Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese Vol II. - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/56

 strange but very simple are the expedients resorted to by a purchaser to test the value of a reunchōng, sikin or gliwang. For instance, he measures off on the blade successive sections each equal to the breadth of his own thumb-nail, repeating a series of words such as: paléh (= unfortunate), chilaka, meutuah (= lucky) mubahgia (or chènchala); or tua, raja, bichara, kaya, sara, mati; or sa chénchala, keudua ranjuina, keulhèë keutinggalan, keupeuët kapanasan etc. up to 10.

The word that coincides with the last thumb-breadth, is supposed to give the value of the weapon.

For sikins, the ordinary fighting weapons of the Achehnese, the following test is also employed. The rib of a cocoanut leaf is divided inso sections each equal in length to the breadth of the sikin, and these are successively laid on the blade thus:

Should they when laid upon the blade form a complete row of squares as in the above figure, it is called a gajah inòng (female elephant without gadéng or tusks) and the weapon is esteemed bad. Should there be two pieces too few to complete the last square, thus ‾‾, then it is thought to be superlatively good, as representing the rare phenomenon of an elephant with only one tusk. Should there however be one too few, thus ‾‾, then it is called an elephant with two tusks, and the weapon is considered moderately good at best.

There is another rich variety of èleumèë, which confer on their possessors the power of seeing what is hidden from ordinary mortals. Those who practise this craft are called "seers" (ureuëng keumalòn). The possessors of this gift are questioned in order to throw light on the cause of, or the best cure for a disease, the fortunes of a relative who has gone on a journey, the thief or receiver of stolen goods and so forth.

The questioner usually offers to the ureuëng keumalòn a dish of husked rice on which are also placed two eggs and a strip of white cotton. The methods employed by the "seers" or clairvoyantes vary greatly. Some draw their wisdom from a handbook of mystic lore, others from the lines produced by pouring a little oil over the eggs presented to them, others again from studying the palms of their own hands.