu otang degar?’ ‘Oda, sada ngo daholi sada daberu, i mo merperkas’. ‘O, mi sapo mo kita silih’, kata Si Haji. ‘Tuhu ngo itengen mo si tibuh en. Mula enggo tubuh da, merpesta mo kita, ulang bage page reben-reben segen kalak en, kerna enggo kesa tubuh lot idona. Kalak en sada bapa sada inang oda endorok adatna jolo nai ngo idi. Oda endorok mersibuaten’.

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‘Have a look at these newborn babies. Let us make a celebration because they were borne, they should not be like rice [fallen] in a ravine, because they have been born it is their right [to have a celebration]. That they should not have the same father and mother, that’s a rule that belongs to the past. We should not argue about that’. When he had said that, they actually made a feast. Sacrificial buffaloes were slaughtered, seven upstream and seven downstream, and one in the middle to prevent quarrelling between the children. Unbelievable how big they were. King-size buffaloes, all of them, that is what was prepared for the sacrifice, seven upstream and seven downstream, [there was] food for seven days and seven nights, with side-dishes from early morning till evening, and for a change yam leaves. After seven days and seven nights the feast was over. ‘Well, the feast is over, silih, don’t I give names to my sister’s children?’ said the puhun. ‘Yes, silih, you have come to give them names’, said Si Haji. ‘But, say, silih, as gold (emas) will be the brideprice for my niece, I make her name Nan Tampuk Emas. Because I see my niece as a pile of gold’, said the puhun.2 ‘So, silih, there is as much gold as a horse-head (takal kuda), you will receive that as a reward for giving a name to your niece and nephew’, said Si Haji. ‘So we say, silih, when I have received as much as a takal kuda of gold for naming my niece and nephew, then I will receive a dark cloth (oles metem).3 It is called oles jehe. That is actually the reward for naming’, he said. ‘There is oles jehe, silih. You just give names to your niece and nephew’, said Si Haji. He first wanted it to be done. He was beating around the bush, he was just saying that he would pay the reward. Then the uncle came: ‘Because there is oles metem in fact named oles jehe, the name of my nephew will be Raja Kelendungen’. So then it was said like that, the name of the niece was Nan Tampuk Emas, and the name of the nephew was Raja Kelendungen. ‘So, it is done. Now where is your oles?’ ‘I said that there is, [but] there is nothing to give to you’. 2 The girl’s name refers to the brideprice that will be paid for her by the groom. In Coleman’s article (1987:315) on Pakpak-Dairi marriage ritual this is specified as cloth, money and gold. Berutu’s recent publication (2002:35) on Pakpak marriage ritual lists the ‘takal unjuken’ as part of the brideprice (mas kawin). 3 Coleman (1983:255) explains that the word ‘oles’, which literally means cloth, may be used as a euphemism for any bride-price payment.

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Enggo kesa bagi, saut mo kalak en merpesta. Ijeret mo sada kerbu persulangan pitu i julu, pitu i jehe, sada persiron anak-anak i tengahtengah. Oda iantoi simbelgah i. Raja-raja kerbo sisada en mo mahan persulangan. Kerbo pitu si ni julu, pitu i jehe en mo panganen pitu ari pitu berngin, mahan roroh sicegen cibon gancih bulung gadong-kayu. Pitu ari pitu berngin habis mo pesta. ‘Jadi ia enggo habis pesta silih, otang kugerari mo beberengken?’ kata puhunna. ‘Ue silih, naneg [?] kene mo menggerari asa kene enggo roh’, kata mo Si Haji. ‘Tapi en deke silih, asa emas segen tokor beberengku en, ia Nan Tampuk Emas mo kubaing gerarna, kerna bage tampuk emas ngo kuidah ma beberengku si daberu en’, kata mo puhunna. ‘Jadi lot ngo silih emas nasa takal kuda mahan jalonde upahendene menggerari beberendene i’, kata mo Si Haji. ‘Nai kami dokke silih, enggo menjalo emas nasa takal kuda lako menggerari beberengki, naing nola mo nemu menjalo oles metem. I mo oles jehe gerarna. I mo nemu mahan upah menggerari’, nina. ‘Lot ngo, silih, oles jehe. Gerari kene mo beberendene i’, nina Si Haji. Kepeken selek sambing ibaing. Dangkah-dangkah dupang-dupang, kata-kata sambing ngo menggarar utang. Nai roh mo puhunna i: ‘Mula lot ngo kepe oles metem, oles jehe gerarna, nibaing mo gerarna Raja Kelendungen beberengku daholi’. Jadi enggo kesa bagi idoken mo gerar beberena si daberu i Nan Tampuk Emas, janah gerar si daholi Raja Kelendungen. ‘Jadi saut. Nai dike kene mo oles i’. ‘Lotna ngo ningku, berenken mendahi kene oda lot’. ‘Mula bagi dakke silih, rogi nai ngo iakap kene memereken emas si nasa takal kuda i. Oles i mo giam dah ke asa nipercabing engket inang dukak’. ‘I jehe ngo dah ke asa lot oles si bagidi. Ukum i julu enda oda ngo lot berenken mendahi kene’. ‘Jadi dakke, ulang berbagah-bagah mendahi kula-kula. Si enggo lot kin menjadi oda lot. I mo mengga ni ate, ‘enculah’ ngo bagi. Arti ni ‘enculah’ i mo merdosa, salah. Kernana bagi mo rupani sodip memasumasu oda mo merdalan, iperbagah si enggo lot, kepe oda ibere. Jadi artina hukumna lot dokke mpamana: Turah page si arang, ipecah page sileuh, murah sampang ate sikarang, mengga atena tah piga ratus tahun.

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‘You say that, silih, because you feel it as a loss to give as much as a horse-head of gold. Actually oles, it is said, is just for the mother to wrap the child’. ‘In the downstream lands, they say, there is cloth like that. The law of the interior is that it is not given to you’. So it is said, do not make an agreement with in-laws. First he says ‘there is’, [then] it becomes ‘there is not’. It is harmful, ‘enculah’ like that. The meaning of ‘enculah’ is guilty, wrong. For that reason it went like that apparently, the prayer for blessing did not work. He promised it was there, and then it was not given. So, it means that the rule is, as is said in the umpama: One grows black sticky rice, [but] one harvests banana It is easy to be happy now, and sad for hundreds of years [later]. So to act like that is prohibited for people who are in-laws. So it seems that it went like that after he had come, like a goat giving birth to a porcupine: it may be cheap, but becomes expensive afterwards. One should not act like that to relatives, nor to in-laws, nowadays it is called ‘pergaulan’ should not be like that. A goat producing a porcupine is cheap, but in fact it is expensive later on, a sin, it is just a sin, just wrong not to keep a promise. I ask respect for our Pakpak rule, it is clear that one should not act wrongly (enculah). Then one will develop and progress will follow. So that’s how it started, they say, with the birth. When he had a dispute with his own sister he went away, he left for the west with all his children. It is clear that because Si Haji was guilty, they say, the people in Si Haji’s village perished, only the two children remained. What was the cause? Maybe it was because of smallpox, or because of spirits. Si Haji was wrong when he said that it was there, [but] it was not given, nothing at all. Yes, he did wrong, they say. So we should not do wrong and should not become guilty. It is difficult (literally: expensive) for people who are guilty to be forgiven, it is difficult for sins to be pardoned.

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Jadi bagi ngo pantangan kalak merkula-kula. Jadi bagi ma rupani enggo kesa roh bagi kambing meranaken endorin mermurah-murah sambing gabe mahal i podin en. Oda hana bagidi barang pe merkadekade, merkula-kula barang pe pergaulan kata-kata si bagendari, ulang sibahan. Kambing meranaken ndorin murah sambing kepe mahal i podin, dosa, semata-mata dosa semata-mata kesalahan oda tertebus. Aku mintak hormat rupani mendahiken hukum kita Pak-Pak enculah bagi ulang siulaken, asa ue merkembang mengekutken maju. Jadi simulai mo dokke perketubuhna en. Merubat mo sada daberu, laus mo lari mi kesunduten, engket mo dukak-dukakna karinana. Rupana merdosa mo Si Haji en dokke, ripas jelma i kuta Si Haji en, tading mo anak en sidua, ibaing kade tah ibaing wabah, barang pe ibaing begu. Enggo salah Si Haji en. Iperbagah lot, oda ibereken, oda mada lot, ueh, ibakin mensalahna dokke. Im asa kita ulang mengulaken salah, asa ulang menjadi dosa. Jelma perdosa mahal ngo tersasa, mahal menasa dosa.

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2. introduction When the children have grown up and become adolescents, Raja Kelendungen decides to go to his maternal uncle in the west in order to marry one of his cousins. His sister Nan Tampuk Emas, who does not want to be left alone, sings a lament (tangis).4 2. first lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, puhun ni turang We two are in fact children of the same mother, da puhun ni turang, definitely, like the eye of the needle, But then I saw [him] come, We are children of the same mother, like separate fires rising up straight, brother Raja Kelendungen, Do not break us up, like separate fires rising up straight, one in the west, and one in the east, When areca palmtrees (pinang) are felled, you say, A pile of treetrunks does not sprout, brother Raja Kelendungen.

4

Before he starts to sing, the storyteller says that young girls should memorize this lament.

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2. text of the first lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, puhun ni turang Dua kin kita sibeltek, da puhun ni turang, sai merdekon bage lubang ni jarum Tapi roh nola kidah Dua pe kita sibeltek, bage sirang bungkulalam, turang Raja Kelendungen Nang, ulang keah pemakinendene, bage sirang bengkulalam, sada kesunduten sada kepeltaken Nai tabahan pinang ngo katendene, pepulung bana embulak mada mertunas, turang Raja Kelendungen, ninangna.

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3. introduction In spite of his sister’s protest the brother leaves, promising that he will return with a bride to keep her company. At his departure he addresses the Gods. Nan Tampuk Emas who is left all alone in the village eats a wild mango (mburle). 3. narration of raja kelendungen’s departure So, according to the adat in the story of Si Buah Mburle, they say, when he went away, you see, he asked [for protection] – because the stairs used to have seven steps to the bottom – this is his ‘tamiang’ as it is called these days, or ‘pesodip’ as the word used to be: ‘Oh Grandfather,5 please listen to me as I take on this ladder one, two, three, four, five, six, seven steps. Seven are the eyes of the spirits, seven are the eyes of the enemy, let me not see them in the middle of the road, let us not meet on the way’. This is what he said. So, then he stepped down the seven steps to the earth, ‘one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven are the eyes of the tricksters’, he said. ‘But these are my words: Descend, Grandfather Debata up high, please listen to me Debata. Ascend, Debata down below. And stay, Grandfather Debata in the middle. This is my invocation to you, I am telling you’. That is what people used to say. So, I am telling you, yes, it seems that she [had to] live there almost alone, because it was a sin and wrong, not in accordance with the Debata, or ‘Tuhan’ as one says nowadays, I think because these are the rulers. So it’s like that, because [these are] the highest rulers, he asked for strength. ‘Because when they come, it will be alright’, he said. So she was left behind, and he went away. ‘Only this I am saying and I am asking you, oh Grandfather Debata up high, Batara Guru. For the third time, this is what I say to you, oh Grandfather Debata below, who is said to be holding the world, [and] to you, oh Grandfather Debata in the middle’. This is what he said. ‘This is what I ask from you. My sister is staying behind; I am going to the west. When I have left her, let her not be despised, let her not be uncivilized, let her not be, as it is called nowadays, like a prostitute, and let her not be afraid, my sister. I am returning in the morning after seven nights and seven days’. This is what he asked in his prayers, they say. 5 The word ‘pung’,‘grandfather’, is also used to addres a God. Terms of address may be confusing; while bapa means father, or father’s brother, a father may address his son as: ‘ale bapa’, and the son will answer with: ‘ale pa’ (Manik 2002:33).

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3. text of the narration of raja kelendungen’s departure Asa bagi mo dah ke sicara adat sukut-sukuten Sibuah Mburle, laus mo katendene ipido mo. Kerna ardan arnia pitu tingkah mi teruh. En mo tamiangna kata-kata bagendari, barang persodipna kata-kata si arnia: ‘Oh, le Pung, merpemege mo ko kutingkah ardan i, sada, dua, telu, empat, lima, enem, pitu, petung mata ni begu, petung mata ni musuh, ulang lot idah aku i tengah dalan, ulang kami pejumpa i dalan’. En mo katana. Nai itingkah nola mo pitu tingkah tanoh, ‘sada, dua, telu, empat, lima, enem, pitu, petung mata ni pengangkal-akali’,1 nina, ‘Tapi bagi pe katangku: Sumusur mo ko Empung Debata i Dates, Merpemege mo ko Debata. Menangkih mo ko Debata Teruh, Asa kumundul mo ko Empung Debata Tengah. Lot pengidonku bamu, dokenkenku bamu’. En mo kata arnia. Jadia lot dokenkenku bamu, ue, rupana dah ke endesing deng isi kerna dosa engket salah, kurang ue engket Debata endai, Tuhan kata-kata bagendari ngi. Katengku kerna i mang si pertinggina. Jadi en pe bagi ngo kerna pertinggi ngo asa bana nai pengidon gegoh. Jadi kerna roh mia asa jadi men, nina. Jadi enggo kesa itadingken, laus mo ia. ‘En mo kesa dokenkenku asa kudilo ko, le Pung Batara Guru. [Debata dates] Enggo peteluken en mo dokenkenku bamu ale Empung Debata Teruh, tersebut sitahan dunia en. Ko, ale Pung Debata KaseKase, Debata Tengah en.’ I mo katana. ‘En mo pengidonku bamu. Turangku en tading, aku laus mi kesunduten. Kutadingkin, ulang bere kalak bohong, ulang bere kalak jukkat, ulang kalak bere kata-kata bagendari menjebongi kade, asa ulang embiar turangku en. Geteng lebe ari pitu berngin pitu ari’. I mo katana dokke pengidonna sodipna. 1 The typed transcription has ‘pengangkal-akali’, the hand-written transcription has ‘pengkalang pengkali pengkala’.

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.

[...] So finally, there was what is called a mburle fruit, this mburle was on the edge of the village square (kasean), you see, its leaves are like the leaves of the ginger plant, its fruits are like an egg. One of it, hanging dangling, was taken, it was blessed by Debata Guru up high, this mburle fruit. It came up high, they say, it was put to rest when it was not yet twelve noon, nowadays they say 12 o’clock, at noon. Yes, this mburle fruit was cut, the fruit was taken. It was destined (kodrat) by Debata up high, they say, to be turned into a child, like a paper it entered inside, via the womb, as the ‘mburle fruit boy’. [Question: ‘From where did the child come?’] That was destined by God, it is not known, maybe it was said to be a child, maybe it was ordered to be a child, maybe it was planned, it is not understood, they say. The story does not say how. Finally, they say, she had actually not eaten for four days and four nights, at noon she felt struck by the sun, by Grandfather Debata up high. Raja Kelendungen had gone to visit his uncle. At first she was seized by the sun and went to the left. She took the mburle fruit in her hand, like that, in the right hand. Then she was seized by the sun, maybe since she had not eaten [anything] for four days.

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[...] Jadi ujungna lot kin buah mburle gerarna, mburle enda dokkene biding-biding kasean, bulungna bage bulung bahing, buahna bage naruh manuk. I mo ibuat sada irampingken iembah Debata Guru endai mi datas buah mburle endai. I mo soh mi dates dah ke. Itendo ma deng dapet jam 12 tengah ari, kata bagendari jam 12, arin ceger ari. Ue itaka mo buah mburle endai, ibuat mo buahna. Dengan kodrat Debata dates en dah ke ipuyu mo anak bage kertas ipemasuk ibagasen tarap sebeltek hidup bage Si Buah Mburle endai. [Pengue: ‘Anakna idike nai?’] En kodrat Tuhan, oda nibetoh tah katana menjadi anak, tah hukumna menjadi anak, tah niatna oda niantusen dokke. Sukut-sukuten nai oda bagi dokke. Ujungna dah ke enggo kepe empat ari empat berngin mane mangan, perasanna ceger ari deng enggo itangkup mata ni ari endai, itangkup Empung Debata dates endai. Si Raja Kelendungen enggo laus mendahi puhunna endai. Si perjolo itangkup ikambirangkenna mata ni ari en. Ijemak buah mburle endai, ikamuhunken bagi endai. Itangkup kesa mata ni ari en tah kepe empat ari oda mangan.

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4. introduction Nan Tampuk Emas sings another lament about her loneliness, sadly recalling her brother’s words. 4. second lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, puhun ni turang I am left, not allowed to come along he said, followed by an evil spirit6 he said, Left behind in desolation just like that, like a flower in the grass fields, dangling in anguish, Actually [you are] an evil spirit, brother of Nan Tampuk Emas, a barren sister he said, A swallow swiftly crossing the kekembu7 he said, I see a turtle coming close to the water, Only in the moon can the eyes meet, only in the sea can the body dirt unite, A lonely emberabas tree, the corner of the kekembu, more and more separated, Only in the moon can the eyes meet, and only in the sea can the body dirt unite, We two are children of the same mother, like the legs of a bird, I do not know how to find support to be upright, one in the west and one in the east, Like an evil spirit, actually [I am] a sister You are not allowed to wander downstream, let it not happen that you go abroad, I cannot accept that, I [only] endure if you are safe upriver, I cannot bear it, Really [I am] like rain falling on the village yard, actually you made [me] into an evil spirit, not to be received left or right, everything is uncertain,

6 The special expression ‘daging si melala’ also occurs in laments collected by Moore. In her thesis it has been translated either as ‘the body is shy’ (Moore 1985:208-10) or as ‘evil spirits’ (Moore 1985:253, 463). 7 This word could not be found in Manik’s dictionary.

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4. text of the second lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, puhun ni turang Pengekuten ni tading, oda endorok bage pengekut, nina, pengekut daging simelala, heg, ninangna Nang, tading i langlang bagi-bagidi, bage perbunga ni rih, Mago-mago nianggon mo kepe daging si melala, turang ni Nan Tampuk Emas tunggirin turang, heg, ninangna Nang, tung, leang-leang ngite-ngite kekembu, ninangna Nang, mi lae kidah mendeseli garap, puhun ni turang Nang, i bulan nai kesa endorok mata merdemu Engket i laut kesa endorok dunut mersada, puhun ni turang Lang-lang ni emberabas pucuk ni kekembu Makin mada mersada I bulan nai kesa endorok mata merdemu Engket i laut kesa endorok dunut mersada, puhun ni turang Nang, dua kin ngo kita sibeltek, puhun ni turang, bage nehe ni manuk Nang, tah i pe bage penciranggun bungkulalan, sada i kesunduten sada i kepeltaken, puhun ni turang, heg Nang, bagi daging si melala kepeken turang Ulang bage perjadi seberang mo kepe, ijalang mi jehe mak ndorok, igongken, itahanken betah i julu en oda tertahan, heg Kepeken bage udan turun buri kesean, kepe daging si melala ibakin ko, puhun ni turang Nang, ijalo i pedaoh kumambirang kumamuhun oda endorok, nang, enggo lao karina, puhun ni turang

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If you are thrown away like the seeds of a terutung [durian8], thrown on somebody’s field, [or] maybe sold like a cow, [you must] be calm, he said, do not grieve to be fighting on your own, Like a chain, maybe in people’s field(s), you find much grief, In fact go to unite with father, so that you will be energetic to people, You have left me [alone], brother Cut are the branches of the durian tree, chopped off the resin tree, A tree that is cut down does not sprout.

8 A spiny tropical fruit containing a creamy pulp. Despite its fetid smell it is highly valued for its flavour.

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Nang, tah terpistak ngo kene bage bingkiang terutung, terpistak i ladang ni kalak, nang, tah bage lembu tertaor ngo kene Nang, bakune merta(m)bar ningira, oda piah mertendeng sambing Nang, bage sirante embue ke sendah, puhun ni turang, i ladang ni kalak, nang, mengelului laga Ngo kepe lako pesadaken bapa asa mertendi mendahi kalak, puhun ni turang, heg, ninangna Enggo tadingkin ko ngo kepe, turang, cepak dalan tarutung tampulen damar, embulak mada mertunas, puhun ni turang, ong.

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5. introduction The narration describes Nan Tampuk Emas’ suffering when the wild mango fruit gets stuck in her throat. 5. narration of nan tampuk emas’ suffering Well, you see, she did not go during the day, she had cramps in her stomach, she was so hungry, see. She looked at the sky. So she could not see anything, the more she was watching, the weaker she became; she felt scared, as people say. So whether it was like the will of God and Debata Guru up high or not, that mburle fruit fell down, yes, into her mouth. Plop, it said. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] She could not swallow it, she could not spit it out, it got stuck by accident in her Adam’s apple. It felt full, blocking [her throat] when eating. It felt full when she was eating, even when she drank it was full. But she could not speak, she could not cry. She went back to the place where she was squatting. She squeezed her Adam’s apple, she squeezed it to cut it off, pressing it in various ways, yes. ‘Oh, mother, ah, what a disaster in my throat!’ Ah, with both hands, they say, she cut it hastily. Yes, then it was in her belly. That is, there was no Adam’s apple as before, because Si Buah Mburle was ‘keturunen menare menijoni’, you see. Because with her Adam’s apple the girl was a parent without a child, [as] was said formerly. But this is what the old people used to say before. But many were seen like that. When a girl’s Adam’s apple grew large she would not have offspring. But anyway, we must not digress too much, it’s just so we understand more or less, is it not? So finally, you see, just to go on quickly, Si Buah Mburle sang a song, it is tremendous is it not? Yes, it is tremendous.

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5. text of the narration of nan tampuk emas’ suffering Jadi ujungna katendene oda mo merdalan ari. Kelpat beltekken, melehe katena. Itare mo langit endai. Jadi im asa oda ne merpendidah, enggo makin menengen-nengen, enggo bage terhampang perasan neneng kalak nina. Jadi kerna bagi kodrat Tuhan deket Debata Guru en i dates nai otang bagi, idabuhken mo buah mburle endai, ue, nai babah nai. Trak nina, [Pengue: ‘Ue’] oda boi itelen, oda boi iutahken. Enggo mo sor i buah bergengna i leket. Isen ngo mengakapken rasa. Isen i jambatan en mula pangan. Mula pangan isen ngo. Enumen pe isen ngo. Tapi mongkam makne terbaing, tangis makne terbaing. Balik mia mi bekas cangkungna endai. Ibedali mo buah bergengna endai, ibedali gabe heret, bage-bage penjet, ue. ‘Anange ah, jaya kadena ngo ibergengku en’. Ah, merdua tangan mo ia dah ke. Mengereret bagi raus nina. Ue, menter mo ni beltekna. Im asa oda lot ne buah bergeng sinajolo, kerna kalak keturunen menare menijoni Si Buah Mburle, tengen ke. Mula merbuah bergengna partua daberu, kurang dukakna, kata najolo. Tapi idokna tua-tua najolo ngidi. Tapi embue ma ngo nididah bagi. Embelgah ma buah bergeng daberu oda lot keturunenna. Tapi bagi pe ulang kita pela kelek misi, hanya kira-kira penganton kita otang bagi? Jadi ujungna katende, enggo kesa bagi merberus mo tong. Merodongodong nola Si buah Mburle endai, hebat nai ti. Ue, i mo hebatna.

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6. introduction The fruit inside her sings a song, telling her that he is a present of Batara Guru and his name is Si Buah Mburle.9 6. first chant of si buah mburle Heee, I am singing to you, mother, Don’t you cry, oh mother, you are crying and crying, If you are crying, mother, angry words come, If angry words come all become angry, all become nervous, Ia, that is why, mother, I am telling you, If you have a head-cloth, I am telling you, twist a head-cloth, mother, this is what I am saying to you, If you twist a head-cloth, mother, the thigh is connected with buluh enderu [a kind of bamboo] Therefore you are crying all the time, your laments are mixed with spiritwords, Ia, as we are attached to buluh enderu, both of us in the treetop, Therefore we are accompanied by spirits, Nobody knows to avoid the road of suffering, Indeed, mother, all are angry, all are nervous, If you are angry today, you will be nervous tomorrow, Ia, mother, the old people’s saying is: Don’t be attached to buluh laga [a sharp kind of bamboo], Don’t hide in the top of a tree [a place to catch birds], Don’t continue to use words of anger, Don’t you take shelter on the road of sorrow. Ia, this is, mother, I tell you, a proverb of the old people to calm you, It is offered to you, mother, so that you will stop what you are doing, May these words be accepted by you, I say to you, Please agree that I give you advice, and again agree to be instructed, So there is, I tell you, someone who agrees with your thinking, Here mother, my words to you are not sharp,

9 Coleman (1983:403) discusses the special use of personal names in Pakpak society by pointing out that ‘using another person’s name is not something the Pakpak are comfortable with in most adult social relations’. This passage in the appendix on kinship terminology also explains why a child may be named after a fruit. For kinship terms, see Appendix.

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6. text of the first chant of si buah mburle He, odong-odong ko, odong, le nang Ulang ko tangis, le nang, petangis-tangis ko bamu Mula tangis ko, le nang, roh nan kata ni laga Mula roh, nang, kata ni laga, masa lagan masa roga Ia, asa enda ma, le nang, da ale nang, kudoken bamu Mula petali-tali ko, da nang, kudoken bamu, tali-taliken enda Enda, da nang, kudoken bamu, mula itali-tali kono, da nang, si paha kait buluh enderu Mula ia dak iempet ko ipetangis-tangis ko ipetangis-tangis ko campur merekut kata ni begu Ia, mula ikait buluh enderu dua kitena iperbanton Mula enggo kin kita, nang, idengani begu, le nang Mane sibetoh menurai lapang kemagon idi Im, da nang, kepe masa lagan, da nang, masa roga, da nang Mula melaga ko da bagendari asa roga ngi maremben Ia, da nang, pama situa-tua Ulang itapel ko buluh laga, ulang pucukna mi perbanton Ulang dak ijuljulken ko kata ni laga, ulang jemba ko mi lapang kemagon ngo Ia, enda, le nang, da nang, kudoken bamu, itabar kono pama situa-tua Mula itabar kono, da nang, maremben, barang lakanmu ko mengambongken, pemahanmu ko gemongken Asa siat mo nemu, da nang, kata, ma nang, bamu, da nang, kudoken bamu Ue mo ko nemu kupesenget janah, ue mo ko nemu niajaren Asa lot, da nang, enggo, da nang, kudoken bamu, si uen pikirinmu Enda, da nang, oda telap bamu kata, da nang, oda ko nggeut nipesenget, da nang, oda ko ue niajaren Asa igugut ko kidah page ekutenmi, da nang Oda ko ue niajaren, maremben, kudoken bamu, dak ituruti kono Ukurmu gedang, mada jadi, da nang, ko maremben bene lakanmu ko mengambongken, pemahanmu ko gemongken

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You do not wish to be given advice, you do not agree to be taught, I see you taste between the front teeth the rice of your husband, You do not agree to be taught, In the future, I tell you, I will be followed by you all the time, What you have been thinking [for a] long [time] is not right, In the future you will drop, you will cast away what you are doing, mother, Ia, there is nobody else who feels, nobody else who thinks, mother, So you must know to look after yourself, you must protect yourself, If not, you will experience tomorrow, you are cut off, Your child Si Buah Mburle will teach you, this is how you cut branches, Because you are left behind your child Si Buah Mburle will teach you, this is what you get, Allow me, mother, to tell you the saying of old people, I tell you, Si Buah Mburle: A bird’s gizzard, a hen’s gizzard, people of rank, bincoli wood He is heroic, a guru who is beautiful and handsome, ale.

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Ia, oda ise mengakapken, oda ise menarihken, da nang Asa ibetoh kono menjagaken, dirimu ijagaken ko Mula mada, ko mengakapken i maremben Irantingi ko ajar dukakmu Si Buah Mburle, i ngo rapetenmu Mula itadingken ko ajar dukakmu Si Buah Mburle, i ngo dapetenmu Idim, da nang, pama situa-tua kudoken bamu, Si Buah Mburle Bana bilalang, bana biruru, bana pangkat, bana bincoli Kalak ulubalang, bana guru si perpantas, bana maholi ale. [Pengue] Ia, ia, male pongkirpong turung sirempak dahan si temtem bulung sikapal lomi gerdang gerdoi sirintua, merkade kalak adoi merotor embue-embue odong tuhu, odong le odong, ale.

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7. introduction Some expressions used in Si Buah Mburle’s chant are explained. Then the narration tells how upset Nan Tampuk Emas is – she gets high blood pressure. Her feelings are expressed in a third lament, which is said to still be popular and ‘imitated by young men and women – anyone may follow it’. 7. third lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, in fact it should be like this, you should be pleased, you love, If someone is really pleased and happy, he loves to have a sister, Dressed in clothes, wearing clothes with patterns, or even clothes from the coastal area, And he gets her a ‘sori-sori sampur’ head-dress,10 He cherishes his sister, therefore he is happy when his sister is wearing ‘kudung-kudung’ rings around her ears, The upper part [and] the lower part, it is gold for a buffalo, If people live together in the same family, their clothes and jewellery are the same, She wears earrings in the left and right ears, these two are gold for a buffalo, called ‘ceger ari’,11 [and] maybe a necklace, Like the necklace of friends in the weaving circle, actually the sister’s clothes are made by her friends, Therefore she is wearing a blouse that is shining, wearing a tondong blouse that is in fact shiny with gold-thread, She has a curved knife and a complete sirih set, If indeed you are clever, do not embrace various kinds of misfortune, So he sings inside my body, When I am frightened and angry to be [considered] an evil spirit, When [I am] like a felled pinang tree, he considers me an evil spirit, A branch that is cut off does not sprout.

10 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:344), the oles sori-sori sampur is as a type of cloth that may also be used by men to wear around the hips. 11 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:65), the expression ‘siceger ari’ refers to a type of golden earrings worn by women.

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7. text of the third lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, ong, bagenda (m)kepeken keleng atemu, embelgah atemu, da puhun ni turang, heg, nang Ukum kalak nemu seang merkeleng ate, merbelgah ate merturang Nang, meroles merabit nang, meroles peragi barang pe merolesken oles jehe, le puhun ni turang, heg Nang, pe mersaongken oles sori-sori sampur, puhun ni turang, heg, ninangna Nang, idi gemgemen ni turangna, giaken mula keleng ate merturang engket merkudung-kudung, merpengkancingi coping Nang, idi mo tan dates tan teruh, emas merkerbo, puhun ni turang, heg Nang, mula sukku sada merkait, nina, paken sada kalak idi Merisi kan kambirang kan kamuhun dua kudung-kudung, dua emas merkerbo endai, ‘ceger ari’ gerarna, puhun ni turang, heg, ninangna, nang tah cimata Asa bagen mo cimata, nang, ni perkalto-kalto kinarpen nemu merkaltokalto paken turangna ibakin Nang, kum enda [kumerna] merbaju merapi-api, nang, merbaju tondong nemuken sibage kesap merapi-api da, puhun ni turang Nang, merabi munduk engket merpapurun tarap-tarapen, ni puhun ni turang, heg Kum enda kepe pande ngo kene, puhun ni turang, ulang memereken tangan-tangan tulbang mare-mare Asa meredeng-edeng nola i bagasenku dagingku Kum bai kin kuncal pusuh dagingku si melala, puhun ni turang, heg, ninangna, ni puhun ni turang, nang Kum i bage tabahan pinang ngo kepe katena daging si melala, puhun ni turang, hunjunen daban oda mertunas, da puhun ni turang, heg.

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8. introduction In answer to the third lament Si Buah Mburle sings a second chant. 8. second chant of si buah mburle He, de, [I am] singing for you, mother, Ia, do not cut down sharp bamboo (buluh laga), Do not make a bridge in the top of the tree, Don’t continue being angry and upset, Don’t you take shelter on the road of sorrow. Here is, mother, I am telling you, a saying of the old people, When the body is mature, one’s thinking is also mature, [But] when the body is small, one’s thinking is also small. Ia, tomorrow, mother, I am telling you, Do not keep thinking about being left alone, Ia, don’t you weep and cry, I am telling you, Ia, the rule of your child Si Buah Mburle, He is honoured, he is offered by the old people, A bird’s gizzard, a hen’s gizzard A high rank, bincoli wood, He is a heroic person, a guru who is beautiful and handsome.

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8. text of the second chant of si buah mburle He, odong-odong ko da nang Ia, ulang tabah ko buluh laga Ulang kitei ko perbanton, le nang Ulang dak ijuljulken ko laga i pusuhmi Ulang dak ijembai ko lapang kemagonmu En ngo, da nang, kudoken bamu, pama situa-tua Mula nggo embelgah daging, embelgah mahan sarihinken Mula kedek deng daging, kedek mahan pikirinkin Ia, maremben, da nang, kudoken bamu Ulang, da nang, sitadingkin en mahan pikirinken Ia, ulang ko, da nang, tangis tereluh tumataken bamu Ia, ukum dukakmu Si Buah Mburle Si embahken sangap ngo, si embahken tua Bana bilalang, bana biruru, bana pangkat, bana bincoli Kalak ulubalang, bana guru si perpantas, bana maholi, ale. Refr. Ue-ue male pongkirpong turung si rempak dahan si temtem baleng si kapal lomi, enggerdang enggerdoing sirintua, merkade kalak adoi merotor embue-embue. Odong-odong odong ko ngale.

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9. introduction A brief, instructive passage with empama introduces the dance song. 9. the dance song ‘tading ucangku’ I’ve left my bag, kaka, I’ve left my bag, Return and fetch what you left, anggi, return and fetch it, [But] It is night now, kaka, it is night now, Take a torch, anggi, take a torch. The path is slippery, kaka, the path is slippery, Use a ladder, anggi, use a ladder, The rain has come, kaka, the rain has come, Cut a banana leaf, anggi, cut a banana leaf [as umbrella]. The river is swollen, kaka, the river is swollen, Cut a bridge, anggi, make a bridge, I am afraid, kaka, I am afraid, Don’t be afraid, anggi, do not be afraid.

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9. text of the the dance song ‘tading ucangku’ Tading ucangku, kaka, tading ucangku Tading olihen, anggi, tading olihen Si gelap ari, kaka, si gelap ari Parparken banggar, anggi, parparken banggar. Endalit dalan kaka, sindalit dalan Tangga-tanggai anggi, tangga-tanggai Siroh udan kaka, siroh udan Tabahken saong anggi, tabahken saong. Simbelgah lae kaka, simbelgah lae Tabahken kite anggi, tabahken kite Simbiar kami kaka, simbiar kami Si mada mbiar anggi, si mada mbiar.

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10. introduction A symbolic interpretation follows the dance song. Then the story tells about the suicide attempts of Nan Tampuk Emas. 10. interpretation of the dance song followed by narration These are the words [of the song], it is said. But many of the old stories that were told as ‘fairytales’ (dongeng) are not known.12 These dongeng were good, they say. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] Now about ‘dalan tading’. The wedding gift (utang) used to be the adat13 [Pengue: ‘Yes’] when a daughter was married off, or a son took a bride; it was for a house, or even a field. To give tools for working the field is making a ladder. That is what is called ‘utang adat’, [Pengue: ‘Yes’] although the wedding of a girl or a boy should not be like that, it is said, we should stop doing that. Even if we do not save up for ‘utang’, it is still called adat. And now, it is said, ‘tading si mahan olihen’ [‘you must fetch what was left’]. So the ‘tading ucangku, kaka’ [‘I have left my bag behind, elder sister’] is said by someone who has already died. The one who was born first. We are all left behind while we are alive. Adat is to return to get it back. So, when it is said ‘gelap ari’, it does not mean that it is night. When [something] is not known it is very dark. It is very dark because one does not know. ‘Ndalit dalan’, she says, [but] the path is not slippery, she says this because she is lazy. So because she is lazy she must think about it, that is, about the significance. Who thinks about the significance, understands. Ah, ‘roh udan’, she says, it’s not, it rains. Many make plans, nowadays the word is ‘panikah’ (wedding). What is happening, they say, people are losing their customs (adat). So there is no politeness any more, as is said nowadays, there is no respect, no inspiration. So ‘tabahken saong’ [cut a banana leaf] she says, that was what our people used to do, in our own community. I have done it formerly, it must have been inherited from others formerly, it could be said to be a custom

This remark probably indicates that the storyteller does not know to which story this song refers. The term adat is used in a specific manner in Pakpak marriage ritual, according to Coleman (1987:315): ‘adat is the material goods given as traditional gifts between affines in all exchanges’. 12 13

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10. text of the interpretation of the dance song followed by narration I mo dah ke kata-katana. Tapi embue ceritera-ceritera si arnia gabe dongeng-dongeng mak terbetoh. Kalak dongeng nina, jadi seloh. [Pengue: ’Ue’] En mo dah ke ‘dalan tading’. Utang arnia i adat, [Pengue: ’Ue’] i mo beru si jahe barang anak merunjuk mahan sapo, barang pe i mahan juma. Mardang sarat-sarat mereken ban menanggak-nanggaken. En mo utang adat gerarna, [Pengue: ’Ue’] barang pe pejaheken beru perunjuken anak otang bagi dah ke, kenah misi ngo kita laus. Kasa oda mi utang kita lukut, dak adat sigerari. En mo dah ke ‘tading si mahan olihen’. Asa idokken si ‘tading ucangku kaka’ si enggo mate. Si perjolo tubuhmen. Kita isen deng ngo tading singgeluhna. Adat i mo mengolihi. Jadi en pe asa idokken ‘gelap ari’, mak gelap ari. Oda ne ibetoh libihen gelap. Libihen gelap mula oda ne ibetoh. ‘Endalit dalan’ nina mak endalit dalan nina. Enggo mehangke permalas. Jadi ipas mahangke en harus sisura-surai. En mo tanda-tanda. En mo sisurai tanda-tanda, sipahami. Ah, ‘roh udan’ nina, mak roh udan. Banyak taki-taki, kata-kata bagendari panikah. Rih tubuh idok deba imbalangken adatna. Jadi makne lot ke sopanenna, kata-kata bagendari makne lot penghargaanna, makne lot kesangapenna, makne lot pertindinna. Jadi ‘tabahken saong’ nina. Enggo berlaku mi bangsana sendiri, mi sukuna sendiri. Misi lebe kubaing, katena, kade itading lebe puak sideban, man peradatenken ningin telap bana i adatku. Mula oda i adat pemahanna telu i pe merbelah. En mo dahke sitempa diri banta. Jadi ‘embelgah lae’ mak embelgah lae, enggo embue penghalang pingkasi. Idike berenken nasehat penasehat. Ah, en mo penghalang, sebab kade deng kutare lebe mata ni ari barang kade menghalangi. Jadi peteluken, ‘embiar kami’ nina. Embiar ia meharga sopan santun ataupun embiar ia mersangap engket meharga. Oda en ngo dah ke bahaya, jadi en mo rupani. Ulang embiar meradat engket merkehormatan engket merpersihargaan. En mo sada kebahagian. Kalak merbahagia

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before our adat. If it is not part of adat even three could be divided in two. This is, say, what we do to ourselves. So, [the meaning of] ‘embelgah lae’, is not ‘the water is high’, but [that] there are many obstacles. Where is an advisor to give advice? Ah, there are obstacles, because as we saw before, even the sun may be an obstacle. So, the third [verse] says ‘embiar kami’. To be afraid is to value being polite, or to be afraid is to honour and to value. This is not dangerous it is said, it seems to be. Do not be afraid to keep the customs and to respect and to value, that is happiness. People who are happy speak words, they say, that are noble, Arabic words, more or less foreign words, whatever is noble, or happy. That is correct language. Nowadays we should take pride in being Pakpak, we must be proud of it. So finally, comes the marga,14 they say there used to be other branches. But we must again take up the story of Si Buah Mburle. So when, you see, Si Buah Mburle had come, he was preaching to his mother. In brief, he had been inside the womb for seven years, seven months, and seven days, only then was she aware, it seems, she felt Si Buah Burle. She wanted to kill herself. Ah, to kill herself by throwing herself down from the hut, this hut had seven steps. [Pengue: ‘She could not die’] It looked like a trap. She was trapped, ah, there was a ravine, a hole in the ground, they say, a steep slope at the seaside. She was tossed by the waves; she was thrown there. A wave from the sea came and tossed her out. Then she sat in the ‘ketang tinandaan’, the rotan circle. So, there she was sitting. The ketang tinandaan is a place to learn to make basketry. So Debata Guru arranged that she arrived there, she was given a signal, nowadays they say ‘indication’, formerly it was said that she was given instruction. So to learn how to arrange, to twist, rotan into a circle for cooking pots. That is what is called ‘ketang karpe’ (or) ‘ketang tinandan’. So that is how it was, apparently. There she ended up. Whether she still had her clothes is in fact not known. So after she was left, a wave came, she was tossed a second time. That was good and right, the water helped, the earth helped her. Ah, even the rain helped her, the sky helped her. [Pengue: ‘Everything helped [to save] 14 Coleman (1983:381) gives the following definition of ‘marga’ in a Pakpak-Dairi context: ‘roughly, ‘clan’ [...] descent term denoting large category of kin laying primary title to land territories’. See also Coleman 1983:85.

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en, kata bahasa nina. Kalak mulia en, kata i Arab nai ngen, kira-kira kata luar negeri, barang pe mermulia, barang pe merbahagia. Tata bahasa men. Jadi bagendari pe dah ke mersiperhargan mo kita kalak Pakpak asa maharga, i mo. Jadi ujungna dah ke, roh mo marga dah ke. Enda dahanna sideban mo lebeken. Tapi merhubungen ngo mi sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle endai. Jadi enggo kesa katendene bagi, roh mo Si Buah Mburle. Ijamitai mo inangna i. Pendek kata, enggo pitu tahun ia i bagasen kandongen, pitu bulan pitu ari baru sedar rupana en iakapken Si Buah Mburle. Naing mendeles deng ngo ia da, oh, mendeles iambongken bana, idabuh i pantar nai, pitu tingkah pantar en. [Pengue: ‘Oda enggeut mate’] Meruppak ranjo endai. Iranjoi, ah, lot ma luhung. Bilulungi nina itepi laut lahing-lahingin, iursak gelombang, idabuhken bana. Roh gelombang laut en iursakken nola ma mi darat. Kundul nola mia dah ke mi ketang kinandan, kinarpen. Jadi isi mia kundul. En mo asa lot ketang kinandan en terajarenna membayu. Asa mersusun [en pe Debata Guru nda i ngo roh, ibere bana penusunda]2 kata-kata bagendari, ibere petunjuk, kata-kata arnia ibere pengajaren. Nai mengajari (mer)ukur mo mersusun, mergolong-golong karpe menjadi ketang karpe. Im asa idokken ketang kinarpen, ketang tinandan. Jadi bagi mo rupani dah ke. Isi mia njungung. Tading mo oles, abitna. Kepe oda ibetoh ne. Jadi kesa tading, roh gelombang peduakaliken, iursaken. Im asa baik engket bujur, lae pe membantu, tanoh pe membantu. Ah udan pe membantu, langit pe membantu. [Pengue: ‘Karina mo membantu’] I mo mula bujur, benar, langitna, tanohna sederhana, bahagia. Jadi bagi mo dah ke kira-kira sukut-sukuten en. Ah, kesa iambongken bana oda kadi lae. Kesa iambongken bana oda ibere mate, dak iranjoi i pantar nai engket ipeceda sampe ipebalik, oda pela sinangenken lako balik mia mi kutana nola, kerna enggo i bilulungen en kira-kira sakilometer, kata-kata bagendari, [Pengue: ‘I sapona nai’] i luhung bilulungen en. Ujungna katende, iajari mo balik mi kuta, [Pengue: ‘Iajari Si Buah Mburle’] Jadi enda dah ke, sarat kalak hukum mengkandong.

2

The words between brackets have been added to the transcription from the recording.

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her’] If it is right and true, the sky and the earth make it simple to be lucky. So, that is more or less the story, they say. Ah, after she threw herself down, the water did not want her. After she threw herself down she was not allowed to die, she was always caught on the shore, with torn clothes she returned, she did not succeed in doing it. Then she walked back to the village, because the ravine was about one kilometer, as they say nowadays, [Pengue: ‘from her house’] this steep ravine. Finally, you see, she was instructed to return to the village. [Pengue: ‘Instructed by Si Buah Mburle’] So this is, it is told, the reason why there are rules for someone who is pregnant.

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Sonang Sitakar narrating with Lode recording, photo Clara Brakel

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11. introduction Si Buah Mburle chants another song of consolation to his mother, humming inside her womb that she must patiently endure her fate. 11. third chant of si buah mburle He, I am singing to you, mother, Ia, allow me, mother, to tell you, If you are sad, mother, [...] on the rack above the fire, mother, I tell you, don’t be tied to buluh enderu [a type of bamboo], If you arrange words of anger, you will be troubled by spirits, In the jacket, mother, do not die fallen down chained, You are hit when you have fallen down chained, So arrange that you carry me under the armpit, And after that, mother, you must go back to the village, Ia, and look into the bag worn under the arm, here is a bag worn under the arm, To carry the soul of your child to the fields, to the house, Do not get lost in a grotto in the rocks, Do not get lost in the hole of a tree, Do not lose the soul of your child Si Buah Mburle, Do not get lost in a hole in the earth. Ia, always carry me under the arm, like firewood in the morning, Ia, [I] tell, mother, I am telling you a saying of the old people, The teacher is your child Si Buah Mburle. [Pengue: ‘Indeed’]

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11. text of the third chant of si buah mburle Odong ko, odong ko, le nang3 Ia, idim ko da nang, kudokken bamu i, ale nang Mula enggo ko tedoh, nang, kum cede-cede ipara-parai dah ko, le nang Kudokken bamu, oda ne ko, le nang, saib [kait] buluh enderu Mula itersusun ko dah ko kata ni laga i menusahi mo engket begu Asa i, ale nang, baju ulang, le nang, putus perante tangkep Balbali ko kesa perante tangkep, da nang, asa isusun ko angkip mo epenku, le nang Asa enggo kesa en mo ko, le nang, lako berket ko, le nang, balik mi kuta Ia, asa oge mo, da nang, sumpit perangkip-angkip, enda mo ko sumpit perangkip-angkip Asa angkip-angkip tendi dukakku, da nang, mi juma, mi rumah Ulang laling mi liang batu Ulang laling mi liang kayu Ulang laling tendi dukakku Si Buah Mburle Ulang laling mi liang tanoh. Ia, dak tuhu ko kuangkip-angkip bage seban sicegen, le nang Ia suruh mo, da nang, kudokken bamu bage pama situa-tua Pengajar dukakmu Si Buah Mburle idi ale. [Pengue: ‘Tuhu’]

3

On the recording this phrase sounds like: ‘He, dé deng ko terenang le nang’.

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12. introduction The narration continues with comments on the previous chant. 12. narration commenting on the third chant There you are, in the past people used to open a ‘sumpit perangkip-angkip’ [a plaited bag carried under the arm], because the middle of the wild jungle is not like a cultivated forest. Because it is difficult for people, like for one person it is allright, [but for] two people [it] is not possible. A sumpit perangkip-angkip has enough place for five types of food, one section for calcium, one section for tobacco, one section for betelnut, one section for gambir, one section for sirih leaves, and one for labang flowers and matches. [Pengue: ‘Oh’] This is how it used to be. So because of that, it is not made with seven [sections], not like that. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] Well nowadays, it is said, ah, then first came the term, what’s it, ‘Semarang lottery’ (connected passage) What we say follows what is said nowadays, that’s [what is said] at present. So let us go, he said, and she went back to her mother’s village. Actually she did not remember [the way], and then she saw the village back. Well, she came to the top; formerly it was the village common (persadanan) or the buffalo field (jalangan kerbo). Nowadays it is [called] buffalo pen (jampalen kerbo). Oh, I think it’s like that. Then she came to the top of the cattle pen, the jampalen. [Pengue: ‘Nan Tampuk Emas?’] Yes, Nan Tampuk Emas. So she did not go to the river. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] As for ‘do not get lost’, it is said, to get lost and wiped out. She lost her way, but in fact she was not lost. A mother is a caring companion; she wishes to be that. And even if she appears to make a mistake, in fact she does not know. We may be lost [but] calm, as you think, may we repeat again ‘tading ucang’. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] But whatever will come, it is best to follow good laws, from whatever country, these may be added, even if our religion is not like that, we add [these] to our adat so that we will be respected, we will be elevated. So, when it was like that, they say, she came, Nan Tampuk Emas, she reached the village pole [to tie up a sacrificial animal] instructed by Si Buah Mburle, she was instructed by her child, indeed, in the buffalo pen.

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12. text of the narration commenting on the third chant Im asa lot kalak arnia mengoge sumpit perangkip-angkip. Mula enggo pertengahan rambah luas ulang bagi rambah tua [tuha]. Mula kalak keberaten menusahi bagi merbadan mende, merbadan dua oda endorok. Sumpit perangkip-angkip cukup bekas pangan-pangan si lima bage, sada rap [pak] bekas kapur, sada rap bukas isap, sada rap bukas pinang, sada rap bukas gambir, sada rap bukas gatap, sada rap bukas bunga labang engket korek api. [Pengue: ‘Oh’] En mo arnia, jadi kerna i mo asa pitu ibaing, oda bagi. I mo asa bagendari dah ke, ah roh nola lebe istilah kadeh en, lotere Semarang. (sambungan) Perkataan turut, bagaimana zaman sekarang, begitu kita turut. I mo zaman sekarang dah ke. Jadi laus mo kita en dah ke, balik mia mi kuta inangna endai, kepe oda ne ienget engket idah eger-eger [ekur-ekur] kuta en. Iah lah ia kan takal si arnia kuta persadanan, barang pe jalangan kerbo. Bagendari i mo jampalen kerbo. Ah, kira bagi mo. Menter roh nola mia tupung takal parik endai, jampalen endai, [Pengue: ‘Nan Tampuk Emas?’] Nan Tampuk Emas endai. Oda dalanna endai, dalan mi lae endai. [Pengue: ‘Ue’] Im asa ulang laling, ulang dah ke. Laling kesa enggo binasa. Laling ngo ia, kepe mak laling. Inang pe dengan tekebur, cita-cita pe. Asa roh pe bagen kesalahen, kepe mak ne sibetoh. Enggo laling kita pos ke (m)atende janah boi [mo] kita mengulaki tading ucang endaboi, [Pengue: ‘Ue’] tapi roh pe si seloh-selohna mengekuti asa seloh boi mo itambahi, barang pe hukum-hukum kade negara, mi agamanta oda bagi. Menambah adatta i asa lot menjadi cibal lianta, asa menjadi kelebihinta. Jadi enggo kesa bagi katende roh men Nan Tampuk Emas en. Soh mi kuta jereten Si Buah Mburle iajari ma dukakna endai en i jampalen endai.

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13. introduction Then Si Buah Mburle chants to his mother in the cattle pen. 13. fourth chant of si buah mburle He, I am singing to you Ia, mother, you are a flying bird, your heart is flying like a bird that perches on a roof pillar, here is your sleeping place, Ia, you should be happy, do not be confused about yourself, Ia, take care of yourself, I tell you, be pleased to see yourself, So that we will grow old together, your child Si Buah Mburle will have a long life with much offspring. Here, mother, I see the top of the buffalo pen, I see you, from the beginning I am watching you, You [should] enter the house, as the meadow is miserable, it makes [you] miserable tomorrow and later on, Take care, mother, because the meadow will just make you miserable, Take care, mother, I tell you so that you know, Do not speak falsely, [if you do that] you will just suffer thereafter, Do not abandon speaking, do not abandon praying, mother, Don’t you abandon beseeching your grandfather Batara Guru, Because sirih leaves are a shelf for prayer, I tell you, Take silinjuhang and sampilit plants,15 Mother, I tell you, take turbangen plants, as a token for you. [end of tape]

15 On these plants Manik’s dictionary (2002:337; 393) says: silinjuhang is a plant with red leaves planted on graves, Dracaena; turbangen is a medicinal plant for women who have given birth.

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13. text of the fourth chant of si buah mburle He, odong-odong ko terenang Ia, ia, le nang, kabang leang-leang ko, le nang, kalbumu kabang leangleang, segep galang gumalang, en mo, le nang, sangketenmu, Ia, pala-pala seang ko, le nang, ulang alang-alangen mi terhadap si ni dagingmu Ia, jagaken, da nang, dagingmu, da nang, asa kudoken bamu, seang mo ko midah dagingmu Asa lot denganmu sayurntua, beak gabe maremben dukakmu Si Buah Mburle idi Enda mo, nang, kidah punca jampalen, ko kidah mula-mula idahi ko Embengket mi rumah ko, da nang, asa jampal mo kinicor, ibakin kinicor maremben dapet si perpodina Ia, jaga, da nang, le nang, mula jampal kesa bakin kinicor si perpodina, da nang, jagaken mo, da nang, kudoken bamu man pengetahuan bamu, Asa ulang luap bagi, bagi giak tahanan si perpodi Ulang ko tading i kata, ulang ko tading i sodip, le nang Ulang ko tading pengidon bai empungmu Batara Guru idi Ia, mula pe, da nang, gatap para pengidon, le nang, kudoken bamu, Buat mo silinjuhang engket ke sampilit, Buat, da nang, le nang, kudoken bamu, turbangen, asa lot mahan pertanda bamu.

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14. prose summary16 So finally, you see, Nan Tampuk Emas went to Boang to find her brother Si Raja Kelendungen. So, when she arrived at the house of Si Raja Kelendungen, she was not respected, on the contrary she was forbidden entrance to the house [and] was squatting all the time at the ladder with seven steps.

16 At this point there is some confusion, probably because we had to interrupt the storytelling in order to change the tape. The transcription of the first part of the second tape is out of order and several passages are missing. The text is presented here following the recording. The summary has been added by the person who made the transcription.

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14. text of the prose summary Jadi ujungna katende laus mo Nan Tampuk Emas en mi Boang mendapetken turangna Si Raja Kelendungen. Jadi soh kesa ia mi sapo Si Raja Kelendungen, oda mo ihargai janah terus menerus mo idabuh i lambelambe sapona nai gerdang gerdong mi tangga pitu tingkah.

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15. introduction The narration tells about the journey of Nan Tampuk Emas and the situation in her brother’s house. 15. narration of the journey of nan tampuk emas to find her brother After that she walked going to her uncle, briefly, for twelve months. She had just a selup [of rice], [that was] her provision for a month. So for twelve [months] the girl was weeping, it is said, going to the west trying to find her brother Si Raja Kelendungen. That is, wherever she went she was miserable, for as long as twelve months she did not arrive at her destination. So the girl was crying for twelve months, until she arrived. Briefly, when she arrived at Si Raja Kelendungen’s place, he already had seven children, seven girls. But because he was afraid to reject his sister’s name, he did not reject her, so he called his youngest daughter Nan Tampuk Emas. His eldest daughter was named Nan Bunga Buluh, another one was Nan Terter Dahan, and there was Si Ranting – who the others were is not known. The reason why he called his daughter Nan Tampuk Emas, he did that to show that he was not guilty, he did not do wrong. So, that’s more or less the way it went, they say. Si Buah Mburle came to instruct her.

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15. text of the narration of the journey of nan tampuk emas to find her brother Enggo kesa bagi, idalani mo ia lako mendahi puhun, pendek rana 12 bulan. Siselup-siselup mo belanjana sebulan. Im asa si 12 ngo tangis daberu ngo dah ke mi kesunduten mendahi turangna Si Raja Kelendungen enda boi. Im asa mi dike pe daging si melala berbekas 12 pe oda soh mi kesohsohenna. En mo tangis daberu i 12 bulan mia asa soh. Pendek rana, soh mia mi kesean Si Raja Kelendungen i. Enggo pitu beruna, pitu anakna, tapi kerna embiar ia tulak mi gerar turangna en, oda itulaki. Im asa ibaingken nola ma beruna siampun-ampun Nan Tampuk Emas, beruna situan ibaing Nan Bunga Buluh, sideban nai lot Nan Terter Dahan, lot Si Ranting, tah ise deba i. Kernana i ngo asa ibaing beruna en Nan Tampuk Emas. I mo ibaing menunduti ulang mendosa ia, ulang salah. Jadi kira-kira bagi mo rupani dah ke dalanna en. Roh Si Buah Mburle, nai iajari.

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16. introduction In the sixth chant Si Buah Mburle advises his mother to offer betel to her brother’s family. 16. sixth chant of si buah mburle Eeh, edeng-edeng pong nola, da nang Ia, mother, I tell you, go and prepare your betel chewing set, Ia, mother, prepare gambir, lime, gambir, areca nut and tobacco, So that there is food offered by you, a complete betel quid that you offer this to uncle’s family, Ia, it’s the law, mother, If [it is] not according to the law, it is just a custom (adat), If [it is] (not) according to custom, it is just an agreement (sarat). Why this agreement? Resin of the spirits, sengkut [leaves] to dance on,17 If one has not been seen for a long time, one is often talked about. Ia, juice of the taro plant, thoughts of sadness, Ia, for a long time you have not been seen, mother, Disappointment is replaced by offering a betel quid, That is what family members say, mother. Do not eat this betel, mother, Who are these relatives, brother, that is what you [should] say, If you will not offer betel, who will you be considered [to be], In fact there is no proof that you are a relative; that is how they feel.

17 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:331) the long and broad leaves of the sengkut plant are used to wrap incense. The last word of this line rhymes with the last word of the second line of the empama.

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16. text of the sixth chant of si buah mburle Eh edeng-edeng pong nola da nang Ia, da nang, kudokken bamu, asa lako, da nang, cukupi papurunmu petarap-tarapen, Ia, da nang, cukupi gambir, kapur, gambir, pinang engket isap, da nang, Asa lot pangan-pangan man pendudurimu, papurun pentarap-tarapen idi, asa lot dudurenkenmu mi kalak puhun idi, Ia, lot, da nang, hukumna, da nang, Mula oda terekutken hukumna giam adatna, Mula (oda) terekutken adatna giam saratna. Kade saratna, da nang, Getah-getah ni begu, sengkut, da nang, pertataken, Mula endekah kesa, da nang, oda peridah, da nang, enggati mo niperkataken. Ia, getah-getah ni birah, da nang, enderu mo penuhuren, Ia, endekah kesa oda peridah, le nang, uluk ganti mo niduduren. Bagi mo, da nang, kalak merkade-kade, Ulang, da nang, ipangan pendudurimi, da nang, Apai ngo turang kalak eda i, bagidi nimu, Mula oda iduduri ko, apai tah siapai bagi atemu, odang kepe itandai per pamilinkin, bagi atena.4

4

The transcription of this chant is incomplete.

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17. introduction Nan Tampuk Emas is rejected by her brother and his family. 17. narration of the rejection of nan tampuk emas So finally, it is said that she was rejected seven times, she was thrown into the pigsty, she was thrown into the chicken coop, because of the sin with her brother, they said. Gone were the chickens, gone were the goats, gone were the pigs. Then there were wild pigs, the goats became sheep, buffaloes and cows became deer. It was like that, they were changed back, it is said, so there were wild deer and rhinoceros. So finally, they say, in brief, seven times it went like this. She kept returning to the house. At last they made her enter the toilet and imprisoned her there, at the place where the rubbish of the village was put. It was ordered that a hut must be made on all this dirt, she was locked up inside. That was the sentence for Nan Tampuk Emas by her brother who was clever; he rejected his sister. But they were thinking and thinking, whether to believe [her] or not. People were in doubt, if they believed the boy, they could not believe the sister, if they believed the sister they could not believe the brother. So, that’s how the people used to live in families, the rules were like that. So, finally, they say, she was locked up in that place. And Si Buah Mburle came and instructed her again. Nan Tampuk Emas was crying.

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17. text of the narration of the rejection of nan tampuk emas Jadi ujungna dah ke pitu kali mo idabuh bagi, iambongken mi kandang babi, iambongken mi kandang manuk, kerna dosana nola merturang enda dah ke, empurpur engket manukna, purpur kambingna, purpur babina. Isidi nai ngo asa lot wangkah, kambing jadi rigarung, kerbo, lembuna menjadi balkih. Bagi mo suang dah ke. I mo asa lot balkih engket badak. Jadi ujungna dah ke, pendek mo rana, habis ibaingkin bagi pitu kali. Tong ngo dak mulak mi sapo. Ujungna dah ke masuk mia mi wc. Ibeangken mo isen mahan perkotor-kotoren i kuta en (wc). Iperintahken mo asa isi karina kotor ibahan pantar idatas nai, ibeangken mo i teruh. I mo hukumen Nan Tampuk Emas turangna si pande ulak turangna en gemongken, tapi bagi ngo susun mersusun pikir merpikir, tok mak percaya. Bagi mo kalak en duana, percaya si daholi oda tok si daberu. Tok si daberu oda percaya si daholi. Jadi suang-suang bagi ngo nang pe kalak merrumah tangga, nang pe hukum merkade-kade. Jadi ujungna katende ibeangke bagi mo. Asa roh Si Buah Mburle iajari deng ma, Nan Tampuk Emas tangis ma.

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18. introduction Nan Tampuk Emas sings a lament about her brother’s conduct. 18. fourth lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, heg, nang, this is [your] sister, Si Raja Kelendungen, There is no gold or clothes for your sister, there is no money or cloth18 for your own sister, You did not give [her] a necklace, I see that your hands are really tied, Not like a felled areca tree, from a fallen [tree] I see no branches grow, Obey what is said by mother’s soul, [you] do not endure to be followed here, like a silver ring [and] a ring of bronze, ‘Do not enter’, you said, you think this is right, [I am] cast away all the time, like someone bringing misfortune, Remember, you were pleased [with me], brother, do not consider me to be someone bringing misfortune.

18 These are traditional components of the brideprice exchanged between the parties of the groom and the bride as described by Coleman (1983, 1987).

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18. text of the fourth lament of nan tampuk emas Ong, heg, nang, enda ngo turang Si Raja Kelendungen, Nang, emas paken berundene oda lot, riar oles oda lot mahan berenkendene, Nang, cimata i kerahong oda lot ibereken kene, Nang, tanganendene meretken kidah tuhu, puhun ni turang, heg, nang, Nang otang bage tabahan pinang mo, kidah mo embulak mada merdahan ngo puhun ni turang, heg, nangna, Ue ni kata tendi ni nangna, Nang, malot tertahan nipekutken, puhun ni turang, misen nang, bagen nang, cincin pirak cincin ni tembaga Mada siat nidoken ukur mende mi, puhun ni turang Bage tong daging si melala terbuang menget bana, keleng ni turang, oda etongi ko daging si melala.

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19. introduction While Nan Tampuk Emas is living in the dirty place, she sings laments, which are answered by Si Buah Mburle advising her what to do. Then the narrative tells that Nan Tampuk Emas gives birth to Si Buah Mburle. 19. narration of si buah mburle’s birth Yes, for seven days and seven months she was living in the dirt. Then came Si Buah Mburle, there was nobody (else) she could hope to help her in her imprisonment. Then came Si Buah Mburle to teach his mother. [...] In brief, her child was born, he came Si Buah Mburle. Then he was separated. ‘Ah, let it not be too painful and hurt the feelings of my brother’s family’, she said, ‘I shall sing lullabies all the time so the people will hear it, and they will tell the story to my brother’s family’. This is how she was singing lullabies then:

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19. text of the narration of si buah mburle’s birth Ia pitu ari pitu bulan ia iperkotor-kotoren endai. Isi roh mo Si Buah Mburle en. Oda ise ne mengharapken membantusa i beangen endai. Nai roh Si Buah Mburle iajari inangna en. [...] Jadi bagi mo rupani dah ke, pendek mo rana, enggo tubuh dukakna. Roh Si Buah Mburle menter iperserap. ‘Ah asa ulang bagi empiahsu iakap kalak puhunna’, nina ma. ‘Naing i tong ma urih-urihken ma nang asa lot begen ni deba engket mahan sukuten deba mendahi kalak puhun’. Im asa masa pengurih-urihkin. Pengurih-urihenken nola men.

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20. introduction Nan Tampuk Emas sings a lullaby for her baby. 20. the lullaby (urih-urih) Urih-urih, urih, to you Do not cry, do not be troublesome, The mountain wind blows at you, Leaf of spinach, leaf of the rintua tree,19 Yea, when the wind blows at you, son, you(r body) will be big, So that there will be someone to grow old with [me]. Ia ia le, ia ia le What to plant to make you happy, Iah ia, call the chickens, krrrr, Ia, I see you’ll be as big as mount Budunni, I am rocking you, so don’t you cry and weep. Your uncle is a peddlar Ia, mother is kissing you, So you will conquer your uncle Raja Kelendungen, For how many years has your mother been pregnant, Ia ia, now don’t cry, do not be cross.

19 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:306) the rintua is a tree that has white flowers. The young leaves at the top are edible.

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20. text of the lullaby (urih-urih) Urih, urih ko urih, ulang tangis, ulang melaga Endepur ko angin i deleng Bulung arum, bulung rintua la, endepur mo nemu, bapa, dagingmu embelen Asa lot dengan sayurntua. Ia ia le, ia ia le, asa meria-ia kade sisuan Iah ia, kurna ale manuk Ia. embelgah kidah deleng Si Budunni Asa kuanggon-anggon ia Asa ulang ko tangis meraluh. Daging niaru da puhunmu idi Ia, sanggohen ninangna Asa kade penalu puhunmu Si Raja Kelendungen i Tah piga tahun bekas inangmu mengandung-andung Ia ia, kin ulang ko tangis, ulang melaga, nina.

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21. introduction When Raja Kelendungen has been suffering from a disease for some time, an old lady advises his family to take pity on Nan Tampuk Emas and accept her as his sister. Then the seven daughters of Raja Kelendungen go and visit Nan Tampuk Emas and with her help he is cured. Now Si Buah Mburle urges his mother to ask one of Raja Kelendungen’s daughters to become his bride. Finally the wedding is arranged between Si Buah Mburle and the youngest of Raja Kelendungen’s daughters. 21. narration of si buah mburle’s wedding So therefore they [Raja Kelendungen’s daughters] said: ‘Mother (nange), this food has come from the puhun’s family as medicine and prayers for [your] wellbeing. Take your piece of cloth, so you will be received as our ‘beru’.20 We are the seven daughters of the puhun’s family. Nothing but a piece of cloth as a token of love will settle it’, they said. (So) she [Nan Tampuk Emas] got a cloth to wear. She gave the endirabar water to her brother to drink. Then Raja Kelendungen’s body became young again, ah, he was healthy and young. Finally, it is said, nowadays they say that he was cured by a doctor, [or] an official, whatever they say. He was walking like a young man [again]. Finally, it is said, he had become better. ‘[You should] Chose a girl now that he is healthy, [you should] ask for a daughter-in-law in a while’, he [Si Buah Mburle] said. In brief, she [his mother] asked, she went to ask. ‘Do not ask the youngest, [but] the middle one’, he said. ‘It would be like cutting rice before it is ripe, if they would give you the girl you chose. How can you chose a girl, how about the gold [bride-price]?’ she [the mother] said. ‘We do not have gold and we do not have money, how is that?’ she said. ‘You were given a piece of cloth. [Just] ask a girl for me, whether it is sufficient or not, too much or too little’. [Then] She [the mother] asked, it is told, the eldest daughter Nan Bunga Buluh. ‘How is it, Nan Bunga Buluh, will you be happy to see your cousin (impal) who is like a chicken’s egg?’ she said. She did not say that his name was Si Buah Mburle, because he had the shape of a chicken’s egg.

20

The word ‘beru’ refers to the wife-takers and family of the groom’s father (Coleman 1983:381).

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21. text of the narration of si buah mburle’s wedding [Kepe daberu kuben-kuben memege mencinar page i. Menter isukutken. ‘Endai ah enggo ma malum Raja Kelendungen sakitna, nina’, dok daberu kuben-kuben en. ‘Ah makin jopok-jopok ngo pung kesahku en’, nina. ‘Ah, so kade, bagi ngo, lebih deng bagi. Turangmu ngo kepe si roh i. Bagi basami, tah merpangansa bana ko nan bagi’. En mo dah ke, mula telap deng kata situa-tua i lunggar siakap, sibetoh deng dalan.] Jadi mula bagi ngo: ‘Nange, enggo roh pangan kalak puhun i. Namun pe bagi, tambar engket sodip seloh. Buat olesmu sirambar. Mula naing kenan beru kita, beru kalak puhun i pituna, mak endorok terbaing pengeseangta giam oles sirambar sipetupa’, nina. Idoroken mo oles sada asa lot icabingken. Ipepenumken mo lae endirabaren mi turangna endai. Menter mengulaki muda dagingna Si Raja Kelendungen endai. Ah, muda mudi moleh. Ujungna dah ke, im asa bage kata-kata bagendari, tambar doktor menteri kade dike nina. Bagi men lako pemuda mudi endai men. Ujungna dah ke, enggo kesa bagi malum men, ‘Pemilihna beru i ngo sehat tempel dohari kuso purmaenmi’, nina mo. Pendek rana ikuso mo. ‘Lako mo kuso. Ulang kuso ko siampun-ampun, penengah’, nina. ‘Pengerenjangen bagi mula sibereken nan bagi pemilihta beruna, en pe milihna man nan emas kade’, nina. ‘Oda lot emasta, oda lot riarta, kade dike?’ nina. ‘Ibereken mo oles sirambar. Kuso ke aku nan tah penungkunen mende mendesu, enggodo enggodosu, embue-embuesu, citukcituksu’. Ikuso mo dah ke beruna situan Nan Bunga Buluh. ‘Bakune ngo Nan Bunga Buluh, keleng ma ngo atemu midoh impalmu bage si tinaruh manuk i?’ nina. Oda deng ibagahken gerarna Si Buah Mburle, kerna bage rupa tinaruh manuk ngo Si Buah Mburle.

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She [Nan Bunga Buluh] said: ‘Oh oh, [I am] a beautiful young lady, the daughter of a raja, the daughter of a merchant, I do not agree, I do not bother, he is a chicken’s egg. How many chicken baskets do you have, aunt?’ The reason why she [Nan Bunga Buluh] said this was that she could not be forced. Indeed she would be stupid if she would be willing, she considered it like smearing soot on a ladder attached to the sky, as [she was] a famous person. So finally you see, it is said, because it went like that she [the mother] asked the second one [daughter of Raja Kelendungen]. And she also asked the third one. In the end she asked the youngest one who was named Nan Tampuk Emas - the name of the niece (impal)21 was the [same as] the name of his mother, so what pleased the mother also pleased the niece, and she fulfilled her wish. Finally, she said, ‘Because [you] will be my daughter-in-law, Nan Tampuk Emas, be pleased to be united with your cousin Si Buah Mburle who is like a chicken’s egg’. ’Ah aunt, tarutung is [a kind of] durian [a tropical fruit with thorny skin and pungent smell], that’s my destiny: How[ever] long [it takes] to fell a tree, many tree-trunks are cut, How[ever] long a request [is] in the mouth, the thought is expressed one day. Sow [rice] in a quiet place, aunt, sow while it’s raining.22 If it is accepted like that, one will always be successful; this is what is hoped for. We read the letter that is not to be read; but I say there is just a small thing, aunt, that I am asking from your child. No gold is made as payment in exchange for me’, she said. ‘No money is measured in a large basket for me. The arrangement is what I am wearing and what I request for me. There is an arrangement, but that is in my request to your child’. ‘What is your request?’ she [the mother] said. ‘I tell you what my request is: at the time he is up, I agree to be down; at the time I am up, he will agree to be down’. The aunt was silent, she had never before seen, or heard, or listened to [anything] like this. You should listen well, for there is instruction in the request. So she came, it is for a wife, and for a husband in the future. The word ‘impal’ may be used to refer to the son of somebody’s aunt as well as to the daughter of mother’s brother (Manik 2002:148). 22 This expression implies that one must use the opportunity and make the best of it. The word mardang means ‘to make a hole in a dry field with a dibbling stick’, in which the seeds are dropped. Simalungun may also refer to a district in North Sumatra. 21

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Nina mo: ‘Oh, oh, ue, salang anak perana mental-ental, anak ni raja, anak saudagar oda ue aku paduli aku. Enda naruh manuk. Piga sanggak bamu namberu?’ En mo dah ke dalanna oda ibetoh juljulenna. Im asa jelma moto endorok katena itandeken ardanna songket mi langit endai. Jadi jelma lanjang bagi gerarna. Jadi ujungna katende dah ke mula bagi ngo, kuso peduaken. Bagi mo kuso, peteluken bagi mo kuso. Habis mo. Siampun-ampun mo bage gerarna i, Nan Tampuk Emas, bage gerar impalna i gerar inangna. Im asa bage keleng ate inangta i ngo keleng ate impalta i asa mendomi ukur. Ujungna dah ke, alla, baku purmaen Nan Tampuk Emas, keleng ma demu mi impalmu Si Buah Mburle, bage si tinaruh manuk idi. ‘Ah namberu en, tarutung ngo durian, untung ngo bagian. Sakade dekah tinabah, embelang endirabi penongkohen Sakade pengidon ni babah, terari pertubuh terukurin. Mardang Simalungun namberu, mardang merudan-udan. Mula bagi kin ngo da jalon dak peruntungina i ngo si pernalemen. Kita menjaka surat si so jakan, tapi katangku cituk lot namberu pengidonku mi anakmi. Kum emas i mertimbang pe i lalu oda bangku’, nina. ‘Riar i mersukat pe i karnat oda bangku i. Titik pakenku ngo engket pengidonku asa bangku. Lot ngo titik, tapi titik i pengidonku mi anakmi lot’. ‘Kade pengidonmi?’ nina. ‘Pengidonku dah ko, mula i tikki dates ia ue aku i teruh. Mula i tikki dates aku, ue ma ia i teruh’. Sip namberuna en, oda kin penah bagi idah, ibegeken, idengar. Im asa perlu ke memegeken, asa lot mahan pengidon petunjuk-petunjuk. Jadi roh ia, asa lot mahan kejelmanta, mahan ekuten mi kari kemudian. Jadi idokken mo: ‘Mula bagi ngo, bagen mi nang’, nina. Iajari mo inangna endai artina. Mula tikki i dates, i dates ia i teruh aku. Mula melaga ia sip aku. Mula i tikki i dates aku it eruh ia. Mula melaga aku sip ia.’ ‘Ing kepe artina’, nina. ‘Tapi en ngo kesa katangku nange. Dokken mo mi purmaenmi. Sada dua, piga mi?’ nina nola. I mo asa lot arnia mersiundang-undangan, unjun-mengunjun, coba-mencoba. Bagi mo artina. ‘Ah, bagi bagen mi’, nina. ‘Kum kata dukakmi namberu, murah mi. Sada dua maldeng-aldeng deng’, nina. ‘Merdilikan kalak, embotong’, nina. ‘Ia sada dua telu, enggo hot’, nina. ‘Mula telu, ia si dua endai ngo. Sada daholi sada daberu. Kenah tubuh dukak asa hot’, nina. Ah, en ngo dah ke, i mo asa lot ketenteraman, keamanan pe bagi. Ujungna dah ke, ia i ari adei sirambar benang pe kenah bereken ke 293

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So he [Si Buah Mburle] said: ‘If she said that, it is like this mother’, he said - he taught his mother what it meant. ‘At the time when he is up I am down’, means that when he is angry I am quiet, and ‘at the time when I am up he is down’, is that when I am angry he is quiet. That in fact is what it means’, he said. ‘But I only say this mother. Tell the bride: one, two, how many is that?’ he said then. This is because people used to teach each other that way, to ‘unjun-mengunjun’, that means to test each other. ‘Oh, that is what he says’, she [the bride] said. ‘What your child has said, aunt, is easy. ‘One, two rolling over’, she said. ‘People call it heavy’, she said. ‘Yes one, two, three, that’s sure’, she said. ‘As for three, well if one of the two is a boy [and] the other a girl, for sure a child will be borne’, she said. Well, this is, it is said, so that there is peace and quiet. Finally they say, yes, on that day a piece of cloth must be given to you as a token of kindness given to friends. ‘You have accepted what we have given, to settle a debt. Debts of seven matters,23 that custom (adat) was not abandoned’. But nevertheless it was not clear whether he would soon become a human being, in a short while. So then the ‘sangket belagen’24 really took place that day. Now ‘sangket belagin’ is, say, what’s it, a ‘sohom-sohom’ [simple wedding]. As for ‘sangket ngean’, it is ‘perjabun-perjabun’ [getting married], say. And ‘merbayo’ is a wedding celebration, meeting in the bale and in the house. Therefore ‘sohom-sohom’, say, is ‘ambong belagen’, just as ‘ambong belagen’ is ‘sohom-sohom’. So [when you] say ‘sangket ngean’, it’s getting married, to take a wife.25 So finally, you know, they were indeed married. So his mother came: ‘I am gong to look for the sleeping place’, she said happily. According to adat the friends were ordered to the wedding, but did not see the wife, because people respected and honoured her. So the girl agreed that it was carried out in whatever way it was done. ‘Well, have people planted rice, are they not yet planting?’

The expression ‘utang pitu perkara’ probably refers to the settling of the debt of bride-price, in preparation for the wedding ceremony (Coleman 1983:249-50). 24 Accoring to Manik (2002:38, 321) the expression ‘sangket belagen’, [literally: ‘to store the sleeping mat’], is used to refer to a man’s wedding, implying that he has permission for sexual intercourse. 25 The expression ‘sangket ngean’, referring to the sleeping place of the bride (ngean) is used to refer to a woman’s wedding, or the setting up of a family. The term sohom-sohom indicates the simplest type of the standard form of marriage and the term merbayo refers to the middle type of marriage ritual in Dairi (Coleman 1983:250). 23

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tanda seloh atende dengan memereken. Kami pe jalo ke si kubereken kami. Titik mo, titik utang. Utang-utang pitu perkara enda mo adat oda tertadingken. Tapi namun pe bagi oda siterangken asa endor ia tubuh jadi jelma, secara ringkas. Jadi enggo kesa bagi saut mo ‘sangket belagen’ arinna. Mula sangket belagen i nina kadeh mi sohom-sohom. Mula sangket ngean, nina, kadeh mi perjabun-perjabun, nina. Enggo merbayo, sakor merbale sakor mi bages. Mula sohom-sohom nina, ambong belagin men, bagi men ambong belagin men ninta5 sohom-sohom. Jadi mula ‘sangket ngean’ nina, perjabun men, kalak merunjuk. Jadi ujungna katende saut mo iperkawin. Jadi roh ninangna en: ‘Baing mo aku penengeni jabu en’, nina kirande meriah. Tentang i adat isuruh denganna i jabu en, tapi jelmana oda idah, kerna kalak melia engket mersangap. Jadi kira mendemu mo si daberu en, bage ibahan so ibahan mo ulanna. Kade kalak enggo mardangi, ia laju oda lot mardang. Pendekna, dapet nola mo tikkina mardang, roh mo. Mardang mo leben puhunna en. I jumana ia Raja Kelendungen. ‘Eda’, nina taba edana Nan Tampuk Emas endaboi inang Si Buah Mburle. ‘Kade, eda?’ ‘Mardang kita lebe. Doken mo taba beberengki ngket berungki asa ikebasken’, nina. ‘Gatap oda lot, tutak ardang oda lot. I ngo alat mardang dah ke, ue, jadi bulung oda lot’, nina. Jadi roh Si Buah Mburle, inangenken mo.

5

The handwritten transcription has ‘mula’ instead of ‘ninta’.

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In brief, the time came to sow [the rice]. The puhun would sow first, in the fields of Raja Kelendungen. ‘Eda’,26 they [Raja Kelendungen’s daughters] said to their in-law relative Nan Tampuk Emas, the mother of Si Buah Mburle. ‘What, eda?’ ‘We are going to sow rice. The female relatives are told to prepare’, they said. ‘There are no sirih leaves, there are no dibbling sticks’. This is what is needed to sow, yes.27 ‘There are no leaves’, she [the mother] said. Then Si Buah Mburle came to his mother:

26 According to Manik (2002:103) the word ‘eda’ may be used by women when addressing a relative or an in-law family member, or in addressing any other woman. 27 The villagers help each other to sow rice in the dry fields: while the men make holes in the ground with dibbling sticks, the women walk behind them and drop grains of rice in each hole (Ypes 1932:116).

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Children listening to the storytelling in Sukarame, photo Clara Brakel

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22. introduction In the 11th chant Si Buah Mburle advises his mother to join the workers in the field together with her daughter in law. 22. eleventh chant of si buah mburle He, edeng-edeng ko, da nang I say to you, tell your daughter-in-law to come with you and prepare to work in the fields with uncle’s people, We should not stay away from them, they are in fact family and they are also in-laws,28 Ia, after all, mother, one does not exchange clothes of the family like chickens; they are in fact in-laws, Ia, mother, tell your daughter-in-law to carry your provisions and the five types of food, Allow your daughter in-law to prepare the provisions mother, Tell your daughter-in-law to go and cook rice with water, firewood and side-dishes, it is not checked how, Go and tell your daughter-in-law about dibbling stick and sirih leaves, Ia, leaves, mother, these are not here, Ia, you have a magic ring, so there are plenty of dibbling sticks and plenty of sirih leaves for you, It is already done, here are leaves, here are plates, dibbling sticks, sirih leaves, plates, whatever is lacking, Ia, mother, please tell them (bayo)29 why do they look down [on her] The six [elder sisters] say all sorts of things, ‘You look like young rice planted at the corner to die’, is what they say, ‘You go to that chicken’s egg, you who are his wife’, they say, Ia, ‘how can he sleep with his wife, [being] like that,’ they say, Allow me, your child Si Buah Mburle, to teach you, I am telling you, do it, mother, help, prepare, help and prepare [for] the work. [Pengue: ’Yes’]

According to Manik (2002:167, 200) the term ‘kade-kade’ refers to family in general, the term ‘kulakula’ refers to people who became relatives through marriage. 29 The term ‘bayo’ is used to address someone who is not a family member, such as a stranger or an in-law (Manik 2002:35). 28

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22. text of the eleventh chant of si buah mburle [He], edeng-edeng ko, da nang, kudoken bamu Suruh mo denganmu purmaenmi lako mengkebasken ardangan kalak puhun idi, ulang kita pekalak-kalak bana Kade-kade kin ngo asa kade-kade, ia kula-kula kin ngo asa kula-kula Ia, saenda, da nang, oda tertukarken bage manuk pakan, da nang, merkadekade en, kula-kula kin ngo asa kula-kula, Ia, enda, da nang, suruh mo purmaenmi, embah mo belanjan sira engket pangan-pangan si lima bage Idim, da nang, belanjan, kebasken mo purmaenmi, da nang Suruh mo purmaenmi, da nang, lako mertasak engket lae, seban engket kirorok. Dike oda terurus. Lako mo suruh purmaenmidi; ukum tersenget tutak engket gatap Ia, bulung, da nang, ulang lot ngo memahen idi Ia, lot kin ngo ko cincin perjadi-jadi, ia jadi kin si muat tutak, si muat gatap bagi nimu nang, enggo jadi isidi bulung jadi isi permangan Jadi tutak gatap, permangan sikade kurangna Ia, bagidi, da nang, ngo ma, da nang, suruh mo bayo Tarap dike mo, da nang, meling mo, da nang Merbage lotna mo, da nang, kata-katana si enem enda Nang, kita, le nang, rupamu rupa benih isuan mate pucuk, bagidi mo nina Lako nola mo ko bai sinaruh manuk, da nang, ko ngo simberuna, bagidi nina Ia, bagidi, da nang, jelma si so embengket mike i, da nang, bagidi nina Idim ajar dukakmu Si Buah Mburle, kudoken bamu Im asa lako mo, da nang, urupken, kebasken, urupken mo kebasken ulan en. [Pengue: ‘Ue’]

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23. introduction Now the narrative tells how Si Buah Mburle changes into a beautiful young man and visits the people working in the fields. 23. narration of si buah mburle’s transformation The next morning at daybreak, it is said, they went to work in the fields and brought cooked rice [along]. So she was ashamed, it is said, ah, she was chased away all the time, Nan Tampuk Emas, because she was married to Si Buah Mburle. Her elder sisters said: ‘what are you doing among the ordinary married women all the time. Eh, you are like young rice planted to die at the corner [of the field], you who are married to a chicken’s egg’. That’s how her elder sisters where pestering her all the time. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] So in the end, in brief, when they were all busy eating together, they were not sowing rice, it is said, they were eating, then he played the drum (ganderang).30 So to make you hear this, it is done by mouth, as there is no genderang, there is not even a kalondang [drum made from aren palm]. Therefore the sound of genderang music is made by mouth. So, the sound of genderang was like this, it is said, this is how Si Buah Mburle played the drum: ‘tepuldep poi pai tepuldep poi poi’.31 That’s how his genderang sounded. Pongpong [small gong] means strong: when the adat is strong, the people are strong. We must not practise foreign adat, and all that has to do with adat, what is made into adat, [we should] behave according

30 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:126) the genderang is a drum covered with leather at one side and with wood at the other side. The similar Toba term gondang is used both for a drum and for an orchestra of gongs and drums (Siahaan 1964:75). The gondang ensemble is very important for traditional rituals and ceremonies (Schreiner 1970). Kartomi (1990:224) mentions the Pakpak ritual genderang ensemble in the context of a chapter on social structure and ensemble classification in Mandailing 31 These sounds actually refer to the names of the instruments, as explained in Simon’s article (1985:116) on Batak musical terminology: ‘The Pakpak genderang is played on a set of five to nine drums, three gongs (poi, takudep, and panggora or jurjur), and a percussion plaque or split gong pongpong. Small cymbals cilat-cilat, a set of gongs gerantung, and a double-reed sarunei may be added’.

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23. text of the narration of si buah mburle’s transformation Enggo kesa mo terang ari dah ke, laus mo kalak mi juma mardangi merembah nakan kade dike. Jadi ia dah ke mela mo dak pengicah-icahen, ah Nan Tampuk Emas, si nibuat Si Buah Mburle endai, kerna idoken kakana i: ‘Terperkade ma ngo ko dak menengah-nengah mi jelma umum en, jelma sinterem en. Eh, rupamu rupa benih isuan mate pucuk. Si menokor ko pe tinaruh manuk’. Im dakdak pengeah kakana en. [Pengue: ‘Ue’] Jadi ujungna pendek rana, hagar mo nan lako tenegu lako mangan. Otang bagi dah ke mardang lako mangan. Jadi merganderang mo ia. Jadi sibegeken mo dah ke, mula i babah, kum oda kin ganderang kin, kalondang kin en oda lot. I babah nai mo sibaing sora ganderang. Jadi sora ganderang dah ke, bagen mo nina penggual Si Buah Mburle ngo enda: ‘tepuldep poi poi, tepuldep poi poi’. Bagim sora ganderangna endai. ‘Pongpong’ artina hot adatna hot bangsana. Ulang teradat kita mi luar negeri, piga pasal adat, adat, iadatken, meradat, istiadat, peradatenken. En mo sempat pasal en harus sipergunaken, tah apai adat internasional kata-kata si bagendari, otang bagi? Jadi en pe bagendari tah endorok kita bahas maremben kaduan, tang bagi? Jadi enda mo lebe siterusken. Jadi ujungna dah ke jadi mo ngo merganderang en. ‘Ah, ise ma ngo kalake menggual i kuta’, kata mo si mardang en. ‘Seloh nai ngo sorana’, nina mo. Ujungna dah ke, sampetken mo sagudal-sagudal. Otang lot dah ke perdamai tak meribak-meribak dah ke, oles si arnia, oles merdugam. En oles merdugam Eropah engket i India nai kin en asa lot da. Itutung oda meseng bage tanduk. I mo silipatken, i mo abitna en ilipatken. Roh ko jadi sori-sori sampur nina. En mo gonje-gonjena, oles sori-sori sampur nina. En mo man pemintingna. Ah, isampetken mo bagal-bagal tong jadi baju bulu ndai. Jadi enggo kesa salpun ipaken i, isampetken garu-garu nakan babi gabe golok merempu riar, isampetken dah kene bekas keter jadi kujur sinane. Oh, isampetken dah ke geruk-

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to adat, [or] make into adat.32 What is convenient must be used, maybe, what’s it, international adat they say nowadays, is not it? So nowadays, maybe we can look into it, tomorrow or the day after, is not it? Well, let us continue now. So finally, it is said, he really played genderang. ‘Ah who can that be playing the drum in the village?’ said the people who were planting. ‘It sounds beautiful’, they said. Finally, it is said he hit [things] with a stroke. There was no good cloth, it was torn up, they say, cloth women used to wear. This cloth worn by women from Europe and India, that is, when held in the fire it is not burned, just like animal horns. He hit it, [and] when struck it was a long hip-cloth, it became a ‘sori-sori sampur’, they say. These were his head-cloth and his ‘oles sori-sori sampur’, that is his hip-cloth. Ah, when he struck a shabby jacket it sure became a woollen jacket. So, after he had put it on, he struck a ladle for the pig’s food, it became a beautiful sword, he struck a rattan [?], it became a hook-shaped javelin. Oh, when he struck a bar to close the door it became a gun, it is said. Then when he struck a stone trough for the pigs it became a horse, it is said. So, well, he mounted the horse, he rode on horseback ‘gerdek gerdek gerdek’, they say the people were just eating. ‘Suddenly he came’, they said, the people who saw him. All those who were eating kept the food in their hands, because their eyes were just glued to Si Buah Mburle. ‘O mother, mother’, they said, and all the time the food was not put into their mouth. ‘Where can he come from, that young man?’ they said. Oh, how her elder sisters hoped to be asked to become his wife – actually they saw the husband of Nan Tampuk Emas, but nobody knew that. ‘Ah, I think he looks like this, ah, like this [or] like that’, they said. ‘How? Eat quickly so you can think of it’, they said. Although they had brought the rice, they did not get to eat it, they felt already full just watching him. Now he was a champion, they say.

32 Coleman (1987:315) explains the special use of the term adat with regard to Pakpak marriage ritual: ‘adat is the material goods given as traditional gifts between affines in all exchanges. From the side of the wife-givers come plaited mats and bags, hulled rice, and chickens. From the side of the wife-takers, cloth, money and gold are offered. [...]. The more complicated sense of adat in verb form follows from the simple sense: when used in verb form (mengadati, iadati, mersiadaten, adaten), the term means to establish an affinal social relation, or a set of affinal relations, on the basis of adat, which for the Pakpak refers generally to the asymmetric exchange of traditionally stipulated goods’.

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geruk pentu menjadi bedil. Isampetken nola mo dah ke pelangkah babi batu menjadi kuda. Jadi ujungna ipasang mo kuda nen, ipasang mo kudana en ‘gerdek gerdek gerdek’ nina mo. Kalak enggo tikki mangan. Urna dok nakan deng ngo bagi, jep mo nina roh, kalak menengen rupana endai. Karina si mangan i leket kerina tanganna i permanganna, perbahan leket matana menengen Si Buah Mburle endai. Ue anange-anange nina, laju oda ialbak ne nakan i. En anak perana, idike nai ngen nina. Oh, karap mo kakana endai mengeriritsa, kepe enggo bagian Nan Tampuk Emas endai idah, tapi oda ise betoh-betohen. ‘Eh kira bagi mo rupani. Ah bagi bagen mi’, nina. ‘Bakune? Nipetor mo mangan en asa kiranai’, nina. Pada hal ipembakaken nai ngo nakan endai, oda ne saut mangan. Bah enggo besur kalak menengen rupani sambing. En mo dah ke jempolna. Jadi ujungna dah ke siap mangan, melehe pe enggo embelgah merngat-ngat pe dukakna enggo kesa pos bagen enggo sip. Ue, jadi bagi mo rupani dah ke. Jadi ujungna dah ke asa dapet sukutenken, enggo kesa salpun mangan ise iduduri, nasa i ipangan deba nasa i ipapurun petaraptarapen. En pangan-pangan gatap, nasa i ipan deba nasa i lot. Siap karina meratus-ratus jelma si mardang en iduduri karina, tapi jabuna endai oda iduduri. Oda asa ulang terbetoh rupana, asa turun bohong ni deba, mencolak sambing sip ia, asa oda lot mara. Ujung asa enggo kesa mendarat dah ke Nan Tampuk Emas en, roh mo kakana endai: ‘Ah, bagen mi. Ko ulang dak menengah-nengah, idah ko ma ngi, si mengirit kami mengindangi kami. Ko dak pang deng ma ko dak menengah-nengah. Tertengen ko ma ngi’. Jadi bagi mo lam putus asa mo ujungna dah ke. Pendek rana dah ke, artina pitu kali en otang bagi. Nan Tampuk Emas pe oda ibetoh en. Tinaruh manuk kin ngo ienget, mengancar ngia. Jadi ujungna dah ke sintunggu nai ngo asa siap mardang, asa endor bersiap-siap menampakken pakenna en. Roh mo Si Raja Kelendungen en, laus mia mi kuta, balik pasang kudana endai, ‘gerdik-gerdik’ nina, sampetken gedana endai balik jadi pelangkah nakan babi. Sampetken karina geruk-geruk saguddal, ulakken balik, nina. Balik naruh manuk endai ulakken mia jadi naruh manuk. Jadi enggo kesa bagi, roh mo kalak. Kepe daberu kuben-kuben i ruar pagar kin ngo sapona. Oda ia masuk dah ke menengah. ‘Oda tuhu ngo

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So finally, when they finished eating they were still hungry – even chewing small bits children grow up - they were quiet like that, silence. Yes, so that’s what he looked like, it is said. So well, it is said, so the story can be told – when they had finished eating who was given betel? All the people who had eaten were fed with betel quids. They ate sirih leaves, all the people were fed, all who were there. Hundreds of people who were working in the fields were all given quids, but he did not give one to his own wife, no, so that she would not know how he looked. She felt humiliated [but] she just kept silent, so there would not be trouble. Finally when Nan Tampuk Emas was excluded, her elder sisters came [and said]: ‘Oh, you must not be in the middle like that, look how he excites us, how he flirts with us. You don’t dare to go by yourself and you must not be in our midst, just watch us’. So in this way she became more and more desperate, she was really desperate in the end. In brief, it is said, it means, seven times [he did] not [give her] like that. Nan Tampuk Emas herself did not know, she thought that he was a chicken’s egg. So well, it is said, she was pressed to finish planting, to soon get ready to collect the clothes. When Si Raja Kelendungen came he went back to the village riding his horse, ‘gerdik-gerdek’, they say. When he hit his cloth [horse?],33 it became again a trough for pig’s food, he slapped everything with a blow, the bar to close the door, it was changed back, they say. He himself changed back into a chicken’s egg; yes, he became a chicken’s egg again. So when it was like that the people came [back]. Actually an old woman was outside the fence of her house, she did not go with them, they say. ‘It is not really like that, what I see; what is actually happening? Oh, this is in fact the husband of Nan Tampuk Emas. Ah, mother, she does not know this’.

33

Probably this is an error or slip of the tongue.

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bagi, kepe ipetengen-tengen en barang bakune keadaan si masa masa en. Oh, ing kepe si menokor Nan Tampuk Emas i. Ah anange, oda bana i katena en’.

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24. introduction After a break to change the tape, the storyteller continues, starting with a narration that repeats more or less what was told in the previous passage. Several times Si Buah Mburle visits the workers in the field, riding on horseback. His wife Nan Tampuk Emas is constantly harassed by her sisters. 24. narration of the pestering of nan tampuk emas In the early morning at the cock’s crow when they had eaten the rice crust they quickly grasped [the sticks] and walked in groups of two or three, yes, or even [groups of] ten, like that. Briefly, after they had eaten rice, when it was bright daylight, the people went out carrying the seeds on their head. They were busy sowing and had brought food. Si Buah Mburle broke [the shell], ‘crack-crack’, they say. Ah, he looked at everyting he saw, he did like before, he slapped all the dirty rags, anything became, how is it, the request was granted by the Lord (Tuhan), as they say nowadays. Finally, his outfit was rather complete with a hook-shaped javelin, a rifle hanging from the shoulder, a complete sirih-set and a shiny plaited bag decorated with (a string of) bells.34 That was the outfit of a nobleman (anak ni raja), of respected, well-to-do people in the old days. So well, you see, at that time he played the drum and went off, so the people who were sowing could hear it: ‘poi poi poi, tepuldep, pong pong’ (etc.). These are special names in the culture of Simsim, so to say, ‘tepuldep sambe-sambe, tangga rube tanggo-tanggo’, or how we should carry on the customs, the adat of Simsim must not get lost, that is what it says. So nowadays they say that the culture will become stronger when we know the culture of Europe, England, America, or Italia, they say. This changes us more and more, [but] we must not change [so much that our culture] gets lost, it belongs to the people who use it. It is wrong to do like that. So well, you see, when he finished playing the drum he climbed the horse, actually it was a stone trough, [and] when he struck it, it became a ‘jinak’ horse as it is called in Pakpak, nothing less. Finally, they say,

34 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:395) the ‘ucang merante utas’ is a plaited bag used by the bridegroom during the wedding ceremony.

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24. text of the narration of the pestering of nan tampuk emas Enggo kesa terang ari takuak manuk, ipangan mo kerus en, tong ngo menjenggal-jenggali kalak dua telu merdalan. Ia sadasa nai ngo tang bagi mo. Pendek mo rana, enggo kesa ipangan nakan en, terang mo ari, ijujung mo benih en, merohen mo kalak, mardang mo kalak ragat tenegu [?] mangan nai ngo ia. Merper ma mo Si Buah Mburle endai. Kritik-kritik nina. Ah sandoken leket mo penengen engket mata menengensa. Bagi mo. Ibakin ma mo bage si perlebe endai, ilipatken karina apar-apar kade dike menjadi bagokna, siat pengidon kata-kata bagendari bai Tuhan. Ujungna kira-kira lengkap mo pakenna kujur sinane endaboi, mengkadang bedil engket papurun pentarap-tarapen engket merucang-ucang kinilongkipen mergiring-giring merante utas. I ngo paken kalak anak ni raja jelma merharga kalak bahagia arnia. Jadi ujungna katende, senderang bagidi merganderang ma mia laus asa lot pebegen-begen kalak si mardang en. Poi poi poi, tepuldep, pong pong [dst.] Im asa dah ke penggerarina kebudayaan sininta en. Tepuldep sambe-sambe, tangga rube tanggo-tanggo, barang bakune perembahken masa en, adatta si nusa ulang mago. Im dah ke katana. Jadi im asa bagendari dah ke, asa kebudayaan i ngo iperteguh. Iguruken pe kebudayaan Eropah, Inggeris, Amerika, barang pe Italia nina, menambah alihta i ngi, ulang alihta mago, alah ni deba sipakke. Salah ngo bagi, sipekade mi. Jadi ujungna katende, tap nina salpun merganderang endai, ipasang mo kuda endai, pelangkah batu kin ngo endai, isampetken dah ke kembali kuda jinak kata-kata Pakpak, oda kurang. Ujungna dah ke, ipasang kudana soh mi juma. I deng kalak urur dok nahar, i deng ijemah kalak. ‘Jep’, nina ma, ‘roh merkuda endai. Wah, kudana i embara kalon’. Kerna berani dah ke mendahi manusia mi tempat en itempa Debata,

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riding his horse he arrived in the field. And again people fell for him, again he seized them. ‘Look’, they said, ‘here he comes riding a horse. Wow, his horse is very red’. Because he dared to go to the people in that place, they thought he was a God (Debata), courageous and honest, honest and true, true and right, is not that what they say? So when it was like that, all the people who were sowing rice came. The cooked food they had brought in a basket was not eaten, [even] if one would dare to, they felt full just looking at him. So well, you see, he came and offered sirih to everybody. He did not even look at his wife: ‘Oh why is this, it is wrong, it is wrong’. Si Buah Mburle saw her, [but] did not fill [her hands]. Then she thought: ‘Mother, what about my share? The person who came, this man, sees that I also look like the daughter of a nobleman. He has come from some place or other, and he coughed, [so] he must actually be a human being. They think that it is not a human being who has come’. She was wondering that he went away and returned again so [he must] depend on something. ‘Who is he?’ she kept wondering. They told her all the time: ‘Oh, you are like a seedling that dies at the corner, you are married to someone like a chicken’s egg. If you have agreed to be chosen by someone who is a chicken’s egg, say, how many rooster-cages did you make? You should come in the evening and in the morning’, they said. She became ashamed when she heard these words. So then she knew that these in-law relatives who were with Si Raja Kelendungen were not good people [because] these do not speak like that, she thought. So she thought she would go and take shelter, she was surprised about her sisters. Finally, it seems, she went back, they say, she went away. ‘Maybe I will just bring, I am going to get firewoord now, eda’, she said. ‘We did not have firewood this morning. There will soon be rice for us’, she said. ‘Just do it, go. Actually there is no rope for tying firewood at the side of the road. Ah, if you go quickly maybe someone else may want to tie it up [for you]’. Yes, that is what people said to mock her, to pester her. ‘When you arrive at the firewood place, the firewood says ‘taik, taik’, oh sister, sister, from where do you come?’ they said. ‘Well don’t you have two eyes? I have, say. So do not pay attention to those who pester, it does not make rich, or beautiful. Be careful with others in this world. Ah, you should be careful, it is said. Don’t speak like

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berani dengan jujur, jujur dengan benar, benar dengan baik, otang bagi, dah ke? Jadi enggo kesa bagi, roh mo katende jelma embue si mardang en. Ipembakaken deba mo nakan en mada pe kalak mangan. Sada embori en enggo besur pengakapna menengen bagakna. Jadi ujungna katende, roh ia en, iduduri karina jelma mbue en. Jabuna endai oda idah engket. ‘Ah, bakune ngo en, enggo pilit en, enggo pilit en katena’. Itengen Si Buah Mburle endai, oda isi. Kepe ia memikirken: ‘Nang, bagianku en. Kalak roh si maholi rupangku aku beru raja katena. Enggo roh kerohkerohen batuk-batuken. I pe giam jelma deng. En oda jelma ne roh katena’. Memikirken en ia laus ibalik-baliki tunande-tunande. ‘Ise ngia?’ Dak merpikir-merpikir. Kata-katanen pe dakdak: ‘Oh, rupamu rupa benih isuan pate pucuk si menokor ko bage tinaruh manuk. Ue ko terpilih sibanggarenmu, kum sindai ngo dah ko tinaruh manuk ibaing barang piga sanggak. Rohmu cibon sicegen’, nina. Mela ia memegeken kata-kata en. Jadi en enggo ibetoh en. Silihnen engket Si Raja Kelendungen, kum oda jelma baik oda bagi bah katena. Asa tong ia masuk tarap-tarapan katena. Kagum ia mi turangna en. Ujungna rupani, balik mia dah ke. Laus mia dah ke. ‘Kira-kira sinteneguna nai, kiseban lebe aku eda’, nina, ‘oda lot sebannami endaboi. Lot nan nakan bainami’, nina. ‘Bagi, lake mo [e]da, laus mo. Kepe kiseban i biding dalan, rakutna oda lot. Ah, mula bagi tambatken petor ma mo laus, tah ue ngo iperkatai deba, katena taba jabuna en, igoda mo. Soh i perkesebanan en, taik, taik, dok seban en mo. O turang, turang, kan dike ngo dalan en?’ nina. ‘Iah oda lot matande dua? En mo dah ke. Jadi asa ulang siat kalak kalak bohong’. Oda baing beak i, baing maholi, ate-ate deba nai ngo dunia en. Ah en mo dakke, penjagaan i. ‘Oda ngo bagi turang, asa nikuso, asa nibetoh. Asa ulang laling diri. Ah, piga sirpangna?’ nina. ‘Ah lot babah idi. Kade ngo artina. Oda ngo kuso-kuso. Merkata mo Nan Tampuk Emas: ‘Eh, entokene lebe cituk gatapendene i’. ‘Eh peh pigih laus, oh menter bohong-bohong ke baing si tinaruh manuk i si menokor aku. Menter bage lotna katande. Maholi pe ke [o] da perlu bangku laus endor. Mak ke laus asa menter enderu-enderu aku’, nina. ‘Gabe payah en mula enderu-enderu aku, gabe endor idah deba aku’, katena. 309

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that sister, I asked so that I would know, so I will not get lost. Ah how many sideways are there?’ she said. ‘Well, you have a mouth. What does it mean? Do not keep asking,’ Nan Tampuk Emas said, ‘I just want to eat some of your sirih leaves’. ‘Oh, it’s better to go away when they pester me, because I am married to a chicken’s egg. Then what is there, you see, you are beautiful, there is no need to go away fast. Don’t you go, then I’ll be crying’, she [Nan Tampuk Emas] said. ‘I’ll be tired when I am crying, so I quickly see the others’, she thought. So, it is said, he returned,35 he quickly went back riding his horse. He endured the test, so to speak. Yes he rode his horse and when he was back he played the drum: jeng jeng, poi poi, tepuldep, poi poi, pong pong. That is, they say, how are these words, the words ‘dak tong’ are our traditional art, our adat. Well, they say, [it went] like that apparently. He struck again what he had changed after he broke his shell and it became a trough for the pig’s food, it became a bar to close the door, he changed back the sword of that morning and went back into the shell. In fact it was already clear to that old lady. So, the youngest [sister] then went to sow for the third time. Altogether [it takes] eight times, we continue five [more] times. Ah, she went sowing for the third time, the youngest one, yes. ‘Eda, my bayo say: ‘you must come together with aunt’. ‘Well, you may tell me, [but] not your aunt’, she said. ‘You did not accept that I was married for a piece of cloth and a sirih leaf. So it is wrong to want me to tell her to go’, she said. ‘Ask her’, they [the sisters] said. ‘Well aunt, the order is that you and I prepare sirih leaves, dibbling sticks and the like’, she said. ‘Why ask me? The child is grown up, I have many aches and pains’, she said. [Pengue: ‘Yes’] So finally Si Buah Mburle came and instructed her.

35 The Indonesian word ‘sucian’ in the transcription has been replaced by the Pakpak word ‘suang’, to return, because it makes more sense.

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Jadi im dah ke sucian mi, endor mia balik ipasang mo kudana endai. Tahan iuji ma mo katena. Ue, pasang mo kudana endai. Balik ma mo ia merganderang. Jeng, jeng, poi poi, tepuldep, poi poi, pong pong. I mo dah ke, barang bakune pe kata endai ‘dak tong’ ngo seni budayanta endai adatta en. Ujungna dah ke, bagi mo rupani kejadian merper endai. Mulak mia pesampetken kembali pelangkah nakan babi, jadi guruk-guruk pentu, jadi ulakken golok merempu riar endaboi mulak mi pemerperenna endai, kepe daberu kuben-kuben idi enggo ipetangkas. Jadi siampunampun nola mo mardang peteluken. Kerina endai ualuh kali, lima kali kita terusken. Ah, peteluken nola mo mardang en, siampun-ampun men. ‘Eda, dokken mo kalak bayongku. Roh mo ke engket namberu’. ‘Ia, bangku nola idokken ko, oda bai namberumu’, nina mo. ‘Ia, kum sirambar benang, sirambar gatap tokorku, oda kin enggo ijalo ke. Ia baikin ate-atengken merbagah merdalan enggo salah i’, nina. ‘Kuson ma ngo ia’, nina. ‘Ia namberu pasulak mo eda engket doken kalak bayongku mengkebasken bulung, tutak kade dike’, nina ma. ‘Ia aku nola kuson? Anak embelgah i ngo, diri nan embue penakitna’, nina. [Pengue: ‘Ue’] Jadi ujungna roh Si Buah Mbule iajari.

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25. thirteenth chant of si buah mburle He, edeng-edeng pong nola da nang, Don’t you make a hoe into a lamp, Dont’t be unstable being a parent. la, here are rintua leaves, these are cooked to feed a child, mother, As you are a parent, you must know to bring up a child. Teach me, mother, teach your daughter-in-law the rules of the people, Ia, even words can make that there will be a hoe, Even the child of a chief will become an old person, Allow me, mother, to tell you the rules of the people, la, tell the daughter-in-law to prepare provisions for sowing, Let her go, your daughter in law, and I say to you, mother, Ia, remember the dibbling sticks and sirih leaves, leaves to be eaten, True are the words of the wishing ring: if the intention is right the request will be granted [Pengue: ‘True’] Ia, mother, take care, I have told you already, la, order your daughter-in-law [to go sowing].

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25. text of the thirteenth chant of si buah mburle Eh, edeng-edeng pong nola, da nang Ulang ko, da nang, cuan kin gabe togok Ulang ko, da nang, pengetua gabe menodok nola. Ia, enda, da nang, bulung rintua, le nang, nibaing roroh anak Mula enggo diri situa-tua, le nang, nibetoh mendidik anak Ajari, da nang, aku, ajari purmaenmidi asa ibetoh titik ni deba Ia, salangken kata sibaing menjadi cuan, le nang Salang anak Si Aji asa endorok jadi sintua Idim, da nang, kudokken bamu titik ni deba Ia, suruh mo, da nang, purmaen ipeberkat belanjan mardang idi Asa laus permaenmidi, asa kudoken mi, da nang Ia, tersenget, da nang, tutak engket gatap, bulung man permangan Tuhu kata cincin perjadi-jadi, penter ukur mengido kinijadi [Pengue: ‘Tuhu’] Ia, enda, da nang, idi, da nang, jagaken, asa enggo kesa, da nang, kudoken bamu, ia, pesulak purmaenmidi, ale.

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26. introduction The old lady who has seen Si Buah Mburle’s transformation advises Nan Tampuk Emas to stay behind in the village. Then she discovers his secret and burns half of his shell. They finally become a married couple. 26. narration of nan tampuk emas tricking her husband So you see, she came when she was called. When she was told to, there she went on her way to sow [rice], carrying provisions on her head, Nan Tampuk Emas. And that old woman saw her. ‘Hey, Nan Tampuk Emas, come here first’, she said, she called her into the house. ‘Why, granny?’ she said. Now she would soon understand what was happening to her. ‘Why, granny?’ she said. ‘Here is some sirih for you’. ‘Ah, [they] humiliate [me] granny. Because you must know about the chicken’s egg, everybody knows, so it must also be clear to you [that I married] a chicken’s egg. Who comes up [into the house], may take these sirih leaves, you say, even if your grandson is a chicken’s egg’. ‘Ah, do not speak like that, girl, don’t. Did not you say that you were going to sow?’ she said. ‘Oh, granny, you may be quite old, but if I give you rejuvenating water to drink you will become young again’, she [Nan Tampuk Emas] said. ‘Oh really, you are a real friend. Ah, Nan Tampuk Emas, you must do like this’, she [the old lady] said. ‘Tomorrow when your sisters are going to sow again, you say that, because you are the youngest, you will run to bring your seeds, right at the cock’s crow, when a footprint is not [yet] visible. You come back early and crawl under these fresh cassava leaves’, she said.36 ‘You will not be seen, because there is all this to cover you’, she said. ‘Because if you are really clever you know to be careful’, she said. Indeed the old lady knew, she was as clever as a young person. But that she was clever, was not known. Then she went back, it is said. So in brief, they say, she [Nan Tampuk Emas] went at the cock’s crow, she ran to bring the seeds. To bring the seeds, it is said, she carried the seeds on her head, then she returned. She crawled under the fresh

36

The leaves of the cassava plant, lambuk, are boiled as fodder for the pigs (Manik 2002:207).

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26. text of the narration of nan tampuk emas tricking her husband Jadi katende, roh isuruh. Enggo kesa isuruh, en mo lako laus en ia merjujung belanja mardang en. Ia Nan Tampuk Emas endai iidah daberu kuben-kuben endai. ‘Ale, Nan Tampuk Emas, roh ko lebe’, nina, idiloken i sapona nai. ‘Kade pung?’ nina. Im asa lancar enggo ibetoh nasibna en. ‘Kade pung?’ nina. ‘Ento cituk gatapmi’. ‘Ah, bohong-bohong pung en. Baing ibetoh ko i tinaruh manuk, oda mada ibetoh ko kin entangkas tinaruh manuk. Ise menangkih i, ise memuat i. En dah ko gatap nola nimu. Kempumu6 pe tinaruh manuk’. ‘Ah, ulang bagi beru, ulang ah. Dok ko mak ing si rohroh mardang i?’ nina. ‘Ah, kum i da pung, kupenumken bamu lae si nguda-ngudaan. Enggo kin pe ko tua-tua, ulakken menjadi muda mudi’, nina. ‘Ah, tuhu ko, tuhu asal mo dengan tuhu. Ah, bagen mo baing Nan Tampuk Emas’, nina. ‘Maremben dah ko, mulak kesa i ardangen idi turangmu siampun-ampun i dah ko, takuak deng manuk i, oda teridah dedohen, lojang ko, taruhken benihmu. Balik ko cibon, cucukken bamu i lambuk matah i’, nina. ‘Oda idah i’, nina, ‘ai kerina enggo lot balutna’, nina, ‘ai pande ia giam sibetoh menjaga dirinta’, nina nola. Im asa pemetoh ni daberu kuben-kuben, oda kurang kepanden ngo bai muda mudi en. Tapi lot ngo pande, oda ibetoh. En mo balikna dah ke. Jadi pendek rana dah ke, laus men. Takuak dok manuk, lojang ia, taruhken benih endai. Taruhken benih endai dah ke. Ijujing mo benih en, mulak mo ia. Icucukken mo bana i lambuk matah endai. I mo enggo kesa terang ari dah ke, karina mo laus kalak mi juma ardangen. Enggo kesa bagi karina laus kalak kritik-kritik nina. Enggo ipidahidah dah ke. Arnia i sapo ngo lambuk, oda i teruh. Im asa endesing man

The typed transcription has ‘kum punmu’, the written transcription has ‘kempumu’, which makes more sense here.

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cassava leaves. And in the morning when it was bright, they say, all the people went to the fields to sow. Then, when everybody had left, he said ‘crack-crack’. And she saw it, they say. The cassava leaves used to be [kept] in the house, not below. So they were close to where they were cooked, these leaves. Not like now, say. ‘Crack crack’, it said, right above his wife’s hiding place. ‘Actually the crack is breaking’, she said. ‘Really, friend, I am going to put an end to your cheating. When you are doing that, you are deceiving me’, she said. It is a test, [as] they say: a peduk-bird is not trapped by giving it sirih leaves three times. Do not use too much to trap it, they will certainly wither. There is nothing to be returned afterwards, the wife answers like that. If too much is done to the wife, she answers that it cannot be cured, one is no longer related. Take care [not] to sleep when working in the fields. He may not [even] make eight, and he makes eleven. Should one lie down to digest after eating a banana? Can he be married to eight wives, if he does not even look after one? What is it good for? If there is one, if the one who is looking after him is alive and well, it’s not allowed. Finally, he transformed when they were eating, ah, he cracked [the shell] and played the drum: jeng poi poi, pong pong, puldep puldep, pong pong, that’s how he was drumming. He rode his horse, gerdek gerdek. After seven days people still kept the food in their hands. Even on the eighth day there was not anybody eating. As for Nan Tampuk Emas, he thought that she had arrived in the fields. Ah, she saw what he did, breaking [his cover], she found out the secret. But he had not seen her underneath [the leaves]. ‘Go under the pile, [you should] go under the pile’, she [the old lady] said. After having seen how he broke [the shell] she tore it up, there was no cover left for him. Finally, when he was looking for his wife but could not see her, he did not give sirih any more to the people who were sowing and to the elder sisters. ‘Ah, it is a test for me, to try me. Yesterday I trusted [her]. Where did she go, would she be together with her friends?’ he thought. ‘She would not go to the village’, he thought, allawahana’. Well, even if someone is clever, there is in fact [always] someone [who is] equally clever. Finally it is said, in brief, she definitely was not sowing any longer, [so] he quickly returned. Well, in brief, say, we better talk about the content. There he was standing as a human being. He reprimanded his wife, he wanted to be 316

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buaten pertasaken lambuk endai. Oda bagi dah ke. Kritik-kritik nina i babo penengsengi jabu enda endai. ‘Kepe lako pustak kritik’, nina. Tuhunnang kepe bak matem kono nan alo-alo. Bagi pemakinmi, akalakali ko aku’, nina. ‘Im asa dah ke pengunjunen. I pe ulang peduk dapet tereken gatap mahan peneluken, ulang meduksu mahan pemereken, sikali memales i ngi segen, oda lot terulaken ne kesa kin ibalesken partua bagen en. Mula embuesu kin ngo ibaing mi pertua bages, ibalesken oda ne tertambari, oda ne terkekade. Im asa manat-manat merjuma medem. Ulang baing endorok i ia waluh, sipuluh sada sibaing. Ue, kade gunana kipan galuh, cepakken gale-gale. Sibaing kunu merjelma waluh mula sada poda terpekade. Kade hasilna i. Lot sada, sada kunu mula isiembahken hidup geluh, tah boi. Ujungna katende tampan men balik, enggo kesa mangen en, ah, merpermen, merpermen, merganderang ia. Jeng, poi poi, pong pong, puldep puldep, pong pong. I mo dah ke ganderangna endai. Pasang kuda en, gerdek gerdek. Tong ma dak leket tangan deba en mangan en, enggo pitu ari. Si ualuh ari en oda lot ise tentu mangen en. Bah Nan Tampuk Emas endai, ietong kesa soh mi juma kira ah, ibuat mo permerperen idahna endai, dapet mo rahasia. Tapi ma deng pe bagi enggo idah i teruh. ‘Ungguni i teruh’,7 baing i teruh unggun i’, nina. Enggo kesa idah kalak permerperenna en enggo meribak, oda ne lot bekasna. Ujungna iranap jabuna en oda lot idah, oda ne tentu iduduri jelma mardang en engket kakanen. ‘Ah coban bangku pengunjungku buari enggo percaya. Mike endia nong. Enggo nola lot endia denganna mersada?’ katena. ‘Mada ngondia mi kuta?’ katena. Enggo wala wahana en. Im asa sipande pe kepe lot deng ngo terpanden. Ujungna dah ke, pendek rana, mak ne tertentu mardang endai. Ia endor balik. Jadi pendek kata dah ke baik kita mengucapken isi. Isi mia terdiri menjadi jelma. Itegur ma ngo jelmana endai, peneguna sada. ‘O turang, o turang, idike dah ke bajungku?‘ nina, jelma enggo merohen. ‘Ia bakune moto-moto si turang en. Ipido nola bajuna mendahi aku. Ia baing maholi ko oda man kadengku leh. Tinaruh manuk kin ngo si menokor aku, i ngo kupema’, nina. Idah ke mo i. Im asa si pande i merapus. Ujungna dah ke, enggo enggara iakap, enggo ibetoh ue. Ujungna sudahna dah ke, mersoal-soal bagidi, jep dok jelma embue mo roh. ‘Jadi 7

The handwritten transcription has ‘tengah’, the typed transcription has ‘teruh’.

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her leader: ‘O sister, sister, where is my jacket?’ he said – he had come as a human being. ‘Now, how you deceived [me] brother! And then you ask me for the jacket! That you are beautiful, what use is that to me. My husband is a chicken’s egg, that is what I am waiting for’. You see because she was clever she had made it disappear. Well, it is said, he felt enflamed, he had been found out, yes. Well, when they were arguing like that, they say, a lot of people came. ‘So where is my jacket’, he said. ‘Look under the pile, maybe half of it is there. Look in the rice-barn, in the middle, brother, only one half is there’. It is because the wife buried it, it had become charcoal and ashes. It was buried because the man had become arrogant. Ah, this was what made his wife sad, they say. Finally [the mother said], ‘Now he has become a grown-up, I celebrate’. They were feasting for seven days and seven nights. Ah, the master of the sabre was feasting with Raja Kelendungen all the time. ‘I am for you, oh son’, said his mother who had given birth to him. It may not be seen, but even someone else’s child is quarrelled about, moreover, ‘I am for you then, oh son’, she said. ‘Ah, don’t say that’, they said. It ruined the relationship he had with the six elder sisters of his wife. ‘He said, I am for you, anggi, I am for you’, these six said to their younger sister. ‘Allright, where [ever] he goes, let him. I do not own him in fact’, they thought. Ah, they were upset. Yet Si Buah Mburle did not break the adat law. Whatever was discussed, he remembered his friends, he honoured the adults. Finally he was ready to make the bride his wife. ‘I am for you, son, I am for you’, she [the mother] said. ‘If not I will kill myself ’, she said. Ah, Si Buah Mburle came and sang:

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dike bajungku endai?’ nina. ‘Tengen mo terung enggun i serap tah lot deng mang. Tengen mo i page keben i sitengah tang isi deng ma serap, isi ngo’. Im asa mula tinanem partua bages, menjadi arang ngo, menjadi haba. Mula tinanem daholi, menjadi jekjek i pendirianna. Ah, en mo dah ke sedihna mi portua bages en. Ujungna tubuh kesa ia isi embelgah, kudea. Merpesta mo kalak en pitu ari pitu berngin. Ah, situan kelebangen engket Si Raja Kelendungen sinderang merpesta en. ‘Aku le pa’, dok inangna si menubuhken endai nola. ‘Oda ne tertengen, salang dukak ni deba i igulut-guluti, makinsa nola mo aku bamu le pa’, nina. ‘Ah, ulang bagi’, nina en endai. Enggo merupuk perjabun endai ibaing kakana si enem endai. ‘Aku bamu anggi, aku bamu’, nina ma dok kalak en si enem anggina ndai. ‘Ue, mike kunu ia. Oda aku kin ngo sidasa’, katena. ‘Ah, merkejun [kejut] mo kalak en. Hukum adat pe oda tercedai Si Buah Mburle. Bakune perarihen-perarihen ienget denganna, sibelgahen ihargai’. Ujungna menasak mo jabuna purmaenna endai. ‘Aku mo bamu pa, aku mo bamu’, nina. ‘Mula mada mendeles aku’, nina. Ah roh mo Si Buah Mburle, merodong-odong mia:

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27. fourteenth chant of si buah mburle Ia, cut sukat leaves (Colocasia esculenta) for happiness, mother, I say to you, mother, you must not endure arriving in vain, You endured misery to keep your child Si Buah Mburle alive, Ia, maybe it is not seen as adat here, Really [I am] ready to make a large hall again, Ia, people’s adat does not allow it, so be patient, mother, A token of your happiness is your child Si Buah Mburle, May I give you instruction for your prayer, for your good fortune, Just be prepared to wait for eight days, mother, I tell you, take a handful of earth, mother, and take a white cloth of nine fathoms, If it cannot be nine fathoms, let it be nine cubits, If it cannot be nine cubits, let it be nine palms, If it cannot be nine palms, let it be nine fingers.

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27. text of the fourteenth chant of si buah mburle Ia, rabi-rabi, da nang, bulung sukat, da nang, paria-ria lahan, da nang, kudoken bamu da lakon Ulang, da nang, igongken kono da persoh siasia, igongken ko da kinidersa kumepken geluh mi dukakmu Si Buah Mburle Ia, enggeut oda teridah adat, ia men i ngo Kasa, le nang, endorok iulaki ruangna, le nang Ia, adat jelma oda ue bagi, asa, da nang, sabar mo ko, le nang Tanda kesangapenmu dukakmu Si Buah Mburle Boi ngo kubere bage tenahmu sodipmu, bage atemu rejekimu Asal endorok ko, da nang, mema ualuh ari ko, da nang, kudoken bamu Asa kupul mo, le nang, tanoh singkupul, le nang Asa buat mo kain embentar sibah kelang Sibah kelang oda endorok, giam sibah asta Sibah asta oda endorok, giam sibah jengkal Sibah jengkal oda endorok da nang, giamken sibah jari.

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28. introduction First, the instruction given in the chant is explained. Then the narration tells how the mother Nan Tampuk Emas makes herself a husband. Finally Si Buah Mburle and his wife with his mother and uncle return to the village where they were born. Closing remarks. 28. narration of the end of the story This is because it is the custom to cut the umbilical cord [with] a thread of nine palms (jengkal) at the end, if not nine fathoms (kelang), just now. That’s all the explanation of the original content. So nowadays, it is said, a handful of earth is wrapped in a cloth that is nine fathoms long. ‘But [you should] keep this with you for seven days as you sleep, mother, don’t open it’, he said. ‘For eight days you must not open it’, he said, ‘only on the ninth day, when it is as large as yourself, [you may] take it on your lap’, he said. ‘Look at it in the mirror for a long time. If he is not the same as me, ask him to be your husband’, he said. That is what Si Buah Mburle told, they say. ‘Ah, like that, son’, she [the mother] said, ‘that’s how it’s done’. When love has vanished, there is a love-god (Debata kasih-kasih) to become loved, one may not be in the dark if not blessed. No. ‘Wash the hair (pangir)’, they say. It was not known who was bathed. Oh, it is for what is called a Debata kasih-kasih. Lemon, lime, rice-flour. Finally, they say, it was carried out. Ah, it was completed in the village square, the face was washed with lemon juice, for seven days. ‘Open it only on the ninth day, and when it has been opened, look. I follow the instruction of my child’, she [the mother] thought. She placed it on her lap and watched it carefully. It was grown-up. ‘Ah’, she thought, ‘I already have a child, a child and a daughter-in-law, nothing is lacking. But well, let me do what the child said. It is his secret. If they do not follow the words of the child, ah, people calm the heart with sukat leaves to be happy, they calm themselves with sugarcane, to take away the bitterness of giving birth to a child. When people give birth to a child there is always bitterness for them. [It was] Not like [the saying]: If not [carried by] a horse, prayers will carry the rice. But when I gave birth to a child it did not happen like that. His mother was not respected really. That is what ruined her, they say’.

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28. text of the narration of the end of the story Enda mo dah ke asa titik-titik, menggetap posong pe benang ngo sibah jengkal. I mo pengabisen. Mula mada sibah ku pe kin endaboi kelang, habis karina penggurun dari isi ma asalna. Jadi bagendari pe dah ke, ikupul mo tanoh, ibalut mo engket kain si sibah kelang. ‘Tapi en mo nange perdengan medem pitu ari, ulang bukai’, nina. ‘Ualuh ari ulang bukai’, nina. ‘Pesibah ariken asa serupa bage belgahna, bage rupamu, baru abing’, nina. ‘Tengenken melaun cermin. Mula oda dos aku, pido man suamimu’, nina. I mo dah ke idoken Si Buah Mburle. ‘Ah, bage ne ale pa’, nina. ‘En mo usaha’. Im asa lot kasih i silam. En mo Debata kase-kase menjadi kasih. Oda endorok berhitam mula oda ipasu-pasu kalak. Oda bagi, pangir i mo dah ke. Enggo pe dak siperidi bagi, oda sibetoh. Eh, im asa lot idoken per Debata kasih-kasih. Rimo mungkur (pangir) enditak. Ujungna dah ke, i mo dak ipispisken. Ah, ipispisken i kasean, iperduhap rimo mungkur en. Tang bagi, pitu ari. Pesibahken baru buka, ibuka enggo idah. Onggo ia tenah dukakku katena. Tep, iabing tengen-tengen, embelgah. ‘Ah, enggo dukak i’, katena. Im asa lot dukak i, engket lot simantui, oda kade kurang. Boh, tapi menguei kata nemu dukak i. I mo rahasiana. Mula oda menguei kata dukak en, ah, kalak menebuhken sukat peria-ria, menebuhken tebu, iembah pagitna, tubuhken dukak. Tubuhken deba dukak dak-dak pagitna bana. Otang bagi. Mula mada kuda kuda8 tanggiang melanjalanja page. Kutubuhken pe dukak oda menjadi kade. Inangna pe oda merharga kade. En mo dah ke sincedana. Ujungna dah ke, pendek mo rana. Enggo kesa pitu ari en, peualuhken ari. ‘En mo kesa berundene en puhun. Tading mo purmaenmen rebak ko. Aku balik lebe’, kata Si Buah Mburle menenahi inangna.

8

The handwritten transcription has ‘kuda kuda’, the typed transcription has ‘kuda, kuta’.

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Well, in brief, after seven days, on the eighth day Si Buah Mburle said instructing his mother: ‘Here is your brother’s daughter. Let your daughter-in law-stay with you, I am going back now’. He said that he would return to the village she had left earlier, that she had left in the past. Because his mother had left it, he wanted to go back there. ‘Ah, if you go there, I’ll come with you’, said his wife. ‘I’ll come along, I don’t want to stay behind’, said the young woman. ‘We were separated before. One basket with flowers of the kasumpat tree weakens the new rice. We are not separated because of a quarrel, we complain to God when facing difficulties’, said his wife rightly. So because he saw that she was afraid he said: ‘Come, let’s tell mother and father to come along, and also uncle and his wife’, he said. So they all went back. ‘Salam, salam, salam’, everybody was crying. They cried because they were disappearing, going back to their village, to their former village. This is the conclusion. I think it is like that. The aim is to appreciate the place where we are born, to make a picture of it, something like that, or a testimony. Ah, this is what the story is like. Actually it takes four days and four nights to tell the story [from the beginning] until the end. But because it was suddenly, I thought, ah, as they say: ‘mardang simalungun, mardang merudan-udan’, ‘to plant [in] Simalungun, to plant while it’s raining’, no matter in what form it is done, we always benefit. We are like this, ‘uman’ the meaning of this is to agree - if you wish it can be extended. Well, hopefully one day in the future, we are ready to record a gendang orchestra37, the complete set is here, if the head of the village, Mister Kabeaken, agrees with it.38 I thank you very much, for being prepared. It is not expensive to record a gendang orchestra, so we are ready. Thank you in advance, even if it takes a year, or just whenever you wish, we will do it again. I am already tired, let us now rest a bit.39 According to Manik’s dictionary (2002:126), the term ‘gendang’ may refer either to a small drum closed at both sides with goatskin, of which several types are mentioned; or to a drum orchestra that consists of two drums, 3 gongs, gerantung, cilat-cilat and sarune, used for small festivals and the reception of guests. 38 The storyteller refers to the musical instruments that were hanging on the wall of the house and had been discussed during the previous night. According to Simon (1985:135), who visited the village of Sukaramai during his musical research in North Sumatra, the Pakpak genderang ensemble is played on a set of five to nine drums and the gendang ensemble has two drums, similar to the Simalungun gonrang dagang. 39 This is a well-known formula to close off a storytelling session. 37

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Ia, nina mengulaki kutana si nitadingkinna endaboi, si nitadingkinna arnia, perberkat inangna endaboi mula mia misi. ‘Ah, mula misi ko, deket aku’, dok jabuna en. ‘Kade nola deba tading, deba deket’, dok daberuna en. ‘Bari pe sirang kita. Sada kirang bunga kasumpat merepak page rimbaru da. Sirang kita oda kerna rubat, merkelsoh kita mendahi Tuhan mengadu-ngadu da jakat’, dok daberu en tuhuna. Jadi kerna idah ke embiar mo ia mendoken en. ‘Bagi, beta tenahi kita mo inang engket bapa, bagi ma kalak puhun engket nampuhun’, nina. Jadi isi mo, mulak mo. ‘Salam, salam, salam’, karina tangis. Si tangisna terbang mo kalak en mulak mi kutana, mi kutana arnia. En dah ke kesimpulanna. Kira bagi mo kesa en. Wujudna harus sihargai bekas perketubuhta, sigana mejan. Kira bagi mo, barang pe tandana. Ah kesa bagi mo rupani sukut-sukuten. Memang, mula isukutken empat ari empat berngin asa keri. Tapi kerna en cara tiba-tiba, kuetong nang pe kita-kita en. Ah, bage kata endai mo, mardang simalungun, mardang merudan-udan, bagi deng mo pana sifatna, dak kita peruntungen. Bagi mo kita uman, artina uman uen mi mula naing deng saut siperpanjang. Ia mudah-mudahan lot ari perpodi, isi mo kita bersiap, nang mengerekam gendang-gendang nasa lot isen, asal persetujuan ketua dengan ilaksanaken tuan kampung Kebeaken. Saya mengucapkan banyak terima kasih siap sedia. Mengerekam gendang-gendang murah saja, jadi persiapenta. Terima kasih mo lebe barang pe sitahun en, barang kade deng si naing ciptankendene asa kita ulaki. Aku enggo leja, meradi lebe cituk. Jadi lias ate mo sidoken mendahi partuanta si enggo lebih dua setengah jam lako menukut-nukutken Si Buah Mburle. Sai masih ate Tuhan, asa merguna mo kade sukut-sukutenendene i, mahan pelajaran mi jelma enterem soh mi luar negeri, teristimewa mendahi kami sirimbaru embelin. Jadi bagi ma terima kasih ma kudoken kami taba mamberu pertaki Kebeaken, kebetulen engket ia mengue-ngue sukut-sukuten endai. Bagi ma kalak Si Manik membantu menguei-uei asa lebih lancar sukutsukuten en. Tambah ma bagi ma kalak Si Solin i kantor Kebudayaan nai membantu lako menguei-uei lako pelaksanaan sukut-sukuten en ipas pelaksanaan en karina kami mendoken lias ate. Bagi mo. Terima kasih.

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So, it has been a pleasure to speak to our elders for more than two and a half hours, telling the story of Si Buah Mburle. May it please God, and may the story be useful for you, to teach other people in foreign countries, and especially for us who are just rising. So I say thank you to mamberu Kebeaken, village headman, who was a pengue for the story. And also to Mister Manik who helped in being pengue, so the storytelling went more smoothly. And also to Mister Solin from the Kantor Kebudayaan [Office of Culture] who helped to be pengue and to perform the story, to all those who helped to carry it out we say ‘lias ate’. That’s it, terima kasih.

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differences between oral and written versions of stories The text of the story of Si Buah Mburle performed by Sonang Sitakar discussed in the previous chapters differs significantly from the texts of Dairi stories in the first part of this book. While some differences between the written stories and the performance text – such as the imitation of genderang music by the storyteller – might be attributed to the absence of a sound aspect from written texts, other differences are less easy to explain. Why are certain elements of the performance, such as proverbial expressions, songs, speculations on the symbolism of a song’s lyrics, or the explanation of Dairi concepts such as the inauspicious birth of twins of different gender, not found in the written texts we have discussed? Clearly, these questions cannot be explained merely by the absence from written texts of oral qualities of tone, sound, emphasis, and so on. A basic difference between the written stories and the performance text is that the stories collected by Van der Tuuk have been written in uninterrupted prose, while the performed story frequently alternates between spoken prose and sung or chanted passages. One could attribute this absence of songs or poetic verses to the absence of a sound aspect from written texts: songs are meant to be sung, and written texts are meant to be read. However, Batak scripts have a prominent sound form for their writers and readers, as Kozok (2000) pointed out in his article ‘On writing the Not-To-Be-Read’. In fact, texts written in a Batak script would be read out loud and probably be composed aloud, as is common practice in other Indonesian literary traditions. A passage from a report by Junghuhn, dated 1847 and quoted in English by Kozok (2000:48) says that: ‘when reading a written text, all Batak have the strange habit of

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pronouncing the vowels in a very long-drawn [...] and singsong manner, while appearing to be lost in deep reflection’.1 Another reason why poetic verses are absent from the stories written for Van der Tuuk could be that this was done at his request. This would explain their absence from stories written down especially for him. However, they are also lacking in the stories copied from pieces of bamboo. Yet, in his Toba Batak Grammar Van der Tuuk (1971:l) writes that: ‘The larger part [that is of Batak literature] is in prose into which, however, a great number of short verses are introduced’.2 If this remark referred to written texts, one would expect to find many of these verses in the stories he collected. Since this is not the case, Van der Tuuk probably referred to the oral tradition, which would imply that Dairi verses are composed in performance. This is indeed confirmed in Moore’s thesis on Pakpak songs. Moore (1985:43) writes that: ‘in this oral tradition, every performance of a song is likely to vary, be it a varied word or ornamental passage within the melody’. Only rarely is a poetic verse found in the stories collected by Van der Tuuk. Equally rare is the formulaic invocation to the deities that opens the story of Datu Tunggal ni Begu in MS Or 3406, which is in fact a prayer. One verse is quoted in Manik’s Dairi Pakpak-Indonesian dictionary from the end of the story of Kerbo Si Ranggir. According to the explanation in the dictionary this verse is used by a storyteller when he wants to take leave.3 The verse has the form of a quatrain and contains an empama: Embagas urat ni jering Embabo urat perira, Embagas mo ena berngin Medem mo kita kerina.

1 The German passage reads: ‘Beim Lesen der Schrift haben alle Battaer die sonderbare Gewohnheit, alle Laute sehr langgedehnt [...] singend auszusprechen, wobei sie in tiefes Nachdenken versunken scheinen. Es scheint ihnen fast unmöglich still vor sich hin und schweigend zu lesen; überhaupt geht dieses Geschäft sehr langsam vorstatten.’ (Kozok 2000:48, note 23.) 2 The original Dutch text says ‘rijmpjes’, or rhyming verses, which could refer to songs or to spoken empama. 3 Manik’s dictionary (2002: 277) says: ‘syair yang dipakai oleh orang Dairi dengan berceritera bermohon diri kepada orang banyak’.

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Deep go the roots of the jering tree Superficial are the roots of the perira tree;4 Deep is the night by now Let us all go to sleep. According to Moore (1985:38), the quatrain or four line verse is the most usual verse form in Pakpak-Dairi song texts.5 In Sonang Sitakar’s performance there are indeed a few songs that contain four line verses, but most songs are chanted in a free rhythm and do not use a regular form. Thus, lines with regular, paired phrases alternate with irregular lines in most of Sonang Sitakar’s chants. Moreover, four line stanzas may also contain phrases of irregular length and different grammatical structures, as in the verses of the lullaby. In other cases, they consist of paired phrases with parallel grammatical structures, as in the second odong-odong chant. The song with the most regular textual structure is the dance song ‘Tading ucangku’ which is entirely symmetrical, containing stanzas of paired lines of ten syllables with identical grammatical structures. Probably the reason for this is that this song is sung by a group of dancers who simultaneously perform the same movement to a steady rhythm.

empama in si buah mburle The orally composed story of Si Buah Mburle also differs from written texts in its frequent use of empama and of special idiomatic expressions that are sometimes explained to the audience by the storyteller. Empama occur both in the context of spoken passages and in songs or chants, but are not used in the tangis of Nan Tampuk Emas. A similar observation is made by Moore (1985:206), who connects this absence of empama with the dominance of the melodic structure of crying songs: ‘no consistent poetic form is used in crying songs, all examples being differently structured. Likewise, no empama or other formal poetic devices are used. The song’s poetic form is dictated instead by the melodic structure of each song’. The jering is a tree with malodorous fruits; the perira tree, Parkis specuosa, has a fruit known as petai, also malodorous but edible. 5 In her thesis, Moore (1985:38) states that ‘the most commonly used poetic form is a quatrain’. 4

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Many empama used in the performance of Si Buah Mburle have the form of a four line stanza with an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme, as for example the empama in the second odong-odong sung by Si Buah Mburle. As is often the case, the lines have parallel, paired grammatical structures and use the same cue words in the first and second pairs of lines. Moreover, the rhyming last words of the first and the third line (the word ‘daging’) in this empama are homonyms:6 mula enggo embelgah daging embelgah mahan sarihinken, mula kedek deng daging kedek mahan pikirinkin. When the body is grown up one’s thinking is also grown up, when the body is small one’s thinking is also small. However, not all empama have this form; there are empama with all four lines ending in the same vowel, so the rhyme scheme is a-a-a-a. An example of this is the empama used in the introductory chant: Rabi-rabi i babo page dukut-dukut (n)i teruh bungke, mersintabi mo kita lebe sisukutken adat si perlebe. Cut the shrubs [growing] above the riceplants And the weeds below the turkeyberry, First we ask to be forgiven For telling about the customs of old.

6 According to Vergouwen, this is on purpose. Writing about benedictions in Toba, he states that ‘whenever it is necessary that one person gives benediction to another there must be an address suitable to the occasion [...] all such addresses are strongly interlarded with a great number of standard expressions, umpama, in which the play of homonymous words increases their efficacy’ (Vergouwen 1964:96-7).

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Other, less regular empama have final words that are not rhyming, like the empama in the second odong-odong that is a variant of a more regular empama used in the first chant. And again, the lines in some empama may be of irregular length and structure.

empama in various contexts While many people consider empama to have the form of a four line verse, Vergouwen defines the word umpama as a verse of two lines. In his wellknown book on Toba Batak customary law he writes that: ‘an umpama might be called a literary device. It consists of two lines. The second line is the ‘rule’ ’line. The function of the first line is only to provide words which rhyme with those of the ‘rule’ line (Vergouwen 1964:20, note 7). Thus, many of the umpama in his book are quoted in two lines, as the umpama in the beginning of Chapter 4 (Vergouwen 1964:137): Molo metmet binanga, na metmet do dengke molo godang binanga, godang dengke. If the stream is small, then the fish will be small If the stream is big, then the fish will be big. Vergouwen also discusses the use of umpama as legal maxims. The legal purport of the above umpama is described as follows: ‘this maxim expounds on the principle that the reward of those who have actively concerned themselves in a legal affair must be proportionate to the importance of the matter at issue’ (Vergouwen 1964:137). On comparison, this Toba umpama is quite similar to the earlier mentioned Pakpak-Dairi empama from the second odong-odong of Si Buah Mburle. This is not surprising since Vergouwen has pointed out that these umpama are known and used everywhere as far as the south of Tapanuli: people apply them in the same circumstances and with the same meaning. However, when used in the context of storytelling the empama does not necessarily have legal implications. As Vergouwen (1964:137) also pointed out, many umpama express ‘more or less popular

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wisdom’ and are only ‘judicially efficacious’ when used on the ‘appropriate occasion’.7 Since the above umpama was quoted by Vergouwen in the context of a legal discussion, it is likely to have been spoken rather than sung. This may be one reason why it is thought to consist of merely two lines. When an umpama is sung, it may be considered as a four line verse on the basis of its poetic and melodic structure. Discussing the structure of song texts, Moore (1985:38) writes that the ‘self contained poetic line’ forms ‘the basic structural unit of Pakpak song texts’ and continues: ‘the end of a line may be indicated by a pause for breath, the inclusion of a vocable, or the use of a melodic cadential formula’. In the context of a song, the lines of an umpama may be lengthened by the insertion of vocables, or divided into smaller phrases to suit the song’s melodic line. While it is not certain whether the umpama discussed by Vergouwen were spoken or sung, he includes several umpama used in speeches at ritual occasions and in the blessings that are pronounced then. He quotes not only umpama consisting of two lines, but also maxims or sayings that have four or three lines, or only one line (Vergouwen 1964:65, 131, 141).

standard scenes and themes Descriptions of ritual meals occur in many Dairi stories collected by Van der Tuuk, with the standard polite formulae that are exchanged between host and guest(s) – the host making excuses for the small quantity of food, the guests answering that they had enough to eat – yet no empama are mentioned. While the absence of empama from these speeches in written stories may be remarkable, it is equally remarkable that hardly any ritual meals are described in Sonang Sitakar’s performance of Si Buah Mburle. The only festive occasion for which animals are slaughtered, the name giving ritual for the newborn twins, occurs in the beginning of the performance. The storyteller narrates that a large number of buffaloes were sacrificed and an abundance of food was presented, indicating the father’s important position, yet nothing is said about ritual specialists or 7 The entire passage reads: ‘One cannot, therefore, simply divide an umpama into those which are juridical in content and those which are not, for they are couched in such a form that it scarcely if at all allows one immediately to perceive their legal purport and it is only when they are used on the appropriate occasion that they are judicially efficacious’ (Vergouwen 1964:137).

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the speeches that must have been given during the ritual. This is remarkable in view of the many descriptions of ritual meals in written versions of stories collected by Van der Tuuk. In the story of Beru Si Pitu that was written for Van der Tuuk, a similar name giving ceremony for Aji Rangkat ni Aji’s newborn twins occurs. The story gives detailed descriptions of the ritual, including the buffalo that was sacrificed ‘to bring the babies to the river’, as the ritual is called. It mentions the ingredients of the offering at the riverside, and how the mother was treated, yet no mention is made of ritual specialists or their invocations. The story of Datu Tonggal ni Begu that was copied from bamboo describes more than one name giving ritual for a newborn child. The kind of animal that is slaughtered apparently varies: for a male child a buffalo was slaughtered, while a pig was offered for a baby girl. In one case, the text says that ritual specialists (permangmang, persinabul) were invited for the feast, but their chants or speeches are not mentioned. In the story of the wild mango child, Si Mbacang Gumale-gale, several ritual feasts are celebrated for which a buffalo is slaughtered. First, the child tells his mother to slaughter a buffalo and give a feast for his uncle (puhun), after his father has died. The story tells that many people helped her cook the meat and rice. The formal speech of Si Mbacang Gumalegale and his grandfather’s reply are both described, but neither contains empama.8 Again, the child tells his mother to prepare a buffalo when he wishes to ask for the hand of his uncle’s daughter. The hero’s speech includes a blessing for his uncle, before handing him his bride price. Neither his nor the uncle’s speech of acceptance contains an empama. For the final festive meal, when the hero has turned into a human being, a pig is sacrificed. The story of Si Buah Mburle tells about a few occasions that would usually be celebrated with a festive meal in Pakpak-Dairi society – yet, with the exception of the name giving ritual, these are not described by Sonang Sitakar. In the written story of Si Mbacang Gumale-gale the hero’s peculiar shape does not prevent him from telling his mother to prepare a ritual feast on his behalf, therefore his peculiar shape cannot be the 8 In a paragraph entitled ‘The efficacy of speech’, Vergouwen (1964:97) discusses the words spoken in speeches and blessings. He writes that speeches of village chiefs in Batak communities contain a great number of standard expressions, umpama. These are used in speeches given during ritual feasts which require the slaughtering of a sacrificial animal.

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reason why these would not be organized for Si Buah Mburle. Perhaps the plot itself gives the reason for the absence of ritual feasts in the performance of Si Buah Mburle: his mother Nan Tampuk Emas cannot organize a feast for the consecration of her new house – nor for the birth of her child, not even for his wedding – because she is rejected by her brother’s family. As is described in the stories written for Van der Tuuk, the assistance of a large group of relatives is required to organize a festive meal, both for its preparation and its performance.9 However, as an orphan who is rejected by her brother’s family, Nan Tampuk Emas does not get such cooperation. The importance of food for maintaining good relationships with one’s relatives is pointed out in Vergouwen’s book on Toba Batak social organisation. The term ‘sapanganan’, ‘those who eat the same food’, that is a group of relatives who share food at ritual occasions, forms a central concept in Toba society. Categories among these groups are indicated by the name of the animal eaten at the ceremony: ‘those who eat chicken, pig or cow together’ (sapanganan manuk, sapanganan babi, sapanganan lombu). The larger the animal that is slaughtered, the larger the group of relatives. The ‘marga’ or largest genealogical community collects around the largest sacrificial animal, the buffalo.10 The corresponding Pakpak-Dairi term, ‘simpangan(en)’ that is translated in Manik’s dictionary (2002:264) as ‘family’ (keluarga), or ‘those who eat from the same plate’, is particularly relevant in connection with marriage rituals. In Coleman’s thesis on Pakpak Batak kin groups and land tenure this term is defined as a group of agnates and their wife-takers who help finance the marriage of each others’ offspring. Coleman also points at the crucial function of marriage and the paying and receiving of a bride price for Pakpak social organization. Normally a sister and a brother will be separated after having grown up together: the brother goes to his mother’s brother (puhun) to find a bride, the sister will be asked by a son of her father’s sister (namberu) to marry him. From this point of view the harsh treatment of Nan Tampuk Emas by her brother’s family 9 The same holds true for other Batak groups such as the Mandailing, as discussed by Kartomi (1990:217) in a chapter about social structure and ensemble classification in Mandailing. 10 Vergouwen 1964:34-6. Vergouwen (1964:91-2) also specifies which type of animal is offered to which type of guest: ‘if someone from the hula-hula is to be the guest, then the meat, djuhut, of a pig, a cow or a buffalo must be given as an accompaniment, lompan, to the rice [...]. If, however, someone from the boru is to be the guest, then fish, dengke, must accompany the rice [...] if one has no fish then one can make do with the indeterminate chicken’.

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is understandable – although it is still his duty to give one of his daughters to her son. As Coleman (1983:365-6) states: ‘paying and receiving bride price works as a social process to redefine descent’. By following her brother, Nan Tampuk Emas acts against an established custom: she should instead follow a husband who comes from her father’s side of the family. The separation of the bride from her relatives is the cause of sadness expressed in bridal crying songs – normally, the ‘tangis’ of Nan Tampuk Emas would be sung for that reason, as is suggested by the storyteller’s remark that many young people sing this lament. The tragic situation of Nan Tampuk Emas is that her entire family is wiped out, so she has no one but her brother to turn to. After vividly describing her deplorable situation, the storyteller narrates how her predicament comes to an end: Nan Tampuk Emas manages to find her son a suitable bride, who is prepared to accept a wedding of the cheapest kind, without a proper bride price being paid for her. As a single mother Nan Tampuk Emas has neither the means nor the relatives who could help her collect this. Yet in the end all her problems are solved, she is accepted by her brother’s family, her son marries one of his daughters, and her own unmarried state is ended by means of a magically created husband. The misery and poverty caused by bad treatment of one’s fellow men is a recurrent theme in written stories collected by Van der Tuuk. In two of the stories published in the first part of this book, Si Bilalong and Si Mbuyak-buyak, the main character’s misery is brought about by unjust actions of relatives and fellow villagers. Both stories tell about a widow and her child(ren) who are reduced to poverty after the death of the husband, who belonged to the ruling marga. These as well as many other stories about a chief or (h)aji, and his male descendant(s), anak ni (h)aji, tell about the difficult situation in which the main character finds him or herself. Following an introduction that exposes the problem, the story then describes how it is resolved through the clever actions of the main character. It is clear that these sukut-sukuten deal with the problems of daily life and that telling them is meant as instruction, as was pointed out by the storyteller Sonang Sitakar.11 In this regard the ‘anak ni aji’ stories differ 11 This important function of storytelling is mentioned in James Danandjaja’s introduction (1980:22) to ‘verbal folklore’ in Indonesia: ‘folklore has a function to the life of the folk, such as aiding in the education of the young, promoting a group’s feeling of solidarity’.

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from the story of Datu Tunggal ni Begu that tells about the origin of a female spirit who is worshipped in the context of a ritual performed in order to protect the community. Just as the form and content of the story of Datu Tunggal ni Begu are influenced by its ritual context, so the form and content of a sukut-sukuten depend upon the context in which, and those to whom they are told. Emphasizing the miseries of an unmarried mother may have been an aspect of the story that was felt to be relevant to us and others in Sonang Sitakar’s audience in 1979. The description of ritual meals, on the other hand, may have been considered superfluous, after decades of Christian missionary as well as modern Indonesian discouragement of such so-called pagan activities.12

oral and written texts in dairi and related languages While little is known about the situation of storytelling in Dairi before the nineteenth century, it is clear that versions of stories written on pieces of bamboo existed prior to Van der Tuuk’s arrival. The Dairi texts collected by Van der Tuuk as well as remarks in his letters show that these versions contained an outline of the story in prose without empama or songs. Apparently they served as mnemonic aids for storytellers and/or ritual specialists who in telling the story would adapt it to a particular context, ritual or otherwise. This dependence of storytelling on a performance context may be the reason why any foreign themes in the stories are always adapted to suit a local Dairi environment, as also occurred in other Sumatran oral literary traditions (Brakel 1976:3). It may also explain why various Batak peoples, although literate, did not develop a written literature – the performance contexts did not require the use of written texts. The contents of these stories reflect13 the lives of people in small ‘kuta’ communities making a living from forest products such as camphor and incense, as well as from dry rice cultivation. While there is a close 12 On missionary activities Vergouwen (1964:102) writes: ‘The Mission has always been quick to diagnose that which is demonstrably coloured with animism and directly connected with the veneration of the spirits of ancestors [...] and has immediately opposed them’. 13 As Finnegan (1979:265) points out, ‘though the social norms of any established ‘community’ may be reflected in a complex way in their literature, it is likely to be in an indirect and subtle fashion. Literature as such does not provide any crude basis for neatly deducing a society’s group norms and ideals.’

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link with the nature surrounding these villages, the social organization, especially the custom of finding brides outside one’s own community and the paying of a bride price, necessitates contacts with other communities for obtaining imported products like salt, gold, cloth, and money. Thus, trade contacts with other areas, including coastal districts, is reflected in stories mentioning travel by boat to markets and towns as far away as Aceh. That trade also led to cultural contacts is reflected in some stories with ‘foreign’ themes that may be found in written form in other languages, such as the Malay Hikayat Bayan Budiman (Voorhoeve1927:2, 94) and in the use of an Indian-derived script.14 Although Batak scripts were apparently more widely known than has been assumed before (Kozok 2000), they were primarily used for private matters, and not for administrative or legal matters – the application of umpama as unwritten laws was apparently sufficient to solve social problems (Vergouwen 1964). Neither were written texts that were dealing with rituals read out in public. Thus, the telling of stories served the purpose of reminding the audience of its social customs, laws, and regulations that were not put into writing. Telling stories that incorporated them was a way to make these rules accessible to and accepted by the listening communities, as was emphasized by Sonang Sitakar in the story he told us and his Pakpak-Dairi audience. Certain characteristics of Pakpak-Dairi storytelling, such as its frequent alternation of chanted or sung passages with narration – as distinct from an entirely sung, or chanted, performance style – apparently developed in the relative isolation of these villages. In other Sumatran storytelling traditions this alternation is not common practice. In his study of Minangkabau ‘sijobang’ narrative poetry, Nigel Phillips writes that storytellers only occasionally alternate ‘reciting’ (curitokan) with singing (lagukan), either at the request of the audience, or when a storyteller needs to rest his voice. The normal way of storytelling is that, after some introductory pantun, the singer changes to a tune with a steady rhythm, ‘tapping out the rhythm on the floor-mat with a half-full box of matches as he sings’ (Phillips 1981:9). According to Rodgers (2005:34), Angkola turi-turian are also completely chanted, as she writes that: ‘the entire tale 14 In his article on Trans-Sumatra trade, Leonard Andaya (2002:393) discusses Indian influences on Batak culture and points out that ‘Indian magico-religious ideas were eagerly sought by the Batak in order to strengthen their belief systems in the ongoing struggle to improve their spiritual and material well-being’.

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was presented in a low-toned, droned chant’. During the performance, Angkola and Minangkabau storytellers are sitting with one hand cupped to the ear, which is what Sonang Sitakar, the Pakpak-Dairi storyteller, would only do while he was chanting – during spoken passages he would look at the audience. Quite often, perceived similarities with literary traditions in neighbouring districts are only superficial: the similarity between Dairi empama and Malay pantun does not mean that these are ‘the same’. One important difference is the legal function of Batak umpama, which Malay pantun do not seem to have.15 According to Phillips (1981:122), the great majority of pantun in sijobang performances have the form of quatrains.16 Also, they mark specific points in the performance: ‘as introductory verses [...] before the story, to mark the beginning, resumption or end of a stint of singing, or as part of the dialogue or narrative’ (Phillips 1981:118). Some empama in Sonang Sitakar’s performance were indeed four line verses, but he also used several empama with a different form. Thus, the empama used in Pakpak-Dairi sukut-sukuten seem to have greater flexibility than the pantun used in Minangkabau sijobang: the forms of empama used by Sonang Sitakar would often vary, they could be partly repeated or used to construct new phrases of a chant - and, with the exception of the laments, empama occurred throughout the performance, both in its spoken and sung passages. The difference between written and oral versions of stories in Dairi does not have a parallel in all Sumatran literary traditions, as is evident from Snouck Hurgronje’s introductory remark on Acehnese literature: ‘the hard and fast distinction between what is and what is not preserved by means of letters cannot be consistently applied to the productions of Achehnese writers whether past or present’.17 As an example, Snouck Hurgronje (1906:66) mentions a heroic poem (orally) composed in the style of written Acehnese epics by an illiterate person. Another genre that is not considered to have this difference is the Minangkabau kaba, a ballad in verse with many pantun, which may be chanted with musi15 In the past, Malay pantun may have been used in a similar way, as explained by Hooykaas (1947:15) in the chapter entitled ‘Spreekwoord en rechtsspreuk’ (Proverb and legal maxim) of his book on Malay literature. 16 Phillips (1981:123) also writes that pantun are ‘variable in form and adaptable to different uses’. 17 The passage (Snouck Hurgronje 1894:67) reads in Dutch: ‘Opzettelijk zeg ik gesteld en niet geschreven, daar de onderscheiding van hetgeen al of niet door letter is verduurzaamd, vooralsnog op de voortbrengselen van Atjehse auteurs niet consequent toegepast kan worden’.

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cal accompaniment, and be read from a manuscript (Brakel1976:26). Discussing this point in his study of orality and literacy in the Malay world, Sweeney (1987:113) maintains that: ‘the Minangkabau case reveals a similar lack of differentiation between oral and written materials in much of the traditional narrative. Thus, literary versions of the kaba differ little in form from the oral versions, and both are included in the genre kaba’. In this passage, Sweeney refers to Voorhoeve’s article (1940:133) on the literature of South Sumatra, which states that the Lampung tetimbai and the Middle Malay andai-andai have ‘approximately the same form as that of the Minangkabau kaba: rhymeless lines of mostly 9 to 10 syllables, with a strong rhythm, and frequent use of parallelism in its expressions’. According to Voorhoeve, some Lampung tetimbai exist in written form in manuscripts on paper, but the Middle Malay andai-andai only seem to be transmitted orally. Another Middle Malay genre named juarian, which is similar in form to the andai-andai, is said to be transmitted both orally and in written form.18 In fact, unless an orally composed text has been noted down from the mouth of the performer, written and oral versions of stories usually show considerable differences in form and content. These differences are essential, unlike the inevitable variation found in oral performances of a story, as Sweeney discussed in several publications. On the ‘Britishsponsored but Malay-executed’ process of producing written versions of Malay folk tales, Sweeney (1987:117) wrote that it ‘involved preserving the form only of the oft-repeated runs of clustered formulas and turning the rest into prose’. The inclusion of elements from an oral tradition into a written text had already occurred in an earlier Malay work, the Salasilah or Chronicle from Kutai, which was composed before the first contact with colonial forces (Mees 1935:15). As Kern (1956:16) pointed out, this chronicle contains ‘short rhythmical passages, which sometimes alternate with prose, in stereotype descriptions’. These passages, referred to as ‘taki’ by Kutai people, differ from the prose text in their use of parallel expressions; they also contain archaic and foreign words, making them 18 Sweeney (1987:113) writes: ‘Similarly, the Middle Malay juarian (question and answer between man and woman), similar in form to the andai-andai, are transmitted both orally and in written form (Voorhoeve 1940:134ff)’ and, ‘Voorhoeve was clearly following local custom, and from his description there did not appear to be a noteworthy difference of form and style between written and stylized oral materials’.

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difficult to understand. Local ritual specialists make use of taki as a ceremonial ‘priest language’. Kern (1956:18) writes that local stories (pekenan) consist entirely of taki strophes of two parallel lines consisting of four, or three words, with a total of eight to ten (sometimes more) syllables, which express the same thing twice. While Kern (1956:21) preferred the taki’s ‘pithy, rhythmical way of expression’ to the ‘slack and clumsy hikayatstyle’, Sweeney (1987:118) saw the occurrence of taki in the Silsilah Kutai as a ‘transition from an oral to a written style’. Rodgers (2005:64) discussed ‘the continued penetration of oral styles in Malay print literature’ in her translation of the printed version of an Angkola turi-turin text, published in 1941. This written text also includes features from the chanted oral tradition: after the opening tonggo followed by some pantun, the prose text is interspersed with poetic verses which the author probably intended to be sung – just as the prose text may have been intended to be read out loud.19 Rodgers (2005:64) characterized the transition from orality to print in terms of social change: ‘with the move into print, a more socially amorphous readership probably began to replace the speaker-plus-circle-of-hearers format found in strongly oral cultures’. Containing many elements of oral performance, the form of the printed text she translated indicates that this shift is gradual. Remarkably, Sonang Sitakar’s performance of the sukut-sukuten Si Buah Mburle, which took place 37 years later, has several features in common with the turi-turin text translated by Rodgers. Following a chanted opening with empama, the performer continued narrating in prose which he frequently alternated with chanted or sung poetic verses. Although the content and context of the Pakpak performance may have differed from that of the written turi-turin text, the structure of the text was strikingly similar. A special characteristic of Pakpak-Dairi storytelling are the pengue, who not only encourage the storyteller, but also sing refrains for his odongodong. In order to perform this role, they must know the story and how it is told. In fact this form of Pakpak-Dairi storytelling somewhat resembles the singing of epic songs by a group of men on the nearby island of Nias, performed by a leader and several refrain singers. Several texts of these epic songs have been published and discussed by W.L. Steinhart, In Rodgers’ translation (2005:118) of the opening tonggo, the author says: ‘Now, as a reminder to those who read this turi-turian, when you encounter the marks ..... please draw out your voice’.

19

340

9 Final remarks |

J. Kunst and more recently by J.M. Hämmerle. They are composed in performance and consist of strictly paired phrases.20A reflection of this oral form may be found in the parallel structures of empama and song texts, especially the dance song, in Sonang Sitakar’s performance. While in Nias the script was not known before contact with Europeans from the mid-nineteenth century onwards (Hämmerle 2008:3), in Dairi a local script derived from an Indian script was used long before the arrival of Europeans. At least part of the population in these small Dairi villages was literate and must have been in contact with other groups in Sumatra for centuries. Although the knowledge of a script did not lead to the development of large numbers of written literary works, it apparently influenced the way in which stories were performed, resulting in the alternation of spoken and sung passages, and in more loosely structured chants with less strictly parallel structures.21 Also, the possibility of preserving texts in writing on pieces of bamboo and of bringing these to or from different locations may well have led to the introduction of themes from other cultures.22

conclusion In conclusion, the analysis of written and oral versions of Dairi stories enables us to see why the Batak peoples in North Sumatra did not develop a substantial written literature before coming into contact with western civilization: living in small villages surrounded by jungle, their social organization did not necessitate it. In other cultures of the Indonesian archipelago, oral and written literary expressions have existed side by side for a long time, as I have discussed in earlier publications (Brakel 20 Steinhart 1954; Kunst 1939. Kunst (1939:11) described the performance of epic and dance songs: ‘they are sung by the ére hohò – the village bard –, who is really the precentor (sondroro), who directs the performance. He recites the text, partly in the traditional way, but occasionally introducing improvisations of his own, which, however, also follow a well known pattern. Every now and then he is supported by two or four solohi (P.T.) or sonoyohi (S.N.), who then repeat one or more of the last words of the ére hohò, or sing them with him. On these occasions the songs are often sung for a spell in two parts. The audience, who are not listening but also dancing, join in at the end of every strophe with the cry: Hu haé, hee hay, Hee hidsja ho, Ha-é-ya, or something like it.’ 21 A clear example of strict parallelism in East Indonesian oral literature is given in J.J. Fox’s publication (1971) on semantic parallelism in Rotinese ritual language. 22 Finnegan (1979:23) points out a similar situation in Malaysia: ‘Illiterate populations in Malaysia have through the literate few had contact with the written literatures of Hinduism and Islam, and the influence of the high cultures of India and China has long pervaded huge areas of Asia’.

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| Dairi stories and Pakpak storytelling

2000, 2004). Before coming into contact with European culture, Dairi storytelling benefitted from the knowledge of writing by using the script to produce brief versions of stories written down on pieces of bamboo. Therefore, Pakpak-Dairi oral traditions are not necessarily threatened by contact with written literature. What is decisive for the continuity of oral literary expressions is to have a performance context, as these literary genres depend on this. By formulating specific cultural ideas and practices, oral traditions maintain a cultural identity for the participants and by recalling past events they represent and in a sense portray the people’s collective memory. Without a social context, storytelling ceases to exist. As these contexts are not restricted to rituals or ceremonies but may be informal, they can be re-created, if necessary with the support of written documents. The ancient storytelling tradition of the Pakpak-Dairi people certainly deserves this, not simply because of its presently endangered condition, but also because of its vital role in maintaining the cohesion of PakpakDairi society.

342

Glossary

aji, haji

name of the main character in many Dairi stories; term referring to a ruler, similar to raja anak ni aji son of a ruler, also refers to the main character of a story bagas house; embagas, inside; si ni bagas, wife, woman bale pavilion-type of meeting hall where people have feasts and young bachelors may sleep bapa father, or father’s brother; (ale) bapa , used by a father to address his son, who answers: ‘ale pa’ bayo person who is not related, guest or stranger; the wife of an in-law family member; anak bayo, people who do not belong to the clan of the raja; perbayon, marriage, wedding begu spirit; state a human being passes into after death beru daughter; the daughter of a brother; group of villagers whose leader does not belong to the land-owning clan (Manik 2002:47); wife-takers; family of the groom’s father; givers of cloth and cash in affinal exchanges (Coleman 1983:381); may be used in names of female human beings or spirits beru seniang naga (lae) female deity of the water, living in sources, rivers, lakes and the sea, who may take the soul of a pregnant woman datu shaman, healer eda form of address to a woman, especially to someone who is related through marriage ende(-ende) Pakpak-Dairi song gendang drum closed off with leather at both sides, played in combination with three gongs (ogung) and a small gong (pongpong) (Ypes 1932:87); a gendang orchestra may also

| Glossary

genderang

(nang)guru jampalen juma kerangen kesean kula-kula kuta lae mangmang

marga

(e)mas nakan

nang

oles pangulubalang

include metal gerantung and cilat, a shawn and a small drum (Manik 2002:126) drum, closed off with a piece of leather on one side and with wood on the other side, played in a set of five to nine; orchestra with drums, gongs and other instruments (Simon 1985:116) shaman, teacher, healer walled meadow, village cattle pen swidden dry field on which rice is cultivated, sometimes mixed with maize or yam extensive wild jungle, far from the village village yard in-law relatives of a man, group of relatives of his wife village as a political unit water, river, sea chanted prayer or mantra; permangmang, ritual practitioner, traditionally a crop magic specialist (Coleman 1983:383) descent group with a specific name, translated as ‘clan’; a woman keeps the name of her marga when she marries, a child receives the name of the father’s marga (Ypes 1932:3) gold; traditional component of the brideprice cooked rice; a dish consisting of cooked rice and chicken offered for ritual purposes; nakan tendi, a dish offered for a person’s wellbeing (Manik 2002:372) term of address to a mother by her child; (ale) inang, mother, term of address used by the parents to their daughter woven cotton cloth, garment; traditional component of the brideprice spirit of a boy murdered for magic purposes, which may be implored to grant children, and is invoked during the dance at the annual renewal-celebration (Ypes 1932:27, 88); magical guardian stone in a village (Manik 2002:275)

344

Glossary | persinabul

pertaki puang

pustaha raja sembahen

silih sireh, sirih

sumangan tendi tonggo(-tonggo) turang umpama, (e)mpama

spokesman, person helping at ritual feasts (Manik 2002:313); second man in the village council (Ypes 1932: 99) village chief wife-givers; family of the bride’s father; givers of plaited goods, hulled rice and chickens in affinal exchanges (Coleman 1983:383) (Toba) tree-bark book folded like an accordion, with writing in Batak characters chief, leader; term to address people who belong to the leading clan, which may also be part of a name revered ancestral spirits, considered as leaders of the spirit world; they inhabit tall trees or dark places and may have the form of a snake (Manik 2002:328) term to address a brother-in-law general name for a type of pepper plant (Piper Betle); the betel leaf is used as a quid in combination with areca nut, gambier, and lime; also used as an offering to the spirits lower class of (ancestral) spirits soul of a human being or of other living beings, including the soil of an area (Ypes 1932:86) poetically arranged traditional prayer brother, or sister set expressions of more or less popular wisdom, that may be considered a legal maxim, and be used to give authority to principles by which the life of the community must be guided (Vergouwen 1964:137).

345

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| Bibliography Or 12.475 (IV) Guru Tonggal Begu (Pemere Beru Si Pitu) Si Mbacang Gumale-gale Or 3429 Toba pustaha on the buffalo sacrifice. Or 3554 Pustaha from Dairi with instruction in Toba on offerings to spirits and magic against enemies. Or 3521 Mixed Toba and Dairi pustaha with instruction on various ritual matters. Or 3576, 154 e Pressing letter from Sijoda to the pengulu of lau juur.

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Overzicht van de volksverhalen der Bataks. PhD thesis, Leiden University. Critical survey of studies on the languages of Sumatra. ’s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff. [KITLV, Bibliographical Series 1.] ‘Batakse buffelwichelarij’, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 114:238-48. ‘A note on a Batak manuscript recently acquired by the Brynmore Jones Library, University of Hull’, Berita Kajian Sumatra – Sumatra Research Bulletin 2-1:59-64. Codices Batacici. Leiden: Universitaire Pers. [Bibliotheca Universitatis Leidensis, Codices Manuscripti 19.] Volksverhalen uit Oost-Indië: (Sprookjes en fabels). Met illustraties van G.J. van Overbeek. Vol. 2. Zutphen: Thieme.

Warneck, Joh. 1977 Toba-Batak-Deutsches Wörterbuch. Neu herausgegeben von R. Roolvink. Mit einem Register Deutsch-Batak von K.A. Adelaar. Den Haag: Nijhoff. [KITLV.] Winkler, Johannes 1925 Die Toba-Batak auf Sumatra in gesunden und kranken Tagen: Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des animistischen Heidentums. Stuttgart: Belser. Winstedt, Richard 1969 A history of classical Malay literature. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press [Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints.] [Reprint of the second edition 1961; first edition 1939.] Ypes, W.K.H. 1932 Bijdrage tot de kennis van de stamverwantschap, de inheemsche rechtsgemeenschappen en het grondrecht der Toba- en Dairi-Bataks. Leiden: Adatrechtstichting.

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Appendix

Kinship terms: the basic pattern (Coleman 1983:396)

Index Aceh, Acehnese 49, 61, 122, 124-6, 337-8 andung 22-3, 43-4, 52-4, 99, 223, 225, 289 Angerler, Johann 22 Batak characters 5, 38, 43-4, 54-5, 57-8, 345 Batak style 55-8, 63, 66 Bataksch leesboek 38, 44, 57 Batara Guru 47, 70, 201-3, 244-5, 254, 274-5 Bayan, (Si Raja) 34, 337 bible 22, 37, 43, 48, 52, 55-7 bilang-bilang 23, 27, 42, 53 Boang 9, 202, 206-7, 276-7 Brakel, Lode F. 9-11, 21, 236 Brakel (-Papenhuyzen), Clara 10-1, 17, 73, 218, 269, 235, 269, 297 brideprice 70-3, 75-8, 86, 122, 124, 140, 142, 144, 166, 180, 238, 284, 334, 344 cerita rakyat 35 childlessness 78, 82 Christianity 27, 49 Codices Batacici 38-9, 43, 51 Coleman, R.G. 9, 16, 24-5, 89-90, 238, 254, 264, 266, 284, 302, 334-5 conception by eating a fruit 82, 199 crying song 26-8, 216-7, 329, 335 customs 34, 54, 57, 66, 200, 233, 264, 266, 306, 330, 337

Dairi Pakpak (-Indonesian, -Dutch) dictionary 12-5, 26, 28, 30, 58, 72, 92, 200, 228, 248, 258, 274, 280, 288, 300, 306, 324, 328, 334 dance song 7, 25, 32, 33, 223, 226, 228-9, 262-5, 329, 341 divination 21-2, 37, 39-42, 51-2, 60, 104, 106 direct speech 14, 64, 83-4, 212, 234 folkstories (-tales) (see also: cerita rakyat) 13, 34, 35, 43, 51, 55, 61, 66, 82, 85, 339 genderang 27, 201, 204, 300, 302, 324, 327, 344 Ginting, Juara 17, 31 Goes, B. van der 17, 29 Gonda, J. 60, 71 Groeneboer, Kees 16, 53 Guru Saniang Naga 53, 83 Guru Tinandangan (Nai Pospos) 56 Guru Tinuturen 83 Haji 45, 48, 58, 60-1, 63, 97, 100-3, 112-3, 201-3, 212, 227-8, 236-41, 343 hikayat 60, 337, 340 Hindu(ism) 71, 216, 341 Indonesian 9, 12, 14-5, 22, 25, 28, 30, 34-5, 55, 60-1, 71, 92, 200, 208, 211, 213, 236, 310, 327-8, 336, 341

| Index invocation 22, 24, 32, 35, 53-4, 58, 61, 63, 69-70, 128, 230, 244, 328, 333 Islam 27, 49, 57, 71, 341

Meerwaldt, J.H. 66, 353 mersintabin 34, 211, 233 Minangkabau 337-9 motive 6, 74-6, 78-9, 82-3, 207

Karo 9, 22-4, 27, 29, 31, 37, 42, 53, 60 Kelasen 9, 11, 49 kerangen 105, 117, 121, 155, 157, 165, 344 kesean 81, 143, 151, 162-3, 165, 169, 190, 193, 249, 279, 344 kinship terms 8, 254 KITLV archive 12, 14, 16 Kozok, Uli 13, 16, 21, 27, 37-9, 42, 49, 53, 66, 327-8, 337 kula-kula 96, 99, 112-3, 144-5, 202, 223, 239, 241, 298-9, 344 kuning-kuningen 31

nakan tendi 174, 176-7, 179, 344 (beru) Namora 72, 160-1 narrative structure 6, 69, 74, 76

Latin script/characters 5, 14-5, 38, 43, 54, 57-8 literary traditions 5, 9, 13, 15, 21, 327, 336, 338, 342 literary genre(s) 5, 9, 23-5, 33, 44, 53, 342 love poems 23, 42 lullabies 25, 30, 223, 225-6, 286 magic ring 82, 204, 205, 298 Malay literature 16, 338, 340 (per)mangmang 28-9, 61, 88, 90, 121-2, 128-9, 172, 175, 177, 333, 344 Manuk-manuk saip ladang 85 marga 52, 61, 63, 113, 176, 266-7, 334-5, 344 medicine (see also: tamba-tuah) 49, 52, 71, 79, 138, 290

origin story(ies) 21, 31, 48-9, 52, 69, 71, 336 paired phrases 221-2, 329, 341 Pakpak-Dairi identity 34, 342 Pakpak music 11, 16, 27, 34, 172, 201, 300, 324 pantun 23, 30, 54, 337-8, 340 pelanduk 34, 45, 60, 99 pengulubalang 69, 70, 72, 135-6, 158, 161 Phillips, Nigel 337-8 pedah 29, 60-1, 111, 129 poda 22, 41, 52-3, 58, 317 poetic formulae 6, 25, 27-8, 30, 2147, 222, 225 print (ed text) 12-3, 35-6, 44, 56, 579, 97, 215, 340 proverb(ial expression) 6, 23, 25, 30, 35, 44, 219-20, 230, 254, 327, 338 pustaha 21-2, 38-43, 49, 52, 54-5 riddle(s) 22, 24, 31-2, 42-4, 58, 231 ritual specialist 28-9, 88, 90, 120, 128, 332-3, 336, 340, 344 Rodgers, Susan 16, 27-8, 32, 35-6, 49, 208, 337, 340

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Index | sembahen 90, 114-5, 121-2, 345 shaman 21, 31, 51-2, 59, 63-4, 71, 73, 79, 82-3, 85, 90, 96, 98, 108, 138, 190, 220, 343-4 Siahaan, N. 22-4, 44, 300 Si Deang Matuan 71-3, 148, 150-7, 159, 162-3, 165, 170, 173, 176-7, 179 Sidikalang 9, 11, 200, 233 Simalungun 22, 24, 37, 293, 324-5 Simon, Artur 201, 300, 324 Si Robar 58, 200 Si Sori Ntagan 34-6, 92 standard scenes 7, 87-8, 93, 332 storyline 6, 69, 71, 93 Sukarame (-ai) 9, 11, 200, 324 Sweeney, Amin 16, 33, 36, 49, 209, 339-40

Tindi Radja Manik 12-5, 228, 234 Toba dominance 5, 13, 22 Tobing, Ph.O. Lumban 69 tonggo(-tonggo) 6, 23-4, 28-9, 44, 49, 54, 58, 61, 230, 340, 345 torhan-torhanan (torka-torkan) 22, 24, 31, 44 tree-bark 21, 38-9, 43, 52, 54, 66, 93, 120, 345 trickster (story) 54, 59-60, 244 Tumangger, Oloan 26, 30-2, 35 turi-turin 24, 32, 44, 137, 208, 337, 340 twins 71-2, 91, 201, 234, 236, 327, 332-3

tabas 24, 28-9, 33, 42, 44, 54, 58, 61, 176, 179 tamba-tuah 79, 138-41 tangis see crying song tarombo 22, 52 tendi 28, 72, 81, 114-5, 156, 158-9, 163, 165, 172, 174-7, 179, 191, 221, 251, 271, 285, 344-5

Vergouwen, J.C. 23, 66, 330-4, 336 vocables 6, 27-8, 214-7, 222, 224-5, 234, 332 Vries, J. de 35, 55, 61 Winkler, J. 39, 51 Ypes, W.K.H. 22, 28

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