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
She was very much surprised to see him, and said they had given him
up for dead long ago. She told him that the others were away fishing,
and that his brother Bui-Nasi, herself, and a little boy were the only
members of the family left at home. He would find his brother and the
little boy working at the forge making some implements for their work.
Pulang-Gana said he would go to his brother, and he left the house and
walked in the direction where he guessed the forge was from the sound of
hammering he heard.
“Oh! is that you, Pulang-Gana?” said Bui-Nasi, as soon as he saw him.
“Where have you been all these years? We thought that you had met with
some accident, and had died long ago.”
Pulang-Gana said little about himself to his brother. He told him how he
had lost his way in the jungle years ago, and when he arrived at last at
a house the people there persuaded him to stay with them, and he said
that he was now married and had a daughter.
“Have you come with your wife to stay with us?” asked Bui-Nasi.
“No,” was the answer; “I have only come on a short visit by myself to ask
for my share of the property left us by our father.”
“You have nothing whatever to expect. You left us years ago of your own
will, and have been away all this time, and now you have the impudence to
come and ask for your share of the property. I advise you to say nothing
of this to the others. They will be very vexed with you if you do.”
“I do not ask for much,” said Pulang-Gana. “I will be satisfied with
little. But my daughter asked me what I had to give her, so I came here
to beg for something, and I should be sorry to return empty-handed.”
“You shall not return empty-handed,” said Bui-Nasi in scorn. “Here is
something for you to take back with you. It is all that you will get from
us, I can tell you.” With these words he threw Pulang-Gana a clod of
earth which he saw lying near. “Now go away, and do not let us see your
face again.”
Pulang-Gana put the lump of earth in his bag, and with a heavy heart
started to return to his house. So this was the way his brothers treated
him! There was nothing to expect from them!
When he arrived at his house, all the family gathered round him. They had
heard that he had gone to ask his brothers for his share of the property,
and they were anxious to see what he brought back. His little daughter
rushed up eagerly to him and said:—
“Father, what have you brought back for me from my uncles? Let me see the
nice things they gave you.”
Then Pulang-Gana said sadly: “I received no share of the property from
your uncles. They would have nothing to do with me, and drove me away.”
“But did you get nothing at all from them?” asked his father-in-law.
“Yes,” said Pulang-Gana; “my brother Bui-Nasi did give me something, but
I am ashamed to tell you what it is. Here it is.” And he took out from
his bag the lump of earth his brother had given him, and handed it to his
father-in-law.
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