RAJA DO NAN, 243 



say." Then the old man took his leave and departed. 



From the seventh month to the period of the Princess' con- 

 finement, there were great rejoicings and festivities. Labour 

 lasted for seven days and nights, and, at last, on the eigth day, 

 in the middle of a fearful storm of wind and rain, thunder 

 and lightning, the Princess gave birth to a son. The 

 infant dropped to the floor and disappeared into the earth, 

 which, however, vomited him forth again, and he reappeared 

 seated on a cushion, and with him a sword, a hen's egg, a.kris, 

 a lela (swivel gun), a flute, a piece of scented wood for burn- 

 ing, and some incense. This mightily astonished all the 

 nurses and attendants, and the tidings were borne to the King. 

 He, influenced by the forecast of the seven lying astrologers, 

 would not permit the child to be brought into the palace, but 

 directed that he should be taken to the river-side and placed 

 in a ricketty old boat with a broken oar and set adrift on the 

 river. He also directed prayers to be read and a ceremony 

 performed to avert evil. The child was duly washed and the 

 umbilical cord cut, he was then wrapped in swaddling clothes, 

 and carried down to the boat by one of the midwives. A 

 kajang was placed over him as an awning. The Princess wept 

 on being told of the disposal of her baby, and she made her 

 handmaids prepare a box containing every kind of garment 

 that the child would want, and a large basket (tabak) full of all 

 kinds of food, and these she sent down to the boat as a provi- 

 sion for the castaway. This done, the boat was set adrift on 

 the river of Mandi Angin, and the King had special ceremonies 

 performed (aruaJi dan mem-bacha segala d'oa penolak balaj 

 and directed cannon to be fired as a token of joy at having 

 averted evil from the kingdom. 



Now, the King had an elder brother called BANDAHARA Tua, 

 who lived at the mouth of the river. He, one day, was sitting 

 with his wife at their house, when he heard guns firing at the 

 town up the river, and he said to himself " Sure enough it 

 has come to pass that a Prince has been born and they are 

 firing guns in token of rejoicing at ridding the kingdom of a 

 curse. How can any one, having just experienced the joy of 

 paternity for the first time, have the heart to cast his new-born 

 son away, just because a lot of seers and astrologers choose 



