down the price, but the child being light-skinned would be worth extra.
‘No,’ said Rubiah angrily.
‘You think you can keep a baby?’ he jeered. ‘You gila!’
Rubiah didn’t think he was far wrong. It would be crazy to ruin her whole life over someone else’s child. Just then Mei Li woke, smiled and reached up to tug her mother’s hair.
You take us back to the village, the baby seemed to say. Longhouse best place for Mei Li.
Chapter 14
I T WAS A HOT DAY IN THE JUNGLE, BUT NOT UNBEARABLY SO. The dappled sunlight sneaking its way through the forest canopy made a welcome change from the rain and leaden, grey skies of the past three days. Entri was lying on the boardwalk on a rattan mat. The gentle chatter of the women washed over him in a relaxing way. Or maybe it’s just the rice wine my granddaughter gave me, he thought drowsily.
Mei Li was sitting with the other Dayak maidens, weaving mats from small flat strips of cane that Entri’s wife Lada had prepared by splitting fat cane with a long narrow parang. Entri watched Mei Li proudly as her deft fingers wove the intricate pattern known only to his wife’s family, which was superior to the commonplace designs of other families in their tribe.
Who could have imagined that his selfish daughter Rubiah would have given birth to such a loving child. Neither he nor Lada had believed Rubiah’s farfetched tale that Mei Li was the daughter of a white witch. At the time they had both agreed that she was Rubiah’s child by an orang puti. There could be no other explanation for their self-centred daughter bringing Mei Li home to her parents and begging them to care for her.
Her white lover must have been a giant, he mused. At seventeen Mei Li towered over the other girls and, more unfortunately, the young men too. Although the sea Dayaks were tall in comparison to the Penans, the shy, diminutive people who liveddeep in the interior of Borneo, they were still a short race. By the time she was ten years of age Mei Li was taller than Gelungan, a giant by Dayak standards. And she still kept on growing. No man wants to look up to his wife, Entri thought sadly. It had been hard to find her a husband. None of the young men in the village had offered for the lovely, gentle girl, though she was old enough to be married and was known as a good and willing worker.
Entri knew he was lucky to get Langkup to take her along with the boat. He cursed the wild boar that had gored his leg and left him crippled despite the incantations of the village bomoh, the sacrifice of a plump pullet and careful nursing from his womenfolk. Lada had done everything possible to heal his leg. She had sent Mei Li into the forest to search for special healing leaves and herbs for the poultice she applied to the festering wound. Both women had attended him tirelessly through the raging fever that became increasingly intense. Delirious, he had begged them to cut off the blackened, putrid limb, but Lada had only yielded when he went into convulsions. Bravely, Mei Li had assisted her grandmother in the grisly task. In the months that followed, she had worked in the paddy fields to harvest the crop and free Lada to nurse him.
Entri now got round the village on a simple wooden leg he’d carved, but he’d never fish the South China Sea again. Despite the efforts of his kin they were struggling to get by. He didn’t even like to think about next season. The main harvest had taken place a month ago, and now, as he watched his prematurely aged wife wearily split the cane for the mats and baskets she hoped to sell from a roadside barrow, he doubted there would be sufficient profit from her dogged toil.
Langkup, a fisherman from one of the northern tribes, hadoffered to buy Entri’s boat. He was coming tonight to settle the deal. Entri was very sad. Selling the boat, which he’d inherited from his father and his father before him, was a downward move, reducing him in rank and importance. But he had no
‘No,’ said Rubiah angrily.
‘You think you can keep a baby?’ he jeered. ‘You gila!’
Rubiah didn’t think he was far wrong. It would be crazy to ruin her whole life over someone else’s child. Just then Mei Li woke, smiled and reached up to tug her mother’s hair.
You take us back to the village, the baby seemed to say. Longhouse best place for Mei Li.
Chapter 14
I T WAS A HOT DAY IN THE JUNGLE, BUT NOT UNBEARABLY SO. The dappled sunlight sneaking its way through the forest canopy made a welcome change from the rain and leaden, grey skies of the past three days. Entri was lying on the boardwalk on a rattan mat. The gentle chatter of the women washed over him in a relaxing way. Or maybe it’s just the rice wine my granddaughter gave me, he thought drowsily.
Mei Li was sitting with the other Dayak maidens, weaving mats from small flat strips of cane that Entri’s wife Lada had prepared by splitting fat cane with a long narrow parang. Entri watched Mei Li proudly as her deft fingers wove the intricate pattern known only to his wife’s family, which was superior to the commonplace designs of other families in their tribe.
Who could have imagined that his selfish daughter Rubiah would have given birth to such a loving child. Neither he nor Lada had believed Rubiah’s farfetched tale that Mei Li was the daughter of a white witch. At the time they had both agreed that she was Rubiah’s child by an orang puti. There could be no other explanation for their self-centred daughter bringing Mei Li home to her parents and begging them to care for her.
Her white lover must have been a giant, he mused. At seventeen Mei Li towered over the other girls and, more unfortunately, the young men too. Although the sea Dayaks were tall in comparison to the Penans, the shy, diminutive people who liveddeep in the interior of Borneo, they were still a short race. By the time she was ten years of age Mei Li was taller than Gelungan, a giant by Dayak standards. And she still kept on growing. No man wants to look up to his wife, Entri thought sadly. It had been hard to find her a husband. None of the young men in the village had offered for the lovely, gentle girl, though she was old enough to be married and was known as a good and willing worker.
Entri knew he was lucky to get Langkup to take her along with the boat. He cursed the wild boar that had gored his leg and left him crippled despite the incantations of the village bomoh, the sacrifice of a plump pullet and careful nursing from his womenfolk. Lada had done everything possible to heal his leg. She had sent Mei Li into the forest to search for special healing leaves and herbs for the poultice she applied to the festering wound. Both women had attended him tirelessly through the raging fever that became increasingly intense. Delirious, he had begged them to cut off the blackened, putrid limb, but Lada had only yielded when he went into convulsions. Bravely, Mei Li had assisted her grandmother in the grisly task. In the months that followed, she had worked in the paddy fields to harvest the crop and free Lada to nurse him.
Entri now got round the village on a simple wooden leg he’d carved, but he’d never fish the South China Sea again. Despite the efforts of his kin they were struggling to get by. He didn’t even like to think about next season. The main harvest had taken place a month ago, and now, as he watched his prematurely aged wife wearily split the cane for the mats and baskets she hoped to sell from a roadside barrow, he doubted there would be sufficient profit from her dogged toil.
Langkup, a fisherman from one of the northern tribes, hadoffered to buy Entri’s boat. He was coming tonight to settle the deal. Entri was very sad. Selling the boat, which he’d inherited from his father and his father before him, was a downward move, reducing him in rank and importance. But he had no
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