51 — 



on which they separate. Tf one is killed in the fight the king orders the 

 victor to pay one golden coin to the relations of the deceased, whose wife 

 henceforth folio ws the victor. Thus they make a game of a deadly fight. 



When a man manies, he goes first to the house of the bride to con- 

 clude the marriage and three days afterwards he brings his wife home, on 

 which occasion the relations of the bridegroom beat copper drums and gongs, 

 blow on cocoanutshells , beat drums made of bamboo and burn fireworks ( 1 ), 

 whilst a number of men armed with small swords surround them. The bride 

 has her hair hanging loose , the upper part of her body and her feet naked , 

 round her waist a piece of green flowered cloth is fastened , on her head she 

 wears strings of golden beacls and on the wrists bracelets of gold and silver 

 nicely ornamented. 



The relations, friends and neighbours bring penang and betel, whilst 

 with garlands of flowers and leaves they adorn a little ship , which they carry 

 along with the newly married, as a form of congratulation. Arriving at the 



as follows: I | f # fê | 1 f ^f ft H R f * f I 



n fê b % m # ï m m- m in & # - f m z « m 



)^ ^tf" EP 2t which lie translates: //Those who appear in the arena, are also accom- 

 //panied by their wives and these wives are likewise armed with a stick, three feet long, with which 

 //they attack each other. This is called Na-tsse-ki. With regard to those who are wounded to 

 /'death, the king causes the victor to pay as indemnity one bamboo measure of gold, but if one has 

 "been overcome by a widow (the payment of the indemnity) is not exacted." We take 7^ as to 



separate; for ^ljtz'ö (tsse) we read j|j|J lah , the former being seldom or never used for the purpose 

 of transcription, whilst the latter is used hundreds of times for expressing the sounds lah and rak; 

 }3 means in the first place to say ; the sccond j^ mustbe joinedto the folio wing sentence; ^ 

 means a wife but also, as here, to gioe as wife to. After these observations we translate asfollows: 

 '/Those who appear in the arena are also accompanied by their wives, and these wives are likewise 

 /•armed with a stick, three feet long, with which they separate (their husbands), saying iarali. When, 



*after their being separated (^ 2i ) it is found that a man is wounded to death , the king causes 

 wthe victor to pay as indemnity one bamboo measure of gold and the widow is given as wife to the 

 "victor, by which the matter is arranged." The expression ^g- ^J? — • g which we have 

 allowcd to pass as //one measure of gold", because no other translation is possible, is no doubt an 

 error in the Chinese text; our author has -£fc && ~~* 131 one S°^ en com > which seems more 



proliable. 



This game, called Senênan, still exists in eastern Java, though in a somewhat modified and 

 mitigated form. 



(') The Chinese text has ^ «j^ ^ which now means to fire ijuns, but for that time 



we think our traiislation preferable. 



4* 



