BELOG

In village in Bali there once lived a silly but happy boy called Belog. 'Belog' means 'Blockhead' in Balinese, and Belog was well known around his village because of the foolish things he was always doing. The people of the village never grew tired of telling each other stories about Belog's simple-minded behaviour. One favourite story goes as follows.

One day Belog's mother accidentally dropped her last box of matches into a puddle of water. The matches got wet and would not light. She needed now matches to light her stove, so she called out her son and said, 'Belog, please go to the shop and buy some matches. The matches that I have are wet, and I cannot light the fire to cook our meal.' She gave Belog some money and then added, 'Now do make sure that the matches you buy are dry and can light easily!'

So Belog took the coins for the matches from his mother, and happily walked to the village shop. He walked inside and asked the owner for a box of matches. Then Belog carefully counted his coins and paid for the box and began to walk home.

No sooner was he outside the shop than a thought struck Belog. He opened the box and looked inside. They look like good matches to me,' he thought. 'But how can I be certain? I'd better try one.' Belog toll out one of the matches and struck it. It caught fire easily.

'Ah, that match is all right,' he said. 'But what about the others?' So Belog took out all the matches one by one and lighted them to see that they were good. Then he replaced the matches in the box. 'This is a good box of matches,' Belog said to himself. Then he returned home.

'Here mother.' said Belog, with an honest and foolish smile on his face. 'I bought a good box of matches. They all work. I tested all of them!' Then Belog handed his mother the box of used, burnt matches.

His poor mother. What could she say? After all, Belog was her only child, and she loved him dearly.

Why Dayaks Like Hornbills

One day, a Dayak named Ketupong went into the jungle to hunt birds. He saw one with strange red eyes. He raised his blowpipe to his mouth. "Psst" - the dart hit the bird. He bent down to pick it up. Suddenly it changed into a beautiful dress made of bird's feathers. He put it in the bamboo container he used for his darts. It was so finely made and soft that it could be folded up into a small space.
"Have you seen my dress?" He turned round to see who had spoken to him. There was a lovely girl standing behind him. He did not know where she had come from.
"Yes," he said, "here it is. But I shan't give it to you unless you promise to marry me." He had never seen such a lovely girl before and his mother was always telling him to get married.
The girl agreed, provided that he never asked her to tell him her name. They were soon married. The next year, they had a son. Ketupong and his wife (he just called her "wife") were very happy together. They loved their son dearly. However, Ketupong often noticed that his wife was looking up at the sky. "What are you looking at?" he asked. But she only shook her head.
Then he saw his wife weaving two coats. They were a bright green color with an unusual pattern like bird's feathers.
"Who are you making those coats for?" he asked.
"They are for you and our son," she answered. "When they are finished, you can wear them to fly up into the sky."
"I don't want to fly," he said.
"Silly, she smiled. "Don't you know who I am? I am Inchin Temaga, daughter of Singalang Burong. My house is in the sky."
Ketupong was surprised. He had heard of Singalang Burong. He was the Dayak God of War, a great general who had never lost a battle. "In that case, my wife must be a fairy," he thought to himself.
Suddenly, his wife's body became covered with feathers. In a few minutes, her arms changed into wings. She rose into the air. He tried to stop her but it was too late. She flew up, up, into the sky. "Come back! Come back!" he cried. Her voice came floating down, "If you want to visit me, wear the coats I have made for you."
Years went by. All this time, the son was sad that he could not see his mother. He looked so unhappy that his father did not know what to do.
"Take me to my mother," the boy cried. "I want to see my mother again."
"But how can I?" asked his father. Then he remembered the coats which his wife had left behind. So they put on the coats. They immediately felt much lighter. Soon they were able to fly up into the sky. They saw a great palace in front of them. They palace gates opened and a man wearing a splendid Dayak was dress appeared. He was Singalang Burong.
"Welcome, Ketupong!" he roared. "My daughter and I have been waiting for you. Why have you been so long?
Then Inchin Temaga appeared. She was not very pleased to see her husband as she had heard that he had remarried. "Go back to earth!" she told him. "I know that you now have another family there. Our son can stay here with me. My father can teach him a lot. He can follow you later."
So Ketupong had to return to earth. Singalang Burong was very pleased to see his grandson.
At about that time, one of Singalang Burong's men was killed by a giant named Jubang. Singalang Burong showed his grandson the correct way to pay respects to the dead. He told him to pack all the dead man's belongings into a box. "The box cannot be opened," he said, "until we have taught the giant a good lesson. We must cut off his head." The next day the boy went with his grandfather to look for the giant. On the way, Singalang Burong taught him how to use magic and how to look for good and bad signs.

Soon they reached the longhouse where the giant was staying. They decided to wait outside until it was dark. When they entered the longhouse, Singalang Burong gave a terrible shout. He threw his spear at the giant. The giant fell to the ground. He then leapt forward and cut off the giant's head with one blow of his sword. All the other people living in the longhouse, who were the giant's prisoners, were set free. When Singalang Burong and his grandson returned home with the giant's head, everyone was happy. They held a feast which lasted three days and nights. After the feast was over, Singalang Burong pointed to the carving of a strange-looking bird on top of a tall pole. The bird's beak was pointed in the direction of the giant's house. "What's that, grandfa?" the boy asked. "It's a horn bill. It is one of the sacred birds of the Dayaks, we believe that it will help us to beat our enemies in battle."
"Why do you use a hornbill, grandfa?"
"Don't ask so many questions," said the old man. " Probably because it's such a large and strong bird. Anyway, its head and tail feathers are very beautiful."

Later when the boy returned to earth, he taught his father and everyone living in his father's longhouse what he had learned from his grandfather.

Blowpipes

Blowpipes are used as weapons in many parts of Borneo. It is believed that the Muruts of Sabah first used them more than a thousand years ago. They would not have been able to live without these weapons. They did not know how to plant rice at the time but they planted tapioca on the hillsides near their houses. They only way for them to obtain enough to eat was to hunt wild animals and birds with their blowpipes and poisonous darts.

It is said that the first blowpipe was made from bamboo. It was sharpened at one end. The point was then hardened over a fire. This weapon could be used both as a blowpipe and spear. However, bamboo blowpipes were not very accurate. The hole in the centre of the bamboo was too big, which made it impossible to shoot the darts straight. So blowpipes were made of hard wood, sometimes nine feet long, with a small hole bored down the centre. These wooden blowpipes were more accurate than bamboo blowpipes, but it was difficult to make the hole. Than a clever man thought of the idea of using a hot iron to make it. Even then, it sometimes took several weeks to make a blowpipe. Sometimes a sharp knife was tied tightly with rattan to the end of the blowpipe, and a metal mouthpiece was fixed at the other end.

Blowpipe darts are similar to arrows. They are usually made from wood or bamboo. They are about ten inches long and very thin and light. One end is sharp and the other end is shaped like a cork. This cork-shaped end helps to make sure that the dart travels in a straight line. The darts are dried in the sun and later hardened by fire. The pointed end is often dipped in poison which is made from the sap of a tree and the fangs of a poisonous snake. It looks like a black sticky paste.

Poisonous darts are placed ready for use in a bamboo container, which is hung above a fire so that darts are kept dry.

When an animal is killed with blowpipe, a hair is pulled out from its fur and stuck on the blowpipe, and a drop of blood from the animal is rubbed on the weapon.

Muruts can shoot very accurately with blowpipes. They can even hit a small bird from thirty yards away.