Before leaving the subject of cats, I must mention the belief that the “fresh-water
fish called ikan belidah” was “originally a cat.” Sir W. E. Maxwell says that
many Malays refuse to eat it for this reason, and adds, “They declare that it
squalls like a cat when harpooned, and that its bones are very white and fine like
a cat’s hairs.”^131 A story is also sometimes told to account both for the general
similarity of habits of the cat and the tiger and for the fact that the latter, unlike
most of the Felidæ, is not a tree-climber. It is to the effect that the cat agreed to
teach the tiger its tricks, which it did, with the exception of the art of climbing
trees. The tiger, thinking it had learnt all the cat’s tricks, proceeded to attack its
teacher, when the cat escaped by climbing up a tree; so the tiger never learnt
how to climb and cannot climb trees to this day.
Even the smallest and commonest of mammals, such as Rats and Mice, are the
objects of many strange beliefs. Thus “clothes which have been nibbled by rats
or mice must not be worn again. They are sure to bring misfortune, and are
generally given away in charity.”^132
So too on the Selangor coast a mollusc called siput tantarang or mĕntarang is
believed to have sprung from a mouse; and many kinds of charms, generally
addressed to the “Prophet Joseph” (Nabi Yusuf), are resorted to in order to drive
away rats and mice from the rice-fields.
The following passage describes the general ideas about animal superstitions
which prevail on the east coast of the Peninsula:—
“The beliefs and superstitions of the Fisher Folk would fill many volumes. They
believe in all manner of devils and local sprites. They fear greatly the demons
that preside over animals, and will not willingly mention the names of birds or
beasts while at sea. Instead, they call them all chêweh^133 —which, to them,
signifies an animal, though to others it is meaningless, and is supposed not to be
understanded of the beasts. To this word they tack on the sound which each
beast makes in order to indicate what animal is referred to; thus the pig is the
grunting chêweh, the buffalo the chêweh that says ‘uak,’ and the snipe the
chêweh that cries ‘kek-kek.’ Each boat that puts to sea has been medicined with
care, many incantations and other magic observances having been had recourse
to, in obedience to the rules which the superstitious people have followed for
ages. After each take the boat is ‘swept’ by the medicine man with a tuft of