18 THE MALAY PANTUN. 
let; what the singer wants to say, he expresses in the second coup- 
let, and apparently the second couplet lingers in the memory of 
the Malay much stronger than the first. When hearing extem- 
porised pantun, I have often noticed that the singer has fixed in 
his mind only the last couplet and improvises the first simply to 
get the rhyme, without paying any attention to principles of as- 
sonance and veiled thought. If he finds in his momentary sur- 
roundings or occupation a motive for the rhyme he needs, he will 
seize it at once. Again any adept in pantun has at his com- 
mand a large number of rhyme-equivalents which will enable him 
to construct at a moment’s notice the first couplet that gives the 
rhyme for the second, and even to do it in a neat style, giving a 
nice little picture, which however has hardly any inner connection 
with the thought expressed in the second couplet. Sometimes he 
simply alters a stock-phrase just to get at the rhyme. ‘The choice 
of fruits put by the extemporiser into a puan or dulang very often 
seems to be determined solely by the rhyme, and so too the use of 
stock-phrases darv....bélayar ka...., orang....pulang ka....; 
kalau tuan pérgi ka....., charikan sahaya. 
Below are given some quatrains taken from Pantun Melayu, 
Pantun Dondang Sayang and my own collection, in which the 
third and fourth lines are quite or very nearly identical, whilst 
the first two lines differ more or less. Siometimes the rhyme-words 
still linger in the singer’s memory, and sometimes the principle of 
assonance makes itself felt vaguely. T’hese examples may serve 
to illustrate the working of the Malay pantun-singer. Experts 
perhaps will be able to discriminate between the work of the poet 
and that of the plagiarist. 
Kumbang térbang kéliling kota, 
Makan rukam sa-pokok habis; 
Adinda jangan bimbang ta suka, 
Ambul kéris tikam sa-kali. 
Yu puteh si-lumba-lumba, 
Lalu bérénang ka-Tanjong Jat. 
Anak sungai kalau ku-tuba, 
Lotong siamang jatoh matt. 
Batk-barik tuan méngrkat ; 
Anak balam térbang tinggi; 
Bark-bak tuan ményurat, 
Kalam jangan buat pényugi, 
ae Mp 00D. 
Zamzam télaga ada di-Mékah, 
Jinum orang anak si-Ali; 
Adinda jangan bimbang ta’ suka, 
Ambil kéris tikam sa-kali, 
Jin bésar turun bértapa, 
Makan sa-hari sa-gantang padi; 
Anak sunga kalau ku-tuba, 
Lotong siamang jatoh mati. 
Ada suatu Haji Tambi, 
Beérjumpa kolam turun mandi; . 
Baik-baik tuan ménulis 
Kalam jangan buat pényugi. 
Jour. Straits Branch 
