A VISITOR FROM THE PAST. (Please scroll down for English translation) Anax Saa tu Nax Amar Nee Told by Otis Wagida April 10,1984 Pee poo a dohi ana kasiaq tu nax amar nee. Geba naa,do nax ama mata haix, sisa nax amar nee. Pee tu sambetak e exlod haa kiko. Xlod haa kiko pee, poo riq an e aqak e nax amaro pili lepax, pili logok e nunu ixna lafato la du iko la du pteax timu. Poo riqe eprepa fene, "Bau, a hai tu kae." Riqe fen, "Moo, ka hai tu yako moo, mele nam ama nmatan puun e da puna yako paa ya xdobo ior si moo." Fene, "Bau roit e, do a hai tu kae." Fen, "Moo. Kae haix yako moo, mele nam ama nmatan puun puna yako, paa ya dobo ior si moo." Eh. Da prepa la saa gamdihe,da prepa la saa gamdihe, eta moo, riqe an e aqak e nax memer tu nax baoro iko sepo, da taqih. Taqi, taqi, sape getex paa da bamnei, da hosak e, da taqi pil-pilik. Nax ina hai, paa da lomoh. Bara lomo ledax moh! Nax ina lomo-lomoh, moo, pekah! Eta da taqi-taqi sape getex pee, geba mkeda ol botin saa basuba fidi tohon fusan. Pee tu geba keda ol boti di suba dii, paa da lomoh. Fene, "Tau e, ka taqix tenix?" Poo geba roi an naa, ana kasiaq naa, gamwe-weax fidii, paa da hosax, paa da baptea. Fene, "Opo, a taqi naa tu naq memero du iko tatax kono, naq baor du iko tatax kon, paa yako la a haix sira,bu sira xrei yako fen moo tu mele naq ama nmatan puun hai pa d puna sira, pee tu sira xrei yako an." Fen, "Eta gamdii, do ku bara taqi mohehe! Kae ix taqik e ii slehe-sleheR. Sir tewa fafu duan fidi sira, tonal duan fidi sira, do du iko do du doboh." Pee tu geba roin an naa, da oli tu geba keda an di fixdii,paa sira ptea sax huma. Ptea sax huma sape modan-modan pee, poo da dasa nake suran waqan an emsian--da pele uk fenan, pa d dasa nax suran waqan an emsian, paa da prepa la nake geba roi an di fen, "Mahix, la a ptane eptokex kae tu suran." Du gamdae menen fixdii, paa da tane sura waq sia an dii, da hapu unet an saa, da hapu ptokex geba roin an di. Sapeee, bage, pee tu supax-supak , da tolo geba roi an di. "Geba an e, hosax beka! Kae bage geha-geha haan di tu ka aqak e nam ama banewe la da ptoke kae tu suran, da ptoke kae tu unet e? Hosax la ku iko liqa namu unex, nam suran an beka!" Da iko suba dae, paa da aqak e di nake sura waq sia an dii, fafu qis snap telu ba-emnei! Nake unet an dii, tona breq tin anax ba-epsoo. Pee tu da egu baa tonal an di pa da oli, da peka fafu di. Da oli suba lawe, paa da prepa la geba keda an di fene, "Opon e,dae naa do fafu sa beta toqi." Poo geba keda an di saki dae fixdii, paa da wihi fafu di, paa da oli tuha dena dih. Da oli tuha dena dii, pee tu da hapu eqa,paa da xnahi fafu an dii, paa xnahi sepuh, paa da fotoh,paa da foto sepuh, paa da tedak e fafu dii. Pele uka, paa da tedax fafu dii, paa da tedax sepuh,paa da plihix. Geba roi an di tu pirin saa, nax ina tu pirin sax. Poo geba roi an di kaa, da puna beta lalen moo, fene, "Opon e, ka kaa sia pee." Fen, "Moo, Opo, ku kaar an fixdii,tu yax kaa beta ior di mox." Sepe du kaa sepo fafu dii, da dasa pil-pilik e uka waqan an di saa, paa da saki gamdae, paa da tane pil-pilix uka waqan di saa, da hoso pehul an saa, tu da hapu nake unet an sa pil-pilix, paa ior an di raman an telo. Poo sape bisux fidii pee, sirua oli, paa du ptea la huma. Ptea sepe beto, poo du bage. Bage sepe tepux kalaxlalen emsian pee, da tolo ana kasiaq. "Ana Kasiaq e, ku hosax beka la ku ix liqa nam uneto tu nam suran tu nam pehul! Ka puna nbagex haa naa tu kae gana nam ama banewe la da ptoke kae tu unex pi da ptoke kae tu pehul pi da ptoke kae tu suran. Ii sa paa nam baoro, nam memero, fene du kix tatax ka!" Geba roi an dii hosax fidii, paa da iko gamdae,paa da liqa nake ior ano di. Da liqa nax suran an tu nax pehul tu nake unet an dii, da aqax di suran waqan rua dii, fafor rua baflali. Da aqax di nax unet ano rua dii, tona rua bapsoo. Da aqax di pehul an dii, manu keho sa baflafa. Da holik e keho an dii, da oli falawe,paa da prepa la geba mtua ol botin di fene, "Opo, tonal an rua tu fafor rua,bu ya egu mtaikor moo." Geba mkedan dii saki dae fidii, paa da egu tonal ano dii, paa da wihi fafor an, paa da ol tuha. Ol tuha dena lawe, paa da pepax ban haax, paa da xnahiro. Da xnahi sepor,paa da tedak e tonal, tedax fafu,paa geba roi an dii tu nax ina kaa. Fene, "Opoo, ka kaa sia pee!" Fen, "Opoo, ya kaa beta ior di moo." Fen, "Opoo, do ka kaa tenik e?" Fen, "Yako an do a kaa baa ii sa qaan fene 'lahit' e." Geba roi an dii,da rojaq hama lahix. Poo da dufa siwi saa. Poo da prepa fen, "Opoo, ka kaa ii di ha q naa?" Fen, "Moo, Opo, ya kaa ii ha di mohede." Da dufa sakik e lahit an saa, poo da eguh, paa da nawah, fen, "Opoo, ka kaa di ii ha q naa?" Fen, "Exe, ya kaa ii di ha di ta." Pee poo da egu. Paa da jaga kali lahix, paa da egu paa geba keda an di kaah. Riqe nake enpunat e gamdihe-gamdihe, sepe da tane suran waqan polo, fafor polo, da tane suran waqan pol-rua, fafor pol-rua. Da hapu unex raman pol-rua, e tonal pol-rua. Da hoso nake pehul pol-rua, e manux pol-rua. Poo geba keda di prepa la nake opo an fen, "Opoo, na braqi-braqin e namu memer tu nam baoro du oli haix,paa yako la a oli gamdi naq elex pee." Poo geba roi an di taqi. Fene, "Ku bara taqi, tu sepe ku caan e namu memr tu nam baoro nun tuba lien fidi tohon pee, poo ku heka sax hawa, la ku ix liqa nam surano, tu fafu fux boti ap elen dii, da mata saka di ta, la ku tedax la namu e baoro tu nam memer." Poo geba keda an di ptetek e rihi fidii, paa da puna humkolon, paa da pebreo geba roi an di nax lai, paa da pebreo sepor saka humkolon, pee tuda egu imex tu lafu fidii, pa d sena nunu humkolon an, paa xnewax tehux moh. Poo geba keda an dii da oli. Riqe fene, "A oli tu nam memer tu nam baoro oli naa,mele du kita yako." Fene, "Opoo, gamdii do ya hai toqi tu kae." Fen, "Moo. Kae haix beta yako moo, tu ya naq elex do samax pee." Fen, "Moo. Ya hai toqi tu kae." Fen, "Moo, opo, kae haix beta yako moo, tu ya naq elex do samax pee." Eh. Pee tu geba roi an dii toma-toma moo,da taqi. Geba roi an di taqi,pee tu geba keda an dii da aqax la geba roi an dii, da wene fene: "Nam mancari da bamhusel, da bamhusel, Nam mancari da bamsolex, do Ku lata dufan siru mahun, la ku kusex dae la psuanor baa tokan laqit e, ba tokan laq, la bapsuanor baa toman laqit e!" Geba roi an di fen, "Mohe, Opoo, bu a haix kae!" Fen, "Moo, Opoo, asal e fidoo eta namu mancari da duga la da mhusel pi da msolex pi, do ku egu lahix isin la ku fagex di nam ama nake pi-car-boti dii i-fuun e qaqan fafan di." Fen, "Ehe ta, Opon e, bu ya haix kae!" Sirua plawa-plawan, moo, geba roi an di hai. Geba roi an di hai sepeee da suba di lapit e exnusen elen. E butal exnusen elen. Poo geb roi an di bakerex, fene, "Ku aqak e, opoo, butal exnusen elen haa q nah." "Namu mancari da mhusel pi namu mancari da msolex,do iqax tu ku lata dufan tu mahun, la ku kusekor ba keq naa." Fen, "Opoo, ku baptea, tu ya oli gamdi naq elet." Fen, "Eeh." Pee tu geba keda ol botin di baiko qei-qei-qei-qei lapi lahi haa di. Pee tu geb roi an di baptea paa da bajaga--Ana Kasiaq eptea, paa da bajaga. Da jaga sepe da molae frake lapix dii lahin ditan e paa da keha lepax pee, olon e da leli, paa e geba keda ol botin tehux mohe,tu hisaleu! Sepe da tanux kad lale rua pee, e hisaleu suba di geba keda an dii fahan rua. Sepe da tanux kad laler telo pee, xnewax fene geba keda ol botin tehux mohe,tu hisaleu! Poo hisaleu kalafneex di bakeha lepax-lepax, poo geba roin di ptea, i ha bacikek! Pee tuda oli gamdi nax huma. Oli gamdi nax huma, paa da caan e nax amaro nunu tuba lien e fidi tohon, pee tu da heka saka hawa, paa da egu fafu fux boti ap elen di, paa da oli pao, paa da pele uka, paa da hisi uta maden, paa da tedax,pa d sohik e nake amaro. Nax amar oli dii, du dapak e dagiq sa moo, tu cuma du holik e exwasoro, du egu kehoro, du egu kamyohoro. Paa sira xmasa--geba muaro xmasa paa qei geba kasiaq an dii tu nake ina. Da egu tona bhaa-bhaat an saa, paa da werix di nax ina, tu keho an saax. Da egu yoho saa, paa da werix di nax anat e, tu exwasu an saax. Tanak e ana kasiaq e, sirua kaa sepe du kaa sepo, pee tu du oli tuha nun ior an di gamsaka. Riqe eprepa fene, "Inan ee, ku xmasak e maqkau sa la memen sir tu baun si pee, tu kita kaa sepo fidi sira haix." Pee tu sira rua exmasa. Exmasa, paa du faka fafu korbele-korbelero di fixdii,paa du psalukor aki meja. Nax bau tu nake memero aqak e du xmasa faf haat, pee tu sira du keha moh. Baa nun finhaaro keha paa du kax. Finar nee di keha pa du kaa baa, nunu ana mhanar nee di keha pa du kaa moo. Kaa sepe du ka sepo, pee tu du ol tuha baa nunu gebhaar nunu di pao di huma. Pee tu ptea tu sepuh, defo tu sepuh. (Transcribed June 18, 1989, at Honolulu, by Joe Devin). I tell of a poor boy and his six uncles. This boy's father died, leaving him with six uncles. About that time, a great shorea season got under way. He saw his uncles bustling about to prepare provisions for their east-monsoon hunt. And he said, "Uncle, I will go with you." "No," said the uncle, "you are not going with me, just in case the agent of your father's death should act upon me, and I fail to succeed in the hunt." "Then I will go with you," he said to his youngest uncle. But he also said, "No, you are not going with me, just in case the agent of your father's death should act upon me, and I fail to succeed in the hunt." The same thing happened with all of them. Then he watched them go, and cried. He cried until he lay breathless on the ground, then got up and started crying all over again. His mother came,and tried to comfort him, but it wouldn't work. He cried until he lay exhausted on the ground again, and then a grey-haired old man came up the path, and said, "What are you crying about, my friend?" The boy stirred, and sat up. "Grandpa," he said, "I am crying because my uncles have all left me behind. I wanted to go with them, but they wouldn't let me because they thought the cause of my father's death might come after them." "Then don't cry anymore! Why should you be crying for nothing? Do they think they will succeed in hunting because they are the masters of all possums and pigs?" So the little boy went back to the house with the old man,where they sat until mid-afternoon. Then the old man cut a bamboo tree nearby, and carved a single suran stave. "Come along," he said, "and I will teach you how to plant suran staves." They went into the forest, and the old man planted the single suran stave, and showed the little boy how to make an unet possum snare. Then they went home, and spent the night together,and in the morning, the old man roused the little boy. "Get up!" he said, "are you sleeping in like this because your father is alive to teach you how to hunt with staves and snares? Get up now, and go check your snare and your stave!" Arriving inland, the boy found a three-centimeter-tusked pig lying stuck on his stave, and a large female possum hanging from his snare. He took the possum, and went home, leaving the pig behind. Arriving at the house, he said, "There was a pig up there too, Grandpa." So the old man went up, and carried the pig home slung from his hand. Then he built an "eqa" frame, from which he hung the pig to singe off its hair. Then he cut it up. He went and cut sections of bamboo, filled them with pieces of pork, and cooked them over the fire. And when the meat was cooked, he removed it from the sections of bamboo,and sliced it up for them to eat. The little boy got one plate, and his mother got another. But the little boy felt uncomfortable because the old man didn't eat. "You eat some too, Grandpa," he said. "No, my child," the old man said,You eat. I cannot eat these things." They ate this pig for several days. And when it was finished, the old man sharpened another bamboo stave, went back inland, and planted it. He also fenced off a maleo bird nest, and set a pehul snare, and set another unet snare. So now there were three places to check. Then they returned,and spent the day at the house, where they also slept that night. But at first cock-crow in the morning, the old man roused the boy as before. "Get up now,and go check your unet and your suran and your pehul! You sleep as if your father were alive to teach you about unets and pehuls and suran staves. There is a reason why your uncles left you behind!" So the little boy got up, and went inland to check his suran, his unet, and his pehul. And he saw two pigs impaled on his two suran staves, two possums hanging from his two unet snares, and a maleo bird flapping its wings in his pehul. He took the maleo bird home, and said, Grandpa! There were also two possums and two pigs, but I was not strong enough to carry them." The old man went back to the traps, took the two possums,and carried the pigs home slung from his hands. Then he built a bonfire, and singed off all the animals' fir. Then he cooked possum and pig meat in sections of bamboo for the little boy and his mother to eat as before. "Grandpa!" said the boy, "You eat some too!" "No," he said, "I cannot eat tsuch things." "Then what DO you eat?" asked the boy. "I only eat one thing," he said, "and that is something called 'lahit.'" So the boy went looking for lahit, and found some ordinary ginger. "Is this what you eat?" he asked. "No, I have not eaten that," came the reply. Then he found some lahit, and showed it to the old man, and asked, "Is this what you eat?" "Yes," he said, "that is what I eat." So he went and got more, and from then on he always gathered lahit for the old man to eat. And the old man continued in this way, until he had planted ten staves, and ten pigs had died, then twenty staves, and twenty pigs had died. He tied twenty unet snares, and got twenty possums. He set twenty pehul snares, and got twenty birds. Then the old man said to the boy, "Son, your uncles will soon be coming home now, and I don't want them to see me, so I am going to return to my place." And the little boy cried. "Don't cry," he said, "Run up to the garden when you hear the sound of your uncles' drums on the trail, and check your suran stave, and you will find a white-bellied pig dead there. This will be for you to cook for them." And the old man cut poles, and built the boy a storehouse on ratfoil stilts for his meat. Then he hung the dried meat inside. And when he was done, he took charcoal and ashes, and sprinkled them on their storehouse, and rendered it invisible. Then the old man went back to the house,and said, "I am going back to my place now, because your uncles are coming home, and they might see me." "Then I am going with you," the little boy said. "No," said the old man, "you cannot come with me, because my place is some distance away." "No. I am going with you!" But the old man repeated the same words. And the little boy broke down and cried. And the old man looked at him, and sang him this song: "When your hunting is fruitless, Then cut dufan and mahun, Impale them on a prayer stick, And raise them to the sky, And raise them to the sky!" "No, Grandpa, but I am going with you!" said the little boy. "No, son," the old man said, "but whenever your hunting is fruitless, just take some lahit tubors, and drop them into your dead father's white plate covering the mouth of the urn." "Okay, Grandpa," he said, "But let me go with you." They argued on, but the old man could not prevail, so he took the boy with him. The little boy followed until they came to a place where people had erected sacrifices near the base of a banyan tree. "Look, Grandpa," he said, "this is a place where people have erected butal sacrifice poles." "Yes," said the old man, "When your hunting goes badly, cut dufan and mahun, and sacrifice them here. Sit down now, my son, for I return to my place." "Okay," said the boy, and the old man started walking toward the great banyan tree. He sat and watched until the old man took hold of one of the hanging roots to climb, and suddenly the old man's head changed into that of a giant python. The old man took another step, and the python body reached down to his arms. And by the third step, there was no more old man, but only a giant python slithering up and up into the tree. And the little boy sat trembling! Then he went home, and heard the sound of his uncles' drums on the trail, and he ran up to the garden, and found the pig with the white belly lying dead. He carried it home. Then he cut sections of bamboo, and gathered "maden" greens, and cooked them in the bamboo with the pork, and waited for his uncles. His uncles had done very poorly in their hunt. All they had were some possums, exwasu and maleo birds, and civet cats. And (as tradition dictated) the hunting party cooked for the little boy and his mother whom they had left at home. They placed a good-sized possum and a maleo bird before his mother. And they placed a civet cat and an exwasu bird before him. And when they had eaten their fill, the little boy and his mother returned to their house with what was left of their food. Then the little boy said, "Cook some cassava for the uncles now, mother, because it is our turn to feed them." And the two of them cooked, and cut great chunks of pork,and laid them out on the table. And when the uncles saw that they were cooking big pig, they refused to eat. Only the six wives went up into the kitchen to eat. And when they were done,they brought their husbands' portions home. And life went on. And so ends our tale. Note: The shorea trees, which are now being stripped from Buru by outsiders, play a major role in traditional Buru life. Their bark provides a rough sheet material about 3/16" thick, which is used to cover the wallsand roofs of houses. The rotting shorea trunks are host to "midun" grubs, which are an important part of Buru nutrition. But in this story it is the shorea fruit that are important. Forest animals grow fat during the southeast monsoon,and it is duringthis time that the Buru people enter the forest for their most important hunt, which may last several months. Hunting is so important as to be considered critical to survival, and thus an event requiring spiritual circumspection. The mysteries of life and death are not easily understood. The uncles are saying that they are afraid some spiritual force may have caused the little boy's father's death, and they want to make sure no such force will interfere with their hunt. This story provides insight into the fine personal relationships possible in traditional Buru life. The child immediately calls the old man, "Grandpa," even though he has never seen him before, and the old man soon calls him "Grandson," which I have translated here as "my son." The Buru word for both is just "Opo." The mother shows no concern about her son's new relationship with this strange old man. Not only that, but the old man is free to spend the night. She is not worried about his intentions, and she is not afraid that he may kidnap her son. The old man does not seem to be any ordinary man. Everything he does succeeds, and he has supernatural strength, otherwise he couldn't carry big pigs home slung from his hand. Then he doesn't eat. And finally, he says he eats "lahit" ginger tubors. This is a dead give-away, because such tubors are used in sacrifice to the spirits. He seems to be the benevolent and loving personification of the progenitor of the clan, who wants his offspring to survive. Now the ancient religion of Buru unfolds. The hunting lesson ends with its spiritual part. Great age is venerated in Buru. So are the spirits of the dead. Hunters are supposed to offer them lahit by placing it on plates in the spirit house, and to drive butal stakes into the ground with sacrifices of dufan and mahun. "Dufa" means "get," and "mahu" means "tame." The banyan tree is a symbol of the progenitor of the clan. It is also a sacred animistic symbol in other parts of Indonesia. It was adopted as the political symbol of the "Golongan Karya" party when general elections were re-introduced under Suharto. The python is associated with hunting in many parts of Buru. In the 1950s, it was said that a man of the Waeapu area kept a giant python as his "emkehal," and allowed it to eat his own children in the belief that this brought him success in the hunt. I have also heard of people offering their children in prayers to emkehal spirits when game was very scarce. Hunting parties carry drums to announce their return. It is a time of great joy. They cook a meal and share their precious meat with those they have left behind. Feeding the family is an honor. The uncles are outclassed, and will not eat because they are ashamed. Wives come in handy at such times. The wives cover for them,and bring their share of the precious pig meat home.