The Cannibal King in the "Kedah Annals." 



By C. 0. Blagdex. 



The story of the cannibal king on pp. 71-77 of the "Hikayat 

 Marong Mahawangsa" (J. R. A. S., 8. //., To. 12, May, 1916), 

 differs a good deal in setting and incident from the similar tale 

 in Number 537 of FausbolFs series of the "' Maha-Sutasoma- 

 Jataka " (vol. X, p. 246 seq. of the translation by Francis in 

 Cowell's edition) ; but these two tales have so many points of agree- 

 ment that it is difficult to sup-pose they are unconnected. I shall 

 mention a few of the chief differences, as they occur in the course 

 of the narrative: lmt my main purpose will be to draw attention 

 to points of resemblance. 



The openings differ. In the Indian story the king of Benares 

 developes cannibal propensities in accordance with Buddhist ideas 

 of transmigration, because in a previous existence he has heen a 

 Yakkha or ogre ; .and lie has occasion first to taste human flesh, 

 because one day a dog steals his plate of meat and the king's cook 

 (a man) dishes up instead n portion of flesh cut from a fresh corpse 

 in the cemetery. 



In the Malay story, the eannibal king of Kedah is the son of 

 an ogress or Gergasij and lie first tastes human blood, when one day 

 his cook, a woman, cutting her linger by accident lets the blood drip 

 into a vegetable curry and there is no time to prepare another dish. 



Incidentally one may surmise that the detail of the " fresh 

 corpse " in the Indian version is an instance of the old Buddhist 

 custom (similar to the Parsi habit) of exposing corpses to be eaten 

 by birds of prey; and one may compare Groeneveldt's " Xotes on 

 the Malay Archipelago and Malacca," s.v. Tun-Sun, in " Essays 

 Relating to Indo-China, Second Series," vol. I, p. 210. where how- 

 ever the dying are so exposed. 



After the opening the two stories agree in many details. In 

 both, the king takes great pleasure in his horrid meal, even before 

 he is aware of its ingredients. In both, the cook is threatened with 

 death in default of confession as to the recipe! In both, the cook 

 confesses, and the king, so far from being shocked, orders more of 

 the gruesome fare, battening first on prisoners from the gaol and 

 later kidnapping the bodies of innocent people to supply the royal 

 table ; until at last there is uproar in the realm. 



In the Indian tale the cook is caught taking flesh from the 

 body of a- woman he has just killed; in the Malay, the king is attack- 

 ed b} r a bravo and a great fight ensues. In both tales, the king"'s 



Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 79. 



