Orang
Asli oral tradition has it that the mountain
now called Gunung Chini in the Malaysian state
of Pahang is
not the
real Gunung Chini. The real Gunung Chini is said to have been where now
the lake called Tasik Chini is. The story below (recorded
by Bryan Sharpe in 1976) tells briefly how it came about that a mountain
turned
into a lake.
The
origin of Tasik Chini
There were several Orang Asli
families
living at the
foot of Gunung
Chini. One day a dog went up the mountain and began to bark
loudly. A man went to investigate and found the dog barking at a
tree. He threw a stick at the trunk and oil-like liquid flowed
from the trunk. He informed the villagers who rushed to the
scene. But there was an old woman who ignored all this. She
warned the people not to allow her grandson to taste the liquid. The
people forgot her warning and her grandson tasted the liquid.
Soon an
old man appeared and stuck his
walking stick in the tree trunk. He ordered the people to pull
out
the stick, but they could not. He ordered them to bring a white
chicken
or seven white feathers, but they could not. He became angry and
pulled
out the stick himself. At that moment liquid flowed like a stream
from
the trunk and the people ran away. The liquid flooded the area
and
Gunung Chini submerged. Those who tasted the liquid were
drowned.
The liquid followed the old woman and her grandson. The old woman
heard
a voice telling her to abandon her grandson. She left him; he drowned
and the liquid stopped following her. The liquid
formed
a lake called Tasik Chini.
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