Semut ireng anak-anak sapi

Kebo bongkang nyabrang kali bengawan 

JAVANESE of all generations from Central and East Java know this verse. It is intoned with reverence by blue-bloods and performed by street buskers. I memorized it too when I was 14, and now at the age of 80 I can still remember parts of it—even though, old as I am, I don’t know what it means. Many interpretations have been published. But who is to say that interp