The Death of Timugon Murut.
|
THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
|
Title :
The Death of Timugon Murut. |
|
Author :
Kielo A. Brewis |
|
Abstract:
It is nearing dawn now. As the sin rises above the misty hills its first faint rays penetrate the slits of a bamboo wall revealing a group of people huddled together in the large front room of a house. They have not slept all night. In the middle of the floor old grandmother Sianu is lying on her sleeping mat, dying. Her wasted body is scarcely bigger than that of a child, and her chest is heaving heavilyas her eyes scan the people gathered around her. There is Simon, her eldest, her only son, looking very grave and strained after the sleepless night. Sujana,one of her three daughters, is squatting right next to her, holding her hand and talking to her in a quiet, reassuring voice. Then there are all the grandchildren, from the grown-up boys to little Stella, who is fast asleepon her mother’s lap. For a moment Sianu’s vision is blurred again, but she manages to come round one more time. This time her eyes focus on her son-in-law who has stood up as if to do something. She watches him walk to the big brass gong hung from the rafters, and as the light goes out of her eyes, the last sound that she hears with her dying senses is that of the slow, monotonous beating of the gong. It is the sound of the death beat and it is sounding for her, and now she must die . . . The women start to wail in loud, high-pitched voices, embracing the dead body of old grandmother Sianu, while the men sit and watch silently, faces strained with emotion.
|
| DOI: XXXX |
|
How to cite:
Brewis, K. A. (1987). The Death of Timugon Murut. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XXXVII (58): 91-114 |
|
References
|
