Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese Vol II. - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/99

 Muda, the powerful ruler of Acheh. We gather, partly from the direct statements of the author, partly from hints and suggestions which occur in the course of the story, that this prince had gone to Acheh with his younger brother Raja Radén, though we are not told the motive of their journey. Éseukanda had received them with honour and assigned to them Ladòng and Kruëng Raya as freehold territory (wakeuëh, bibeuëh ), and that too although they were not of the Mohammedan faith. The poet (or at least some of the transcribers of his writings), expressly calls them Dutchmen, yet represents them as worshippers of the Sun, according, forsooth, to the teaching of the prophet Moses! .

Between Raja Radén and his royal host there soon grew up such a brotherly feeling, that the former embraced the Mohammedan religion, and gave up his wife, a daughter of the ruler of Pahang to the king of Acheh, taking one of the latter's consorts in exchange.

Not so favourable was the impression that Si Ujut conceived of Acheh. This stubborn kafir met all the kindness he had received with black ingratitude, and suggested to his converted brother that it was time to return to Malacca, where boundless riches stood at their disposal, and to leave for good and all the poverty-stricken country where they had settled. In vain Raja Radén seeks to convince him of the inadvisability of such a step. His elder brother mocks him for being such a fool as to give his nobly-born wife away in exchange for an Achehnese woman "as ugly as an iguana", and reveals to him his scheme for despoiling before their departure the territory given them to hold in fee, and afterwards waging war on a large scale against Acheh.

The first part of this programme was soon carried out by Si Ujut. He attacks and plunders a number of Achehnese fishermen and hangs them on hooks thrust through their faces; thereafter he sets sail for his father's country.

Raja Radén remains loyal to his kingly protector, warns him of Ujut's further designs and declares himself ready to fight with him to the death against his infidel brother. He also advises him to anticipate Si Ujut by himself invading the latter's territory without giving him