Greetings! Happy Gawai to all. I am presenting these six old stories about the Mias and the people to celebrate the holiday.
Six Mias (orangutan) Stories by Gaun anak Sureng
- Balin anak Salau accompanied by Sanjat anak Rayang went out hunting with guns to Bukit Menuku on the upper Mentu stream. As they walked that morning, they went into a forest. Two hours later, after they had left a certain hut, they decided to stop, seeing the footprints of wild boars. They were very hopeful.
They sat down to smoke until presently they thought its time to walk again. Not far away, they saw the pig’s beloved langgir akar kubal arang(tropical) fruits; here, they decided to wait. After they had waited about half an hour, they saw fifteen maias. One of them was the largest, its height six feet, and its front hair covering its face was about six inches in thickness. This how the people thought of its appearance. They were very afraid.
Seeing this gigantic animal, they fled as fast as they could. They met a pig a mile away, which they shot and brought to a longhouse at Sg- Pendawan at Ulu Sebuyau.
2.
Balin anak Salau was returning from Nanga buyau; as he reached Lubok Entabarong, on the right bank, he saw a maias(orangutan) was caught by another maias. The smaller one was afraid of, the bigger one. The smaller maias later climbed down to flee but was followed by the bigger one. They were still quarrelling on the ground, and neither appeared to beat the other. They fought each other with their teeth as hard as they could. They quarrelled thus for about one hour. Balin decided to stop them.
Balin landed his boat, walked to the bank and cut a stick. With this stick, he wanted to separate them. But before he approached them, he called out: You have been long enough quarrelling. If you quarrel about adultery or due to elopement, you better stop immediately. I am the son of man who is coming to stop you” He beat each of them lightly with his stick. They both fled when they saw him, each in a different direction, and climbed up the trees again. After this, Balin went up with the tide to his house. - Mias kills dog
Ijmbang anak Ragan told me: “In the year when I farmed at Bt. Bajong (I do not know the actual year), when I went to the farm, at the farm edge, my dog began to bark. I called it, and it wouldn’t return. It just followed the orangutan. I did not follow my dog as fast as I should have done, for, at that time, the rice on the farm was finally ripened. I heard my dog crying. It howled loudly, already in the hands of a maias, who climbed up a tall tree. On the tree, the maias killed my dog. I tried to stop the maias from killing it, even at the top of my voice shouting. Later the maias threw my dead dog from the tree to the ground. I took it and brought it back to my house at Sg. Pendawan.” - Father and Son attacked by Orang
Dom said to Lassa to his son, whose name was Anggat, “this morning, we better re-visit our wild-rubber tree route along the forest paths to the Linsaa river.”
(A rubber tree route was where the people would get up very early and walk from rubber tree to rubber tree. They would collect the white liquid latex from a small cup and pour it into a bucket. They would then cut the bark and move the cup down to collect more rubber.
“O father, I was unhappy last night, as I dreamed of being attacked by the enemy”, replied Dorn. “You are lying to say that you have had a dream at such an early age”, said his father. “Well, father, if You don’t believe me, we better go,” said Anggat reluctantly- to his father.
Lassa was only happy when accompanied by his sons, and he could not believe the young man’s dream. They re-visited all their wild rubber trees in the forest. They tapped the trees. After they had finished, they sat down at the end of the route. Finally, they started back to collect the latex from end to beginning of the route. After they had collected the rubber, they returned home. As they came to the farmland, with low engkerapu grass growing, there was a plaie tree growing at the side of the path. At this place, Anggat looked up to the treetop and saw a mias sitting on it. He said at once, father, behold, there is a maias sitting on the treetop”. Seeing this, the man ran slowly away* Anggat ran in front of his father. Unfortunately, Anggat stepped on a dead, small tree trunk. When the maias heard the sound of the broken tree, it jumped outright and caught Anggat. The maias could not carry him. It bit him with its teeth. The poor father ran to rescue him. He drew his knife and slashed the maias’s back with it. Pounded, the animal ran away, leaving Anggat in a critical condition.
Anggat’s father chased after the maias. The maias could not run very fast, as it was now blocked by a boulder. So, it turned around and was again cut by Lassa. Unfortunately, Lassa’s knife hit something else, which gave the maias a chance to bite back Lassa’s hand. Lassa’s body was not touched by the maias, he always pulled the latter’s head away but one of his fingers was bitten clean off. Due to this, Lassa could no longer fight the Mias. He called for his wounded son to rescue him. Dom came ‘with a “pahat jelutong” knife used for cutting the jelutong (rubber tree) and, with a rage, speared the maias. So, the maias left his father, who was now badly wounded. The maias left them, and they returned home too, very sick and sad.
Later both father and son were admitted to the Government dispensary at Simanggang. Lassa was 12 days in the dispensary. This place is about 1942, he thinks (the Japanese were already there)
- Girl alleged caught by Mias and aftermaths
This story was related by Serai anak Sinjai. Serai married a husband, Suboh and has a son Bakar; she is still living. When I asked her how she was formerly caught by the maias, she said:
One morning when I was about to start harvesting, at the time full moon, I told my husband Suboh that I had finished making ready the various stuff for the offering, such as ketupat, sungki and rendcii. (I am sure about these vegetables) I only had not pounded the tepong (flour), but I would do it that evening.
When all was ready on the morrow, I went out to start the harvest at our farm on Bukit Lamat. Not long after I had left the house, cock crowings still could be heard (it was so early). Here I saw a Nendak omen bird hopping cheerfully on.
‘You are a bird which brings for me good luck, then you must give me a padi charm, a glutinous padi charm, tidal stone, a wave stone, a water stone, a rice stone, a stone to be used by me to reap, a stone which can be used by me take the soul of padi, a stone which can cause me to become lucky so that without too much work I can fill my padi bin and easily purchase sergiu or guchi jars.(types of large jars which were very valuable. They stood about a meter high.) I want your help. I want luck from you, 0 Nendak bird- I am now going off to start my harvest.’
After I had finished plucking a few first ears of padi), I strolled about to look for cucumber and its leaves. Then I returned along the same path, home.” When I reached the spot where I had seen the Nendak bird, there I was suddenly embraced by a maias, who came from my rear. I fell down to the ground. My basket also was dropped and once attracted the maias who freed me to pick the cucumbers. These it took up unto a treetop. I immediately shouted for help. Many people came—and because of the alarm, somebody beat the alarm gong. The people who came were those from Sg. Tuba, Bt. Pelai and the rest as far as Sihut’s house at Sg. Pendawan in the Ulu Sebuyau.
Those who came armed themselves with war weapons such as knives, swords and spears and so on. After they had been told what had happened, all agreed to fell the trees near the one the maias was in. They felled the trees from morning till dusk, but still, the maias could not be caught.
That night Suboh slept at the foot of the tree where the maias was. All the shrubs around it were felled in order that maias might not escape. The work of felling trees continued all that night, and at dawn, they stopped to smoke and some rest, while one or two guarded the animal’s movement.
“Finally. Sambang anak Pabong started to fell the actual tree where the maias was. When the tree came down, the Maias ran off. They speared, cut and did everything else to it. The animal was invulnerable. It only had some small cuts on its body.
The maias now started to climb up another tree. When Suboh realised that it was nearly midday, he commanded that a meal be taken. After the meal, Suboh ordered that all the trees near the one which the maias had climbed now must be felled. He said that everyone must “be careful, for if the maias could not be killed by them this time, it would be very harmful to them later. “What Suboh said is true, agreed the others.
“As they felled the tree where the maias now was, they saw an animal charm stuck to the maias bundled with a yellow cloth. When the tree was ready to be felled, they chose one Palin anak Salau to bring it down. At about 3 p.m., the tree came down. When it was about to fall, Suboh saw the animal throw away the amulet together with a twig that he (Suboh) collected. All the remainder of the day, they were busy slaying the maias, which was killed late in the evening. After the death of the maias, they all returned home. Suboh said that the charm that the maias threw away could not be found.
“Sometime later, I (Serai) had a dream of being asked to collect the twig stone around the tree stump’ This I handed to husband Suboh. He lost it some time ago. When it was still our possession, anyone who used it became very strong. - A Baby with Mother Dead.
“Our party commenced operations in early July at a point east of Lobak Menggris in the Ulu Sadong. We soon discovered that the forest was alive with animals, notably monkeys and honey bears. On occasions during the day, we had to stop work for fear of disturbing the honey bears that roamed the area where we were working. On the 11th of July, after the day’s work, we made a camp. After a time, the smell of putrifying matter was borne towards the camp by the wind. The following morning, on investigating, we found the carcase of a Mias. Not far from the body was a baby who was aimlessly wandering about. It was evident that the dead animal was the mother. We caught the baby to save its life.
The baby was with us for three weeks, during which period it grew quite tame. It was fed with milk and biscuits. When I returned to Kuching, I handed the maias to my Section Forest Officer.
This baby orang was taken over by Mrs B. Harrisson and named Frank (after Mr Frank Browne, then Conservator of Forests). It was taken to Hamburg in Germany to its foster mother in 1960.
From:
Six Mias (orangutan) Stories by Gaun anak Sureng from the Sarawak Museum Journal, 1960
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