Malay Magic _ Being an introduction to the - Walter William Skeat

“Eggs   of  the House-lizard,   Eggs    of  the Grass-lizard,

Make    a   trio    with    Eggs    of  the Tortoise.

I   plant   this    pole    thus    in  the mid-stream

(That)  Wind    and Tempest may come    to  naught.

Let the White   (ones)  turn    into    Chalk,

And the Black   (one)   into    Charcoal.^2

Sometimes the magician will fasten a rice-spoon (chĕmcha)^3 horizontally to the
mast of the vessel, and repeat some such charm as the following:—

“The    bird    ‘Anggau-anggau’ flies

To  perch   on  the house   of  Malim   Palita.

May you die as  you lean,   may you die from    a   push,

May you die by  this    ‘sending’   of  ‘Prince Rice-spoon’s.’”^4

Of rain-making ceremonies in Selangor there now remains little but tradition.
Yet a Langat Malay told me that if a Malay woman puts upon her head an

inverted^5 earthenware pan (b’langa), and then, setting it upon the ground, fills it
with water and washes the cat in it until the latter is more than half drowned,

heavy rain will certainly ensue.^6

On the other hand the recital of the following charm will, it is believed,
effectually stop the heaviest downpour:—

“Though the stem    of  the Mĕranti tree^7  rocks   to  and fro (in the storm),

Let the Yam leaves  be  as  thick   as  possible,^8

That    Rain    and Tempest may come    to  naught.”

With the foregoing should be classed such charms as are used by the Malays to

dispel the yellow sunset glow.^9

2. BIRDS AND BIRD CHARMS

The chief features of the Bird-lore of the Peninsular Malays, which, as will