III KAY AT NAKHODA MUD A. 
107 
Falling in love through a dream is a common incident in In- 
dian romance, e.g. in the Vasavadalta by Subhandu, 7th century, 
(Colebrooke ‘Asiatic Researches' vol. X) : the motive is found also 
in Talc XI of my edition of the Hikayat Bayan Budimcm, and in 
that pastiche, the Hikayat Maharaja Ali. 
The title Nakhoda Muda is also given to a Malay romance 
known too as the Hikayat Maharaja Bikrama Sakti. Of this tale 
there are five manuscripts at Batavia (van Ronkel’s “Catalogus”, 
pp. 135-138), one manuscript in the Bibliotheque Royale at Brus- 
sels, Xo. 21512, and a version lithographed at Singapore for the 
second time in 1900 A.D. : of the tale inset in the Singapore ver- 
sion van Ophuijsen has printed a romanized text. No. 50 in his 
Maleisch Leeshock. The following is an outline of the Singapore 
text. 
Maharaja Bikrama Sakti and his consort Sinar Bulan, 
daughter of the ruler of Juita, reign over Maha Hairan (or 
Mihran) Langkawi. They die, leaving a son Maharaja Johan Shah 
and a daughter Ratna Kemala. The son sets out to travel under 
the name of Nakhoda Lela Genta, comes to Rumenia (-in the MSS. 
Rumbia — van Ronkel, p. 135) Island, where pips of the fruit from 
which the island takes its name, if cast to the ground, spring up 
immediately as trees. Taking some of the pips he sails to Beranta 
Indra where reigns Maharaja Dekar (= Pendekar, ‘Champion’ — 
Malayalim) ‘Alam, the father of prince Bikrama Indra. There 
he stakes self and ship on the magic property of the pips ; loses his 
wager and is made a groom. His sister disguised as a sea-captain 
( Nakhoda Muda), with a female crew also disguised, goes in quest 
of her brother, comes to Rumenia Island, discovers the magic trees 
and taking pips and soil together sails on to Beranta Indra where 
her faithful parroquet finds her luckless brother at work as a 
groom. Staking self and ship on the rumenia pips, she wins and 
recovers her brother and his ship by sprinkling secretly the spot 
where the pips are to be sown with soil from their native island. 
After that she would sail away to Langgadura (= in the MSS. 
Langga Widura and Langkadura, ib., pp. 136-7) to the court of 
Sultan Mengindra Sakti, father of prince Dewa Laksana and 
princess Indra Madani, to ask the hand of the latter for her rescued 
brother. But the crown prince Bikrama Indra, detains her, 
suspecting that she is a girl and loving her, though unaware that 
she is actually his betrothed. 
His father tells him how to test her sex but her parroquet 
overhears all their plots and forewarns her. She does not pick and 
choose her food ; she gambles, heedless as to luck or loss ; when 
jewels are offered to her, she does not select but takes a handful at 
random ; she displays skill at cock-fighting, climbs a tree, plucks 
flowers carelessly fresh and faded, races on a pony, bandies qua- 
trains, dances, jumps over ditches, and being trapped into retiring 
to the prince’s chamber whiles away the night bv telling a tale or 
rather two tales in one: — 
R. A. Soc., No. 83, 1921. 
