Tûhan Dibâwah (the Lord below) made the earth, and lives beneath it; it is supported by an iron staff sustained by crossbars. Beneath these again is Tânah[1] Nyâyek (land of Nyâyek), which is inhabited by a sort of "sêtan,"[2] who have children, not born in the ordinary way, but pulled out of the pit of the stomach.
They were visited by M'ĕrtang, the first "pôyang"[3] who brought back this account of them.
Tûhan Dibâwah dwells beneath Tânah Nyâyek, and by his power supports all above him.
The earth was first peopled through M'ĕrtang, the first Pôyang, and Bĕlo his younger brother.
Their mother was Tânah Sak'ĕpal (a handful of earth) and their father Âyĕr Satîtik (a drop of water).
They came from Tânah B'angun[4] in the sky, and returned to it, taking with them a house from Húlu Kĕnaboi,[5] on the other side of J'ĕlĕbu,[6] which flows into the Paháng.[7]
B'ĕlo died, and when he was buried a mĕngkârong[8] came towards the grave, and M'ĕtang threw his pârang[9] at it, and cut off his tail, and the "měngkârong" ran away tail-less, and Bĕlo thereupon came to life again, left his grave, and returned to his house.
- ↑ "Tânah," both earth, soil, and land, country.
- ↑ Ar.: sheitân, evil genii. Can this account be attributed to a corrupt version of the Indian mythical Nâgas in Pâtâla (the infernal regions) which were visited by Nârada (one of the Rishis, and also a Prajâpati), who might be represented by Mĕrtang in the next paragraph, but the latter's account of what he saw is less flattering?
- ↑ Generally this word, like "pâwang," may be regarded as the equivalent of "medicine man." It also, like "môyang," which is doubtless connected with it, is used in the sense of "ancestors."
- ↑ Lit. the rising land. "Bento 'mbangun," or rising arch, is an expression for the rainbow; whether the expression in the text is a condensed form of this must remain a matter of conjecture.
- ↑ One of the aboriginal tribes takes its name from this stream. (See map.)
- ↑ Said to mean "the swimming vapour that floats athwart the glen, puts forth an arm and loiters slowly drawn."
- ↑ The largest river in the peninsula, flowing (through probably the largest state) into the China Sea.
- ↑ A small variety of lizard, also called "bĕngkârong."
- ↑ Woodman's knife. A slight anachronism.
