Pitoh In The Tekna '

Pitoh is rice flour cooked in young leaves and is a Kayan delicacy. In the TEKNA’, pitoh is used as a reference to any cooked form of rice rather than just rice flour.

40. 1.117 Traditional Kayans do not say they are going hunting, fishing etc for fear evil spirits or beings will hear them and make them labour in vain due to the meanness of these beings. They will say they are going for a walk or any other thing instead so as to fool the spirits.

41. 1:120 "Uwet” is how Kayans describe the sound the Wak Wak makes early in the morning.

NOTES TO PART TWO

1. Chorus: This is a standard opening phrase for a Tekna ' session, even when it is to continue a story. See Part One: 1 for the meaning of this phrase.

2. 2:6 It seems noble people

2:43 The stanza has been literally translated because it rhymes quite nicely and can still be understood. The stanza however just mean " I shall be going for a short while only."

8. 2:47 "Tekna '" in this case is a reference to Balan Lejau, the main character of the story. Used in this context, it is translated "famous one".

9. 2:50 A boat in a TEKNA ' is always likened to a Bunyan tree leaf, perhaps because the Bunyan tree leaf is narrow and light and presumably very fast.

10. 2:51 "Arau" is a tree popularly used for boatmaking in Kayan culture. Such boats are said to be very fast.

11. 2:53 Balan Lejau told himself he was only going to look for a walking stick when in fact he was going hunting. This deception is to fool evil spirits who might be tempted to foil the success of his journey if they knew about it. See also Part One: 40.

12. 2:59 This is an example where the singer changes words to rhyme with the next line. The actual word should be "ATENG" which means, "REACHED". In the TEKNA ', the word has been shortened to "ATEN". There are other examples of this technique in the Tekna '.

13. 2:77 See Notes Part 1:46 for an explanation of this recurring phrase. It is difficult to express the idea of this stanza into English. The 2:109 meaning of this stanza is probably best expressed by the English: "What the heck is

34. 1:87 The meaning of "telenja" is uncertain and the word from which it is derived is unknown.

35. 1:88 "Jung tupu" is derived from two words namely "hujung" and "tupuh". Hujung means end of while tupuh means to "let go of."

36. 1:95 "Nyaran" in Kayan is the Malay "Semah", which is known scientifically as Tor duoronensis. Since "Semah" is borrowed into English as well, the Kayan name has been maintained in the translation. The word is synonymous with a delicious dish.

37. 1:99 A poetic way to say she walks very slowly, which is becoming of a noble lady. She walks so slowly; she can even count the planks she walks over.

38. 1:100 The traditional door of a royal apartment consists of a big plank measuring about 10cm thick, 1 metre wide and 2 metres long. The whole plank is cut from a single piece of wood. In this story it is cut from the lemelei tree. Because of the size, it makes a big creaking sound when it is opened. This stanza is a