Polong to go and afflict him, that is to say, to cause him pain or sickness; or if a third person is
at enmity with another he goes in secret to the person who keeps the Polong, and gives him a
sum of money to send the Polong to attack the person against whom he bears ill-will. This is
the use of it. The person who is tormented by the Polong, whether a virgin, or a married
woman, or a man, cries out and loses consciousness of what he (or she) is doing, and tears and
throws off his (or her) clothing, biting and striking the people near, blind and deaf to
everything, and does all sorts of other things. Wise men are called in to prescribe remedies;
some come and chant formulas over the head of the patient, others pinch his thumb and apply
medicines to it. When the remedy is successful the sick person cries out, ‘Let me go, I want to
go home.’ The doctor replies, ‘I will not let you go if you do not make known who it is that has
sent you here, and why you have come, and who are your father and mother.’ Sometimes he
(the Polong in the patient) remains silent and will not confess or give the names of his parents;
sometimes he confesses, and says ‘Let me go, my father is such-a-one and lives at such-and-
such a kampong, and my mother is so-and-so. The reason that I have come here is that such-a-
one came to my parents and asked for their aid, and gave them a sum of money because he
bore ill-will against this person’ (or whatever the reason may have been). Sometimes he makes
a false statement, and mentions entirely wrong persons in order to conceal the names of his
parents. As soon as the people know the name of the person who has contrived the attack and
the reason, they let him go, and the sick person at once recovers his consciousness, but he is
left weak and feeble. When a Polong attacks a person and will confess nothing, the person who
is attacked shrieks and yells in anger, and after a day or two he dies. After death blood pours
forth bubbling (ber-kopak-kopak) from the mouth, and the whole body is blue with
bruises.”—Hikayat Abdullah, p. 143. Notes and Queries, S.B.R.A.S. No. 4, sec. 98, issued with
No. 17 of the Journal. ↑
13
Mĕrepet kata kuching. ↑
14
Cp. Clifford, In Court and Kampong, pp. 230–244. “Pôlong and pĕlsit are but other names for
bâjang, the latter is chiefly used in the state of Kĕdah, where it is considered rather chic to
have a pĕlsit. A Kĕdah lady the other day, eulogising the advantage of possessing a familiar
spirit (she said that, amongst other things, it gave her absolute control over her husband and the
power of annoying people who offended her), thus described the method of securing this useful
ally:—
“‘You go out,’ she said, ‘on the night before the full moon, and stand with your back to the
moon, and your face to an ant-hill, so that your shadow falls on the ant-hill. Then you recite
certain jampi (incantations), and bending forward try to embrace your shadow. If you fail, try