From Mantra Folklore
Till the time of Batin Lord-knows-who men never used to drink, no water was to be had, and the sensation of thirst was quite unknown. It came about in this way. One day Lord-knows-who having shot a monkey with a blowpipe, made a fire, at which he cooked and ate it. Some time after he became sensible of a desire to imbibe something, and went about in search of water, but found none, not even a water-giving liana or monkey-rope (akar), for lianas did not produce water at that time. At last, however, he came upon an old stump of a tree called “jelotong,” and on listening at a hole in it heard the sound of water trickling down below. He therefore fastened a liana (of the kind called “rotan manau”) to the top of the tree outside, and by this means let himself down into the hole until he reached the water, where he slaked his thirst. He then made his way out again by means of the creeper, and just as he was leaving the spot saw a large water river-turtle (“lelabi”) issue from the hole, accompanied by a vast body of water, and began to chase him.
Lord-knows-who therefore ran for his life, and called to the elephant for help, but they were both driven back by the rush of water. Lord-knows-who then encountered a tiger, whose help he likewise begged, and the tiger attacked the turtle’s head, but failed to produce any impression. Lord-knows-who therefore continued his flight until he met a wild bull (“Seladang”), whom he implored to come to his rescue, and the bull proceeded to trample upon the turtle, but all to no purpose. Lord-knows-who next begged the aid of the rhinoceros, but equally without effect, as both of them were compelled to fly from the turtle. At length Lord-knows-who was forced to apply for the intervention of a mouse-deer (“kanchil”), which is the smallest of all the deer kind, and not so large as a hare – whereupon the mouse-deer said: “What good can be done by small creatures like ourselves?” Lord-knows-who said: “I have asked all the others and they have been able to do nothing.” Then said the mouse-deer: “Very well, we will try; do you therefore get to one side.” But the mouse-deer forthwith called together an army of mouse-deer, in fact the entire race, and said: “If we do not kill the turtle, we all perish; but if we kill him, all is well.”
Then they all jumped on to the turtle, which was of great size, and stamped on him with their tiny hoofs until they had driven holes through his head and neck and back, and thus killed him.
But meanwhile the body of water which accompanied the turtle had increased to a vast extent and formed what is now the sea.
After the destruction of the turtle, the mouse-deer asked Lord-knows-who what was to be his reward for the service he had performed, upon which he replied that he would take for his part the root of the sweet potato (kledek), and the mouse-deer could have the leaves for his share, wherefore they have ever since been the food of the mouse-deer.
Source:
Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, Walter Skeat, Charles Blagden, 1906
Kotharian Lightning 