Asmat Folklore, 2

THE ORIGIN OF SIRETS RIVER

Once upon a time, near a mountain, live a man called Wai. He live there with his daughter named Taraut. Around their living place, there was a sago palm tree. Whenever Wai went to hunt some animals, they cleaned the sago palm tree and then gave it a sign. Wai collected dry leaves there in order to keep that tree from being cut by the order to be cooked as sago. Whenever Wai cleaned the sago tree, there was a pyton snake named Bindiw that did the same thing.

One day, Wai and Taraut suffered from famine. Wai found his tools to produce sago and then went away. Ambas Yitow, the spirit of sago palm tree screamed because of pain. “Ayaaa .... biniaaa....beaaa!!” Wai was fallen down. That scream made Bindiw, the pyton that raise the sago palm tree came to that place. Bindiw lived near the tree, so that he can hear the scream of ambas Jitow.

When Ambas Jitow screamed, Wai did not realize that it was peculiar. Finally, that tree was fallen, Wai peeled the sago and that cut it, after that he went home because he felt so tired. He slept under the cowre, top of the sago. Bindiw did his magic to make Wai slept.

Bindiw came from the top of banyan tree and then swallowed Wai. In Bindiw  stomach, Wai wake up and found himself in Bindiw’s stomach, then screamed, “wuaaaaa.....! wuaaaa.....! dor icimni maramaaa....! I was in emergency condition!”

Wai called his daughter, “Tarauuuut! Tarauuu!!”

Taraut heard that voice and that she searched the voice’s source. The girl called her father name. Then she heard a voice again, “diaaaa.... dor ararawa...!! Iam here, this is emergency condition.”  Taraut came to the voice, but she felt afraid of the snake. Wai called her daughter again and then told her, “go near the sago waste and take Ot, a tool to filter sago, from there, gather the sago producing tools and don’t be afraid. You will not able to kill Bindiw, he is Wasan Yipit, king of the jungle. “Please go away  from here, find a man to kill this snake, if he can kill this snake, you can marry him”.

Taraut did what her father said, she run over the jungle and yelled, “Ya on openaa....! Wuaaa......! Wuaaa..... ya u openaaa.... Is somebody here?”

Asmat’s ancestors who lived in Ewerakap, Waise, Acakap, Amberepakap, Yepemakap, Ndedewakap, and Yaunakap heard the voice. They came to the voice, and then they found Taraut and asked her, “what is your name?”

“My name is Taraut”.

“What do you want?”

Taraut told them what happened to Wai. Asmat ancestors follow her, some of them bringing komenu, some of them are bringing ombocen, spear which is made from palm tree, when they reached the place where Bindiw swallowed Wai, Waise attacked the snake’s head, ambernak attacked his tail and the other attacked his stomach. That night Bindiw screamed and run into the river. Rain was very heavy, thunder is very laud and there was also lightning, and it was also windy. The rain followed Bindiw from upper course to the lower course.

So that there were Bindiw’s trail became a river which was called Sirets River. Then Bindiw died in Amunpun stream. There was the place when Asmat’s ancesstors cut Bindiw’s body then ate together.

Kaspar Manmak and Dewi Linggasari