
Having covered his head with the black cloth, Koboi presented the new deerskin puppets, unpigmented side facing the audience. He then put them down and performed a ritual (see performance notes) to dispel malicious entities (Badi) from the deer hide. He uttered a spell,
O Si Lanang, Si Lambaun,
Si Ketor, Si Becheh, orang yang berampat,
Ambil kembali bahagian-kau dari rusa ini!
O Lanang, the Lambaun,
The Ketor, the Becheh, the four of you,
Take back your part of this deer!
Koboi then took cuttings of deer hide (waste from the fabrication of the puppets) from the muslin cloth and, one by one, gave the signs of deer to the audience, calling them out by name —
Mata, telinga, mulut, hidong,kaki, tangan, bulu, hati, jantong, limpa, tandok.
Eye, ear, mouth, nose, leg, hand (foreleg?), fur, liver, heart, spleen, horn.
He put each fragment on the banana leaf. When all eleven signs had been presented and thier material signifiers deposited on the leaf, Koboi folded the leaf, deposited it in the earth-filled basket, and uttered,
O Mentala Guru
Asa (menaruh harapan) sabulan, dua sabulan,
Tiga sabulan, ampat sabulan,
Lima sabulan, anam sabulan,
Tujoh sabulan, malam di-angkau,
Siang di-aku.
Sa’ekor aku bawa balik,
Sa’ekor aku tinggalkan!
O Mentala (Batara) Guru
Hoping (desiring, hunting) for a month, two months,
Three months, four months,
Five months, six months,
Seven months, the night is yours,
The day is mine.
One deer I take,
One I leave behind!
Finally, he sprinkled water and flowers onto the basket.
It began to drizz;e (gerimis) over the performance area at around this moment. Later we learnt from observers that it had only rained in the Kapallorek Artspace area and not the surrounding area. This was particu;arly notable as there had been a drought over the previous weeks.
Spells adapted from notes in Walter William Skeat‘s Malay Magic.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47873/47873-h/47873-h.htm
You must be logged in to post a comment.