The original Langsuir (whose embodiment is supposed to be a kind of night-owl) is described as being a woman of dazzling beauty, who died from the shock of hearing that her child was stillborn, and had taken the shape of the Pontianak. [544] On hearing this terrible news, she "clapped her hands," and without further warning "flew whinnying away to a tree, upon which she perched." She may be known by her robe of green, by her tapering nails of extraordinary length (a mark of beauty), and by the long jet black tresses which she allows to fall down to her ankles--only, alas! (for the truth must be told) in order to conceal the hole in the back of her neck through which she sucks the blood of children! These vampire-like proclivities of hers may, however, be successfully combated if the right means are adopted, for if you are able to catch her, cut short her nails and luxuriant tresses, and stuff them into the hole in her neck, she will become tame and indistinguishable from an ordinary woman, remaining so for years. Cases have been known, indeed, in which she has become a wife and a mother, until she was allowed to dance at a village merry-making, when she at once reverted to her ghostly form, and flew off into the dark and gloomy forest from whence she came. In their wild state, a Malay once informed me, these woman-vampires are exceedingly fond of fish, and once and again may be seen "sitting in crowds on the fishing-stakes at the river mouth awaiting an opportunity to steal the fish." However that may be, it seems curiously in keeping with the following charm for "laying" a Langsuir:-- "O ye mosquito-fry at the river's mouth When yet a great way off, ye are sharp of eye, When near, ye are hard of heart. When the rock in the ground opens of itself Then (and then only) be emboldened the hearts of my foes and opponents! When the corpse in the ground opens of itself Then (and then only) be emboldened the hearts of my foes and opponents! May your heart be softened when you behold me, By grace of this prayer that I use, called Silam Bayu." The "mosquito-fry at the river's mouth" in the first line is no doubt intended as an allusion to the Langsuir who frequent the fishing-stakes. The Pontianak (or Mati-anak), as has already been said, is the stillborn child of the Langsuir, and its embodiment is like that of its mother, a kind of night-owl. [545] Curiously enough, it appears to be the only one of these spirits which rises to the dignity of being addressed as a "Jin" or "Genie," as appears from the charms which are used for laying it. Thus we find in a common charm:-- "O Pontianak the Stillborn, May you be struck dead by the soil from the grave-mound. Thus (we) cut the bamboo-joints, the long and the short, To cook therein the liver of the Jin (Demon) Pontianak. By the grace of 'There is no god but God,'" etc.