Malayan Literature: Comprising Romantic Tales, Epic Poetry and Royal Chronicles
General
Malayan Literature: Comprising Romantic Tales, Epic Poetry and Royal Chronicles
Malay literature -- Translations into English
Having reached the audience-chamber, the letter was received by the
chief of heralds of the right, the one of the left being charged with
transmitting the words of the King to the ambassador, and the herald of
the right transmitted the answer. If the message came from another
country than Pasey and Harau, they suppressed part of the men. The
_cortege_ included only the drum, the flute, and a yellow parasol. They
took, as was suitable, now an elephant, now a horse, and they halted
outside the first exterior gate. When the message came from a more
considerable sovereign, they employed the flute and two parasols, one
white and one yellow. The elephant passed through the exterior gate,
for formerly the royal entrance included seven fortifications. At his
departure, the ambassador received a complete investiture, even were he
only a simple ambassador of Rakan. The same gift was offered to our own
ambassadors at the moment of their departure.
When the King conferred a title, he gave audience in the _falerong_,
with the following procedure: According to the rank, the person to be
honored was brought on an elephant, on horseback, or simply on foot,
with parasol, drum, and flute. There were green, blue, and red
parasols. The noblest were the yellow and the white, which with the
kettle-drums represented the height of distinction. The yellow with the
trumpet was also very distinguished; they were the parasols of the
princes and greatest personages. The violet, red, and green parasols
were those of the _sida-sida_, of the _bataras_, and of the _houlou
balongs_. The blue and black ones served for any other person summoned
to receive a title. When the personage arrived at the palace, he was
detained without. Then they read before the King a very fine piece. It
was a descendant of Batl that held this office. The piece read, they
took it out. He who received it was of the family of the candidate for
honors. With this piece they brought a _tetampan_ scarf with which the
reader invested the candidate, whom he then introduced into the
audience-chamber. There a mat was stretched for him to sit upon in
whatever place the King designated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account