An Eastern Cham Folktale: Dalikan Urang Kathaut Rabah
Long ago there lived a poor poor man.
He did not have a home, a wife and not even a child.
The mad was cursed. If he married, the girl may live for only 2 months; on the 3rd month she would die. The mans 1st wife was lost to the curse. The man then married another wife and still the same thing happened. Therefore, the poor man began to worry.
Suddenly he thought, “I will go find God Po Debita and ask why my house, life, and luck is like this?.”
That day he carried a bag prepared with rice and salt and began his journey toward the sunset.
Once dark, the man turned into a tiny village to ask for a place to sleep. The man found the home of a lone old lady and proceeded to ask her for a place to rest.
The old lady ignored his first question and asked, “Nephew where did you come from, and what is your purpose here?”
The man replied, “I’m from a far village away from the sun.
I am going to find the God Po Debita to ask about my house and property, it is not like others.”
The old lady decided to be generous because she too wanted to ask Po-debita a question.
That night she gave rice for the man to eat.
Once morning came the man was already packed and ready to leave but first decided to say bye to the old lady.
The old lady then said, “Right now aunty would like to send a message to ask Po Debita.”
“Auntie has planted two pomegranate plants beside the two gates for five years.
The pomegranate plants are neither big nor small.
Has no fruit nor does it grow fruit, looks dead but it is not dead
when you meet Po Debita ask for me, Why is it like this?”
The man said, “Yes.”
Then, he excused himself to leave and continued walking towards the sunset.
The man walked and walked over mountains reaching high towards the kingdom of the god Po Sah-ina and Po Sah-Bingu who lived deep in the cold morning breeze. Finally he reached another village. The man decided to rest for the remainder of the day and through the night and began asking a lady who was sat on a bamboo stairway weaving cloth.
Before the man could say anything the lady spoke “Brother, where are you headed?”
“I am going to look for Po Debita to ask why it is that my house and property is so poor”
When the women heard that she felt generosity enter her heart but she remained silent. That night the woman allowed the man to sleep in her house as a way to show her sympathy. The lady of the house also gave the poor man rice, fish sauce, and dried fish so that he may cook it and have food for his journey.
Once morning came and the sun rose up the man began to grab his things and prepare to leave. The lady of the house walked out of the house with the man to see him out and then spoke “remember brother, if you see Po Debita that i have asked a favor of you.”
“And what would you like to ask about?” the man replied.
“I make a good living and live a comfortable life and yet i have no husband or children. I’ve already married 5 times but every one of them has gone. Can you ask Po Debita why that is?”
The man nodded and continued to leave the village while heading in the same long direction towards the sunset.
That day the poor man continued to walk well into the afternoon when he met a large river blocking his pass. The man thought to himself ‘what will i do to pass this river?’ In the middle of thinking the man heard a sound saying
“Oi, brother Human, where are you going brother?”
The man turned to look at the river and saw a humongous turtle.
The man replied “I am going to find Po Debita to ask about my home and property as it is not like others"
The turtle looked at the man and then at the raging river before saying "Well brother, I will take you across this river if you do one favor for me"
The man asked what the turtle wanted and the turtle replied. "I have been in this river for over 20 years and yet i have not changed not one bit! When you see Po Debita can you ask why that is?”
The turtle then nudged the man to climb onto his back, once the man was on the turtle entered the river and swam across.
Once across the river the man continued his walk along the dirt path when he saw a widowed elderly man with tattered clothing and a piece of dirty cloth wrapped over his wrinkled forehead.
The old man turned and asked “Young man, where are you going?”
The man stared uneasily at the elderly gentlemen and replied “I am going to Po Debita"
"And why are you searching for me?"
The man was shocked! Po Debita did not look like a God at all!
"Po, I wanted to ask you about my home and property which is not like any others”
Po Debita replied “Young man, i will give you 3 favors and only 3. Choose or ask well.”
The man remembered the 3 promises he gave to the old lady, the widowed house owner, and the large turtle. The man thought about ignoring the old ladies request but he felt as though his heart grew heavy with just the thought. That same feeling happened when the man considered ignoring one of the other request as well.
“Po Debita, my friend who is a turtle wished to ask you why after staying for over 20 years in the river East of here is he still only a turtle?”
Po Debita’s eyes flashed and a picture of a jade jewel could be seen in the reflection his pupils. Po debita then replied “Your friend the turtle has not yet become a dragon because he still holds the jade jewel in his mouth. Tell your friend to spit the jewel and give it to you and he shall transform into a dragon.”
The man then thought to himself again 'maybe the widow won’t mind if i ignore her request?“ again the mans heart felt heavy and he proceeded to ask Po Debita his next favor "Po, my friend whom is a wealthy landowner has no husband or children. She has married 5 times and all her husbands have gone, why it like this for her?”
Po Debita gave the man a long stern look and spoke “Your friend has had all her husbands leave because her soul and their souls are not meant to be next to each other. Tell your friend that I said that she will have the best future with many children and grandchildren only if she marries you.”
The man was taken aback by Po Debita’s words about marriage to him but kept those worries to himself. “Po Debita, i ask of you this last request for my friend an elderly lady. My friend has planted 2 pomegranate trees in her front gate for 5 years and yet the tree has not produced any fruit nor does it grow or dies; why is this?”
“The pomegranate plant of your friend does not grow because underneath both trees is a mountain of gold. Tell your friend to dig up this gold and her trees will grow and have many fruits."
The man began to bow low towards Po Debita and placed his forehead towards the dirt. After raising his head, Po Debita had already gone leaving nothing behind. The man began his walk back towards the large turtle who lived in the river; once at the stream the turtle noticed the man and asked
"what did Po Debita say?"
"Po Debita said to spit the jade in your mouth and give it to me and only after you do that will you turn into a dragon” The turtle was ready to spit out the jade but the man then added “but first please take me across the river again”
After the turtle had taken the man across the river and spat out the jewel of jade did he finally transform into a long blue dragon with eyes the color of the stream. After thanking the turtle the man continued onto the widowed woman’s home.
Once at the house the lady asked “Brother what did Po Debita tell you?”
The man then told her about how Po Debita stated that her 5 last husbands left because their souls were not meant to be around one another and in order for her to have a happy life with children and grand-children she must marry him.
The lady stared out at a banana tree across from her home and then turned to the man and replied “when shall we marry?”
The man smiled and the 2 were then married the next day. After staying with his new wife for 3 more days the man left off towards the home of the elderly lady.
Once the elderly lady saw the man approaching her home she proceeded to ask “What has Po Debita said about my pomegranates?"
The man replied "Po Debita says your plants do not grow, bare fruit, nor die because underneath each plant is a mountain of gold and if you want your plants to grow you must dig up this gold and keep it.”
The old lady began to cry with tears of happiness and quickly thanked the young man and also giving him a small handful of gold she had dug up right after being told of the treasure.
The man left and lived a long happy life with his new wife who survived after the 3rd month. The two eventually grew very rich with the gold and jade they had as well as the farms they owned. After a long while the couple had a child who then had many children.
The man and his wife became blessed grandparents with happiness and fortune all because the man had a good heart and was loyal and was thus blessed by Po Debita.
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