~~~~~
In the afternoon the two invalid men lay in the shade of the porch, conversing about the lethally poisonous krait snakes which had a habit of entering homes - particularly at night.
“Kraits only bite if they are disturbed,” said Eko.
“We worry about the children,” Bandri explained. “We made the wall smooth on the outside so the snakes have trouble climbing into the village.”
“That’s one reason we build our houses on stilts,” Eko explained. “The snakes don’t like climbing upside down at the top of the legs.. And the house stays dry and cool.”
Bandri glanced at the knee-high gap under the house.
“The snakes can hide under the house, can’t they?”
“Oh yes - of course, and scorpions,” chuckled Eko. “It’s best not to crawl underneath - unless you check first.”
Eko reached under the couch on which he lay and retrieved a container, calling to Raharjo: “Fetch two mugs,” and then turned to look again at his guest.
“Young man, I hope you like the cubeb berry!” he exclaimed with a grin. “Good for snake bite.”
Over the spicy intoxicant the two men shared personal experiences and ideas about herbal remedies such as the betal leaf and areca nut.
“Some men, and even the boys, abuse the agara tree,” said Eko. “They chew the leaves to get dreams and fall asleep. It makes them lazy and violent.”
“Do they cook the leaves?” asked Bandri. “In Bitung I saw some agara leaves in a pot.”
“I think so,” Eko sighed and topped up Bandri’s mug with cubeb berry juice.
“Young man, I want to ask about the mark your tribe has?”
Bandri explained the significance of each part of the ornate tattoo over his left shoulder blade.
“So your tribe believe in the Sun Spirit too,” Eko murmured in revelation.
“Yes sir.”
“Young man,” said Eko, looking at him intently. “In the short-time we have known each other I can see that you are a man to be trusted, and someone to whom I already owe a debt of gratitude.”
Bandri said nothing, sensing that something more was to come.
“Do you know our Javanese mantra?”
“No, sir,” Bandri said simply, although he was curious about what such a thing would be.
“It’s sacred to the Javanese,” Eko explained. “It comes from long ago, from our time in another land – very sacred - only told to trusted family and friends – only Javanese trusted friends.”
Bandri curiosity deepened. He looked the older man in the face, but remained silent.
“Young man, if your tribe accept my family then you should understand more about the Javanese.”
For a prolonged moment Eko studied the young man’s face, before lowering his voice:
“You are Malay, but I want to tell it to you. If I do, you must promise never to tell it to another Malay.. Do you agree?”
“Yes sir – I understand the trust you are giving.”
“There is something else you have to understand first,” said Eko, waiting until Bandri nodded. “The mantra can only be spoken by a man.”
“I understand.”
Bandri listened attentively as Eko recited the mantra:
“Cahya Ibu mudhun menyang bumi, kang ing wektu lan wiwit lumaku ing kabeh pituduh lan nang endi wae dheweke malmpah tetanduran tansaya. Cahya Ibu menyang guwa banget jero, nyebar cahya iku watara dheweke. Cahya padhang sing radiated saka dheweke wungu roh lan sawise dheweke kiwa serangga kabeh jinis miber saking guwa. Cahya Ibu lenggah lan mirsani ngarsane kamulyane saka serangga dheweke karo dheweke kembang. Banjur dheweke digawe iwak lan ula, kadal lan kodok. Sabanjure dheweke wungu roh saka manuk lan kéwan lan padha nyerbu kawentar srengenge ing kamulyane werna. Cahya Ibu pamungkas dheweke ambegan urip menyang lanang lan wadon, lan dheweke digawe tanduran wong kang wiji menyang wong wadon. Dheweke digawe wong dadi kuwat lan wadon kanggo dadi banget. Cahya Ibu dheweke disebut kabeh jalmo dheweke kanggo dheweke lan diweling mangkene kanggo seneng kasugihan saka bumi lan manggon karo siji liyane. Banjur dheweke wungu menyang langit lan dadi srengenge Cahya, kanggo mengku bumi. Sapa gelut Cahya Ibu, ing wong bakal diparingi ganjaran jembar. Ora ana Tuhan bener nanging Cahya Ibu lan dheweke bakal matak teror menyang ati saka non-pracaya sing bakal rek swarga langgeng.” -
“Our Sun Mother glided down to Earth, which was bare at the time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked plants grew. Then our Sun Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. Our Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers. Then she created fish and snakes, lizards and frogs. Next she awoke the spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colours. Our Sun Mother breathed life into men and women, and she made men plant their seed into women. She made the man to be strong and the woman to be weak. The Sun Mother called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth and to live with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the sun, to rule over the Earth. Whosoever fights for the Sun Mother, on him shall be bestowed a vast reward. There is no true God but the Sun Mother and she will cast terror into the hearts of non-believers who will be denied eternal paradise.”
Bandri noticed that Eko had touched his chest over his heart each time he spoke the words ‘Sun Mother’. From the reverent manner in which Eko spoke, it was evident that the mantra had a profound spiritual significance. Whatever he felt about the meaning of the phrases in the mantra, Bandri appreciated the thought behind Eko’s deed.
“Sir, thank you for your trust in me.”
“Young man, you need to know the mind of the Javanese – for the sake of your family, and for all of us.. I will help you to commit the mantra to memory.”
“I will do that.. Can I ask - What is the paradise?”
“Aahh - that is a good question.. A life with every pleasure.” Eko leaned forward, saying in a sardonic manner. “Many virgins are promised.”
“It depends then on what is desired?”
“You are wise for your age – what do the Malay believe happens in the afterlife?”
“The dead are committed to the Sun Spirit, as my father was.”
Bandri agonised again over whether his father had been able to speak to his Sun Spirit before he died. For a moment he recalled the octopus after the snake bite, and how he had then felt nothing until he woke up with a wet tongue on his face.
“We do not know if there is an afterlife.”
“Faith makes you stronger,” insisted Eko. “There is much more to this world than we can see.”
“Have you told your family the mantra?” Bandri asked.
“My wife knows it but will not speak it, and my son is not yet a man.”
Bandri raised his eyebrows, as if in a question.
“I do not want to tell it to my daughters,” added Eko.
“Can I ask why?”
“It would not be good for them - if they spoke it in front of a man they would be punished.”
Bandri’s expression reflected his concern at this statement.
“Lyana is strong-willed.. and Lela is - I don’t know how to say it - but I think you know what I mean. I don’t want to scare her.”
Eko breathed in deeply. He reached down for the cubeb berry juice and topped up both their mugs.
“Men think they can control women – make them do what they want,” Eko continued.
“They have minds of their own,” said Bandri.
“Java men own women,” Eko told him bluntly. “That is what I mean – a woman or a girl is owned by a man. She has to have a man to protect her - or trusted men. If a man cannot protect her - then another man can take her.”
Bandri sensed that the brutal frankness of Eko’s explanation seemed almost cathartic, as if he was relieve
d at being able to tell it the way he saw it.
“How are young girls protected?” Bandri asked, although he feared the answer.
“If a father and his family cannot protect them,” Eko stated. “They may be taken.”
“May be taken?”
“It depends on trust and respect – it depends on the decision of the seniors,” said Eko. “Whoever is the most powerful will decide what happens – and if others betray that decision they will be punished.”
“And in a tribe the most powerful are the seniors?” said Bandri, thinking now about Bahoi. “A senior can become old and weak.”
Eko gave a half-hearted shrug, and drank some more.
“Men want strong sons – if a woman doesn’t give him sons then she is in disgrace. Men will still look for other woman to give him more children – that way they become more powerful. The younger the woman, the more attractive she is,” said Eko with stark precision. “In a tribe, if a man is not trusted by the most powerful then he cannot have a female.”
The use of the word ‘female’ rang a chilling note in Bandri’s mind, harking back to the meeting his father and Rukma had with the Bahoi seniors.
“If the Sun Mother is female – why don’t Javanese men care more for their women and girls?”
Eko scoffed.
“Young man – you have a different head!”
The phrase brought Bandri up sharp – this had been the first time he had witnessed scorn from Eko.
“She made men plant their seed into women,” stated Eko. “Without men there are no sons or daughters!”
Mindful that he risked offending Eko, Bandri nodded subserviently, sipping from his cup before venturing:
“My father used to say I had my mother’s ears.”
Eko regarded him with apparent detachment before nodding very slightly, topping up their mugs and adding wryly:
“I will have to see your mother!”
Chuckling with the exchange, the two men drank some more.
“And in Javanese tribes - can a man have many females?” Bandri asked, trying to use the ‘female’ word carefully.
“Oh yes – if he wants,” confirmed Eko. “It depends on how many he can get.”
To Bandri, this sounded like the animals in the forest. He had seen how the monkeys had a dominant male which beat off the smaller males. There again, he thought, maybe this is the natural order of life - that the strong have youngsters and so they survive. But what would happen in a tribe if every man tried to ‘plant their seed’ in as many women as they could? What could happen if one man had all the women?
“Our seniors only have one wife each,” he informed Eko.
“So have I,” said Eko, downing the remains of his mug in one gulp. “But I have heard that some Malay have more than one!”
The cubeb berry intoxicant seemed to be having some effect on Bandri - the colours around him appeared vividly florescent. He saw Eko looking at his mug, as if he was surprised that it was not empty.
“Tell me more about Likupang, young man,” Eko said, topping up both mugs again. “What do I need to know?”
Bandri decided to explain the circumstances of his father’s death, and how it had happened following a meeting with the Bahoi seniors...
“It was Agung who found father and carried him back to Likupang,” related Bandri, the painful memory crushing his heart again, and he ground to a halt, breathing unsteadily.
Eko encouraged him to drink some more.
“We knew that if vengeance was taken on Bahoi it would start a war,” he explained, with another sip of juice. “So we put our efforts into building the big boat to save the family.”
“You were afraid for the girls,” said Eko quietly. “That’s what started it all?”
“They’re our sisters - we love them. They deserve men who can love them.”
“We wanted our girls to be safe too, but in Bitung the danger was too much.”
Neither man spoke for a while.
“This is all because so many men are like animals!” Eko pronounced sourly. “They don’t understand respect for women – or girls.. They don’t respect them - they just want them!”
Eko poured more bright blue liquid into Bandri’s mug and looked towards the sulphurous sunset.
“One day,” he said as if in prayer. “The Sun Mother may make the spirit of man stronger than the animal in his body.”
The Tropical Sun - Belief, Love and Hate Page 13
