Sea Dyak Proverbs.
King Solomon, we are told, “spake three thousand proverbs,” and many of these, as well as proverbs of an older date, have been handed down to us in a more or less authentic form. A translation of them into English is to be found in a well-known book. King Solomon was perhaps the first to make a collection of proverbs, but long before his time proverbs were in common use. It would seem that in every age and in every clime the existence of language is accompanied by the existence of proverbs.
The Sea Dyaks have their proverbs, and these remind us of the lines:—
“Turn, turn thy wheel! The human race,
Of every tongue, of every place,
Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay,
All that inhabit this great earth,
Whatever be their rank or worth,
Are kindred and allied by birth,
And made of the same clay.”
It is impossible to imagine two nationalities so far removed from each other in every respect as the English and the Dyak, and yet, when we come to consider their proverbs, we find that they join hands and stand on common ground. Allowing for difference in environment, and consequent difference of similes, the ideas expressed in many Dyak proverbs is precisely similar to that of some well known among the English.
The three following examples, taken from among many others, which are often used by the Dyaks of the present day, will illustrate what I mean:—
Remaung di rumah, rawong di tanah (“A tiger in the house, [but] a frog in the field”). A lion in council, but a lamb in action.
Kasih ka imbok, enda kasih ka manok (“To show kindness to the wild pigeon, [but] not to show kindness to the domestic fowl”). Charity begins at home.
Lari ka ribut nemu ujan, lari ka sungkup nemu pendam (“Running from the hurricane, he encounters the rain; running from a tombstone, he finds himself in a graveyard”). Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
Necessarily, a great deal in human life changes as the years roll on. Science grows, knowledge increases, society makes its way to new forms of organization, and the outward fashions of life pass away, and new ones take their place. All this is obvious and inevitable. And so there must of necessity be many points of difference between primitive races and races high up in the scale of civilization. Yet in human life there are certain things which are always the same. Underneath what is variable in man there is that which never changes. Now and again we catch glimpses of this as we read some ancient author, and find that across the gap of ages lived one who, thousands of years ago, in some respects, at least, thought as we think and felt as we feel. The radical fundamental thoughts and passions of mankind all over the world, in every age, are much the same; and so, after consideration, it ought not to be a matter of surprise to find that some of the Sea Dyak proverbs convey precisely the same ideas as the proverbs of the English.
CHAPTER XXII
THREE DYAK LEGENDS
Dyak fairy-tales and legends—I. Danjai and the Were-Tiger’s Sister—II. The Story of Siu, who first taught the Dyaks to observe the omens of birds—III. Pulang Gana, and how he came to be worshipped as the god of the earth.
There are many fairy-tales and legends known to the Sea Dyaks of the present day. As they have no written language, these have been handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation from ancient times. These tales and legends may be divided into two classes:—
1. Those purely fabulous, and related as such, which are simply meant to interest and amuse, and in these respects resemble the fairy-tales familiar to us all.
2. And those believed to be perfectly true, and to record events which have actually taken place, which are the traditions respecting their gods and preternatural beings. These form, in fact, the mythology of the Dyaks. To this latter class belong the many and varied adventures of Klieng, the great warrior hero of ancient times, and his wife Kumang, the Dyak Venus, as well as the traditions relating to the gods believed in by the Dyaks of the present day. To these must be added certain stories which give a reason for some of the curious customs observed by the Dyaks. The three myths which follow belong to this latter class. The Dyak legends are fast being forgotten, and I had the greatest difficulty in obtaining the few here preserved.