Note 27 — Chapter VI · Magic Rites as affecting the Life of Man

Now get a censer and burn incense in it, adding to the flame, as it burns, rubbish from beneath a deserted house, the deserted nest of a mĕr’bah (dove), and the deserted nest of the “rain-bird” (sarang burong ujan-ujan). When all is ready, rock the cot very gently seven times, then take the spice-block out of the cot and deposit it together with the blade of the cutlass upon the ground, take the child in your arms and fumigate it by moving it thrice round in a circle over the smoke of the censer, counting up to seven as you do so, and swing the child gently towards your left. At the word “seven” call the child’s soul by saying “Cluck, cluck! soul of Muhammad here!”27 (if it is a boy), or “Cluck, cluck! soul of Fatimah here!” (if it is a girl); deposit the child in the cot and rock it very gently, so that it does not swing farther than the neck of the cocoa-nut scraper extends (sa-panjang kukoran sahaja). After this you may swing it as far as you like, but for at least seven days afterwards, whenever the child is taken out of the cot, the spice-block, or stone-child (anak batu) as it is called, must be deposited in the cot as a substitute for the child (pĕngganti budak).