Penawar.Release

Kerengga di dalam buluh,
Serahi berisi air mawar,
Sampai hasrat di dalam tubuh,
Tuan seorang jadi penawar.

A red ant, trapped; it bites like fire,
A sting that only rosewater can ease,
When my whole being is consumed with desire,
In thee and in thee alone, I find release.

I can't remember exactly where I discovered this oh-so-sensual pantun but it is one of the more famous ones and have been quoted in many sources. What attracted me most is the compelling imagery used to allude to sexual desire: the image of a red ant inside a bamboo is an unmistakable hint of the fiery feverish desire of new lovers (if you do not understand Malay, the first line in the original refers to a red ant inside a bamboo). Contrast that with the cooling, calming effect of rosewater and you have a pantun that reflects a strong view on the salutary effect of sex, which in this case is seen as a "cure" (penawar) for an affliction i.e. sexual desire.

There are those who contend that serahi (a container with a narrow mouth, usually used to store liquid) here conjures the Malay word berahi ("passion", "desire"). While it sounds like a worthy idea, I am not persuaded (and I don't buy the theory that the longish shape of the serahi is an allusion to the phallus either) . But I am convinced that the bamboo with the red ant inside it and the serahi filled with rosewater refer to the body - that of the one afflicted with sexual desire and that of the lover who is seen to be the "cure" for this affliction, respectively.

Many may automatically assume that this pantun was originally composed by a woman because of the word tuan ("sir") in the last line. This is a common mistake. Malay grammar and vocabulary are after all, generally gender free, especially when you discount the gender-differentiating Sanskrit words (e.g. putera vs puteri, dewa vs dewi etc). The word tuan in Malay - especially classical Malay - does not necessarily refer to a man, as can be seen from gender neutral expressions like tuan hamba (translatable into "sir" or "madam") or tuan puteri, a title used to address a princess.

Enjoy your rosewater-filled serahi, and if you don't have any, may you find (at least) one. 

The photo and a version of the translation were originally published here on dailyMalaysia.org .

P.S. Talking about the word tuan, in Amir Muhammad's Tokyo Magic Hour, the recital of a series of love pantun containing the word tuan by a few very manly voices led to a few critics labelling the film as "a gay movie". While this is to some extent true - according to IMDB the film is about an experimental romance between two men - the use of the word tuan in the pantun does not provide enough ground for such an assertion, methinks.

Comments

[Ads]

To think that I actually blushed when I read this poem....naughty naughty.

[fazu]

Ads, tsk tsk! The question is: who's the naughty one here? ;)

[MM]

Batang buluh berisi santan,
Bunga mawar seri pengantin,
Untung sungguh nasib badan,
Ada penawar zahir batin.

[machinist]

That's an interesting translation, though somewhat more literal. 'Serahi' phonetically alludes to the word 'berahi', and we thought that it was a remarkable word choice. As for the usage of the word 'tuan', I'm convinced and concur -- something to remember in the future, especially translations.

p/s great blog

[Epit]

lama dah aku tak check blog ni. ingatkan dah kaput...

jgn berenti, aku suka baca blog hang