[3] The full Malay text of this introduction will be found in the Appendix. [↑]
[4] Lit. “A cube.” The cube-like building in the centre of the Mosque at Makkah (Mecca), which contains the Hajaru ’l-Aswad, or black stone.—Hughes, Dict. of Islam, s.v. Kaʿbah. [↑]
[5] Sakatimuna (or “Sicatimuna”) is the name of an enormous serpent, said to have ravaged the country of Menangkabau in Sumatra about the beginning of the 12th century.—Newbold, op. cit. vol. ii. p. 199 n. It is also given as “Icktimani” by Leyden in his trans. of the Malay Annals. [↑]
[6] For the parting asunder of the snake, vide the note on page 11 infra, which gives what may be the origin of this myth as it is known to the Malays. [↑]
[7] The Nagas are generally represented in old sculptures as bearing the human form, but with a snake attached to their backs, and the hooded head rising behind their necks.—Nagananda, translated by Palmer Boyd, p. 61; vide also ib. p. 84. This may be the explanation of the Malay k’ris hilt, or dagger hilt, which represents a seated human form with folded arms and a hood at the back of its neck rising over its head. These hilts are called hulu Malayu (the “Malay hilt”), or Jawa dĕmam (lit. the “Fever-stricken Javanese”), in allusion to the attitude of the figure with its folded arms. The pattern of these hilts, which are universally used for the national Malay k’ris or dagger, varies from an accurate representation of the human figure to forms in which nothing but the hood (which is occasionally much exaggerated) is recognisable. Europeans seeing these hilts for the first time sometimes take them for snakes’ heads, sometimes for the heads of birds. [↑]
[8] Payah probably stands for supaya, perhaps with the meaning “so also.” Kun in Arabic means “be.” The tree would appear to be identifiable (vide App. [i]., iii.) with that mentioned in the first account. [↑]
[9] Sakais are certain of the non-Malayan heathen (i.e. not Muhammadan) inhabitants of the hills and jungles of the Peninsula. [↑]
[10] Some say a bullock (lĕmbu), but the most usual version gives the buffalo. In the Ramayana, which has largely influenced some departments of Malay folk-lore, it is an elephant which supports the earth. So, too, Vishnu in the boar-incarnation raised the earth from the bottom of the sea upon his tusks. [↑]
[11] This island (for which a tortoise or the fish “Nun” is occasionally substituted) may be compared with the Batak (Sumatran) belief concerning the raft which was made by Batara Guru for the support of the earth at the creation of the world (J.R.A.S., N. S. vol. xiii. part i. p. 60); and vide Klinkert’s Malay-Dutch Dict., s.v. Nun. [↑]
[12] Newbold, op. cit. vol. ii. p. 359. The spelling of “Jangi” is incorrect. It should be spelt “Janggi.” [↑]