22 
A NANING RECITAL. 
The lines are a noted crux and have received many trans- 
lations, none of them very satisfactory. Mr. J. E. Nathan 
informs me that the three lines mean in Negri Sembilan the 
Lembaga, the Undang, and the Raja respectively (the Tribal 
Head, the Chief, and the Euler, lines 37-39 above) : but no 
Malay can explain how they came to get this secondary 
meaning. 
I suggest that the connection is a? follows: the three 
lines describe three stages of clearing and preparing land for 
a grave, viz., cutting down the scrub (tebas), felling the trees 
( tebang ), digging the pit ( pend am ) ; and so, metaphorically, 
the graded jurisdictions of the Tribal Head, Chief, and Ruler. 
They might be paraphrased : 
‘ Where scrub has been cut, stubble is found ; 
Where stumps remain, trees have been felled: 
Only where a pit has been dug is a grave made ’. 
In other words, the jurisdictions of the Lembaga and 
Undang are limited, and their decisions are not final (‘stubble’ 
or ‘stumps’ are left) : it is the Raja who is the ultimate foun- 
tain of justice ( keadilan ) and the final court of appeal. 
See also note on lines 268-275, below. 
As to the respective jurisdictions of the three Courts, see 
Rembau, chapter 2 (Journal No. 56), and Notes on the 
Negri Sembilan, Part 2. 
11. Line 79. For the use of ceremonial rice-paste and Malay 
building ceremonies see Malay Magic (Skeat). 
12. Lines SS-90. The magic Palace of Pagar Ruyong — one of the 
royal marvels ( kebesaran ) of the Sultans of Menangkabau. 
The miracle was the supernatural size of the nettle, mallow, 
and star-apple, that could furnish pillars and drums. The 
drums were covered with the ‘ skin of lice ’ ( Tculit tuma) . 
The Menangkabau Regalia included (among other child- 
ish prodigies) ‘the diadem of the Prophet Solomon; the 
mountain where grow the plaintive bamboos which entrap 
wild birds by the fascination of their melody; the elephant 
Sakti; the padi, Sitanjo Rani, on which His Majesty feeds at 
mid-day; the flower Seri, the odour of which extends a day’s 
journey — it is sown, grows up, produces leaves, flowers and 
fruit, in a single day ’ ; and many other strange and curious 
things. A list of the Regalia is given in Newbold, who trans- 
lates from a Malay document. See also a footnote on page 28 
of Malay Magic. 
The Malay text from which Newbold translates will be 
found in Volume 921 of the Society's Library in Singapore, a 
very interesting work. 
Jour. Straits Branch 
