‘Peace be with you, O ’Tap, Prophet of God, in whose charge is the Earth.
I ask for this tree (to enable me) to make fast these toils.’Here begin to unroll the toils, saying—
‘Sir Tuft’ is the name of our rattan,
‘Sir Ring’ is the name of our toils.”[The point of this charm is that “Sir Tuft” is an allusion to the origin of the rattan rope, which
must have come, of course, from the “tufted” creeper of that name. Similarly, “Sir Ring” is
supposed to be an allusion to the ring which formed the original unit of the toils, a collection of
rings or nooses. The object of mentioning the origin of anything is that doing so is supposed to
give one power over the article so addressed, v. p. 156 n., supra.] “Having completed the
unrolling of the toils, double the connecting rope (from which the nooses hang) in two, and
when this is done, enter them, holding them by the connecting rope (kajar), and say—
‘O Mĕntala (i.e. Batara) Guru, and Teachers one and all (dĕngan Gurwuru-uru), and Sir
Yellow Glow,
Sir Yellow Glow knows all the ins and outs of it (?)
These toils of ours are twofold, O let them not be staled.
If they are staled, and we perform the penance for them, let our toils still kill the quarry.
If they are staled by the dogs, let our toils still kill the quarry.
If they are staled by men, let our toils still kill the quarry, by virtue of,’ etc., etc.”
↑
106
Probably a pun upon teng, which was explained to me as meaning kaki sa-b’lah (“one foot
only”), as in bĕrteng-teng, “to go on one foot,” to hobble; tengkis, “with one foot shortened or
shrunken,” etc. The “satengteng flower” was explained as another name for the satawar. ↑
107
The corresponding charm for driving out the mischief, given by another deer Pawang (’Che
Indut), appears to be more appropriate:—
O Mischief, Mother of Mischiefs,