Royal Bait

I loved exploring Mak Ucu’s house. It was a typical old Malay house. The front part was build on pillars, so we had to climb a few steps to enter the living room from the outside and there was a staircase leading down to the bathroom, dining area and kitchen. The house was partially made of wood and every time we moved the floor creaked in protest. Mak Ucu’s bedroom was wonderful. It was white-washed and there was a cartoon picture of a jamu-seller which I really liked. Mak Ucu always had some interesting stuff on her desk for me to look at. If I asked about them sometimes she would tell me stories about the time when she was young. Some of them was horrific, but as a child I was simply fascinated. She told me of an old sultan who liked to go fishing. In my head I saw royalties surrounded by guards. The royalties would have servants to hold big umbrellas over their heads and cool them with gigantic fans. Mak Ucu said that on a bad day, when no fish took the bait, the sultan would command some poor servant to jump into the river and have a soldier spear the doomed servant as a bait or as a sacrifice.