SD1-057

Genre: Legend/oral history. Title: Maria Methi (b. 1988) tells the life story of the local legendary healer Methi Liru (c. 1885 until 1974, see also the Wora files about Methi Liru). She was an accomplished sorcerer-healer (SL. 'pisa molo'. BI. 'dukun hebat') who could help the childless have babies and did other more amazing things. The narrative is pure Sara Lu'a apart from the loan words for history, 'sejara' (BI. sejarah. Ple does not really have a word for history), and 'polisi' (BI. Possibly because that is what Methi Liru called them), used to denote the two life guards. The translation is almost exclusively word by word as is the rule. Parenthesis in this Palu'e text means that the word is a loan word (in other texts it indicates more a failure to utter the native words. Dhubu (tugu) is the traditional centre of ritual in a domain. This recording is unusual in that it was prepared as text, written a few days before by the narrator, and read aloud. In this way Indonesian words were probably fewer than had it been recorded without the text. This biographic tale was told in the evening 23 June 2014 in the home of the narrator. Present nearby in the house, but not at the table where the recording was made (by SD), were Methi's father Pui, mother Yuli and brother Mboe. Photo witth her brother Mboe in their home, that was often used as a studio. The house is situated at the top of the hill/village, with a great view towards the sea.Palu'e, Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. Recording made in kampong Lei, Keli domain