78 SEA-DYAK LEGEND. 



words he threw Pulang-Gana a clod of earth which he saw 

 lying near. Now go away, and do not let us see your face 

 again." 



Pulang-Gana put the lump of earth in his bag, and with a 

 heavy heart, started to return to his house. So this was the 

 way his brothers treated him ! There was nothing to expect 

 from them ! 



When he arrived at his house all the family gathered 

 round him. They had heard that he had gone to ask his 

 brothers for his share of the property and they were anxious to 

 see what he brought back. His little daughter rushed up 

 eagerly to him and said : 



" Father what have you brought back for me from my 

 uncles ? Let me see the nice things they gave you." 



Then Pulang-Gana said sadly, " I received no share of the 

 property from your uncles. They would have nothing to do 

 with me, and drove me away." 



" But did you get nothing at all from them?" asked his 

 father-in-law. 



"Yes," said Pulang-Gana, "my brother Bui-JVasi did 

 give me something, but I am ashamed to tell you what it is. 

 Here it is," and he took out from his bag the lump of earth 

 his brother had given him, and handed it to his father-in-law. 



When Rajah Shua saw what it was that Pulang-Gana had 

 received from his brothers, he said joyfully : 



" They have given you the most valuable gift it is possible 

 to imagine . You are now a person of great importance. The 

 earth is yours. Whoever wishes to plant on it must first make 

 offerings and sacrifices to you and pray to you to give him a 

 good harvest. It is in your power to make the earth fruitful or 

 barren, and to give mankind a good or a bad harvest as you will." 



A few months after, the brothers of Pulang-Gana at the 

 advice of Bai-JVasi decided on the site where they were to 

 plant paddy that year. It was a large forest some distance 

 away from their house First they cut down the smaller trees, 

 and then they felled the large trees, and when all this work was 

 done, they rested for some weeks, waiting for the sun to dry up 



Jour. Straits Branch 



