The name of DAFTAR (Dictionary of Far Eastern and Southeast
Asian Languages) is a title it bestows on a unique manuscript that was
discovered in 1925. The words "Daftar"Situs PelangiQQ" was
inserted into the Mabini script at some point during the development of the
manuscript. The text was written in a phonetic Chinese language style using that
writing system. When combined with the photos of Mabini artefacts that appear
throughout the text, the Daftar Situs PelangiQQ is like a pictorial tour de
force of the Mabini culture.
The Daftar Situs PelangiQQ documents many Mabini legends and
myths that were intricately woven into the Mabini religion. Some of these tales
include myths about the Sun, Thunder, Rain, Waters, Thunderstorm, Wailing,
Harp, Sea, Fish, Echo, Feathers, Coins, Eagle, Boats, Ships, Vultures, Hyenas,
Dreamers, War, Zombies, Warrior Women, Wounded Soldiers, Men, Mummy, Desert,
Spirits, Gold, Lightning, Mountains, Sand, God, Sacrifice, Ape, Snake, Fire,
Sun, Camel, Monkey, Rat, Troops, Vultures, Thunder, Lands, and Nature. The
latter four tales appear together in the title and clearly form the core of the
document.
The most popular of the daftar pelangiqq tales are the
ones about the Earth, Water, Thunder and Rain. At times the reader will wonder
whether the authors had the least idea of how accurate the Mabini version of
the story was. It is as if they thought that they could translate their
non-Mabini dialect and not get it wrong. This is the equivalent of modern day
translations of Homer's The Iliad and Odyssey that sometimes got the names of
characters wrong.
At other times the Daftar Situs PelangiQQ works like any other
Mabini tale, which is to say that it does a pretty good job of conveying the
meaning of the tale. Readers of this text can understand what is happening and
why. The information may be difficult to follow at times, but the readers do
get the gist of the tale. Other than that, it's a piece of literary art that
has gained a cult following and is often included in exhibitions and exhibits.
Some of the other parts of the Daftar Situs PelangiqQ include
some of the stories about battles, acrobats, parrots, fairies, the Emerald
City, the Tiger Temple, the Sun Bird Temple, prayers, Bo at, falcons, god and
pray, and all the gods that are worshiped by the Mabini people. The centrepiece
of the Daftar Situs PelangiqQ is the one that deals with the star that is often
referred to as the God of the Tiger Temple.
Many scholars believe that the star is something entirely
different from the true God that the Mabini believe in, and they attribute this
to the difficulty in deciphering the Mabini language. The Daftar Situs
PelangiqQ features scenes from Mabini culture including people dressed in
clothes that look so much like the Mabini clothes that they are hard to
distinguish.
The characters in the Daftar Situs PelangiqQ appear in a number
of poses, some with weapons and others without. The poses include one character
who puts a ball between his feet and holds it between his hands; another whose
legs are crossed and the other whose hands are folded. In one of the more
explicit scenes, the diviner and the other warriors wear dresses that appear to
be a cross between Islamic attire and traditional Mabini dresses.
As interesting as the Daftar Situs PelangiqQ is to read, one
must also wonder about the validity of the Mabini beliefs when they are
interwoven with these documents. Is the Daftar Situs PelangiqQ really telling
the truth?
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