The Secret Message or Death Letter

[Full title: Parallel elements in Folk and Epic literature (6) The Secret Message or Death Letter]

erary element recurs in Indian folk-literature. locus classicus, the tale from the Kathas., the story of Sivavarman 52 may be taken. Sivavarman, suspected of having had sexual intimacies with one of the king's (Adityavarman's) queens who became pregnant was sent to a neighbouring chief with a secret message instructing the chief to 51 T 1 k. agdan, Tagalog hagdan, etc., "ladder". Bong, Tag, lebong, ete., Thamboo shoots". Iloko raTawney, 1 (Bk. 1, Chapter 5, Tale 1-c), p. 52.

-266 put the minister to death. "x x x When he heard that, the king thought: 'Surely he is guilty of treason against me and yet if I put him to death publicly I shall incur reproach'. Thus reflecting, that king sent that Sivavarman on some pretext to Bhogavarman, a neighbouring chief, who was an ally of his, and immediately afterwards the king secretly sent off a message to the same chief, bearing a letter by which he was ordered to put to death the minister." Tales of this genre also occur in the Javanese and Balinese folk-literatures. The first tale from these regions is the Balinese The Lay of Jaya Prana. 53 Jaya Prana marries a low caste woman of exquisite beauty but the Dewa Ratu (the godly king) covets her. Jaya Prana is sent away on a false errand. He was accompanied by the king's trusted servant who carried the death letter, and who also dealt the blow upon the hero. The hero as a faithful subject took the order without question. Another Balinese tale is the story of I Baboso 54 whose mother, the third wife of the Dewa Agung Putra rin Koripan, was an ogress. Jealous of the son of her co-wife, she contrives to send 53 c. Hooyka. The Holy Bible, Sam. II, 11, 14-16." The Lay of Jaya Prana, Introd., Text, Transl. & Notes. 54 Ibid., p. 16-18.

-267 both I Baboso and his half-brother (the co-wife's son), who acts as servant incognito, to her mother with a letter instructing the grandmother ogress to eat the child without ankle rings. The ankle rings are ingeniously transferred to the other boy, thereby the old ogress eats her own grandson. An old Balinese ballad also tells the story of a man "who had been killed by the king in order to be in a position to take the poor man's lovely wife unto himself". A Sasak tale (of Dara Kembar) tells of a young prince who desires to acquire magical power from an ogre king, who is the father of his step-mother. His father offers no objec❤ tion to his desire, and is encouraged by the stepmother, who hopes to get rid of this rival of her son. She entrusts him with a secret sealed letter directed to her father, the ogre. The letter is, however, opened by the king's patih. The letter which requests the king ogre to kill the young prince is changed into one by which his life is spared.56 Along the lines of the Jaya Prana genre, the Madurese ballad of Bangsa Chara (and Raga Padmi) tells us of a feudal lord who covets his servant's wife. The servant is 55 Ibid., "The Ballad of Buwang Sakti", p. 20. 567 Ibid., p. 18-19.

-268 sent to a mission and hence to his death. The deed is performed by another servant, who announced the intention before the act. 57 Java has a version of the Jaya Prana, which according to C. Hooykaas, is a Javanized re-narration rather than a true translation of the Balinese tale. 58 The secret letter genre is also found in the literature of the Filipinos, although the metrical romance where it is found is a late composition (vide §4.1). Don Sancho, the general of King Alfonso's army, is a rival of the second in command, Don Rubio, for the hand of the king's sister. His suit is accepted, hence his rival contrives to incite the king to hate the general. Having been caught with his newly born child by the princess, Don Sancho was with respect asked by the king to carry a sealed letter to the prison dungeons of the kingdom. Strophe 4-6, p. 20. X X X X Said he 59 (thus): "(My) good general, With thy aim and desire, I agree forsooth. "But thou this my letter carryst With haste to the convicts' home 60 And to the warden-in-charge Thou this letter givest." 57 Ibid., p. 19. 58 Ibid., p. 21. 59 King Alfonso. 60 Litl., "to the prison (called) Moon, immediately bring." Spanish luna, "moon". Perhaps, Luna is the name of the prison or dungeon where the general was sent.

-269- 'Cause in truth it was with (solemn) understanding 61 The secret message, he 62 knew not its meaning, Without delay he brought it in haste To the warden-in-charge the missive of fate. Strophe 4, 6, p. 21. Also Strophe 8. The fateful message thus having read By the Keeper, he stood firm, then left. The guards he summoned in secret Unknown to Sancho what was afoot. For truly it was unknown To Don Sancho the secret design Like unto a lightning the ropes around Him bound, his body pitiful yet firm. X X X X Thus he was thrown into the cell, There in prison, his yes were gouged out! A folktale possessing the motif genre exists in Philippine literature. 63 A letter is also carried by the hero, but its contents are equally unknown. The motive of sending away the hero is present. In brief, the tale runs thus: Tomarind, the brave warrior of Datu Nebucheba, has a ravishingly beautiful wife, who is secretly coveted by the latter. The Datu contrives to get rid of Tomarind by sending him to a perilous journey to get the enchanted marble ball from a cave in a certain mountain, which was guarded by two monsters of terrible aspects. He accomplishes the 61 Between the King and Sancho's rival, his second in command, Don Rubio. 62 Don Sancho. 63 Fansler, Tale No. 54 - "Tomarind and the Wicked Datu" (Pampango)

-270 task with the help of a witch who gave him a magic cane, but to the chagrin of the Datu. Again, Tomarind is sent to the subterranean abode of the Datu's parents with a letter. It is the plan of the Datu to crush Tomarind to death while he is in the passage to the abode. But again with the aid of the witch, he is saved and comes back with a purported letter from his (the Datu's) parents. The Datu himself goes to the subterranean passage. Tomarind crushes him to death. Two distinct categories of the death-letter genre are immediately perceived. (1) The victim-to-be either carries his own death warrant to his murderer-to-be, or (2) the warrant is entrusted to another person who was to kill the unsuspecting victim, who is the hero of the tale. 64 Perhaps, another category corollary to the first is evident in the Tomarind tale. The "boomerang" category, in which the sender is himself the victim of his own schemes to dispose off the husband of the woman he desires. In the Balinese tale of Jaya Prana and the Madurese ballad of Bangsa Chara (and Raga Padmi), the second category is manifested. Likewise, in the locus classicus, the second category is followed, but with the exception that the message is delivered by a third party to the would-be-killer. The Javanese verHooykaas, op. cit., p. 15.

-271 sion of the Jaya Prana tale would exactly be like the Balinese. The tale of I Baboso also falls under this category, but with a marked variation, e.g., in the ingenious exchange of places between the hero (the victim-to-be) and the unknowing accomplice, who becomes the victim of his own grandfather. In the Sasak tale of Dara Kembar, the victimto-be, the young prince, carries the fateful letter (which, however, was changed leading to his being spared from death). This illustrates the first category. The Philippine(s) metrical romance may be classified under the first category, although the murderer-to-be turns out to be merely a prison warden who is instructed to incarcerate the hero, whose eyes were later gouged out. The death-letter or warrant is issued under two circumstances. It is occasioned by the instigator of the hero's death, either because he wants to punish the hero for some act of treachery or disloyalty, or "what is more dramatic, because he desires the wife or the wife-to-be of the hero. 165 The tale of Sivavarman in the Kathas. shows that the occasion of the punishment is due to the hero's being suspected of committing adultery with one of the king's wives. The Balinese Jaya Prana, Buwang Sakti, and the Madurese 65 Ibid.

-272 Bangsa Chara (and Raga Padmi) show that the heroes are sent to their death because of the instigators' desire to possess their (the heroes') wives. The Philippine(s) Tomarind tale shows the same cause for sending the hero to his death (which however is not accomplished). In the Balinese Baboso and Sasak Dara Kembar tales, jealousy on the part of the stepmothers causes them to send the rivals of their sons to death, which in both cases, the heroes escape from the intended death. While the Philippine(s) metrical romance shows the first occasion under which the hero has to be punished, it presents a rather peculiar turn. There are two distinct impressions that may be drawn from the instigation of punishment. To the King, it was to punish the general for having had illicit relations with his sister. To Don Rubio, it was, but unknown to the King, vengeance upon his rival for the love of the princess. This is parallel to that which occurs in the locus classicus. Although, a third person is found (in the Philippine(s) tale) to instigate the act of vengeance, there is another (a fourth) who executes the sentence. It is interesting to note the letter espect of the Tomarind tale. The letter carried by Tomarind was not necessarily the death warrant, but was only an inducement to the passage within which he is intended to be crushed to

-273 death. Another purpot ed letter, but not a warrant, causes the death of the instigator himself. Thus, it may be seen here an entirely different tale plot arrangements, but still possessing the nature of the motif. However, the ornamental aspect of the letter element in this tale may be evident. The Tomarind tale, although it does not show any resemblance with the metrical romance, may have anticipated the latter in regard to the letter element. The antiquity of the tale may be ascertained from the use of the title datu, and therefore, may show very close affinity with the Balinese and Javanese tales. The tale may be the deciding factor in dismissing all difficulties that may arise in regard to the inclusion of the metrical romance in the present thesis. 66