| and Barong, the gamelan obeying every indication
of this temperamental monster as closely as it follows the equally
temperamental, heroic Baris dancer. The transition from slow to swift,
from tranquility to feverish agitation, the sudden silences, tentative
searching’s and mysterious encounters in an undefined state
of being, perceived simultaneously by the ear and by the eye, are
indescribably moving and exciting. Not every village has its Barong.
In north Bali and in the so-called Bali-Aga villages, conservative
of pre-Hinduistic customs, there is generally no Barong. In south
Bali, on the other hand, there are sometimes two or even three in
a village; probably the Tiger, the Wild Boar, and the holy Barong
Keket. 'Me absence of a Barong may be due to poverty, or there may
not be sufficient people in the village interested enough to form
a sekaa (club). If, however, the gods express a wish for a Barong,
through the medium of a priest in trance, all difficulties will be
overcome. For instance a village which possesses a witch-mask with
remarkable magic properties, may receive orders through a priest in
trance to provide a Barong to match it, and in such a case the whole
bandjar will join the sekaa and the money be somehow raised for the
purchase of a gamelan and the sumptuous Barong costume. There are
many stories about the making of a Barong in one village and another
which show the sacrifices to which the villagers readily submit in
order to pay for the splendid trappings of a really first-class Barong.
During a very lean period in the village of Bedoeloe (the village
of the Ketjak) the gods, speaking through a |
