A tremendous fight now took place. At first Raja Ambong stood on the defensive only, and hours passed before either of the combatants was touched. They stopped for a time, ate betel-nut together and shook hands. Then the fight commenced. This time Raja Ambong took the offensive. So fierce was the combat, and so tremendous the leaps of the combatant that a dust arose from the plain which obscured the face of the sun. Still for a long time no one was injured. At last Mambang Bongsu failed to parry a blow and received a wound in the forehead. "Stop now, Mambang Bongsu," said Raja Ambong, "for you have got a keepsake from me in the shape of an ornament[1] for your forehead!" (karana angkau sudah dapat satu amanat deripada kami memakei kilat dahi) Nay," said Mambang Bonsu bravely, "no one who calls him- self a man can yield on the field of battle. It were better to die where I stand"—pantang anak laki-laki undur di mêdan biar-lah ber-ubah nama di padang ini juga). Then the fight continued. Raja Ambong's skill with the sword was truly marvellous. Each cut carried three minor cuts with it, and with every downward blow the sword fell seven times without being raised again! He had acquired the art from Si Raja Nandong, who inherited it from Sang Barma Dewa in the land of Menangkabau.[2] Again Mambang Bongsu was wounded, this time in the ear, and again Raja Ambong jeered at him asking him why he wore a blossom of the red hibiscus in his ear. Mambang Bongsu replied in the same tone, and Raja Ambong, furious, delivered a blow with his sword with such lightning velocity that it went clean through the neck of his rival without the latter knowing it. "Try and look at the sun and moon," said the victor. Mambang Bongsu did so and at once his head fell off and rolled on the ground.
The fight being over, Raja Ambong returned to the palace, and the giant was buried by the people. Soon after this
