Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay PeninsulaSkeat, Walter William
Religion
Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula
Skeat, Walter William
Magic -- Malay Peninsula; Malays (Asian people) -- Folklore; Malays (Asian people) -- Social life and customs
"Diam 'kau, Tuah,
K'ris aku ada,"
or,
"Hold thy peace, Tuah,
My k'ris (dagger) is with me."
The story runs that once upon a time there was a man who had a slave
called Tuah, who answered him back, and with whom he accordingly
found fault, using the words given above. In the transport of his
rage he was turned into a bird.
The bird called Kuau in Perak (kuau is the name given in Malacca and
Selangor to the argus pheasant, which in Perak is called kuang) is
about the size of the mynah (gambala kerbau), and is said to have been
metamorphosed from a woman, the reason of whose transformation is not
known. It is said to be unknown on the right bank of the Perak River.
The "'Kap-kap' bird" is the name of a night-bird of evil omen, whose
note heard at night prognosticates death.
The Tearer of the shroud (Burong charik kapan) is also a night-bird,
with a slow, deliberate note which the Malays declare sounds exactly
like the tearing of cloth. [241] This signifies the tearing of
the shroud, and unerringly forebodes death. Yet another night-bird
ominous of approaching dissolution is the Tumbok larong. This bird,
like the two preceding, is probably a variety of owl; the first and
third are only found inland at a distance from the sea.
'Toh katampi ("Old-man-winnow-the-rice-for-the-burial-feast,"
as Sir Frank Swettenham calls him, [242]) is a species of horned
owl, which derives its name from a word meaning to winnow (tampi,
menampi). Malays say that this bird has a habit of treading upon the
extremities of its own wings, and fluttering the upper part while thus
holding them down. This singular habit produces a sound resembling
that of winnowing.
The 'Toh katampi is larger than the Jampuk, another species of owl,
which is popularly supposed to enter the fowl-house and there live
on the intestines of fowls, which it extracts during life by means
of a certain charm (`elmu pelali, a charm similar to those used by
the Malays for filing teeth, etc.) which it uses in order to perform
the operation painlessly.
The "Luck-bird" (Burong untong) is a very small white bird about
the size of a canary. It builds a very small white nest, which if
found and placed in a rice-bin possesses the valuable property of
securing a good harvest to its owner. As, however, the nest is built
on branches in places difficult of access it is but rarely found,
and Malays will give $10 for a genuine specimen, while sellers are
known to ask as much as $25.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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