The Malayan Trilogy

by Anthony Burgess

  lima (Malay)—five.

  limbu (Malay)—ox, oxen.

  lobang (Malay)—hole.

  ma’alum-lah (Malay, from Arabic)—It’s like this . . . Well, you see . . .

  maha (Sanskrit)—great, big.

  mah jongg—a Chinese game popular in Malaya and also in the West.

  mahu (Malay)—want, desire.

  main (Malay)—play, game.

  makan (Malay)—food, to eat.

  makan sudah stap (Malay)—the meal is ready.

  makan malam ini (Malay)—this evening’s dinner.

  malam (Malay)—evening, night.

  malam ini (Malay)—tonight, this evening.

  mana (Malay)—where; where?

  mari sini (Malay)—come here.

  mas (Malay)—gold.

  mas kawin (Malay)—marriage dowry (lit., marriage gold).

  masok (Malay)—enter, enters, entered.

  mee (Chinese)—pasta; the original spaghetti imported by Marco Polo to Italy from China.

  Měmandang (Malay)—see, watch, look.

  měntri Besar (Malay)—Prime Minister, Sultan’s chief adviser.

  merdeka (Malay from Sanskrit)—independence, freedom (the battle cry of the United Malay Nationalist Organization UMNO).

  minta bělanja (Malay)—Please give me an advance on my wages.

  minta ma’af (Malay)—I beg your pardon; forgive me.

  muezzin (Arabic)—A religious officer whose chief duty is to call the faithful to prayer. (Also bilal.)

  misti lulus (Malay)—you must pass (your examination).

  mufti (Arabic)—a religious officer.

  munshi (Hindi)—a teacher of languages.

  naraka (Arabic)—hell.

  ni ennay vansiththuppodday (Tamil)—you’ve done a terribly wrong thing.

  nonya (Malay)—term used to address a married Chinese woman.

  nusus (Arabic)—refusal to engage in marital sex; one of the surest grounds for divorce in Islam.

  om (Sanskrit)—I. (Carries a numinous resonance in many Sanskrit expressions.)

  orang darat (Malay)—lit., person (people) of the interior, aborigine.

  orang nasrani (Malay)—Christian(s).

  orang puteh (Malay)—white man; European.

  padang (Malay)—town or village green.

  padi (Malay)—rice (in the field). (Rice in the store is běras; rice on the table is nasi.)

  parang (Malay)—knife, dagger—used for clearing scrub and jungle, also as a weapon.

  pantun (Malay)—four-lined Malay poem, epigrammatic or lyrical.

  pawang (Malay)—magician, medicine man.

  pejabat kaum asli (Malay)—lit., office of tribe of originals, hence Department of Aborigines.

  penanggalan (Malay)—vampire which possesses only a head and dangling entrails.

  pěrang (Malay)—war, attack.

  pěrgi (Malay)—go, went.

  penghulu (Malay)—headman of a tribe or village.

  ping (Chinese)—ice.

  purdah (Arabic)—the segregation of a married woman.

  ra’ayat (Arabic)—the common people; the peasantry or proletariat.

  rambutan (Malay)—a fruit with a hairy rind (rambut = hair).

  ringgit (Malay)—dollar.

  ronggeng (Malay)—popular dance for mixed couples to Latin-American rhythms.

  rukun (Arabic)—the principles of religion.

  sakai (Malay)—term used to describe aborigines (improper: it literally means slave).

  sah-mat (Persian)—checkmate (lit., king is dead).

  sama sama (Malay)—lit., same same, ‘The same to you.’ Formula used in reply to ‘thank you’.

  sambal (Malay)—the side dish or dishes which accompany curry.

  samsu (Chinese)—cheap rice spirit.

  saratus (Malay)—one hundred.

  sarong (Malay)—the tubular cloth wrapping worn as a skirt by both Malay men and women.

  sateh (Malay)—kebabs, skewered meat morsels.

  satu botol (Malay)—one bottle.

  saya (Malay)—I, me.

  saya t’ada wang (Malay)—I have no money.

  saya ingat (Malay)—I think.

  saya ta’erti (Malay)—I don’t understand.

  sějuk (Malay)—cold.

  sělamat (Malay from Arabic)—lit., safe. Used in greetings and valedictions.

  sělamat jalan (Malay)—safe journey! Goodbye.

  sěrani (Malay)—Eurasian (from Nasrani, a Christian).

  shukria (Urdu)—thank you.

  si- (Malay)—prefix of personification or intensifier of family relationship.

  si abang měmandang awak (Malay)—Big Brother is watching you.

  siap meja (Malay)—prepare the (billiard) table.

  sila dudok (Malay)—Please sit down.

  sini (or di-sini) (Malay)—here.

  sireh (Malay)—a wad of betel nut and herbs for chewing.

  songkok (Malay)—velvet cap worn by Malay males.

  stengah (Malay)—lit., half. A half measure of whisky with water.

  surat (Malay)—letter, especially of recommendation.

  sudah masok (Malay)—(to) have entered.

  sudah (Malay)—indication of past tense.

  sundra (Sanskrit)—beautiful.

  sungai (Malay)—river.

  syce (sais)—(Urdu—Arabic—Malay)—groom, driver.

  tabek (Malay)—a Malay greeting—somewhat casual.

  tack wallah (mock Urdu)—a man who takes much and gives little; a mean or parsimonious man.

  tanggongan (Malay)—responsibility.

  talak (Arabic)—the Muslim formula of divorce.

  tengku (Malay)—prince, princeling.

  teh (Malay)—tea.

  terima kaseh (Malay)—thank you.

  Lit., received with love.

  tida’ apa (Malay)—it doesn’t matter.

  tidak (Malay)—no, not.

  tidak di-benar masok (Malay)—It is forbidden to enter.

  tiffin (Hindi)—luncheon.

  tong (Malay)—barrel, butt.

  towkay (Chinese)—boss; owner of a business.

  tuan (Malay)—lord, master, sir.

  tuan běsar (Malay)—boss, big man.

  tuan běli sayur (Malay)—Did tuan buy any vegetables?

  tuan kasi lima linggit (Chinese version of Malay ‘lima ringgit’)—Tuan gave me five dollars.

  Upanishad—One of the Sanskrit sacred books, usually ending with the threefold ‘Shantih’ (divine peace).

  waktu (Arabic)—one of the five prayer times of the day.

  wallah (Hindi)—man, person.

  wan an (Chinese)—Good evening, good night.

  wang (Malay)—money (wang tunai: ready cash).

  wayang kulit (Malay)—lit., show of skin. The Javanese Shadow play, in which figures of skin or hide are projected as moving shadows on to a lighted screen.

  wo ai ni (Chinese)—I love you.

  yam seng (Chinese)—a drinking expression: bottoms up; down the hatch, etc.

  yashmak (Arabic)—the veil which covers the face of a married woman, except for the eyes.

  yin-yang (Chinese)—the eternal opposition between the forces which sustain the universe is expressed through yin (the female principle) and yang (the male).

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN: 9781448137824

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  Copyright © Anthony Burgess 1956, 1958, 1959

  Anthony Burgess has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

  The novels comprising The Malayan Trilogy were originally published separately by William Heinemann Ltd: Time for a Tiger (1956), The Enemy in the Blanket (1958), and Beds in the East (1959). They were first published as The Malayan Trilogy in one volume by Penguin Books in 1972

  Published by Minerva in 1996

  Published by Vintage in 2000

  penguin.co.uk/vintage

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library