Djohore. The author was a Mohammedan mendicant monk. He called the book
the Crown of Kings because "every king who read and followed its precepts
would be a perfect king, and thus only would his crown sit well on his head, and
the book itself will be for him a true crown."
La Fontaine and Lamartine loved stories. The schoolmates of the latter called the
latter "story-lover." They would have loved the story of the Princess Djouher
Manikam, which is written in a simple and natural style and is celebrated in the
East, or, as the Malays say, in the "country between windward and leeward."
From the "Sedjaret Malayou," worthless as it is as history, one may obtain side
lights upon oriental life. Manners are portrayed in vivid colors, so that one may
come to have a very accurate knowledge of them. Customs are depicted from
which one may learn of the formality and regard for precedents which is a
perspicuous trait of oriental character. The rigid etiquette of court and home may
be remarked. From the view of morals here described, one may appreciate how
far we have progressed in ethical culture from that prevailing in former times
among the children of these winterless lands.
The readers of this series are to be congratulated in that they are here placed in
possession of a unique and invaluable source of information concerning the life
and literature of the far-away people of the Indian archipelago. To these pages an
added interest accrues from the fact that the Philippines are now protected by our
flag.
The name Malay signifies a wanderer. As a people they are passionate, vain,
susceptible, and endowed with a reckless bravery and contempt of death. The
Malays have considerable originality in versification. The pantoum is
particularly theirs—a form arising from their habits of improvisation and
competitive versifying. They have also the epic or sjair, generally a pure
romance, with much naive simplicity and natural feeling. And finally, they have
the popular song, enigma, and fable.
And so we leave the reader to his pleasant journey to the lands of Djinns and
Mantris and spells and mystic talismans. He will be entertained by the
chrestomathy of Bokhari; he will be entranced by the story of the winsome and
dainty Bidasari.
CHAUNCEY C. STARKWEATHER