12' THE MALAY PANTUN. 
contradistinction to the séloka, in which the same thought runs 
through all four lines? The following quatrains would then be 
called séloka: 
Anak dara dua sa-pasang, Sudah bértému kaseh. sayang, 
Pakai baju, pakar kérosang, Dudok térkurong malam siang, 
Sa-biji nanas, sa-biji pisang,. Hingga sa-tapak tiada rénggang, 
Belum tahu rézéki musang.* Tulang séndi habis bérgunchang.* 
Chakapan pelet orang Pétani, Jalan-jalan sa-panjang jalan, 
Mari ka-tanjong héndak mém- Singgah-ményinggah di-pagar 
béli, orang, 
Bodoh kurang paham hért, Pura-pura méncharv ayam, 
Kambéli di-kata pérmaidam.® Ekor mata di-anak orang.* 
The verse of the séloka would be the usual shaér verse, which 
in its turn is possibly the old Indian sloka or stanza. A study of 
such séloka would probably show that the principle of the fourfold 
rhyme is not always strictly observed. Whoever has read a Malay 
Shaer, knows the awful difficulties the Malay poet has to master to 
get the fourfold rhyme, a difficulty which would make the popular 
use of such a quatrain rather impossible. When the pantun be- 
came popular, the double thought in it possibly caused the alternate 
thyme, which is much easier to find. 
A collection called “ Shaér Pantun Séloka” has been publ- 
ished in Singapore by the Malay press. It contains a number of 
series of pantun bérkait, but I have failed to find any essential 
difference between the quatrains of this collection and the usual 
pantun. | 
Something which seems akin to the Malay pantun is to be 
found in the Chinese language. When trying to read the “ Kin 
Ku K’i Kuan,” “Stories of old and new times,” the well-known 
collection of 40 Chinese novels dating from the Ming dynasty 
(1368—1644 A.D.) I came across some Chinese verses interspersed 
in the text which even to my imperfect knowledge of Chinese 
seemed to be on the lines of a pantun. Grube in his “ Geschichte 
der Chinesischen Literatur” quotes from the preface of V. von 
Strauss’s translation of the “ Shi-King,” “The Book of Odes,” 
one of the four classical books of Chinese literature, as follows: 
“The Chinese editors always indicate at the end of each 
“stanza whether it contains a direct statement (fw) a simile 
“or comparison (pt) or a metaphor or symbolical saying 
“(hsing). Only the latter is something peculiar, as in each 
“stanza, before coming to the real object of the poem, in one 
“or two lines a peculiar natural phenomenon, a well-known 
“event or occurrence is mentioned as an introduction not un- 
“like a clever arabesque in order to prepare reflection, sensa- 
‘¢Pantun Melayu,’’ No, 8, 
10, No. 951. 
ive iNo, 975. 
1b. No. 955, 
go PO 
Jour. Straits Branch 
