Note 54 — Chapter II · Man and his Place in the Universe

I was told that these dangerous genii or spirits resided in the naubat or Big State Drum, the two gĕndang or Small State Drums, the two langkara or State Kettle Drums, the lĕmpiri or State Trumpet, the sĕrunei or State Flute, and the k’ris or State Dagger, called (in Selangor) b’rok bĕrayun, or the “Swaying Baboon,” which latter is said to have slain “a hundred men less one” since it was first used. [I learnt this from H.H. the late Sultan himself, and here record it, because it has sometimes been asserted that H.H. the Sultan claimed to have slain these ninety-nine men with his own hand, which H.H. assured me was not the case.] The sanctity of the remaining pieces of the regalia appears to be less marked. They are the payong ubor-ubor or State Umbrella, the State Trident, and the State Lances or tombak bandangan. Of the Selangor State Trumpet I was told that any one who “brushed hastily past it” (siapa-siapa mĕlintas-nya) would be fined one dollar, even if he were the Sultan himself (walo’ Sultan-pun kĕna juga). ↑