That the one in
this case is assumed to follow the daily habit of the Dayak is in
accordance with the spirit of folk-lore.
20. BRANAK, THE ANTOH
(From the Ot-Danums, of the Upper Kahayan River)
A man called Mai Boang (father of Boang) had a very good-looking son who
owned a fine big male dog, and when the child grew to be old enough he
used the animal for hunting. One day when the dog was following the tracks
of a deer he came into a long, long cave and Boang followed. To pass
through the cave consumed thrice the time required to cook rice. Emerging
on the other side the dog and the boy arrived at a house where there was a
handsome woman. As darkness was falling he asked if he might stay over
night, and she gave permission, the dog remaining under the house. Each
was attracted by the other, so they passed the night together. Boang
remained there, and in time she bore him a son. She possessed a female
dog, and the two dogs had two male and two female pups.
Two or three years later Boang wanted to see his father and mother. She
said: "I will go with you for a short time." With wife and child he went
away, but he soon had to return because she did not like his country, of
which the language and everything else was different. They came back,
lived long, and had many children. Her name was Kamkamiak and she had
long, long nails. When he was disinclined to comply with her wishes she
forced him by using her nails on a tender spot. She shows herself to-day
as alang, the black hawk.
The descendants of this pair are also Kamkamiak, evil antohs of women at
childbirth. The offspring of the dogs is another kind of antoh, called
Penyakit (sickness). One of these appears in the form of a large goat
which is seen only occasionally. It bites in the neck and the throat, the
wounds are invisible, and the victim must die on the second or third day.
When the descendants of Mai Boang are ill they become better when relating
the story of Boang.
NOTE. - The handsome woman who figures in this story is an evil antoh which
afflicts women at childbirth and by the Ot-Danums and others is called
Kamkamiak, the one with the long nails. She is also commonly known by the
name Branak. She causes the woman to lose much blood and to have pain in
the uterus, the nails of the antoh playing an important part in these
conditions. Men who work in the utan gathering rubber, rattan, etc., are
liable to get a disorder under the scrotum that looks like scratches, and
which ulcerate and may be troublesome for several months or a year.
