They say that one datu once lent money to a peasant named Pottala. A lot of time passed, and Pottala still did not give the money. Datu came to him for a debt, and Pottala said to him:
“I don’t have anything to pay for yet.” If I receive a debt from one person, then it’s a different matter. Will you come by in four days, my lord?
Four days later, Pottala suddenly remembered: “Today is the date!” He put the fish in the pot, and when it was cooked, he took it out of the soup and threw an ax in its place.
When the datu arrived, Pottala began to feed him rice. He scooped soup from the pot and poured it over the rice. Datu asked:
– What did you season the soup with that made it such a thick broth?
Pottala replied:
- Only with this ax and nothing else. After they ate, he asked the date:
- Well, did you get the money?
“Not yet,” Pottala replies. Then the date said:
“Do you want me to accept this ax as payment for the debt?” Pottala answered him:
- As you wish, sir!
Datu took the ax and went home. At home, he ordered the ax to be cooked and the soup to be poured over the rice. The soup turned out to be just water. Datu returned with an ax in his hands to Pot-tala and said:
“You are a deceiver, Pottala.”
“You tried my ax soup yourself, I didn’t put anything else in it,” Pottala replies.
The date got angry and said:
- I don't need your axe. Give me my money! And Pottala told him:
- Come back in three days, I need to collect the debt.
“Well, okay,” the date agreed.
Three days passed, he came again to collect the debt. He approaches the house and immediately asks:
- Well, where is my money, Pottala? And Pottala again:
“I haven’t got the money yet, my lord!”
- What a deceiver you are, Pottala! Okay, I’ll go home,” says the date.
Pottala stopped him:
- Wait, sir, sit down, let's eat first. Datu agreed. So Pottala took the sumpitan, shot an arrow from it towards the sea and said:
- Wild ducks in the sea! Wounded in the eye, lie down in the southern room!
He fired another arrow and said:
- Wounded in the wing, lie down in the middle room! Shot a third time:
- Wounded in the side, lie down in the corner near the hearth!
He waited a little and entered the house with the date. They see: in the corner near the hearth lies one duck, in the middle room - another, in the southern room - a third. Pottala took these ducks and roasted them.
-Where did these ducks come from? – will not understand the date at all.
“I’m sitting at home and shooting ducks that fly over the sea, from this sumpitan,” Pottala answers him.
“If you want, give me this sumpitan instead of money,” suggested the date.
“If you wish, my lord,” replied Pottala.
I took the sumpitan date and went home. At home, he shot an arrow from the sumpitan towards the sea and said:
- Wounded in the eye, lie down in the southern room! Shot again:
- Damaged wing, lie down in the middle room! Fired the third arrow:
- Shot in the side, lie down in the corner near the fireplace! He waited a little, went for the prey - and there was not a single duck at home. The date went to Pottala, threw him sumpitan and said:
“You keep deceiving me, Pottala.” Pottala didn’t blink an eye:
- Why such words, my lord? Didn't you see for yourself how I shot with the sumpitan, and then we found three ducks?
Datu covered his ears:
- Give me my money!
“Won’t you come by to collect the debt in two days?” - Pottala told him.
Two days have passed, Pottala remembers: the date must come. So he caught the dog and stuffed half a dozen coins into its ass. Datu came and asked:
– Will you pay your debt? Pottala answers him:
“I have nothing to pay, I asked for my money back, but I didn’t ask.”
“You’re fooling me again, Pottala.” Well, okay, goodbye. - said the date.
“Sit down for a minute, my lord, eat with me first,” Pottala began to ask him.
After eating, Pottala ordered the slave:
- Lay this mat here! They spread a mat in front of them. Pottala called the dog and gave it something to eat. Then he pressed on her stomach, and coins fell out from under her tail. Seeing this miracle, the date said:
- Give me this dog that walks around with money, and I will forgive you your debt.
“As you wish, my lord,” replied Pottala.
Datu went home, dragging the dog behind him. At home, he fed her enough, laid out a mat and began to press the wonderful dog’s belly. But the money did not show up. Datu took the dog back to Pottala and said:
– You know how to deceive cleverly, Pottala. Now, instead of money, I will take you to my house.
[The Torajans had slavery for debt. ]
“I obey you, my lord, I am your debtor,” replied Pottala.
So the date brought Pottala to his house and tied it to a tree to burn it. Then he went up to the house to eat. At this time, a hunchback passed by.
[The people of Sulawesi build their houses on stilts two to three meters high. Under the house, between the pillars of the piles, cattle are tied at night. ]
“Why are you tied here, Pottala?” he asked.
Pottala replied:
“Before they tied me to this tree, I was hunchbacked like you, but now my back is straight.”
– I also want my back to be straight! - shouted the hunchback.
“If so, take my place,” said Pottala.
The hunchback untied the rope, and Pottala tied it to his own tree. Soon the datu left the house to burn Pottala.
“Now I will burn you, Pottala,” he said, “you are my debtor, you have been deceiving me all the time.” Now you won't have to laugh at me anymore! The hunchback shouted:
“I am not Pottala, my lord!” Pottala has escaped!
“You always tried to deceive me, Pottala.” I'll burn you anyway. “There is no more mercy for you,” said the date and burned the hunchback.
Meanwhile, Pottala went into the forest to clear a piece of land for a field. Months passed, the field he sown yielded a harvest, and Pottala returned to his village with rice. In the evening he went to the date. When Pottala appeared before him, the datu was very surprised and said:
- Eh, but this is Pottala. Are you still alive - after all, I burned you?
Pottala said:
“When you burned me, sir, I went to the next world and there I met my ancestors.”
“I also want to see my ancestors.” Kindly burn me too, Pottala, so that I can meet them.
And Pottala replied:
- If you wish, my lord.
The datu ordered his servants to bring wood and pile it, and Pottala lit the fire. When the flames flared up, the date jumped into the fire and was burned.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru