Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917Lumholtz, Carl
History
Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917
Lumholtz, Carl
Borneo -- Description and travel; Ethnology -- Borneo; Natural history -- Borneo
There were many young men who wanted to marry Inu Songbakim, a young girl,
but she liked only one man, Monjang Dahonghavon, and, having obtained the
consent of her father and mother, he shared her mat. One day he went out
to work, making planks with his axe, while she remained at home cooking.
When she had prepared the food she took it to him, and when she arrived at
the place where he was working he looked at her as he was cutting with the
axe and hurt himself. He died, and his father came and took the corpse to
the house. Being an antoh he restored the life of his son, who became very
angry with his wife for being the cause of his death. He wanted to kill
her, but as she was very strong he could not do it, and instead, with his
parang, killed her father and mother. His wife, in turn, became filled
with wrath, and with a parang killed his father and mother.
The young man then left her to look for another wife, but could not find
any that was to his liking, strong and good-looking, so after a while he
decided to return to the wife he already had. "I like you much," she said,
"but if you want to have me again you must make my father and mother alive
again." "I will do that," he answered, "if you first will restore to life
my father and mother." They were both antohs, so there was a general
return to life, and the people from the two kampongs to which the families
belonged came together and made the kampongs into one.
15. THE WOMAN, THE BIRD, AND THE OTTER
(From the Saputans; kampong Data Láong)
Many young men courted Ohing Blibiching, but she was difficult to please.
Finally, she favoured Anyang Mokathimman because he was strong, skilful in
catching animals, brave in head-hunting. She said: "Probably you have a
wife." "No, I am alone," he said, and her father and mother having given
consent, they then lived together.
After a while he said: "I want to go away and hunt for heads." She said:
"Go, but take many men with you. If you should be sick, difficulties would
be great." She then made rice ready in a basket, calculating that on a
long journey they would depend more on the sago found in the utan. They
would also kill animals for food, therefore, in addition to their parangs,
the men took sumpitans along.
"If we have any mishaps," he said, "I shall be away two months. If not, I
shall be back in a month." She remained in the kampong guarded by her
father, mother, and other people, and after a while many young men began
to pay her attention, telling her: "He has been away a long time. Maybe he
will not return." One day at noon when she was filling her bamboo
receptacles in the river as usual, taking a bath at the same time, she saw
a fish sleeping, and caught it. She then lifted on her back the big-meshed
rattan bag which held the bamboo receptacles, all full of water, and went
home, carrying the fish in her hand. Before cooking it she went to husk
paddi.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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