Anaak Plén
Taman Ata tells the folk story of Anaak Plén in the Pei' Aloon dialect of Sa'ban. The story is about how Anaak Plén's marries the daughter of Belalé', a thunderous god in the sky, and of how his brother fails to heed his words when out hunting. The story was recorded in Long Banga on 4th December 2017.
now I'd like to tell a story for Bulan
today is 4th December
and the time is 9.30am
this is a story told by our elders
a story from our grandparents
but as for me, us Sa'ban here
the story is from Kalimantan, Indonesia
so this story happened there
the story that our grandparents told
that I heard
our elders were the people from Selyoo' and Pei' Rieu
there was a...
there was a couple
they had children
the oldest child was called Plén
he had a younger brother
I don't know his name
after that his father died
and it was just Plén, his brother and his mother
they looked after themselves
Plén was someone who really liked to hunt
one day he went hunting
he came across a pond
he looked at that pond
it was very beautiful, that pond
whatever is this, he said
he sat down next to the pond
not long after that, he looked up
something flew down from over there
it seemed bright and white
it landed next to the pond
he saw a girl
she took off her shirt
and the girl jumped into the water
and went to bathe
then not long after that
another landed next to the first
the first one was the oldest
the second one
the one who came next
she was the second child
the girl took off her shirt
and jumped into the pond
a little while later, another arrived
and landed next to her sister who was number two
she took off her shirt
and jumped into the pond to bathe there
after that a little later
he saw, another arrived, number four
she landed next to the pond as well
all of the siblings had a white shirt
all of them
she took off her shirt
and jumped into the pond
after that, another one came
that's number five
she landed next to her sister
took off her shirt
jumped into the pond
and bathed
that's number five
then not long after that, another arrived
that's number six
she came down, landed next to her sisters
she took off her shirt
and jumped into the pond
Plén looked at all six of them
the youngest was really beautiful
the last one
so then Plén went over
and picked up her shirt
he picked up her shirt
and took it away
and this Plén
because he was a hunter
he hid it
he put the girl's shirt in the quiver for his darts
so the sisters are playing in the water
bathing in the water
after when the oldest sibling is happy
when the oldest sibling had finished bathing
the first one
she climbed out from the pond
and put on her shirt
she got into her shirt
jumped up to go back
and flew off into the sky
after that number five also climbed out
and got into her shirt
and flew off home into the sky
afterwards, number three comes
climbs out as well
gets into her shirt
and flys off home up into the sky
after that number five arrives
and puts her shirt on
when dressed, she jumped up into the sky
and flew away
then number six arrived
she looked for her shirt
but it wasn't there
she looked for her shirt
but it wasn't there
she was embarrassed
and so she sat down
she sat down
and said
"did one of you hide..."
"did one of you hide my shirt?"
"I hope you will give it back." she said
after a bit Plén came out
and went to join her
"where did you put my shirt?"
said the girl to him
"oh I didn't see your shirt," he said
but actually he had hidden it
after a bit, because people in the past used to have a loincloth
he chopped off some of the loincloth
and the girl made it into a skirt
oh wait
she spoke
this is what she said:
"why did you hide my shirt?" she said
the girl said to him
"I like you," he said
"I like you, that's why I hid your shirt"
"what is your name?"
said the girl to him
"my name is Plén," he said
"what is your name?" he said
he asked the girl
"my name is Súeng Belalé'," she said
then
"if you like me"
"can you withstand..."
"can you withstand all of the tests from my father," she said
"yes, I can," he said
"if you can, then let's go," she said
then he took the shirt
and gave it to the girl
and the girl put her shirt on
after that
she put her shirt on
and said, "hold on to me," to Plén
the boy
he held on
and they jumped up into the sky
so they got there
they got to the top of the sky
according to the story of our elders
her father was Belalé'
or the thunder that goes bum-bum
he was the father of those girls
so they got to the outside area
and walked
they walked about on the lawn
and Belalé', the father of the girl, struck him with lightning
he struck him
but he was fine
nothing happened
then they walked on from there
and climbed up the stairs
theh the father struck him again
nothing happened
nothing happened at all
still fine, nothing happened to him
after a while, they climbed up
and reached the house
then the father spoke to his daughter
"have you just arrived?" he said to his daughter
"yes," she said
"help yourself to rice"
"eat, we've already eaten," said her father
then his daughter got some rice
and prepared the side dishes
so then they ate
he struck Plén again
nothing happened
then the father spoke to Plén
"this is the third time I've tested you"
"you've passed"
"nothing has happened to you"
"since that is the case"
"you can have me as a father-in-law," he said
so he took her for his wife
Anaak Plén became the wife of Belalé's daughter
so at that time Anaak Plén lived in the sky
he saw his younger brother on the earth
looked down onto the earth
the two of them had a dog
they had a hunting dog
so his younger brother went hunting
he barked at the deer
the dog barked at the deer
but he couldn't kill him
he couldn't catch him
he barked at a wild boar
the dog barked at the wild boar
but he couldn't kill him
he couldn't catch him
one day his younger brother went hunting again
the dog barked at a deer
the name of the deer, they say, is payau ajúeng
the biggest deer of all
so Anaak Plén jumped down from the sky
and came to earth
he killed the deer
he killed the deer
his younger brother listened
the dog had stopped barking
so his brother went to join him and see him
that's my long lost brother!
they thought he had died
so then he knew his brother was still alive
then he asked his brother
"where did you come from?" he said to his brother
"back then, I went hunting"
then he met a lady at the pond
where they were swimming
and he told him the story
then he said, "I took one of the siblings for my wife"
"sibling number six"
"then I went back to live with them in the sky"
he said to his brother
"I feel bad for you"
"you couldn't kill the wild boar"
"you couldn't kill the deer"
"so I came to kill it for you," he said
after that, when they had killed it
Anaak Plén dragged the deer onto a rock
he dragged the deer onto a rock
he put it on the rock
if we want to slice this thing open
we need to put it on its side
so they put it on its side on the rock
and after putting it on the side
he sliced it open
he removed the intestines from the stomach
his stomach and his small intestine onto the rock
after that
he sliced open the deer
and cut all the meat from the bones
he got all the meat
and after getting the meat
there is a bamboo called "plook"
that bamboo is really small
that bamboo is the size of a cigarette
the bamboo is probably smaller than this
he got two pieces of bamboo
then
after he got the bamboo
he got the deer meat
and put all of it inside
all of the deer meat went into the two bamboos
he filled two bamboos
and he filled them up to the top
after that he put them in his brother's hunting bag
he put them in his brother's bag
and after he had packed his brother's bag
then he stood on the rock like this
he stood on the rock like this
he did a wee
he did a wee across the river
there was a rock on the other side of the river
and he did a wee across the river
and his wee went right through the rock
because us men wee
when he starts to wee, it goes a long way
then later when he'd almost finished
there were just a few drops left
so the river where the two of them caught the deer
is called Pa'a river
it's called Pa'a river
then he advised his brother
he said to his brother
"go home and when you go home"
"when you get home"
"ask mum to roll out a mat"
"then you can tip the deer out of the bamboo"
"the deer meat"
"and after you two have got the meat out of the bamboo"
"share it with everyone in the village," he said
"share it all with the people in the village"
"so after that"
"if you listen to what I have told you"
"when you go hunting"
"I'll come and kill the wild boar for you," he said
"remember what I told you"
he said to his brother
afterwards, he spoke to his brother
"I'm off now," he said
and his brother said
"ok then"
"I'm off now"
"get home safely"
"don't stop on the way"
"don't open your bag with the deer in"
"when you get home"
"then you can open it," he said to his brother
"ok," said his brother
Anaak Plén, the older brother, jumped back home
he watched him like this as he went back up high
after that the younger brother set off
I don't know the name of the younger brother
his younger brother set off
"where did he put all that deer meat?", he wondered
"I didn't see him take it with him"
he picked his bag up, light
he carried it, light
and then he walked back home
he walked for a while
then he took his bag
and looked in it
there was nothing in his bag
only the two small bamboos were in his bag
"where did he put all the meat?"
"the deer was so huge!" he said
"there was so much meat earlier"
"the deer was huge"
"where did he put all the meat?"
he wasn't satisfied
he emptied the contents of his bag
then he took the bamboos
he took the bamboos
he pulled the top off
he banged the bamboo against a surface
and all the deer meat came out
all the deer meat came out
until the drain was full
the drain was full
then he picked up the deer meat
and tried to pack it back into the bamboo
but it wouldn't fit
so then he cried
he cried
then his brother spoke to him
his brother spoke to him from up high
"that's why I told you very clearly before"
"don't open it"
"don't put your bag down"
"don't open your bag on the way"
"when you get home"
"ask mum to roll out a mat"
"then you can open it"
"that's what I said to you earlier"
"you didn't listen"
"so this is the last time we will meet"
"no-one will be able to come and help you after this"
"this is the last time we will meet," he said
that's the end
that was what his brother said to him
then he went home
and only what he could carry home
is what he took home
so that's the end of the story
the deer that he put on the rock
the one he put on its side
there are still marks of that deer
the liver that he cut out
and the intestines
you can see marks where they were on the rock
and the place where Anaak Plén was standing
the mark of his foot is there on the rock
until today
so that's the story
this is a story from Pei' Rieu or Selyoo'
a small tribe
so that's the end of the story