There are many different breeds of fighting cocks for gamblers to acquire. They usually buy expensive ones so that they could win in the cock fighting arena. Usually the Ibans would be able to tell which would be winning birds. that might depend on the colour of the feathers or the size of the legs. Some even look at the scale patterns on the legs.
The Ibans have a lot of names for the fighting cocks according to the colours of the feathers.
There was one time when my Third Uncle went with his friends to watch a cock fight. Third Uncle would never want his wife to find out about this adventure. And it happened that that particular time, the police made a raid and every cock owner, cock fighter and bystanders were stunned and they escaped leaving behind shoes, bicycles and even their birds (some managed to bring their birds away).
My uncle was petrified and he actually lost his sense of direction. He could not find his way out of the country side arena but later he walked all the way to our house, without his shoes. He had been wearing a very loose pair of canvas shoes (a coolie kind of shoes) which slipped of his feet when he ran. He could run faster without shoes any way.
Uncle had to be given treatment for shock - and my mother gave him a tin of cold beer. Mum was a very understanding sister who would never scold her siblings. She always gave them great silent support and often times shared their stories with a great sense of humour.
He was never to watch a cock fight again. He said, "I would not let my gall bladder burst!"
The Foochows have a saying that when you are really scared your gall bladder will burst.
No comments:
Post a Comment