The poem of Bidasari in the Maranao language

Abstract

In the course of preparing a manuscript for a book presenting the well known Malay poem entitled Syair Bidasari, I was surprised to come upon evidence that the work was enjoyed over a far wider region than was previ ously known to scholars of Malay studies. In the library of the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde there resides a volume authored by Ester Vallado Daroy entitled Bidasari. This volume, coming to 91 pages, was published in Quezon City, the Philippines, in 1980. The contents are best described by quoting the author's preface: This story Bidasari is a rendition of a Maranao legend which I stumbled upon while working on a research grant in the University of the Philippines in 1968. While I kept the basic storyline as translated in English from the original Maranao dialect in verse, I have taken many liberties with the scenes, incidents and descrip tions. I therefore beg the indulgence of the native Maranao or of the scholar on Muslim literature; whatever beauty it may exude, I ascribe to the Mara?aos, and whatever outrages the scholar may uncover, I am fully to blame. No other information concerning the provenance of the story is given. The Syair Bidasari is one of the best known and widespread of the roman tic syair, and it is likely that only the Syair Ken Tambuhan rivals it. We know from recollections of the poet Amir Hamza's youth that the poem was one of the works read in the homes of the aristocracy of Langkat (Bagian Kesenian 1955:10). Ch.E.P. Kerckhoff described this work as one of those adapted to theatrical performance in Padang in the 1880s (Robson 1969:140), and accord ing to W.W. Skeat the story was used for theatrical representation in the Mendu theatre (Skeat 1900:520). In 1965 a feature film of the story was made in Malaysia by the Shaw Brothers Film Agency. Some thirteen manuscripts of the work are kept in institutions the world over, and one manuscript is in pri vate hands in Sri Lanka. A prose translation in the Makassarese language and Bugis script is also held in the Leiden University library. Four editions of the Malay poem have appeared in published form (Van Ho?vell 1843; Klinkert