The Malaysian tropical forest is more than 1 million years old. Set close to the equator, and nourished by fertile land rich with minerals and torrential rain, its biodiversity is unmatched and is one of the oldest in the world. As a people long ago we depended on the forest for shelter, food and medicinal herbs. The river was our highway to the outside world. Naturally, our earliest folklores centered around the creatures of the forest. These animal fables are enduring and have international acclaim with the Mousedeer tales retold by local and international writers like Aaron Sheppard and Joanna Troughton as well as Dr Georges Voisset who writes for the Francophone world. However, like our rain forest that faces the threat of urbanization if not properly monitored, our fables and folklores too face the challenges of competing with modern day attractions and entertainment.
There is a real danger that our younger generation will no longer recognize these quintessential stories. Even today we are importing foreign fables as our own thus diluting our own pool and content of legends. While I am well aware that such tales have a way of moving from one continent to the other, enriching lives as they make their way through the global village that is our Earth, I strongly believe it is important to preserve cultural identity and our Hikayat (Malay legends), folklores and fables have a role to play in this.
Is it really important to protect such folklores? Local legends are really reservoirs for intrinsic values and understanding of the region they are born. This is a form of knowledge as a collective memory of mankind. Salman Rushdie once said, “Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts.”
Fables have a way of capturing truth that transcends time. As far back as the 13th century, Thomas Aquino said, “Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.”
What can all of us do to help our local animal fables survive the globalization of culture?
Every year during our Independence Day celebration, I take part in nationwide The Say Something Nice #SSNC campaign led by Anas Zubedy from 31st August (Merdeka) to 16th September (Malaysia Day) that promotes unity and nation-building. So my contribution to the #SSNC is to tell a story daily. A Hikayat A Day. The seventeen stories of Malaysian Fables from the Forest would be a short snippet or condensed renditions, written in prose and poetry on my blog http://www.ahikayataday.blogspot.com as well as my Facebook and Twitter pages.
Do you have a favourite fable from your childhood? Why don’t you share it with us?
For me, the story of the Mousedeer and the Tiger from the Hikayat Sang Kancil is one which I share here as an act of friendship and sharing.
A Malaysian Fable : The Mousedeer and the Tiger by ninotaziz
SANG RIMAU WAS THE FIERCEST of hunters. All who lived in the jungle trembled at his ferocious roar. All except Sang Kancil, that is – the cleverest mousedeer who did not quiver or shake at the sound of terror. His wit and quick thinking helped him defeat Sang Rimau, the tiger.
One day, the mousedeer sat by the paddy fields, listening to nature’s evening songs.The majestic tiger happened to be taking his regular jog. Sang Rimau was in quite a pleasant mood and he asked Sang Kancil politely, “What are you doing in this neighborhood, out of mischief’s way?” That startled the witty mousedeer. Yet, quick was his reply, “Don’t interrupt my class, if you will, Sang Rimau. Come hear my students recite!” As if on cue, the frogs in the paddy field croaked and hummed. Their song reverberated throughout the forest. The beautiful music came to a lull. “Verses from the Qur’an,“ Sang Kancil duly explained. He sat back to continue his rest.
Sang Rimau was very impressed. “I see,” said the tiger, thoroughly convinced. “This is a skill my cubs should learn.”
For the aspiring tiger wanted to be
Respected just as much as feared.
Sang Kancil said with a smile, “Well, send the eldest tomorrow. I’ll see what I can do.Remember, I am strict though. Remind your cub to be respectful!” So, the next day, the young Si Belang dropped by Sang Kancil’s humble home. The young cub quietly waited for his cue to read verses from the Holy Qur’an. Sang Kancil urged the little cub, “Read!” When the cub stammered, the mousedeer cried loudly again, “Read!”
Sang Kancil almost barked and his student was so taken aback, he could only mumble some pitiful phrases.Little Si Belang was terrified. The imposter pretending to be a master became bolder.Sang Kancil caned his first ever pupil, Si Belang. The cub ran all the way home with his tail smarting. The father was so outraged that his ferocious roar could be heard throughout the vast jungle. The trickster mousedeer immediately took off as far as possible, almost right to the forest’s edge. He stopped when he could go no further.
Sang Kancil leaned against a tree. While catching his breath, he spied a beehive upon a branch. He waited for the Tiger to catch up with him. And soon, he could still hear Sang Rimau’s murderous roar. Before long, the tiger’s approach was unmistakable. The crackling of dry twigs underfoot, the sway of the massive body against the bamboo. One wondered which was more amazing, Sang Kancil’s silence or Sang Rimau’s fury.
The enraged beast got ready to pounce on the steady mousedeer. Yet Sang Kancil’s still stance stirred the tiger’s curiosity. The wily master said respectfully, “I am sure you are keen to devour me. But I promise not to flee. Just let me complete this duty.”
Sang Rimau, amazed, just stared at his intended meal. Suddenly, Sang Kancil cocked his head upwards. Dusk was slowly enveloping them. He pointed to the buzzing beehive. The whole jungle seemed to become still, as if in agreement with the mousedeer. Sang Kancil spoke solemnly of his ‘important’ duty,
I am the guardian of Solomon’s gong
A magical gong of hidden powers
Beyond mere harmonious tones
It buzzes with imbued greatness
Sang Kancil continued, “The great king will be returning soon. After that I will surrender myself to you. Having served the great king will be a boon. Do not fear, I speak only the truth.” By this time, the tiger had ceased to hear the charming words. His gaze fell upon the hanging ‘gong’. A longing inside him grew and grew into a desire so strong.
Kancil, my son’s first Imam
I will forget his injury and pain
If I could, for once, beat my palm
Upon the magnificent gong of the king
Sang Kancil struggled to hide a sly smile. He feigned shock and reluctance. “Oh great one, even for my life, I would not dare such disrespect.” Sang Rimau roared, “Then with your life you shall pay!”
Sang Kancil quickly suggested, “Perhaps if I run up to meet the King to persuade him to make allowance for a dignified subject. Such as yourself, Sang Rimau!”The tiger agreed to such an arrangement. Sang Kancil sped off as fast as a winged bird, farther away from the danger.
When he was far enough, he called out loud to SangRimau, “Permission granted. Go ahead, pray strike the gong before the light fades.”
One can surely guess what happened. Upon hitting the gong with all his might, the bees swarmed all over the tiger. In a panic, the tiger ran to the riverside and jumped into the shallow river to escape from the bees.
Ahhh, that Sang Kancil, none could ever match his clever ways.
About our contributor, ninotazziz:
She is a PR consultant and a multiple award winning author and storyteller of many generations from Malaysia. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, ninotaziz grew up in the idyllic village of Chenor, Malaysia and furthered her education in Canada. She specializes in Malaysian legends, or Hikayat, and wrote three anthologies of Malaysian legends and four YA novels – NAGA, ONANGKIU, SITI and NIK. ninotaziz firmly believes that the Malay classic pantun, literature and Hikayat are a rich world heritage that deserve an international audience. For poetry she blogs at here.
Thank you for visiting with us again. It is always so interesting when you visit and share your heritage with us. Very nice! I must admit to not being too into the folk tales of my country. I like that Johnny Appleseed went about the country side planting apple trees but that is about it. I honestly was more interested in Greek and Roman mythology, Arthurian legend, and Grimm’s grim tales. If we sat around and told tales, it was always family history/lore. It is interesting to find out about these stories from other countries and cultures. I probably know more about Japanese tales than the American ones!
Same here, thanks for reminding us to share our heritage with our children.
Toni, you must share a Japanese Tale or give us a link to one ~ I will be interested to read it ~
I read one about two frogs as a kid… very funny about stupidity really:
http://www.japanpowered.com/folklore-and-urban-legends/two-frogs-japanese-folktale
Nice story, there is always a lesson in these folk tales ~ Thanks Bjorn ~
Since it is getting close to halloween, maybe aghost story or two. They have some scary ones!
Dear Grace,
Thank you for posting this. Japanese and Korean legends are really lovely. There are the folktales as well as the creation myth which I particularly love. Do share Kanzensakura!
Dear Kanzensakura
Honestly, same here! I grew up with fairytales, Egyptian and Greek legends in my head before I really found my own stories. And to my great regret, I am not familiar with legends from my birthland Australia at all.
I hope that would change one day.
I must admit Japanese and Chinese legends are dear to me as well, and the story of Urashimataro and the Sea Turtle being a favourite since I was about 11.
Thank you Ninot for another interesting article. I believe we should share our stories & folk tales with our children if we want the heritage to continue.
As to the folklore of my native land, here is one link:
http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/home-living/travel-trips-activities/5-well-loved-philippine-folk-tales-young-kids-will-enjoy
Also, I note that folk tales have some common elements, regardless of the origin like an explanation of sun, clouds, sky and first people.
Oh yes.. we have the mythology.. like I enjoyed to read the stories about Norse Gods, and the ash-tree… 🙂
It is strange how folktales featured here reminds me how close the Philippines is to us. The Monkey and The Turtle is most familiar, and the fact that hero Jose Rizal retold it makes it even more endearing.
Common words also abound, we call your Carabao , Kerbau.
I’ll be back later to visit since it is a busy day around here. At least my computer is (at least for now) up and running. I hope you all are well. 🙂
Good to know 🙂
Fables and Myths.. in general.. are vehicles and vessels used to metaphor deeper Human Truth and Light than ‘science’ in practice.. can ever image alone..
Sadly.. the greatest barrier now.. is a Twitter words World.. wheRe going
over 140 characters is against the rules..
So yeah.. perhaps i shall not say more.. smiles.. i am all already over
the ‘New World’ limit..
And truly the first language of all primitive Tribes is Dance
and A REAL WAY of communicating A UniVersal
Innate.. Instinctual Intuitive
way of Truth and Light..
And today those dances are
more most often viewed
as non structured
and crazy..
but A
TRUTH
AND
Light
is
tHere is
NO STRUCTURE
AS REALITY
CREATES
ITsELF
AS
IT GOES..
i write fables and
myths.. my friend..
in fact i am
a fable
and or
myth
or
perhaps
not.. food
for thought
and more
than
a
tid
bit..
iN FEELing.:)
I love fables and fairy tales.. In our part of the world many were written down in the 19th century, when literacy grew and the oral tradition disappeared.. There is no way today to know if such tales are preserved or just interpreted. I think a country that still has some oral tradition of story telling is blessed… it’s a heritage that can easily be lost. I think maybe we are creating new fables and stories all the time though… Maybe 100 years from now people will try to preserve blogs, facebook updates and similar.. the modern myths and stories are being created all the time.
But going back to favorite stories it’s hard to say.. Of course the characters of Aesop is something that I remember.. especially as puppet shows on TV.
I think some of those figures are so embedded that we hardly think about it.. the sly fox, the wise owl, the proud lion. Also there are many idioms that we still use: like “sour grapes” for instance.
And of course we have the Nordic myths, the stories about Thor, Balder, and Loke.. I grew up reading them.. many written down 1000 years ago by an Icelandic poet called Snorri Sturlasson.
I love the Nordic myths ~ One time, you need to share with us these tales and stories Bjorn ~
I have a few ideas for poetic prompts.. hmm 🙂
Eagerly awaited Bjorn!
Surely so different from the movies we have today. But the essence remains.
Interesting how these legends survive, making sure they adapt to newer platforms, or rather something intrinsic in us keeps them alive.
In the Malay world, many of our Hikayat, or legends were written around the 18th century in manuscripts that are today kept in 158 museums and libraries all over the world including Harvard, Cambridge and the British Library. Some were written in the 16th and 17th century.
The most famous were the Hikayat (legends and romances) as opposed to historical accounts and laws (undang)
I grew up and now live, once more, in the wild, wild West of the United States. Stories of Cowboys and Outlaws abound, often embellished with myth…to many to mention. I recently watched a series called Legends and Lies of the West (or something like that) that focused on fact versus fiction. Characters such as Doc Holliday, Jesse James and Billy the Kid were featured. As far as fact, I have only to drive a few miles to Virginia City and visit the cemetery and read tombstones that tell plenty of stories almost unthinkable. And then there are the multiple reports of ghosts and hauntings that reign in this part of the world. Fun stuff, Ninot. Thanks so much.
And there has to be stories from the Native Americans as well.. I remember when I visited the Great Basin National park and went to a Campfire program where one of the rangers told us tales about Coyote and all the mischief he could do.. 🙂
My ancestors are Sioux and Cherokee.. on the maternal ancestry side.. and this is one of my favorite Cherokee Indian fables named Two Wolves..:)
Thanks for the video ~
Smiles.. you are welcome..:)
Wonderful stories–thanks for the reminder!
Here is one of my favorites–White Buffalo Woman. This one is only one of those related to American Indian spirituality.
http://www.livingmyths.com/Native.htm
What a beautiful story Victoria ~ The earth is sacred indeed ~ I so enjoyed reading up on American Indian spirituality ~
Dear dear Victoria
We have such a legend , slightly different ending.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing, I am going to make a concerted effort to seek out such legends because I have read recently a connection. This trail might lead to surprising discoveries.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for your article, Ninot. When I taught, children always enjoyed fables….I was especially fond of teaching Aesop’s fables. I do think it is important for children to learn old tales of various cultures.
One of the best thing with a well written fable is that it can be enjoyed as an oral tale.. you can read them to children (and grown-ups and enjoy that).. maybe we will get back to that through podcasts and youtube,
And don’t you think Mary, this is such a common facet of legends that bind us all ?
I would love to think of us as storytellers, using poetry to fulfill that emotional need of bonding…
Hi Grace. There is the Japanese tale of The Grateful Crane’s Repayment or The Grateful Crane. It falls into a common genre of Japanese tales about a mystical woman who “drops” by and then leaves.
Once upon a time, there was a young man. He worked very hard in the field. But he was poor. One day, he found an injured crane. “Oh, what a sad thing!,” he said. He felt very sorry for the crane, so he decided to take care of it. He nursed the injured crane back to health, and it flew away.
One day in the night, a very beautiful young woman visited his house. “May I please stay here?” she asked. The young man was very surprised, but he said yes. They lived together and were very happy. One night, she said to him, “I am going in this room to work. Don’t open the door completely. Please don’t watch me.” He said OK and went to bed.
The next morning, she gave him a very beautiful cloth. “Please, sell this cloth,” she said. He sold it in town for a lot of money. At the market, everyone said, “How beautiful!” The young man started to become very rich. Every night, the young woman would return to the room, and every time, she would tell him “Don’t watch me!” She became very slender, so one night, the young man went to check on her. He opened the door and gasped. There was a crane weaving its own feathers.
“Oh my gosh! You look completely different!” he said. “Sorry! Sorry!”
The crane replied, “I was the crane that you helped. I came to your house to repay you for your kindness. But you know the truth now, so we cannot live together anymore.”
The next morning, the crane flew away. And she never came back.
How sad in the ending ~ I so enjoyed this story Toni ~ I like how the crane was used to repay kindness ~ Thanks for sharing it ~
There is a whole genre of these tales – some are sad and some are just downright freaky scary. Almost all the stories end in the wife leaving. Aand we know what a profound symbol the crane is to the Japanese.
There is a lesson here – listen and follow your wife or else she will leave you 🙂
Haha! Good one.
Dear Kanzensakura
I have heard and read this tale in many forms, and have often wondered at its lesson and hidden advice. Thank you for sharing, and I can just picture that crane.
So beautiful.
Today, in the office park where my husband works, in one of the required wetlands pond, the resident crane and heron were fishing and having breakfast. It was good to decide to drive him in just for thd pleasure of seeing the two old friends. The Japanese have so many tales similar to the grateful crane. I think it says, leave your wife be. If she is a good wife, she may have secrets. Accept her as she is and leave well enough alone. Smart advice I think 🙂 .
So wonderful of you to be contributor again Ninot Ma’am! This bravely supports the earlier 2 on pantuns. None to keep the good flag flying but you. Thanks a million!
Hank
I see you doing your part too Sir Hanks! Keep the flag flying 🙂 Selamat Hari Merdeka!
Ninot, you are doing so much to preserve and increase appreciation for Malay legend. I applaud you. I have watched you, since 2010, as you focused your energy on this task and worked your way through to recognition country-wide. Yay!
Dearest Sherry
Like all passions, it consumes us. But it really helps to have a support system and voices of encouragement.
How’s book no 10, or is it 11, Sherry 😃
The write up and the story were beautiful, Ninot. The work you’re doing to carry on the tradition is so inspiring. The stories we have read or heard live on in us as part of our human experience. So much of a culture is defined by its stories. In India, there is the Panchatantra, loosely translated as ‘Five Principles’. It is an ancient collection of animal fables in poetry and prose. It was an integral part of our growing up. I doubt if kids read or hear it anymore. Which is so sad really, in just a few generations, our links with our stories, fables, myths and heritage are being broken.
An introduction to the Panchatantra can be found here – http://www.talesofpanchatantra.com/
Dear jollyjm,
I so enjoy the Pancatantra which actually found their way to our country in the 19th century retold by a great scholar here Munsyi Abdullah.
Thank you for the link and let us hope the legends never die.
Thank you, Ninot, for sharing these fables with us. It’s a part of the world that, alas, I know all too little about!
Here in Europe we grew up of course with Aesop’s Fables and my children now have to learn some of La Fontaine’s fables by heart at school (they are written as poetry). In Romania we have lots of tales with Pacala – who is a simple-minded peasant who always seems to get into trouble, yet sees through hypocrisy and deceit and calls things out as he sees them. Funny and yet educational tales – think Canterbury Tales mixed with Aesop’s fables.
Dear MarinaSofia
I have always wondered about Romanian folklores, and your stories of Pacala is on my stories to look out for! Thank you so much for sharing.
I like to look for similarities in legends around the world and look forward to more ‘legend hunting’!
This is the only translated volume of Romanian folk tales that I’ve come across if you want to explore this further:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18743488-pacala-and-tandala-and-other-rumanian-folk-tales
Thank you!
Thanks Marina ~ I will checking this out too ~
WOW! to your story, ninot azziz, your storytelling, and to the holiday of which you speak. Thank you for this post, Grace.
Dear Susan
Thank you so much for reading, and I am glad you enjoyed this.
WOW from me too. Thank you for such lovely stories!
Thank you again Ninot ~