A: Hello!
B: Hello.
A: So tell me, what is this pantun thing, anyway?
B: The pantun is an oral literary form of expression traditionally used among the Malays. The origins of the pantun are lost in the misty early history of the Malay-speaking people, but the pantun had already been perfected to its current form by the 15th century at the latest, as is attested by Malay manuscripts speaking of events occurring during this period.
A: Now, don't avoid the question. What exactly is a pantun? Aren’t you supposed to know?
B: Oh, yes. In its most basic form the pantun consists of even-numbered lines based on an abab rhyming scheme, with the shortest pantun consisting of two lines better known as the pantun dua kerat in Malay, while the longest pantun, the pantun enam belas kerat have 16 lines. A pantun is traditionally recited according to a fixed rhythym and as a rule of thumb, in order not to deviate from the rhythym, every line should contain between eight and 12 syllables...