Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese Vol II. - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/232

 If both the combatants decline to renew the fight after several rounds are over, the fight is said to be sri; in other words it is drawn.

The fights between chémpalas, meureubōʾs and puyōhs rank as belonging to a lower plane of sport than those of bulls, buffaloes, rams, cocks and leueʾs, while combats between crickets are officially regarded as an amusement for children. For all that, older people are said not to disdain this childish sport; indeed it was said of the Pretender-Sultan that he was a great patron of fights between daruët kléng, and often staked large sums upon the sport. According to what people say, it was due to this propensity that gambling was permitted within the house, since the young and lively tuanku would have been put to shame before his old guardian, Tuanku Asèm, if he openly indulged in such unlawful pleasures at a time when stress was being laid on the abandonment of the godless Achehnese adats.

Even when free from wagers and matches these pleasures are forbidden by Islam; how much more then when the two sins are inseparably intertwined! Under the war-created hegemony of the Teungkus, fights between animals are becoming rarer and rarer, to the great disgust of many chiefs and of most of the common people. These last fancy that it it is sufficient if these fights are held outside the limits of consecrated ground and on days other than the Friday.

In former times there seem to have been individuals who besides taking part in the ritual of divine service, had no compunction about actively sharing in these sports. At least in the historical hikayats we now and then come across persons bearing the appellation of leube juara, a combination which from an orthodox standpoint seems irreconcilable.