In the presence of all your courtiers,
Take your seat in royal state,
And bathe in the water that flows from the Dragon’s Mouth.”
It must not be supposed that, with such a mass of detail, many things may not have been overlooked, but it may be remarked as some sort of a practical conclusion to this account, that the Malay wedding ceremony, even as carried out by the poorer classes, shows that the contracting parties are treated as royalty, that is to say, as sacred human beings, and if any further proof is required, in addition to the evidence which may be drawn from the general character of the ceremony, I may mention, firstly, the fact that the bride and bridegroom are actually called Raja Sari, (i.e. Raja sa-hari, the “sovereigns of a day”); and, secondly, that it is a polite fiction that no command of theirs, during their one day of sovereignty, may be disobeyed.
Plate 15.—Wedding Centrepiece, with Dragons etc.
Set piece used at a Malay wedding, and presented to the author afterwards. It represents two dragons issuing from caves in opposite hills into a lake, in which they are fighting. On the tree-tops are to be seen the fabulous birds the roc (garuda), the jintayu (a fabulous vulture), and the walimana (a harpy). Page 388.
I will now give accounts of two Malay weddings which took place at Klang: both accounts were composed by respectable Malays, the first one being translated by Mr. Douglas Campbell of Selangor, and the second by the present writer:—
“The following account of the ceremonies connected with the marriage of Siti Meriam, a daughter of the Orang Kaya Badu,[94] of Selangor, to Wan Mahamed Esa, a son of Datoh Mentri[95] Ibrahim of Perak, has been furnished by a Malay contributor, Haji Karrim, and in translating it into English an endeavour has been made to follow, as far as possible, the style of the native writer.
“On Monday, the 1st of August, the house was prepared and the hangings and curtains put up, and on that evening the ceremony of dyeing the fingers of the bridegroom with henna was performed for the first time. Then there were readings from the Korān, with much beating of drums and kettledrums and Malay dances, and when this had gone on for some time, supper was served to all the men present in the balei, or separate hall, and to the women in the house adjoining. Supper over, readings from the Korān and beating of drums were continued till daylight.