2. FIRE CHARMS
In procuring fire by circular or cross friction the performer will often say, by
way of a charm—
“The Mouse-deer asks for Fire^325
To singe his mother-in-law’s feathers.”The “mouse-deer’s mother-in-law” is the name of a small bird, which is said to
have very gay plumage of five colours and to resemble the green pigeon (punei)
in shape, and the explanation of this charm is said to be that in the days of King
Solomon, when both the mouse-deer and his mother-in-law wore their human
forms, the Mouse-deer was greatly annoyed by the conduct of his mother-in-law,
who kept dancing in front of him as he went. A quarrel ensued,^326 as the result
of which they were both transformed into the shapes which they now
respectively bear; but the mother-in-law has not yet abandoned her exasperating
tactics, and may still often be seen tantalising the Mouse-deer by hopping in
front of it as it goes along.
There are still some traces of the influence of animistic ideas in that part of
Malay folklore which is concerned with fire. If an inflammable object, such as
wood, falls by accident into the fire, a stick must be used in extracting it, and the
stick left, as a substitute, in its place.
The hearth-fire (api dapor) must never be stepped over (di-langkah-nya), nor
must the rice-pot which stands upon it, as in the latter case the person who does
so will be “cursed by the Rice.”
Both fire and smoke (fumigation) are a good deal used by the Malays for
purposes of ceremonial purification, but the details of such rites cannot be
conveniently discussed except in connection with the complete ceremonies of
which they form a part; they will accordingly be found under such headings as
Birth, Adolescence, Marriage, Medicine, and Funerals.^327