JELEBU CUSTOMARY SONGS AND SAYINGS. 13 



Then the marrow clambered upstream, 

 And the gourd grew trailing downstream, 

 Till their shoots were primed together, 

 And their fruits together taken. 

 House to house grew near together. 

 Hamlet clustered on to hamlet, 

 For their games men used one common, 

 Used one shelter for their bathing. 



II. 



In the time of Mara Chindai 



Isles Malayan all were flooded. 



So he took to boat, went sailing, 



Until lo ! his boat was stranded 



On our shore; and so we named him 



" Mighty chieftain, from the wreckage." 



On a hill he took his station, 



Gazed he round upon the treetops 



Clustering, crowded; and the country 



Rolled, a misty sea. below him. 



There did he ordain the custom : — 



" A trailing stem shall serve for binding, 



The fallen tree trunk for a barrier, 



The clod upturned for tilth and planting/' 



Then the Batin Maha Galang '■ 



Met the Four, and asked them questions; — 



On Palembang hills they answered. 



" I would seek a spacious valley, 



I would look for water courses, 



Tho' I tap the palm for water, 



Sleep with rustling leaves beneath me, 



A tree buttress for my pillow." 



Then the chiefs to him made answer, 



" Follow down the dragon's traces, 



And if thou would'st find the hillocks, 



Islets footed in the marshland, 



•Jungle fowl shall be thy leaders: 



Seekest thou the spreading meadow, 



By the grasshopper be guided: 



The spit of hills between the valleys 



By the bulbul shall be shown thee.'"' 



So the trailing stems were severed, 

 So the clod of earth turned upward, 

 And the trees fell to the woodmen. 

 (Then they met the Batin chieftain 

 And forsook the older custom:) 



R. A. Soc, No. 78. 



