lĕkar jantan).- A bowl of water deposited upon this stand and intended “for the Rice-
soul (sĕmangat padi) to drink when it becomes thirsty with the heat of the
sun.” - A big iron nail.
- A candle-nut (buah k’ras).
- Six trodden-out rice “heads,” a couple of which tied in a slip knot (simpul
pulih) are fastened to each corner of the matting.
Pounding of the rice from the three baskets.—When the rice had been
sufficiently dried, it was once more collected in the baskets, and carried back to
the house to be pounded.^220 That operation took place the same evening, when
the rice was pounded and winnowed^221 in the ordinary way, the only noteworthy
addition being the tying of bunches of the grass called sambau dara to the upper
ends of the long wooden pestles which the Malays use for the pounding
operation.
Disposal of the empty rice-stalks from the three baskets.—The chaff thus
obtained was deposited in a heap by the owner of the field in a place where three
paths met, crowned with a wreath made of the empty rice-stalks, and covered by
a big stone which was intended, I was told, to keep it from being blown away.
The sugar-cane was left to grow in the midst of the mother-sheaf, until the latter
should be reaped by the wife of the owner; when this takes place, it is carried
back to the house and used for next year’s reaping. Meanwhile the “heads” of
the mother-sheaf are pounded, and the grain thus obtained is mixed with the
grain obtained from the Rice-soul, and deposited in the rice-bin (kĕpok) together
with a stone, a lump of rosin (damar), and a wreath composed of the empty rice-
ears. I may add that I saw the articles which had been deposited in the previous
year in the rice-bin of the Malay at whose house I witnessed the ceremony which
I have just described.
I did not witness the preliminary search for the mother-sheaf (in which the Rice-
soul was supposed to be contained), but it was described to me by the Pawang,
and performed for my benefit by the people of the house. The Pawang’s
description ran as follows: In order to confine the “Rĕngkesa” (a Spectral
Reaper) to the boundaries, visit the four corners of the field, and at each corner
tie a knot in a rice-leaf, and hold your breath while you repeat the following