ABSTRACT
Exchange is a ubiquitous feature of all societies and there are plenty of examples illustrating its operation in the fields of economics, politics, ritual, and belief. This chapter demonstrates its function in the field of verbal narrative and describes how, in conjunction with water, reciprocal relationships find expression in Timor-Leste a distinctive genre of oral literature. It shows how certain motifs or repetitive narrative segments in the oral and written literature of the Malaysian Archipelago combine and recombine in such a manner as to produce narratives with a consistent and distinct literary character. The chapter examines four narratives from Timor-Leste, namely the story of the Eel clan, Princess Nai Lou becomes ill, the sacred spring of Corluli and Bemalai. It also examines the six motifs, namely visibility and invisibility, status reversal, an inappropriate action, a quest, an artifact of impairment, and life, health, and abundance.
