Batin Long bin Hok's Bes Hyang Dney and other Jah Hut Stories

Bes Hyang Dney has a long tongue. His hair sprouts upside down. He lives in paths deep in the jungle, on mountain ridges, in valleys deep, deep in the virgin jungle...

Bes Hyang Dney is just one of the four enchanting myths- of spirits and shamans, of fierce battles and cosmic creation- as narrated by a revered Jah Hut shaman. The late Batin Long's world of magic and natural powers is told in his own indigenous language, complete with the story-tellers' charm that is today a vanishing gift among his people.

This collection is an attempt to help record the culture and the language of an Orang Asli community.