PENGUPUR LARA 



THE SOOTHER OF CARES. 



^M ROFESSIONAL story-telling lias not yet been quite 

 killed in the East, by the gradual diffusion of printed 

 and lithographed books and newspapers. The old 

 legends and romances are still, especially in places 

 remote from European influences, handed down 

 from father to son, and eagerly listened to by old 

 and young at village festivals or domestic celebrations. To 

 the Malays, the skilful raconteur, who can hold his audience 

 enthralled with the adventures of his hero and heroine, or 

 with elaborate descriptions of the magnificence of the palaces 

 and courts of mythical Rajas, is the peng-lipur lava, " the 

 soother of cares/' by the magic of whose art all woes are tempo- 

 rarily banished. 



Sitting in the balei of a Raja or Chief, or in the verandah of 

 a private house, when the sun has gone down and the evening 

 meal is over, the story-teller, very likely a man who can nei- 

 ther read nor write, will commence one of the romances of his 

 repertoire, intoning the words in a monotonous chant as if he 

 were reading aloud from a book. He has very likely been 

 placed purposely near a doorway leading to the women's apart- 

 ment, and the laughter and applause of the male audience 

 without is echoed from behind the curtains, where the women 

 of the household sit eagerly listening to the story. The reci- 

 tation is perhaps prolonged far into the night, and then post- 

 poned, to be continued on the succeeding night. There is no 

 hesitation or failure of memory on the part of the bard; he has 

 been at it from his youth up, and has inherited his romances 

 from his father and ancestors, who told them in days gone by 

 to the forefathers of his present audience. A small reward, 



