Song in the Sumatran Highlands

Text: The Mountain is Crying

The following pantun is an example of a pantun baku ("a frozen verse") or stock verse that many padendang and audience members know, though it may appear with minor variations. While technically the two halves are not attached to each other except through the rhyme scheme and one can theoretically exchange out a batang for another, in a pantun baku the two halves are typically connected. Once a padendang has started delivering a specific pantun, the audience knows what isi will be delivered.

All the instances where this text was noticed are tagged. I heard this pantun used in the same song, "Pariaman Panjang," by two different singers. 


Batang

Minangkabau: 
  1. Manih tabunyo rang Piaman                                        
  2. Dikilang sadiang mandaki                                            
  3. Urek di lingkah layang-layang                                      
  4. Daunnyo banyak nan patah                                         
  5. Patah dek ribuik pagi hari                                            
  6. Sado nan patah lareh juo                           
Indonesian: 
Manis tebunya urang Pariaman
Dikilang sedang mendaki
Urat tebu diduduki oleh layang-layang
Daunnya banyak yang patah
Patah karena banyak angina
Semua yang patah laras juga

English: 
The sugar cane of the Pariaman people is sweet
It’s squeezed while walking
The roots are sat on by swallows
The leaves have many that are broken
Broken by strong wind in the morning
All that are broken fall off
 

Isi

Minangkabau: 
  1. Manangih Gunuang Pasaman                                      
  2. Tambah hanguih Gunuang Marapi                    
  3. Taisak Gunuang Singgalang                                         
  4. Managun aia di lurah                                                     
  5. Cando baniaik kok dak jadi                                            
  6. Ka tau utang awak di namo                                            
Indonesian: 
Menangis Gunung Pasaman 
Tambah hangus Gunung Merapi
Terisak Gunung Singgalang
Tertegun air di lurah
Seperti berniat tidak jadi
Ke tahu utang kita di nama

English: 
Mt. Pasaman is crying
Mt. Merapi is often smoldering
Mt. Singgalang sobs
The water in streams has stopped flowing
It is like the interest doesn’t come. 
We already have a name. 
 

Interpretation

Batang: The batang is relatively descriptive about the place and nature. It talks about the sweetness of sugar cane grown in Pariaman, a way of establishing connection to the place, Pariaman, but also about sugarcane, wind, and birds.
Isi: Pak Ketua explained that on the surface this is a pantun parasaian but in reality it is a pantun muda-mudi. The mountains here, which are important landmarks in the Minangkabau region, are a metaphor for people: the father is crying, the mother is crying, the whole family and surrounding community is sobbing, hence the connection with the sentiment of parasaian (suffering). It is muda-mudi because the pantun also functions as a metaphor for an individual who is romantically interested in someone but the other party does not reciprocate the interest. So at this level, the pantun is about dating: we are the jilted lover, the relationship ended by the other person. The implication is that everyone in the village knows about the relationship and the end of it. 

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