5. Six trodden-out rice "heads," a couple of which tied in a slip knot

(simpul pulih) are fastened to each corner of the matting. Pounding of the rice from the three baskets.--When the rice had been sufficiently dried, it was once more collected in the baskets, and carried back to the house to be pounded. [429] That operation took place the same evening, when the rice was pounded and winnowed [430] in the ordinary way, the only noteworthy addition being the tying of bunches of the grass called sambau dara to the upper ends of the long wooden pestles which the Malays use for the pounding operation. Disposal of the empty rice-stalks from the three baskets.--The chaff thus obtained was deposited in a heap by the owner of the field in a place where three paths met, crowned with a wreath made of the empty rice-stalks, and covered by a big stone which was intended, I was told, to keep it from being blown away. The sugar-cane was left to grow in the midst of the mother-sheaf, until the latter should be reaped by the wife of the owner; when this takes place, it is carried back to the house and used for next year's reaping. Meanwhile the "heads" of the mother-sheaf are pounded, and the grain thus obtained is mixed with the grain obtained from the Rice-soul, and deposited in the rice-bin (kepok) together with a stone, a lump of rosin (damar), and a wreath composed of the empty rice-ears. I may add that I saw the articles which had been deposited in the previous year in the rice-bin of the Malay at whose house I witnessed the ceremony which I have just described. I did not witness the preliminary search for the mother-sheaf (in which the Rice-soul was supposed to be contained), but it was described to me by the Pawang, and performed for my benefit by the people of the house. The Pawang's description ran as follows: In order to confine the "Rengkesa" (a Spectral Reaper) to the boundaries, visit the four corners of the field, and at each corner tie a knot in a rice-leaf, and hold your breath while you repeat the following charm:-- "In the name of God, etc., A swallow has fallen striking the ground, Striking the ground in the middle of our house-yard. But ye, O Shadows and Spectral Reapers (Rengkesa), Have your appointed place on the Boundaries (of this field). By virtue of," etc. These noxious spirits being thus confined to the Four Corners, you may search in safety till you find one of the special varieties of rice-ear in which the Rice-soul resides. There are several varieties, of which the best is called Tongkat Mandah; it may be described as an ordinary "rice-head" bending over to meet the tip of a second (adventitious) "rice-head," but it is produced only by a freak of nature. There is some risk connected with this variety, however, for if the "Reception (Sambut) Ceremony" is not properly performed the owner will die. The second best is called "The Kite" (Lang). The third best is called "The Veiled Princess" (Putri Bertudong); in this case the sheath of the "head" is of unusual length, and overshadows the "head" itself. A fourth kind is called Padi Bertel'kum, and is described as a "Female Rice" (padi betina); like the "Veiled Princess," it has an unusually well-developed sheath; whilst a fifth kind is the "Padi Mendhara"--a rice-plant whose leaves show white lines or markings. How women should reap on ordinary occasions.--Whenever women go out to reap they should repeat certain charms before leaving the house, [431] and again before depositing their baskets on the ground. Their heads should be covered, and they should always be careful to reap, as has been said, facing the sun, to prevent their shadow from falling upon the rice in the basket at their side. Occasionally, however, the body is uncovered, and I was even told of one, Inche Fatimah of Jugra, in Selangor, who when reaping stripped herself bare from the waist upwards, and when asked why she did so said it was "to make the rice-husks thinner, as she was tired of pounding thick-husked rice." The sheaf which is left standing after the taking home of the Rice-soul is called the Mother of the Rice-soul (Ibu Semangat Padi), and treated as a newly-made mother; that is to say, young shoots of trees (putik-putik kayu) are taken, pounded together (di-tumbok), and scattered broadcast (di-tabor) every evening for three successive days. When the three days are up you take cocoa-nut pulp (isi niyor) and what are called "goat flowers" (bunga kambing), mix them, and eat them with a little sugar, spitting some of the mixture out among the rice. [So, after a birth (as the Pawang informed me), the young shoots of the jack-fruit (kababal nangka), the rose-apple (jambu), and certain kinds of banana (such as pisang abu and pisang Benggala), and the thin pulp of young cocoa-nuts (kelongkong niyor) are mixed with dried fish, salt, acid (asam), prawn-condiment (b'lachan), and similar ingredients, to form a species of salad (rojak). For three successive days this salad is administered to mother and child, the person who administers it saying, if the child be a girl, "Your mother is here, eat this salad," and if the child be a boy, "Your father is here, eat this salad."] Invariably, too, when you enter the rice-clearing (menempoh ladang) you must kiss the rice-stalks (chium tangkei padi), saying, "Cluck, cluck, soul of my child!" (kur, semangat anak aku!) just as if you were kissing an infant of your own. The last sheaf (as I think I have said) is reaped by the wife of the owner, who carries it back to the house (where it is threshed out and mixed with the Rice-soul). The owner then takes the Rice-soul and its basket and deposits it in the big circular rice-bin used by the Malays, together with the product of the last sheaf. Some of the product of the first seven "heads" will be mixed with next year's seed, and the rest will be mixed with next year's tepong tawar. [432]