4 JELEBU CUSTOMARY SONGS AND SAYINGS. 



mental principles of Aery practical importance are apt to be warped 

 by chiefs biassed in some particular case in the local court. 



Sa-Tcali ayer gedang 

 Sa-kali tepian beranjak; 

 Sa-Jcali gedang berganti, 

 Sa-lcali adat berubali:* 



" Every time a flood comes, 

 Landing-places shift ; 

 Every time a chief succeeds, 

 Custom changes." 



So runs a Minangkabau saying, and local wit has satirized 

 the custom of the four important States of the Negri Sembilan : — 



Pioli pilin tangkai jering adat Rembau; 

 Berpusing adat Jelebu bagai kinchirj 

 Entali-lah, hai! adat Semujong; 

 Benja bertidak adat Joliol. 



" Custom in Eembau is knotty and twisted as the stem of 

 the jering : 

 In Jelebu it goes round like a water-wheel; 

 It is doubtful in Sungai Ujong; 

 It is contradictory in Johol." 



But Malays recognize, as European students have failed often 

 to recognize, that despite this and despite modifications admitted 

 to make the adat keep pace with the times, at bottom there is only 

 one adat Minangkabau : — 



adat datar, pesaka suatu. 



And so well is it enshrined in old-world sayings that devia- 

 tions from it can be detected easily enough. European enquirers 

 have been too apt to accept every interested party's interpretation 

 as correct and peculiar to his State; instead of seeking for the 

 catholic interpretation of saying or custom : — 



sa-lengkong alam Minangkabau 



" throughout the circle of the Minangkabau world," where the 

 custom has been so wonderfully conserved through centuries, even 

 by the most distant colonists from that upland home. 



For instance. On pp. TO and 72 of " Eembau," it is stated : — 



" If misfortune is all his bachelor life brings him, then (a 



man's) family is responsible for his debts These duties of a 



mother to her son arise from the principle that the holder of an- 

 cestral property is responsible for the life and blood of all members 

 of the family Under Malay rule an insolvent debtor be- 



* The N. S. version reads pa sir hanj/ut for tepian beranjak and raja for 

 grdang in tne third line. 



Jour. Straits Branch 



