THE
STORY OF SANDAL WOOD AND LORO LIU RAI MALAKA
By
Leonardus Nana
The King & Paradise Garden
Once
upon a time there lived a wise King who had a great palace with wonderful
garden. In this garden, lived thousands of creatures from hundreds of different
species of mammals, reptiles, fish, birds and trees. They were of great variety
and colour, and they turned that place into a beautiful kind of paradise that
everyone could enjoy.
At
the outer part of garden there grew a slim tree of which trunk was the home for
hundreds to thousands of furred worms. Although the tree with its thousands of
furred worms detracted from the colour and beauty of its surroundings, the King
forbade any person to cut or harm it. The King used the tree as a fortress for
the garden, because neither animal nor human would come close to the garden due
to the worms of the tree.
The wood of Cendana has
pleasant-smelling oil
One day, without the notice of the King, a
person who felt disturbed with the worms cut down one of the trees. He cut the
tree into pieces and threw them into a fire. Mystically from the burned pieces
of wood came out a pleasant-smelling oil and released a fragrance into the air.
Together with the smoke, this fragrance rose into the sky and was blown far
away to every corner of the earth. The smoke that contained cendana fragrance
then reached the middle part of the earth and smelt by a wise King who was
worshiping his God at the moment.
The King’s Wiseman searched for the
wood
The
King wanted to please his God with the mysterious fragrance, so he sent his
four Wiseman to search for the material of the fragrance in all directions. The
first Wiseman went south to dust and heat, the second went west where the sun
sets, the third followed the north star and the fourth went east toward the sun
rise. They searched day and night, night and day and they searched high and
low. They searched everywhere but the search was in vain. Three of the Wiseman
returned empty handed. But the Wiseman who had gone east, was determined not to
fail his King. Finally, he reached Malaca harbor at the west part of a big
archipelago country. As he sat at the edge of the harbor, an old woman passing
by came and sat next to him. The Wiseman pointed at the Horizon and said, I
belong to a beautiful kingdom of which King and people fear God and show
respect to nature. Now I am searching for the material of a special fragrance
that brought by the wind and was smelt by our King. Could you help me to find
it so that my King could present it as a burning offering that pleases God?
The Kingdom where the tree grows
We
do not have that fragranced wood here but please go east to ‘Loro Malaka’, the
kingdom of Liu Rai. He protects the wood but hopefully he will be pleased to
give you one, suggested the old woman. Loro Liu Rai Malaka is derived from
Tetum language, ‘Loro’ means the Sun, Liu means superior, Rai means the earth
and Malaka means the light. Therefore, Loro Liu Rai Malaka means the supreme
King who reigns the Earth with Light or just. Malaka is now the name of one of
the regions of East Nusa Tenggara Province.
The benefit of Cendana
As
soon as the Wiseman arrived at Loro Malaka, he directly came upon the palace of
Liu Rai. Your majesty, my King has been looking for the holy wood throughout
the whole world, but it only grows in your kingdom your majesty, stated the
Wiseman. If your majesty is pleased, would you kindly give me a piece to return
to my King. He needs the wood to make incense, a substance that is burnt to
produce a sweet smell, especially as part of important religious ceremony,
begged the Wiseman. In addition, Our Brahman needs this oil to purify the
shrine and anoint the King’s successor, explained the Wiseman. Knowing that the
wood was to be used for holy purposes, Liu Rai Malaka, then had one of the
trees cut down and sent for the King of the Wiseman. Kindly tell your King that
this wood is called Cendana and hopefully its usage will please God, said Liu
Rai. After saying thank you and good bye, the Wiseman sailed back home. By the
time he arrived, he brought the Cendana Wood to the palace as a gift from Loro
Liu Rai Malaka. Nobody in the palace had ever seen the wood so everbody gazed
at it with wonder.
How Cendana wood was sent to Europe
One
day the Wiseman’s kingdom was visited by Arabic merchants and they took a piece
of Cendana wood and brought it to Europe. The King of Europe was pleased with
this , unfortunately, knowing that the wood of Cendana has pleasant-smelling
oil, the King refused to use it to make incense but rather to make perfume
instead. The perfume made of the Cendana wood had special fragrance and so when
people hear talk of the fragrance of the Cendana they too tried to find the
place where the tree grows. Therefore, from that time, the Cendana wood became
a very special commodity which could be cultivated not only commercial
competition but also fighting and war. Kings of western counties then brought
in reinforcements to siege the country where the tree was found.
The Europeans occupied Loro Malaka
Europeans,
finally came and occupied Loro Malaka Kingdom and had the tree cut down on a
massive scale. They did not only take the wood but also its seeds to plant at
the other part of the earth. This action broke the natural conservation which
endangered the life and existence of the Cendana Tree.
The Curse of Loro Liu Ray Malaka
Knowing
that his kingdom was occupied and its nature was being destroyed, Loro Liu Ray
Malaka spelled out a curse that Cendana would not grow in other parts of the world, however if one ccould
grow this tree, it would produce no fragrance at all.
The
Government and people have been trying to nurture the tree to prevent it from
extinction, but how the tree grows and survives is still a mystery of nature
for Botanists. This has happened because people believe that the curse of Loro
Liu Rai really works. Therefore, now it is difficult to find the Cendana Tree
growing widely, even in Timor. The Cendana tree that can grow outside of Timor
cannot produce fragrance and so one day in the future, the Cendana tree will
become only a story and a part of history for our children.
|
|
Government and
people have been trying to nurture the tree to prevent it from extinction, but
how the tree grows and survives is still a nature mystery for botanists. Therefore, one day in the
future, Cendana tree will become a story and history for our children |
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