228 IN MALAY FORESTS. 



ing with an European a matter of considerable im- 

 portance to one or both of them, the European will 

 often wonder when on earth his man is going to 

 come to the point, while the Malay is only think- 

 ing whether he can say any more without being so 

 brutally direct as to give offence. 



The folk-tales, rather than the pantun or the pro- 

 verbs, are the medium by which a Malay loves to 

 make his meaning known. 



In the village council, when weighty matters are 

 under discussion, many an argument is clinched or 

 moral pointed by an allusion to a story that in our 

 prosaic land would come under the half-contemptuous 

 heading of " children's stories," but which in the East 

 are treated as parables. 



The little wayside tale, to which these remarks 

 must serve as an introduction, may perhaps gain some 

 dignity if I mention that many years ago it was told 

 at length in the Perak State Council, and that a very 

 important decision was based upon it. 



The Malays have a wealth that has been almost 

 unexploited of folk - tales. There is a number of 

 stories of which Pa' Musang (Father Civet Cat) is the 

 central figure; another series is grouped round Pa' 

 Bilalang (Father Grasshopper) ; and there is yet 

 another set of stories about Pa' Pandir (Father 

 Pandir), the typical buffoon or fool, who invariably 

 does the wrong thing, manages to twist the most 

 ridiculous meaning out of the plainest instructions, 

 and always finds some means to make the most 

 absurd mistakes. 



But of all stories, the most numerous, the best 



