Page 43 - Hikayat-Patani-The-Story-Of-Patani 1

34 HIKAYAT PATANI

c. Additions
There are quite a few cases in which the text of one MS. is longer
than that of the other, but where it is not necessary to assume a gap in
the shorter version. In many of these cases it would seem that the longer
version was at some stage expanded by a copyist. Such expansions are
much more frequent in B than in A. Several types of expansion can be
distinguished:
(a) B adds factual information: 14.4 B mentions the amount of copper
used for casting the state cannon; B 14.8 mentions two mosques instead
of one; B 28.8 adds a story about Bukit Gigir; B 49.3 adds information
on the digging of the canal; B 73.5 gives a longer genealogy.
(b) B adds comments of a moralistic nature or expressions containing
a personal judgment or evaluation on the part of the author-copyist:
the use of nicknames composed of abusive words for the perfidious
courtiers throughout stories 10 and 11; comments of B 37.7, 42.2, 65.5;
37.1 B calls Raja Bambang “dull-witted”.
(c) B adds literary embellishments: 22.6 description of battle; 23
expanded discussion between the brothers Mudhaffar Syah and Manzur
Syah; 49.5 vivid description of festivities in Patani after the digging of
the canal; 54.4 the prosperity of Patani; 54.7 marching army described
in some detail.
(d) In other cases B seems to explain, or at least make more explicit,
certain stories, sentences, etc., which are briefer in A, sometimes cryptic­
ally brief: 5.4 B adds pada pantai (see comment) ; B 13.7 explanation
why the drifting corpses are so embarrassing; B 40.1 adds some sort of
excuse; B 58.2—3 looks like an explanation; the story of Raja Lela at
the court of Johore is also more explicit in B (69.2, 70.1 and 4).
Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether A is brief because some­
thing has dropped out, or whether B or its original has elaborated a
story, see, e.g., 49.1; 53.6.
There are a few cases where A has a longer and more explicit version:
40.3 has an extra sentence which may be either original or an inter­
polation; in 66.2—67.2 B has a much shorter text; here too it is difficult
to decide which version is the more original.
In conclusion, a few cases should be mentioned in which the MSS.
show remarkable differences without its being possible to decide with
certainty which version is the more original. We refer to p. 51, where
A has Marhum Tengah marry her niece Raja Kuning to the Siamese
officer, whereas in B Paduka Syah cAlam is responsible for the marriage.