Malayan Literature | Page 2

than the poem.
The "Makota Radja-Radja" is one of the most remarkable books of oriental literature. According to M. Aristide Marre, who translated it into French, its date is 1603. Its author was Bokhari, and he lived at Djohore. It contains extracts from more than fifty Arab and Persian authors. It treats of the duties of man to God, to himself and to society, and of the obligations of sovereigns, subjects, ministers, and officers. Examples are taken from the lives of kings in Asia. The author has not the worst opinion of his work, saying distinctly that it is a complete guide to happiness in this world and the next. He is particularly copious in his warnings to copyists and translators, cautioning them against the slightest negligence or inaccuracy, and promising them for faithfulness a passport to the glories of heaven. This shows that the author at least took the work seriously. That there is not a trace of humor in the book would doubtless recommend it to the dignified and lethargic orientals for whom it was written. Bokhari seemed to consider himself prophet, priest, and poet-laureate in one. The work has a high position in the Malayan Peninsula, where it is read by young and old. The "Crown of Kings" is written in the court language of Djohore. The author was a Mohammedan mendicant monk. He called the book the Crown of Kings because "every king who read and followed its precepts would be a perfect king, and thus only would his crown sit well on his head, and the book itself will be for him a true crown."
La Fontaine and Lamartine loved stories. The schoolmates of the latter called the latter "story-lover." They would have loved the story of the Princess Djouher Manikam, which is written in a simple and natural style and is celebrated in the East, or, as the Malays say, in the "country between windward and leeward."
From the "Sedjaret Malayou," worthless as it is as history, one may obtain side lights upon oriental life. Manners are portrayed in vivid colors, so that one may come to have a very accurate knowledge of them. Customs are depicted from which one may learn of the formality and regard for precedents which is a perspicuous trait of oriental character. The rigid etiquette of court and home may be remarked. From the view of morals here described, one may appreciate how far we have progressed in ethical culture from that prevailing in former times among the children of these winterless lands.
The readers of this series are to be congratulated in that they are here placed in possession of a unique and invaluable source of information concerning the life and literature of the far-away people of the Indian archipelago. To these pages an added interest accrues from the fact that the Philippines are now protected by our flag.
The name Malay signifies a wanderer. As a people they are passionate, vain, susceptible, and endowed with a reckless bravery and contempt of death. The Malays have considerable originality in versification. The pantoum is particularly theirs--a form arising from their habits of improvisation and competitive versifying. They have also the epic or sjair, generally a pure romance, with much naive simplicity and natural feeling. And finally, they have the popular song, enigma, and fable.
And so we leave the reader to his pleasant journey to the lands of Djinns and Mantris and spells and mystic talismans. He will be entertained by the chrestomathy of Bokhari; he will be entranced by the story of the winsome and dainty Bidasari.
CHAUNCEY C. STARKWEATHER
CONTENTS
BIDASARI:
Song I
Song II
Song III
Song IV
Song V
Song VI
SEDJARET MALAYOU
THE PRINCESS DJOUHER-MANIKAM
MAKOTA RADJA-RADJA
THE EPIC OF BIDASARI
Metrical Translation by Chauncey C. Starkweather, A.B., LL.B.
BIDASARI
SONG I
Hear now the song I sing about a king?Of Kembajat. A fakir has completed?The story, that a poem he may make.?There was a king, a sultan, and he was?Handsome and wise and perfect in all ways,?Proud scion of a race of mighty kings.?He filled the land with merchants bringing wealth?And travellers. And from that day's report,?He was a prince most valorous and strong,?Who never vexing obstacles had met.?But ever is the morrow all unknown.?After the Sultan, all accomplished man,?Had married been a year, or little more,?He saw that very soon he'd have an heir.?At this his heart rejoiced, and he was glad?As though a mine of diamonds were his.?Some days the joy continued without clouds.?But soon there came the moment when the prince?Knew sorrow's blighting force, and had to yield?His country's capital. A savage bird,?Garouda called, a very frightful bird,?Soared in the air, and ravaged all the land.?It flew with wings and talons wide outstretched,?With cries to terrify the stoutest heart.?All people, great and small, were seized with dread,?And all the country feared and was oppressed,?And people ran now this way and now that.?The folk