Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: A Record of Intimate Association with the Natives of the Bornean JunglesGomes, Edwin Herbert
History
Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: A Record of Intimate Association with the Natives of the Bornean Jungles
Gomes, Edwin Herbert
Iban (Bornean people); Sarawak (Malaysia) -- Description and travel
Siu then went to the box in which his clothes were kept and put on the
things that his mother had often seen him wear. Then he went to her
again, and said: “Even if you do not believe that I am your son, at any
rate you might turn round and look at me, to make sure that I am not your
son.”
Then she looked at him, and saw that it was indeed her son. She was so
pleased at his return that she soon recovered from her illness, which was
really caused by her sorrow and refusal to eat. Siu told his mother of
his marriage, and she welcomed his wife with joy.
The women all crowded round Siu’s wife, and asked her what her name
was. She answered: “_Endu-Sudan-Galinggam-Tinchin-Mas_” (The girl Sudan
painted like a gold ring). They looked at her in surprise; they had never
heard of such a name before.
“Where do you come from?” they asked. “What is the name of your country?”
“_Nanga Niga Bekurong Bebali nyadi Tekuyong Mabong_” (The mouth of the
hidden Niga stream changed into an empty shell),[5] was the reply.
They were astonished at her answer. They had never heard of such a
country. They asked her of her people, but she would not say anything
more of herself or speak about her people.
Everybody admired the great beauty of Siu’s wife. No more questions were
asked of her, as she seemed unwilling to answer. Her parentage remained a
mystery.
In process of time Siu’s wife bore him a son whom they named Seragunting.
He was a fine child, and as befitted the grandson of Singalang Burong, he
grew big and strong in a miraculously short time, and when he was three
years old, he was taller and stronger than others four times his age.
One day, as Seragunting was playing with the other boys, a man brought up
some birds which he had caught in a trap. As he walked through the house
he passed Siu, who was sitting in the open veranda. Siu, forgetting the
promise he had made to his wife, asked him to show him the birds, and he
took one in his hands and stroked it. His wife was sitting not far off,
and saw him hold the bird, and was very much vexed that he had broken his
promise to her.
She got up and returned to her room. Siu came in and noticed that she was
troubled, and asked her what was wrong. She said that she was only tired.
She said to herself: “My husband has broken his word to me. He has done
the thing he promised me he would never do. I told him he was never to
hold a bird in his hands, and that if he did such a thing, I would leave
him. I cannot stay here in this house any longer. I must return to the
house of my father, Singalang Burong.”
She took the water-vessels in her hands, and went out as if to fetch
water. But when she came to the well, she placed the water-vessels on the
ground and disappeared in the jungle.
[Illustration: A DYAK GIRL
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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