388 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



8. THE FATHERLESS BOY 

 (From the Saputans; kampong Data Laong) 



A woman was going to the ladang in the morning, 

 and she said to her young son, Amon Amang, whose 

 father was dead: "When the sun comes over the tree 

 there you must begin to husk paddi." She then went 

 away to the ladang while the boy remained at home. 

 He carried the paddi, as well as the oblong wooden mor- 

 tar, up into a tree. There he began to work, and the 

 mortar and the paddi and the boy all tumbled down 

 because the branch broke. A man helped the half-dead 

 boy to come to his senses again, throwing water on him, 

 and when the mother returned she was very angry to 

 see the mortar broken and the paddi strewed all about. 

 "I told you to husk paddi in the house when the sun 

 came over the tree," she said. "Better that you now 

 go and hunt birds." 



The boy then decided to hunt. He climbed a tree 

 and put up snares to catch birds. He caught a great 

 many big hornbills, which he fastened alive to his loin 

 cloth, and they began to fly, carrying the boy with them 

 to a big tree, where they loosened themselves from him, 

 left him in a cleft, and all flew away. The tree was very 

 tall, but he climbed down a fig tree which grew beside 

 it, descended to the ground, and went home. 



His mother was not pleased that he did not bring 

 any birds, and he told her what had happened. "Why 

 all this ?" she said. "You fell from the tree ! You should 

 have killed the birds," she declared reproachfully. 



