CHABM8 AND AMULETS 



47 



the sufferer, so does the bonwr by the might of his song 

 blow it from him : — 



Here come I to cure a burnt sore. 



If the dead knew what the living endure, 



The burnt sore would burn no more. 



The scene is the little shop of a herbalist in the East 

 End. A mother brings her child, whose leg has been 

 scalded by boiling water spouting from a kettle. The 

 herbalist, an old man with a white beard, blows his 

 breath three times on the blistei-s of the scald. The 

 action of blowing as a common accompaniment of 

 Nordic magic is recorded by Dr. Chai*les Singer, whose 

 words I have paraphrased above to suit the Malay 

 ** medicine-man." It is also recorded that " medicnie- 

 men '* among the tribes of the north-west Amazons work 

 their cures by means of " breathed charms " ; in this 

 case sometimes the " medicine-man " will ** breathe on 

 his own hand and then massage the affected part." 



One of the special prerogatives of the old Malay Rajas 

 is summed up in the phrase tikam ta' birimya ('* to slay 

 without having to ask leave "), and the idea of this 

 ancient right is still preserved m the exultation of a 

 blood-curdling spell, showmg how real the beHef is in 

 regard to precautious that must he taken against evil 

 spirits. The spell is a Kelantan one, supposed to cure 

 a man who has become dazed by the will-o'-the-wisp 

 or jaek-a-lantern flashing past him in the gloom : — 



Peace be with thee, 0 Jin aon of Jan ! 



0 Satan son of Serdan Firann, 

 Know that I am lord, - 



1 slay blindly without havLng to seek leave, 

 Slay without being guilty of crime, 



I, in sooth, am Lord of all living things ! 



The evil spirit here refeiTed to is jin lintasan, a 

 restless, ever-wandering spirit that hauiits groves at 



