The two ran home, but the rhino came
after them, so they again had to flee, pursued by him, until they came
across a small tree called mora, of which antoh is afraid. They gathered
some of the leaves, and as soon as the rhino saw that he ran away.
6. PENGANUN, THE HUGE SERPENT
(From the Penyahbongs; kampong Tamaloe)
The mother of Daring's wife ordered him to go out and hunt for animals to
eat, but said they would have to be without bones. He searched for a
month, and all that he got had bones. Finally he brought back a leech,
which she ate. Then she said: "Go and look for penganun," the huge serpent
with the golden horn. He met the monster and used all his poisoned darts
before it succumbed. He left it there and went home. "Have you got the big
serpent?" she asked him. "Yes!" he answered. She then went out to bring it
in, but she cut off only a little of the flesh, which she brought back. It
was cooked in bamboo, and the people in the house ate it, but before they
had finished the meal they became crazy - fifteen of them. The affected
ones, as well as the bamboo in which the cooking had been done, turned
into stone, but the meat disappeared. Daring and his wife, who had not
partaken of the meal, escaped.
NOTE. - There exists in Borneo a huge python, in Malay called sahua, which
is the basis for a superstitious belief in a monster serpent, called
penganun, the forehead of which is provided with a straight horn of pure
gold. The tale is possibly influenced by Malay ideas. The Penyahbongs have
a name for gold, bo-an, but do not know how to utilise the metal.
7. HOW THE PENGANUN WAS CAUGHT ALIVE
(From the Penyahbongs; kampong Tamaloe)
Two young girls, not yet married, went to fish, each carrying the small
oblong basket which the Penyahbong woman is wont to use when fishing,
holding it in one hand and passing it through the water. A very young
serpent, of the huge kind called penganun, entered a basket and the child
caught it and placed it on the bark tray to take it home.
Penganun ate all the fish on the tray, and the girls kept it in the house,
catching fish for it, and it remained thus a long time. When it grew to be
large it tried to eat the two girls, and they ran away to their mother,
who was working on sago, while their father was sleeping near by. Penganun
was pursuing them, and he caught the smaller one around the ankle, but the
father killed the monster with his sumpitan and its spear point. With his
parang he cut it in many pieces and his wife cooked the meat in bamboo,
and they all ate it.
