charm:—
“In the name of God, etc.,
A swallow has fallen striking the ground,
Striking the ground in the middle of our house-yard.
But ye, O Shadows and Spectral Reapers (Rĕngkesa),
Have your appointed place on the Boundaries (of this field).
By virtue of,” etc.These noxious spirits being thus confined to the Four Corners, you may search in
safety till you find one of the special varieties of rice-ear in which the Rice-soul
resides.
There are several varieties, of which the best is called Tongkat Mandah; it may
be described as an ordinary “rice-head” bending over to meet the tip of a second
(adventitious) “rice-head,” but it is produced only by a freak of nature. There is
some risk connected with this variety, however, for if the “Reception (Sambut)
Ceremony” is not properly performed the owner will die. The second best is
called “The Kite” (Lang). The third best is called “The Veiled Princess” (Pŭtri
Bĕrtudong); in this case the sheath of the “head” is of unusual length, and
overshadows the “head” itself. A fourth kind is called Padi Bĕrtel’kum, and is
described as a “Female Rice” (padi bĕtina); like the “Veiled Princess,” it has an
unusually well-developed sheath; whilst a fifth kind is the “Padi Mendhara”—a
rice-plant whose leaves show white lines or markings.
How women should reap on ordinary occasions.—Whenever women go out to
reap they should repeat certain charms before leaving the house,^222 and again
before depositing their baskets on the ground. Their heads should be covered,
and they should always be careful to reap, as has been said, facing the sun, to
prevent their shadow from falling upon the rice in the basket at their side.
Occasionally, however, the body is uncovered, and I was even told of one, Inche
Fatimah of Jugra, in Selangor, who when reaping stripped herself bare from the
waist upwards, and when asked why she did so said it was “to make the rice-
husks thinner, as she was tired of pounding thick-husked rice.”
The sheaf which is left standing after the taking home of the Rice-soul is called
the Mother of the Rice-soul (Ibu Sĕmangat Padi), and treated as a newly-made
mother; that is to say, young shoots of trees (putik-putik kayu) are taken,