Kendal
- tree (Boraginaceae) en
- medium size tree, the roots and trunk of which are usually infested with termites and thus full of holes [see Example Sentence for the story behind this by Fred Eiseman] en
- grows mostly in higher elevations en
(a story recorded by Fred B. Eiseman) This all started when I asked Pak Ngurah about Kendal trees. I mentioned that Bintang Kendal, between Ru and Jaran, has holes in it because Arjuna shoots arrows through it. But, what is a Kendal tree? There are many near the village of Petang, north of Sangeh, he said. And then he told me the following story, which Budi says is one of the Tantri stories. One day the king of termites (Tatani or Rayap) and his soldiers were sitting under a tree. Sang Lutung (The Monkey) came to them and said “But all of you must gather and sit down together, and I will pray for all of you.” So, all of the termites came together and waited. Sang Lutung was very hungry, and he immediately ate almost all of the termites. One of them, however, escaped, and Sang Lutung chased him. The termite arrived at the Punyan Dapdap and his from Sang Lutung. But, Sang Lutung was hot upon his heels. When Sang Lutung arrived at the Dapdap tree he asked Sang Pohon Dapdap if he had seen the termite. Sang Pohon Dapdap replied that he had not seen the termite (even though he had), and told Sang Lutung that the termite was probably somewhere else, this protecting the termite. So, Sang Lutung went away to look for the termite. When the monkey left, the termite came out of hiding and said to the Dapdap tree that he was very grateful to the tree for his help, and therefore forever afterwards, he said, none of us will ever eat you. And, it is for this reason that you will never find termites in Dapdap trees. But, the monkey was still looking for the termite. And it fled to the Pohon Kendal. He said to Sang Pohon Kendal: “You must protect me from Sang Lutung so that I will not be eaten.” Then the monkey arrived. When the Kendal tree saw that Sang Lutung was chasing the termite, he said to Sang Lutung that his leaves were turning yellow and falling down, and that the termite had hidden himself under one of the fallen leaves. At that point the termite ran away. When the coast was clear, he returned to the Kendal tree and said: “You, Sang Pohon Kendal, Jah Ta Semat. All of our generation will eat you, even though you are a live tree.” And it is for that reason that all Kendal trees are eaten by termites and are full of holes. A little later Pohon Taap invited the termite and his friends to live under the protection of his green leaves and told the termites that he would protect them. Once again Sang Lutung arrived and asked Sang Taap if he had seen the termites. Sang Taap said that, indeed, he had seen the termites, but they had run away to the north, and suggested that Sang Lutung follow, which he did.
The termites the told Sang Pohon Taap that they were very grateful for his protection. “We honor you for protecting us”, they said, “and so we will never eat you.” And so you never see a Taap tree eaten by termites, even though that is their favorite place to sit.
