Lulletje Rozewater
05-10-2009, 07:37 AM
Now do not think I have gone ape.
It is the story about this sword,which I promised to tell
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee255/Dokkie_G/DajakSword.jpg
My dad was in charge of the Nedrland-Indonesië Steenkolen Handel-Maatschappij .
This company had 30 tugboats in Indonesia and in charge of all bunker facilities.
On his travels through Indonesia he visited Borneo-the land of the Dajaks.
There he met a wild looking guy asking for a job.
He was made the Djongos of my father's estate in Bandoeng(Bandung)
The above sword was his and in his family for at least 150 years.
The sword has 2 sheaths. 1 housed a blade to fight with the other to skin with.
IN those days the Dajaks fought and skinned to their hearts delight and were not fussy whose head they chopped off.
They were the Vikings of Borneo and plenty Chinese and Japanese could attest to that.
Any way,Djongos=Gardner,decided to be the protector of my dad too.
Well,the people were dead scared of this character.
I mean who would not be, when you see a creature walking towards you with animal fangs in the top rims of the ears,and earrings or wooden plugs in the lobes and plugged teeth with copper and gold dressed in loincloth.
War broke out and the Japanese invaded Indonesia.
A detachment went to Bandoung to take up shop,This town had all the rich houses.
My dad had a Harlequin Great Dane,which felt the urge to protect the property.
The poor dog got one swipe of an unsheathed Japanese sword on his face and ran howling to Djongos. It died.
The following morning there was a skinned Jap head on the veranda.
Hell the Japs accepted none of it and threatened to shoot my dad.
In turn the Djongos saw it as a threat to my father and climbed into this Jap lot,sword drawn.
He was shot on the spot.
When my dad entered his office the next day a "head-skeleton" greeted him.
with a message:"You are next"
A week later he was transported to a concentration camp in Sumatra and he came out 5 years later with a broken jaw and toothless.
He,after the war, was visited by a Dajak woman-Katima- who handed him the Dajak sword,which basically meant that the Djongos spirit belonged to my dad.
I have kept it since, and it reminds me time and time again:" That loyalty in the face of death means everything".
It is the story about this sword,which I promised to tell
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee255/Dokkie_G/DajakSword.jpg
My dad was in charge of the Nedrland-Indonesië Steenkolen Handel-Maatschappij .
This company had 30 tugboats in Indonesia and in charge of all bunker facilities.
On his travels through Indonesia he visited Borneo-the land of the Dajaks.
There he met a wild looking guy asking for a job.
He was made the Djongos of my father's estate in Bandoeng(Bandung)
The above sword was his and in his family for at least 150 years.
The sword has 2 sheaths. 1 housed a blade to fight with the other to skin with.
IN those days the Dajaks fought and skinned to their hearts delight and were not fussy whose head they chopped off.
They were the Vikings of Borneo and plenty Chinese and Japanese could attest to that.
Any way,Djongos=Gardner,decided to be the protector of my dad too.
Well,the people were dead scared of this character.
I mean who would not be, when you see a creature walking towards you with animal fangs in the top rims of the ears,and earrings or wooden plugs in the lobes and plugged teeth with copper and gold dressed in loincloth.
War broke out and the Japanese invaded Indonesia.
A detachment went to Bandoung to take up shop,This town had all the rich houses.
My dad had a Harlequin Great Dane,which felt the urge to protect the property.
The poor dog got one swipe of an unsheathed Japanese sword on his face and ran howling to Djongos. It died.
The following morning there was a skinned Jap head on the veranda.
Hell the Japs accepted none of it and threatened to shoot my dad.
In turn the Djongos saw it as a threat to my father and climbed into this Jap lot,sword drawn.
He was shot on the spot.
When my dad entered his office the next day a "head-skeleton" greeted him.
with a message:"You are next"
A week later he was transported to a concentration camp in Sumatra and he came out 5 years later with a broken jaw and toothless.
He,after the war, was visited by a Dajak woman-Katima- who handed him the Dajak sword,which basically meant that the Djongos spirit belonged to my dad.
I have kept it since, and it reminds me time and time again:" That loyalty in the face of death means everything".