First Encounter With Jembalang Tanah (首遇地妖)

Jembalang tanah or otherwise known as 'earth gnome' is believed to be watcher of an area. It is believed that earth gnome is originated from urine or umbilical cord of a baby buried in the jungle. 

Earth gnome is normally passive type of spirit and like a snake, it will only strike when provoked. I have learnt this the hard way.

Other than magic, my other hobby is to ransacking local forests for herbal medicine. There are many dangers in the jungle so I will only wear army boots when entering jungle at least boots provide me with protection from poisonous creatures such as snakes. The other danger is that I must be careful of ground hornet hives. A sting from one hornet can be lethal. Other than that, I was quite well protected... Or was I?

Once after spending a whole day with great harvest, I returned home happily but to find my feet started to swell during the night. At first I thought my feet might have been stung by giant ants or something like that. But on further inspection, I couldn't find any bitten marks.

I went to consult a doctor and he too couldn't find any fault. With an antibiotic injection and some anti-inflammatory creams; I was let home.

A week later, my old pal; Pak Samat came to visit me as I have ordered some natural honey from him. When he knocked on my door, I staggered to greet him.

He immediately noticed that my paces looked odd and once seated he asked: "What happened to your feet, my friend?"

I shrugged and answered: "Beats me Pak. It has been one week and my condition has not changed."

Pak Samad looked at my still swollen feet and then he smiled: "Ah, I can see you went to the anthill in the Trong forest."

"How did you know?" I was a little surprised.

"Simple, you are not the first one to suffer this. My son also faced something similar." Pak Samad said in slumber.

"This is the work of jembalang tanah (earth gnome) guarding that area. You must have stepped into his home! Did you see a snake?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. There was a black cobra around." I began to feel I was in some kind of deep shit.

"Give me a chicken egg." Pak Samad demanded.

I staggered my way to the kitchen and handed him an egg. Pak Samad took the egg and then use the egg to roll on my feet a few times and then broke the egg shell into a bowl.

It was a surprise to see a snake like pattern inside the egg yoke. After that Pak Samad said: "You are basically okay. I have removed the culprit and remember to make some offering when you return to that place."

True enough, a few hours after Pak Samad left; my feet started to deflate as if a balloon loosing air. I recovered fully the next morning.

That was some painful and interesting experience to share.