Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 6 1888.djvu/78

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TRADITIONS OF THE MENTRA, OR ABORIGINES OF

At last he had to apply for the intervention of the kanchil[1] (the smallest of all the deer kind, not so large as a hare): the kanchil said, "What can small creatures like us do?" To’ ′Ĕntah replied, "I have asked all the others, and they have been able to do nothing." Then the kanchil said, "Very well, we will try: get you to one side." And he called together an army of kanchil, the whole of the race, and said, "If we do not kill the lĕlâbi we all perish, but if we kill him, all is well."

Then they all jumped on to the lĕlâbi, which was of great size, and stamped on him with their tiny hoofs, till they had driven holes in his head, and neck, and back, and killed him.

But in the meantime the body of water which had accompanied the lĕlâbi had increased to a vast extent, and formed what is now the sea.

After the destruction of the lĕlâbi the kanchil asked To’ ′Ĕntah what was to be his reward for the service he had performed; on which To’ ′Ĕntah replied that he would take the root of the kĕlêdek,[2] and the kanchil could have the leaves for his share, and they have accordingly ever since been the food of the kanchil.

From Hûlu[3] Kĕnâboi To’ ′Ĕntah went to Págar-rûyong[4] (in Sumatra, seat of sovereign of former Malay empire of Mĕnangkabau), and his son To’ T′ĕrjĕli[5] came across again thence and settled in J′ĕlĕbu.

To’ T′ĕrjĕli had eight sons—Bâtin Túngang Gâgah,[6] who settled in Kĕlang;[7] Bâtin Chángei, or Chánggei Bĕsi,[8] who lived in J′ĕlĕbu;

  1. Smallest of the "Moschus Javanicus" genus; the three kinds, taking them in the order of size, "nâpoh," "pĕlánduk," and "kánchil," are all indiscriminately spoken of as "pĕlánduk" ("landuk," wiles), i.e. the wily one: they take the place of the fox in Malayan fable.
  2. Convolvulus batatas (Faure), or batatas edulis chois (Filet).
  3. "Hûlu," head, source.
  4. "Pagar," fence; "rûyong," hard part of the "nîbong" palm (On cos perma filamentosa, Blume).
  5. Grand, great (Ar.: jal?)
  6. Strong-back.
  7. In the state of Salângor now (see map); Salângor grew out of it.
  8. Iron nail. "Changei" is a long nail grown to a great length, as a sign of being a leisured person, free from manual labour, both among Malays and Chinese. According to a Johor legend this chief "was the first of all Bâtins