Badan Binasa

Kerana Pulut,

Santan binasa,

Kerana Mulut, 

Badan Binasa

Literal Translation

Because of glutonous rice,

The coconut milk is spoiled,

Because of the mouth,

The body is spoiled.

*Meaning one can get hurt by saying the wrong things. This pantun is used in the olden Pendekar movies when a pendekar is giving warning to his enemy. He recites this pantun before he starts to beat up the bad guy. So basically this pantun is a flowery version of saying "Shut your mouth before I beat you up".

Sikit dan bukit

Sikit-sikit

Lama-lama jadi bukit

Literal Translation

little by little

Time goes by it will become a hill.

Bumi ku pijak

Di mana bumi ku pijak,

Di situ langit ku junjung.

Translation

Wherever land(earth) that I step on,

That is where I will hold the sky.

*This deals with the issue of taking responsibility.

Air Pasang pagi

Air pasang pagi
surut pukul lima
nyonya bangun pagi
siram pokok bunga

pokok bunga melor
tanam tepi batas
itik bertelur
ayam menetas

Encik baba
jatuh dalam parit
Encik aminah
ketawa jerit-jerit

cats

dua tiga kucing berlari
mana nak sama si kucing belang
dua tiga boleh ku cari
mana nak sama kau seorang

Literal translation
two three cats seen running
never the same as the striped cat
two three (person) I could find
never the same as you

Gosh, its interesting to see that after we directly translated these pantuns it sounds like a highly sophisticated haiku.

Polis Entry

Polis Entry
want to jaga
Polis Mati
Pencuri Jaga

Bersenang Kemudian

berakit rakit ke hulu
berenang-renang ketepian
bersakit-sakit dahulu
bersenang-senang kemudian

literal translation

rafting along to the river ends
swimming along to the side
take the pain first
having it easy afterwards

Inferential Analysis

In this pantun, we could see the theme of delaying gratification. The Malays have this concept years before we even read any motivation books that discusses about delaying gratification. The message here is that it is okay to have it hard at first, as long as in the long run, it will be easier.

the first two lines which is the pembayang foreshadows the message that it will bring in the third and fourth line. Rafting along the river and swimming to the side shows the hardship of a journey. Instead of showing the easy way to travel- which is on a sampan, this pantun shows the harder way to travel-which is by rafting and swimming. So here we could see that not all pembayang are useless. The creater of this pantun must be really good in his language as he could use meaningful words to create such a genius rhyme.