FOLK MEDICINE IN BORNEO DIAGNOSIS AND CURE
15
to comprehend the environment and live in it with some sense of security. In the adet, which was the codification, so to speak, of the moral system, proper relations with the other orders of being, but especially proper relations with spirits, who in many ways were more powerful than humans, were thought to be critically important to the welfare of men.
By nature, spirits were said to be intrinsically hasty and rather nasty creatures. They had greater powers than men and all too easily they turned on humans and even hunted them as if they were animals; but if they did so without justifiable cause they broke the adet; and the disorder produced had to be put right. Similarly, if men, who have greater powers than animals and plants, treat them with disrespect, they also break the adet and produce disorder which is likely to react back on them. Certain animals, such as the crocodile, are a real intellectual puzzle because so much about them is anomalous. Not only does a crocodile inhabit land and water, but it also lays eggs like a creature of the air; and worst of all, it flouts all adet by lurking in human villages to hunt men. This can only be explained by the fact that the crocodile's ancestors were once human beings who went to the bad.
In a world that was seen as ideally orderly, in which all creatures had their correct place, and in which, even if they did hunt one another, it had to be done in moderation and in an orderly way, none of this implied that relations among the inhabitants of the world were in any sense the same or equal. In a village, however formal the relations between members of different ranks might be, they were expected to be basically friendly, whereas those with people of neighbouring villagers or with foreigners were thought to be potentially always hostile, and at times actively dangerous, unless treated with caution. Similarly, relations between spirits and humans were those of co-existence rather than of friendly co-operation. Unguarded behaviour always carried the risk of misfortune or deprivation on one side or the other. Generally speaking, it was the human who suffered more seriously than the spirit for over-stepping the boundaries of proper behaviour, as it is usually animals who suffer more than men in a disrespectful relationship. The consequent suffering, whether in the form of an accident, such as a broken leg, or in some deprivation, such as barrenness or illness, may be regarded as a punishment, or it may be looked on as a warning that an offence has been committed, and that expiation is needed to put things right once again. If a man assaults another in the village, he has trespassed against the proper
FOLK MEDICINE IN BORNEO DIAGNOSIS AND CURE
15
to comprehend the environment and live in it with some sense of security. In the adet, which was the codification, so to speak, of the moral system, proper relations with the other orders of being, but especially proper relations with spirits, who in many ways were more powerful than humans, were thought to be critically important to the welfare of men.
By nature, spirits were said to be intrinsically hasty and rather nasty creatures. They had greater powers than men and all too easily they turned on humans and even hunted them as if they were animals; but if they did so without justifiable cause they broke the adet; and the disorder produced had to be put right. Similarly, if men, who have greater powers than animals and plants, treat them with disrespect, they also break the adet and produce disorder which is likely to react back on them. Certain animals, such as the crocodile, are a real intellec- tual puzzle because so much about them is anomalous. Not only does a crocodile inhabit land and water, but it also lays eggs like a creature of the air; and worst of all, it flouts all adet by lurking in human villages to hunt men. This can only be explained by the fact that the crocodile's ancestors were once human beings who went to the bad.
In a world that was seen as ideally orderly, in which all creatures had their correct place, and in which, even if they did hunt one another, it had to be done in moderation and in an orderly way, none of this implied that relations among the inhabitants of the world were in any sense the same or equal. In a village, however formal the relations between members of different ranks might be, they were expected to be basically friendly, whereas those with people of neigh- bouring villagers or with foreigners were thought to be potentially always hostile, and at times actively dangerous, unless treated with caution. Similarly relations between spirits and human were those of co-existence rather than of friendly co-operation. Unguarded behaviour always carried the risk of misfortune or deprivation on one side or the other. Generally speaking it was the human who suffered more seriously than the spirit for over-stepping the boundaries of proper behaviour, as it is usually animals who suffer more than men in a disrespectful relationship. The consequent suffering, whether in the form of an accident, such as a broken leg, or in some deprivation, such as barrenness or illness, may be regarded as a punishment, or it may be looked on as a warning that an offence has been committed, and that expiation is needed to put things right once again. If a man assaults another in the village, he has trespassed against the proper
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