Oceanic Mythology: Part III. Indonesia: Chapter II. Trickster Tales
IN Polynesia the tales of the exploits of the hero Maui formed a cycle which was current everywhere in one form or another, and which was in many ways, perhaps, the most characteristic of legends as it was the most popular. Corresponding to the Maui cycle in Polynesia in universality, characteristic quality, and popularity, but differing entirely in type, are the Indonesian trickster tales centring about the mouse-deer (kantjil or pelanduk), the tarsier ape, or the tortoise; and these stories, of which there are very many versions, may well be considered next, and before taking up those of more miscellaneous character. In these tales or fables (for very many of them are indeed such) the mouse-deer usually plays the leading part in Borneo, Java, and Sumatra, as well as among the Malays of the Malay Peninsula; whereas in Celebes and Halmahera the same exploits are often attributed to the ape. Sundry other tales of a like character seem to be recorded only of the ape, and others again only of the tortoise. The order of the incidents varies considerably in different regions, although the series usually starts with a tricky exploit which rouses enmity and pursuit. In Java, 1 the beginning is as follows. One day the kantjil was resting quietly when he heard a tiger approaching and feared for his life, wherefore, quickly taking a large leaf, he began to fan a pile of dung which happened to lie near. When the tiger came up, and overcome by curiosity asked what he was doing, the mouse-deer said, "This is food belonging to the king. I am guarding it." The tiger, being very hungry, at His intended victim, had meanwhile found a very venomous snake, which lay coiled up asleep. Sitting by this, he awaited the tiger's arrival, and when the latter came up raging in pursuit, he told him that he had only himself to blame, since he had been warned not to eat the food. "But," said the kantjil, "you must keep quiet, for I am guarding the girdle of the king. You must not come near it, because it is full of magic power." The tiger's curiosity and desire being, of course, only stimulated by all this, he insisted that he be allowed to try on the precious girdle, to which the kantjil yielded with apparent reluctance, again warning him to be very careful and, as before, saying that the tiger must first let him get safely away, in order that no guilt might attach to him. When the kantjil had run off, the tiger seized the supposed magic girdle, only to be bitten by the snake, which he did not succeed in killing until after a severe struggle. 3 Thirsting for vengeance, the tiger again took up the pursuit of his clever little adversary, who, meanwhile, had stopped to rest, so that when the tiger caught up with him, he found him sitting near a clump of tall bamboo. The kantjil greeted the tiger warmly and said, without giving the latter time to express his anger, that he had been appointed keeper of the king's trumpet. The tiger, immediately desiring to try this wonderful instrument, was induced to put his tongue between Again the tiger gave chase, and this time found the kantjil standing beside a great wasp's-nest. As before, the trickster warned the tiger not to disturb him, for he was guarding the king's drum which gave out a very wonderful tone when struck; but the tiger, of course, was most anxious to have the opportunity of sounding it. With feigned reluctance, the kantjil at last agreed, stipulating, as before, that he be allowed to get out of the way. As soon as he had put a safe distance between himself and the tiger, he gave the signal, and the tiger struck the nest, only to be beset the next instant by a swarm of angry wasps. 5 For another famous exploit of the trickster we may take a Bornean version. 6 One day the mouse-deer was going out fishing when the tortoise, the deer, the elephant, and several other animals asked to be allowed to go with him. He agreed, and so large a catch was secured that the party resolved to smoke a portion to preserve it. The elephant remained behind next day to watch the drying fish; but while he was on guard there came a great crashing in the forest, and presently a huge giant appeared, a forest demon, who calmly stole the fish, ate them, and walked away without the elephant daring to stop him. When the fishermen returned, they were much disturbed over the loss of their fish, but as they again had a large supply, they left another of the party on guard next day. Once more the giant came and ate the whole, this continuing until all the animals had had their turn except the mouse-deer, and all had failed to prevent the giant's theft. The other animals laughed at the tiny fellow's boast that now he would catch and kill the thief; but as soon as the fishermen had gone, he got four strong posts and drove them into the ground, after which he collected some rattan and began to plait four large One day the trickster fell by accident into a deep pit, from which he could not climb out, try as he would. For a long time he sat there wondering what to do, but at last an elephant came by, and seeing the mouse-deer, asked him what he was doing. The latter replied that he had information that the sky was going to fall and that all creatures would be crushed, whence he had taken refuge in this pit in order to save himself. Greatly alarmed, the elephant begged that he, too, might be allowed to come into the pit, and the trickster agreeing, he descended, whereupon the kantjil, seizing the opportunity, jumped upon the elephant's back, from which he was able to leap out of the pit; and so he ran away, leaving the elephant to his fate. 9 Resolving to be avenged, the crocodile bided his time, and when the trickster came later to the river to drink, he seized one of the mouse-deer's legs in his mouth. Nothing dismayed, the captive picked up a branch and called out, "That is not my leg; that is a stick of wood. My foot is here." The crocodile accordingly let go and snapped at the branch, thinking that it was really the trickster's leg; but this gave the needed opportunity, and the clever mouse-deer bounded away to safety, leaving the stupid crocodile with the stick in his mouth. 11 The crocodile, however, determined not to go without his revenge, lay in wait, floating like a water-soaked log until the mouse-deer should visit the river again. When, after a while, he did come to the stream and saw the crocodile motionless, he stood on the bank and said, as if he were in doubt whether or not it was a log, "If that is the crocodile, it will float downstream." The crocodile, resolving not to give himself away, remained motionless; and then the trickster added, But if it is a log, it will float upstream." At once the crocodile began to swim slowly against the current, and the mouse-deer, having discovered what he wished, called out in derision, "Ha! ha! I have fooled you once more." 12 The trickster is not invariably successful in avoiding capture, although he usually manages to escape by a ruse. Thus, being caught one day in a trap while he was plundering a Other adventures of the trickster in which he escapes by a ruse of a different sort are as follows. Being about to be attacked by the buffalo, who wished to kill him, the trickster put on his head a false pair of horns to alarm his adversary, and reddening them as if with blood, stood ready for the attack. When the buffalo appeared, the ape (who was the trickster in this instance) called out that he had just killed several other buffaloes and was quite ready for further conflict, whereupon his opponent, deceived by the imitated horns and blood, fled, thinking that he had caught a tartar. 15 A somewhat different version, in which the tiger is the aggressor, runs thus. 16 The tiger was seeking the kantjil to cat him, when the latter hastened to find a djati-plant, whose leaves he chewed making his mouth blood-red; after which he went and sat down beside a well. By and by the tiger came along, and the trickster, assuming a fierce aspect and drivelling blood-red saliva from his mouth, said that the tiger had better look out, as he, the mouse-deer, was accustomed to cat tigers, and if the latter did not believe it, let him look in The wide-spread tale of the hare and the tortoise is told almost universally through this Indonesian area, with the trickster, of course, playing the rôle of the hare. The story is everywhere so much alike and so well known that it is scarcely necessary to give these local versions. 18 The trickster tales so far presented have the mouse-deer for their hero in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, as well as in the Malay Peninsula; while the same narratives are told of the tarsier ape in many instances in the rest of the island region and of the hare in Cambodia and Annam. The following stories, on the other hand, seem to be recounted almost wholly of the ape and are confined within a somewhat narrower geographical area. There was once an ape who was the friend of a heron and In the versions from the Malay Peninsula, Sangir Islands, and Halmahera the ape was just about to drown when a shark appeared, and thinking he was to have a good meal, told the ape that he was going to eat him; but the latter answered that he had no flesh or entrails and that he would afford only a sorry meal. The shark, surprised at this statement, asked where his flesh and entrails were, and the ape replied that he had left them ashore, but that, if the shark would carry him to land, he would go and get them. The shark accordingly bore the trickster to the shore, where the ape told his rescuer to stay while he went to obtain his flesh; and in this way he kept the shark until the tide had ebbed so that he was unable to get away, and thus died. This episode of the rescue from drowning, and of the ungrateful killing of the rescuer, shows an interesting distribution, occurring in Annam 21 and India 22 as well as in Micronesia. 23 Melanesia, 24 and Polynesia. 25 A tale told variously of the ape, the mouse-deer, and other animals may be included here, since it also shows a distribution outside the Indonesian area. According to this 29 the ape and another animal meeting on the shore, the latter suggested that they gather shell-fish, to which the ape agreed. They soon found a monster clam, and by the advice of his companion, on whom the ape had previously played a trick, the latter was induced to put his hand into the shell, which was open, in order to pluck out the mollusc; but no sooner did he attempt this, In some of the tales the tortoise and the ape play parts elsewhere taken by the mouse-deer and the tiger. After outwitting and killing the ape by one of the various tricks already recited, the tortoise took the body, making tobacco from the hair; from the flesh, dried meat; from the bones, which he burned, he made lime for betel chewing; and from the blood, sago wine. By and by the other apes set out to seek their companion, and coming to the tortoise, asked if he had seen him whom they sought; but without answering their question, the tortoise invited them to come to his house and chew betel. After first declining his hospitality, they finally accepted it, whereupon the tortoise gave them sago wine, which they drank, saying, "Ha! but the wine looks red," to which the tortoise replied, "Well, there is dye in it." Then he gave them betel to chew, and after chewing a while, the apes went off; and as they departed, the tortoise said to himself, "Bah! you have drunk the blood and chewed the bones of your friend!" One of the apes overheard him and said to his companions, "Listen! what does he say?" whereupon the apes called to the tortoise, "What are you saying?" to which the tortoise replied, "Oh! nothing. I only said that it is going to rain, so you had better run along." Then the tortoise began to laugh, saying, "Ha! ha! it makes me laugh heartily," 31 but when the apes heard this, they went after the tortoise and urged each other on to crush him to death. The tortoise, however, thought of a trick to save himself, so when the apes said to each other, "Haven't you crushed him yet?" he answered, "My father and mother tried to crush me to death and I didn't die. Do you think that I shall die if you crush me?" Then the apes said, "Let us rather burn him to death," but the tortoise replied, "My father and mother tried to burn me to death, but I didn't die. Do you think you can burn me to death?" Then One day the trickster came across the ape, who said to him, "Friend, let us stew each other," to which the trickster answered, "Good, but let me be the first to be stewed. Go and get a bamboo, so that I can creep into it." When the ape came back with a piece of bamboo, the trickster crept into it and said, "Now, friend, you must go and pluck leaves to pack me in tightly. When you come back with the leaves, don't look into the bamboo, but stuff the leaves in snugly, while you look another way." The ape went for the leaves, but meantime the trickster crawled out of the bamboo cooking vessel and climbed up a vine which hung near by, while the ape came back and stuffed the vessel, which was now empty, with leaves, thinking that the other was still within. Then he blew up the fire and set the vessel on. It bubbled away, and when he thought the meat was done he took the vessel off, leaning it against a tree while he went away to get large leaves on which to pour out the food; but after he had disappeared, and the water in the vessel had had a chance to cool a bit, the trickster came down the vine and crept into the bamboo again. When the ape returned, he arranged the large leaves, removed those Not long after this, the ape, who in this instance was the trickster, chanced upon some people in a village who were watching a corpse; and when the chief told them to go and prepare a coffin, the ape said, "I will go with you and help hollow it out." The chief replying, "Very well," the ape went with the others to cut down the tree and make the coffin. After it was finished, the people said that each one ought to get in and try it, whereupon the ape said, "I want to get in, too. Everyone ought to take his turn," but when he was inside the coffin, his companions suddenly put the cover on, because he was such a rogue and had tricked so many others. The ape called, "Let me out, let me out!" but they paid no attention, for they had decided that he must die. So the ape perished, and the people took the coffin and burned it with all its contents. 35 In several of the tales the trickster plays the part of a judge, or of one who calls on another to decide a difficult case. According to one of these stories, 36 a crocodile once was asleep on the bank of a stream when a great tree, uprooted by the wind, fell upon him and pinned him down so that he could not move. The trickster came by, and the crocodile begged PLATE XIX Ancestral image of wood, consecrated by prayers and soaking in the blood of a sacrificed pig or chicken. The spirits of the ancestors were sometimes thought to enter into these images. Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Related to the class of trickster tales proper are some of the stories which are told of another hero, who in many respects resembles the Till Eulenspiegel of European folk-lore, as the trickster does Renard the Fox. As examples of these tales we may take the following. One day the king sent a servant to pick flowers on the land of the hero, in whose house he saw three such beautiful women that he forgot about his errand and returned to the ruler with empty hands, saying that he had beheld three women who were so enchantingly lovely that they put the king's wives to shame. The king desired, therefore, to have them for himself, and planning to get rid of the hero, he summoned him, saying, when he came, "Don't be disturbed because I have sent for you. I only want you to go for me to the sky to see how my ancestors are getting along; and I shall, therefore, burn you up, so that you can ascend thither." Full of sorrow, the hero went back to his wife and As another example of these tales we may take the story of Taba. He was anxious to marry the king's daughter, but for a long time could think of no way in which he could compass his wish. At last, how-ever, he hit upon a plan. Finding that not far from the house was a great waringin-tree, the path to which was very roundabout and much obstructed, he secretly made a short cut to the tree, after which he went into the house and pretended that he was very ill, sitting by the ashes on the hearth and groaning that he was surely about to die. Asked what could be done to help him, he said, "Oh, if you will only go for me to the great waringin-tree which grows by the road. A spirit whom I worship lives in that tree, and if you would ask it, it would tell you what I could do in order to get well." The people pitied Taba and went down the road to the tree; but he, meanwhile, hurried thither by his shorter path, climbed up into the tree, and secreted himself; so that when the people arrived and asked whether Taba would regain his health, he called out, "He must be married to the king's daughter. Only thus will he recover." Before the people could reach the house by the regular road, Taba got there, and when they arrived he was sitting groaning by the fire. The people, Two other animal stories or fables may be given in connexion with the series already presented, since, although even more clearly of extra-Indonesian origin, their distribution serves to confirm the evidence of foreign influence in all of this type of tale. One day the cat reproached the deer for having stepped on the ear of one of her kittens, but the deer excused himself, saying that he was startled by a bird and ran, and that the blame thus rested with the bird, who, by flying up suddenly, was the real cause of the accident. The cat then went to the bird and accused it, but the latter shifted the fault on another bird, who had alarmed it by appearing with white feathers about its neck. In its turn this bird put the blame on another, which had appeared with its whole body yellow, and this bird said that it had done so because still another had a yellow beak. The latter, on being approached by the cat, alleged that this was owing to the fact that the crab had jointed claws, while the crab transferred the blame to the mouse, who, he said, had stolen his hole. When the cat, at last, charged the mouse with the ultimate responsibility, the latter could not think of any excuse to give on the spur of the moment, and so, losing patience, the cat jumped upon it and ate it up. Ever since that time cats and mice have been at war. 40 The other tale runs as follows. One day an egg, a snake, a centipede, an ant, and a piece of dung set out on a head-hunting expedition, and on arriving at the house which they planned to attack, the egg stationed the party as follows: the centipede under the floor, the ant in the water-vessel, the dung at the top of a ladder leaning against a door, and the snake beside the door, while the egg itself took its place in the cooking-pot. During the night, the centipede came out of its hiding-place and bit the occupant of the house, who, as a result, went The group of trickster tales and fables of which a series has now been given are of especial importance, not only in the study of Indonesian mythology, but also in relation to the whole question of the origin and growth of Melanesian and Oceanic culture. Although widely spread in Indonesia, their distribution brings out the following facts. The tales, as a whole, fall into two rather clearly marked groups: (a) those in which the mouse-deer figures as the hero, and (b) those in which the ape or tortoise is the leading figure. The former group is most fully represented in the south and west, i. e. in Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, and is scarcely known in the Philippines; the latter is best developed in the east and north--in Halmahera, Celebes, and the Sangir Islands--and is well represented in the Philippines, decreasing in importance from south to north. So far as any existing material goes, neither group of tales is known to those tribes which have had very little or no influence from Indian culture. The first of these two groups is, within its region of main development, most fully exemplified among the Javanese, who, of all the peoples of the Indonesian area had the earliest and closest contact with Indian culture; it is next best represented in those portions of Borneo, Sumatra, and the Moluccas which were colonized from, or more or less under the control of, the Modjopahit and other Hindu-Javanese kingdoms which grew up in Java during the first centuries of the Christian era. Outside of Indonesia, this group of tales is strongly represented in south-eastern Asia, i. e. among the Cham, and in Cambodia and Annam, where Indian influence was strongly established even earlier than in Java. It is developed among the Malays of the Malay Peninsula, and evenTRICKSTER TALES
