A NANING WEDDING-SPEECH. 29 



40. Through the stretch of Malay land, 



O'er the realm of Menangkabau, 

 Weal comes once, woe times and again : 

 Weal may not be wooed, 

 Woe may not be denied, 

 Weal soars away, woe comes crushing down; 

 Living we bide in the womb of custom, 

 Dead we lie in the womb of earth. 



This then is our lot. 



Clansmen of a clan, tribesmen of a tribe, 

 50. With kin both far and near : 



To those afar we hearken, 

 Those near we mark and obey. 



And after that, 



A stranger weds into our clan( 1 .) 

 For every stranger that weds into our clan 

 A share is set with just consent: 

 If there be land a share is proclaimed, 

 If there be none we deny it not. 

 To the low land a rice-plot with planted posts, 

 60. To the high land an orchard-square with betel-palm 



for mark ; 

 A place for the bride-groom to win his daily bread ( 2 .), 

 To the hill for drink,' 

 To the valley for meat: 

 To win a cover for the bare head, 

 A coat for the naked back, 

 A meal for the empty belly. 

 Homage, (3 Chief ! 



And after that, 



The years pass bv, children are born, 

 70. Both boys and girls : 



The day of birth is a day of naming ( 3 .), 

 A day of debt for mother and sire. 



The debt is five-fold : 

 First, to sever the navel, 

 Second, to pay the midwife, 

 Third, to wash and cleanse, 

 Fourth, to circumcise, 

 Fifth, to give in wedlock. 

 SO. To make small folk big, 



To make dull wits keen : 

 After the maimer of fowls, 

 Let loose at dawn, penned at eve. 

 The boys learn the Koran, 



R. A. Soc, No. 72, 1916. 



