20. BRANAK, THE ANTOH
(From the Ot-Danums, of the Upper Kahayan River)
A man called Mai Boang (father of Boang) had a very good-looking son who owned a fine big male dog, and when the child grew to be old enough he used the animal for hunting. One day when the dog was following the tracks of a deer he came into a long, long cave and Boang followed. To pass through the cave consumed thrice the time required to cook rice. Emerging on the other side the dog and the boy arrived at a house where there was a handsome woman. As darkness was falling he asked if he might stay over night, and she gave permission, the dog remaining under the house. Each was attracted by the other, so they passed the night together. Boang remained there, and in time she bore him a son. She possessed a female dog, and the two dogs had two male and two female pups.
Two or three years later Boang wanted to see his father and mother. She said: "I will go with you for a short time." With wife and child he went away, but he soon had to return because she did not like his country, of which the language and everything else was different. They came back, lived long, and had many children. Her name was Kamkamiak and she had long, long nails. When he was disinclined to comply with her wishes she forced him by using her nails on a tender spot. She shows herself to-day as alang, the black hawk.
The descendants of this pair are also Kamkamiak, evil antohs of women at childbirth. The offspring of the dogs is another kind of antoh, called Penyakit (sickness). One of these appears in the form of a large goat which is seen only occasionally. It bites in the neck and the throat, the wounds are invisible, and the victim must die on the second or third day.
When the descendants of Mai Boang are ill they become better when relating the story of Boang.
NOTE.—The handsome woman who figures in this story is an evil antoh which afflicts women at childbirth and by the Ot-Danums and others is called Kamkamiak, the one with the long nails. She is also commonly known by the name Branak. She causes the woman to lose much blood and to have pain in the uterus, the nails of the antoh playing an important part in these conditions. Men who work in the utan gathering rubber, rattan, etc., are liable to get a disorder under the scrotum that looks like scratches, and which ulcerate and may be troublesome for several months or a year. These are ascribed to the long nails of the antoh, Branak, and sacrifices of sugar and eggs are offered.
Pontianak, the well-known town in the Western Division of Dutch Borneo, is the name of another good-looking female antoh, who causes injury to women at childbirth.
Some evil antohs, by Kahayans and others called kuyang, also select maternity victims. They are believed to fly through the air at night, appearing like fireflies, and enter the woman through head, neck, or stomach, doing much harm. They are supposed to suck blood, and when a woman dies at childbirth from bleeding, the belief is that it was caused by these evil spirits that in the daytime appear as ordinary human beings. They are also able to suck blood from men and kill them. The goat is at times an antoh, as is also the case with the water-buffalo, which may appear in dreams and cause illness.
The period of time required for "cooking rice" mentioned in the tale is called one pemasak, equal to about half an hour.