A Mythological Creature

Gustav · 21st April 2022, 10:23 AM

Alan, thank you for disclosing the obvious and regrettable shortcomings of Helen Ibbitson Jessup's translation of the title "Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakungwati" (where she apparently mixed up "Panembahan" and "(Panembahan) Senopati") and "Barwang" or "Barong" as lion.

However I cannot follow you when you write:

Jessup tells us that the word "barwang" means "barong".

Well, it does not.

A quick look in Zoetmulder, p. 220 tells us - "Barwang, Barong bear; the honey-bear, Ursus malayanus"

and below:

"Arjunawijaya 10.14: singha barwang alayu (often in this combination, which later became one concept: Modern Javanese singabarong); Sutasoma 134.1c; Bharatayuddha 9.3; 46. 14; Tantri Kamandaka etc."

In Banten the ending -ong is spelled as -wang, so Barong, Kalong, Balong and Katong becomes Barwang, Kalwang, Balwang and Katwang (I have no proof it also applies for Cirebon dialect, but this surely is a possibility, as it is an archaic form). I wonder the native speaker of Sundanese couldn't make a sense of it.

But that all doesn't change the fact the carriage depicted in initial post is Singhabarwang, not Paksinagaliman, and it most likely wasn't built in 15th cent.

If you wonder where the third one is - it is in stored besides Paksinagaliman in Kanoman for long time already, and we actually see it in the picture in #8 behind Paksinagaliman. So, if you would have seen Paksinagaliman indeed, you would have seen (or the abdi dalem would have shown you) also the Jempana Setia.

21st April 2022, 10:23 AM	#14
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,280	Alan, thank you for disclosing the obvious and regrettable shortcomings of Helen Ibbitson Jessup's translation of the title "Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakungwati" (where she apparently mixed up "Panembahan" and "(Panembahan) Senopati") and "Barwang" or "Barong" as lion. However I cannot follow you when you write: Jessup tells us that the word "barwang" means "barong". Well, it does not. A quick look in Zoetmulder, p. 220 tells us - "Barwang, Barong bear; the honey-bear, Ursus malayanus" and below: "Arjunawijaya 10.14: singha barwang alayu (often in this combination, which later became one concept: Modern Javanese singabarong); Sutasoma 134.1c; Bharatayuddha 9.3; 46. 14; Tantri Kamandaka etc." In Banten the ending -ong is spelled as -wang, so Barong, Kalong, Balong and Katong becomes Barwang, Kalwang, Balwang and Katwang (I have no proof it also applies for Cirebon dialect, but this surely is a possibility, as it is an archaic form). I wonder the native speaker of Sundanese couldn't make a sense of it. But that all doesn't change the fact the carriage depicted in initial post is Singhabarwang, not Paksinagaliman, and it most likely wasn't built in 15th cent. If you wonder where the third one is - it is in stored besides Paksinagaliman in Kanoman for long time already, and we actually see it in the picture in #8 behind Paksinagaliman. So, if you would have seen Paksinagaliman indeed, you would have seen (or the abdi dalem would have shown you) also the Jempana Setia.