When the corpse in the ground opens of itself
Then (and then only) be emboldened the hearts of my foes and opponents!
May your heart be softened when you behold me,
By grace of this prayer that I use, called Silam Bayu.”
The “mosquito-fry at the river’s mouth” in the first line is no doubt intended as an allusion to the Langsuir who frequent the fishing-stakes.
The Pontianak (or Mati-anak), as has already been said, is the stillborn child of the Langsuir, and its embodiment is like that of its mother, a kind of night-owl.[9] Curiously enough, it appears to be the only one of these spirits which rises to the dignity of being addressed as a “Jin” or “Genie,” as appears from the charms which are used for laying it. Thus we find in a common charm:—
“O Pontianak the Stillborn,
May you be struck dead by the soil from the grave-mound.
Thus (we) cut the bamboo-joints, the long and the short,
To cook therein the liver of the Jin (Demon) Pontianak.