Book Name:

Fables and Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest

[1] [2] Once upon a time there was a beautiful king's daughter called Princess 'Lemon-grass ' [3] who was betrothed to another king's son called the 'Silver' Prince. [4] In due course of time a lucky day for the wedding was fixed, and on its arrival the Bridegroom's party went forth in procession to escort him to the house of the Bride, with the noise of gongs and drums, according to the custom of the country.

But at the very last hour, even while the Bridegroom's procession was approaching, the Bride changed her mind, and threatened to resist the Bridegroom by force. At this juncture however, one Têgah [5] made peace between them, standing like a wall between the pair and forbidding the conflict. Yet even as they stood, they were all summoned by the Gêdémbai, [6] and as they did not obey the summons, they were forthwith changed into Hills. And the name of the Hill into which the Princess was changed was 'Lemon-grass Crag' [7] (or 'Kedah Peak'), and that of the Prince was 'Silver Mountain,' [8] and that of the peace-maker was 'Sheer Hill' [9] And so to this day 'Sheer Hill' stands like a wall between the conflicting parties.

Comments:

[1] Princess Lemon-grass. By a popular etymology, the Malay name of Kedah Peak ("Gunong jerai"or " 'jerai' Crag") is here derived from the Malay word serei which means 'lemon-grass' (citronella). In the "Hikayat Marong Mahawangsa" it is said to be so called "on account of its height." The name is however undoubtedly taken from the name of the Tree (jerai), v. supra (p. 36).

[2] The Silver Prince. The Malay word for silver is "Perak," whence not only the name of this mountain, but also those of the Perak river and the Perak state, are derived.

[3] Serei.

[4] Perak.

[5] Bukit Têgah.

[6] Gêdémbai are gigantic spirits who could turn people whom they addressed by name into wood or stone.

[7] Gunong Jerai.

[8] Bukit Perak.

[9] Sheer Hill. This is the meaning of the name of "Bukit Têgah," a steep hill situated between the Silver Mountain (Bukit Perak) and Kedah Peak (Gunong Jerai). I may add that the difference in use of the terms "Gunong" and "Bukit" has nothing whatever to do with the question of height (as in the case of the words 'hill' and 'mountain' in English). The former (gunong) means a more or less bare and precipitous peak or crag, whilst the latter (bukit) is used of all forest-covered hills or mountains.

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