halfway between Tegal to the west and Pekalongan to the east. Here he is overcome by longing for his mother (89) and he decides to go home; however, this time he prefers to travel by sea and boards a ship from Malacca. The Sultanate of Malacca from the second half of the fifteenth century until its conquest by Portuguese in 1511 was the dominating trading power in the area. This was probably the time the story is set (was written). The departure of the ship from the harbour is described as a festive ceremony (96–120): guns () are discharged, musical instruments are played, several songs, the titles of which are mentioned, are loudly sung by the crew; a detailed description of the materials used for the building of the ship is given: various kinds of bamboo and rattan, a mast of laka wood, and an Indian rudder are specifically mentioned; Bujangga Manik is duly impressed and full of admiration for the crew which originates from various places. Homecoming The trip from Pamalang to Kalapa, the harbour in West Java takes half a month (121), which suggest that the ship may have stopped at various places in between. The protagonist takes on a new name, Ameng Layaran “the sailing priar”, which also later on is used occasionally. From Kalapa Bujangga Manik comes first to the place of customs (Pabeyaan) and then proceeds to the royal court of Pakuan, in the northern part of the present-day town of Bogor (Noorduyn 1982:419). He enters Pakancilan (145), goes to the beautifully adorned pavilion and seats himself there. The first person narrative style is once interrupted in line 156 where the protagonist is called tohaan “lord”. He finds his mother engaged in weaving, various aspects of its technique being described in five formulaic lines (160-164). She is surprised and excited to see her son back. She immediately leaves her work and enters the house, passing through several layers of curtains, and ascends to her bedroom. This formulaic passage is repeated in identical form somewhat later (176–196 = 338–358). The mother prepares the usual welcome for her son, which consists of a tray of all the ingredients for preparing betel quids, combs her hair, makes herself up and puts on expensive clothes. She then descends from her bedroom, leaves the house, seats herself under the palanquin and welcome her son. Again we have a formulaic description,