Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Balinese stone carvings for identification

A. G. Maisey · 20th January 2021, 10:19 PM

I noticed this post a few days ago and I remembered that there was a Bali folk tale attached to this, but I could not remember the story. I stumbled on a version of the story this morning in one of my notebooks, briefly it is this:-

Pan Brayut & Men Brayut had many children, possibly 18.

Because Men Brayut was always so busy in producing and looking after her children, Pan Brayut had to do all the household work, getting water and cleaning and cooking and so on.

They were a very poor family, mostly because Pan Brayut did not have enough time to work and produce food & money as well as attend to all the household duties.

But the payback comes when the children grow up and are able to work.

The work that they choose to perform is as dancers and musicians, and they build a Barong dance company, complete with their own gong(gamelan orchestra).

Because they perform the Barong Dance, the family is then protected from evil forces, so with the money they earn, plus the protection from evil forces they become rich.

You could say it is a teaching story, as in traditional Balinese farming society having many children was a very good thing, even though that wealth needed to be created and built.

20th January 2021, 10:19 PM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	I noticed this post a few days ago and I remembered that there was a Bali folk tale attached to this, but I could not remember the story. I stumbled on a version of the story this morning in one of my notebooks, briefly it is this:- Pan Brayut & Men Brayut had many children, possibly 18. Because Men Brayut was always so busy in producing and looking after her children, Pan Brayut had to do all the household work, getting water and cleaning and cooking and so on. They were a very poor family, mostly because Pan Brayut did not have enough time to work and produce food & money as well as attend to all the household duties. But the payback comes when the children grow up and are able to work. The work that they choose to perform is as dancers and musicians, and they build a Barong dance company, complete with their own gong(gamelan orchestra). Because they perform the Barong Dance, the family is then protected from evil forces, so with the money they earn, plus the protection from evil forces they become rich. You could say it is a teaching story, as in traditional Balinese farming society having many children was a very good thing, even though that wealth needed to be created and built.