Forked Rake

Soeseurang is a tool used to dig and cultivate the soil, level the ground, and remove or rake up manure. Its key usage in a farm includes cultivating fields and paddies where plows cannot be used, and leveling the harrowed soil of rice paddies and plowed fields. This forked rake is also used to take out manure from barns for cows and horses or to gather manure into a basket. It consists of a metal body into which a wooden handle is driven. The metal body is bent in an L shape like an ordinary rake, and the most common form has three prongs, although some have two or four prongs. People with thick fingers that can grip or peel things well are referred to as having “soeseurang” hands. The forked rake was also kept by the doorway or the main gate at night, in the belief that, if a thief stepped on it, it would bounce up and hit the thieve on the face.