A Loyal Farmer

Folklore from Bali

A long time ago, there was a small village in Bali. The villagers were farmers they were very happy. Gods gave them fertile land. They always had great harvest. There were no poor family in that village.One day, a young man came to the village. He came from a very far place.He went to the richest farmer in the village. The richest farmer's name was Jero Pasek."My name is I Tundung. I came here to work, Sir. I promise I will work hard.""Hmm...Okay, I will let you work in my rice field. But remember, I will ask you to leave if you are lazy." said Jero Pasek.I Tudung was very happy. He did not want to disappoint Jero pasek, his master. He worked diligently. Jero Pasek was very grateful. The harvest was much better. Besides cultivating, I Tundung also look care of the animals, such as chickens, ducks, goats and cows. The number of the animals also increased. Jero Pasek become richer.Jero pasek planned to ask I Tundung to cultivate his field in Kangin Hill.Unlike the land in the village, the land in Kangin Hill was not fertile.However, I Tundung accepted it very happy. He felt that Jero Pasek had already trusted him. He wanted to repay his trust by giving him great harvest.The land in the hill was arid. It was very dry. However, I Tundung was never gave up. There was a small spring. I Tundung made irrigation. He used the water in the spring and flew it through the irrigation.It worked! The land was not dry anymore. The plants grew very well. And again they had great harvest. Now the whole hills are green, thanks to I Tundung.

Unfortunately, their happiness did not last long. A thief stole the harvest and the animals.Sadly, I Tundung was never able to catch the thief. The harvest and the animals kept on missing, Jero Pasek was angry."I'm very disappointed in you. I have lost a lot of harvest and animals!"I Tundung was sad. He went to a temple to pray. While he was meditating, he heard a voice."I know your promlem and I can help you.""Thank you. I'm willing to do anything as long as I can protect my master's harvest and animals." said I Tundung."I will change you into a big black snake. You will live in the hill and you can protect the harvest and the animals."I Tundung agreed. he did not want to make his master disappointed and angry at him. Slowly, he changed into a big black snake.Meanwhile, Joko Pasek was looking for I Tundung. And when he arrived at his field, he saw abig black snake. He was so surprised when the snake was able to talk!"Don't be afraid, Sir. It's me, I Tundung. From now on, I will always protect your harvest and your animals."Jero Pasek was very sad. He never meant to ask I Tundung to do anything.But it was to late.***0 comments

Kebo Iwa

Folklore from Bali

Once upon a time in Bali, a man and his wife were praying. They have been married for a long time but did not have any children. They asked God to give them a child. They prayed and prayed. God finally answered their pray. The wife, then, got pregnant and they had a baby boy. They were very happy.The baby was extraordinary. He was very much different from other babies. He ate and drank a lot. Day after day he ate more and more. His body was getting bigger and bigger. And by the time he was a teenager, his body was as big as a buffalo. People then started to call him Kebo Iwa.Because of his eating habit, Kebo Iwa’s parents spent a lot of money to buy his food in large amount. They finally went bankrupt. They gave up and asked the villagers to help them provide the food.The villagers then worked together to cook and build a big house for Kebo Iwa. He was like a giant. He could not stay in his parents’ house anymore because of his big body. Sadly, after a few months, the villagers also could not afford to cook him the food. They then asked Kebo Iwa to cook his own food. The villagers just prepared the raw materials.Kebo Iwa agreed and as an expression of his gratitude to the villagers, he built a dam, dug wells, and he also protected the villagers from animals and people who wanted to attack their village. He did those things by himself.Meanwhile, the troops of Majapahit were planning to attack Bali. They knew about Kebo Iwa. And they also knew that they could not conquer Bali with Kebo Iwa there. Kebo Iwa was more powerful than they were.Gajah Mada, the Maha Patih (Chief Minister) of Majapahit then planned something. They were pretending to invite Kebo Iwa to Majapahit to help them dig some wells. They said that Majapahit was suffering from a long dry season and needed much water. Kebo Iwa did not know the plan, so he went to Majapahit.When Kebo Iwa was busy digging a very big well, the troops covered the well. Kebo Iwa had difficulty in breathing and buried alive. He died inside the well.After the death of Kebo Iwa, Bali was conquered by Majapahit. Until now, people still remember Kebo Iwa because he had done a lot for Majapahit and Bali. The stone head of legendary Kebo Iwa can be found in Pura Gaduh temple in Blahbatuh. ***1 comments

Manik Angkeran

Manik AngkeranFolklore from Bali

A long time ago, lived a very rich family in Bali. The father was Sidi Mantra. He was very famous for his supernatural power. He lived happily with his wife and his only child Manik Angkeran. Manik Angkeran was a spoiled son. He also had a bad habit. He liked to gamble. Because of his bad habit, his parents soon became poor. They always advised Manik Angkeran to stop his bad habit, but he never listened to them. Instead he kept on begging to his parents to give him a lot of money. The parents then did not have the heart to see him begging. Sidi Mantra then went to Agung Mountain. There lived a mighty dragon with his great supernatural power. He could provide jewelries to those who could say the right prayers and ring the bell. Sidi Mantra had the bell and he also knew the prayers. "My name is Sidi Mantra. I have a problem. My son likes to gamble. He made me poor. And now he asks a lot of money. I want to give him some, but now I want him to promise to stop his bad behavior," explained Sidi Mantra after he met the dragon. Sidi Mantra then said the prayers and rang the bell. Suddenly, jewelries came out from the dragon's body. He was very happy and immediately brought the jewelries home. This time Sidi Mantra wanted Manik Angkeran really to stop gambling. The son then promised. But soon he broke the promise and he did not have some money again. He heard that his father got the jewelries from the dragon living in Agung Mountain. So he stole his father's bell then went there. After arrived in Agung Mountain, Manik Angkeran rang the bell. The dragon knew him. "I will give you anything you want but you have to promise to stop gambling. Remember the karma!" then the dragon gave him the jewelries. Manik Angkeran was very happy. Suddenly he had a bad idea. He wanted to kill the dragon and stole all his jewelries. The dragon knew his plan and with his great power he killed Manik Angkeran. Sidi Mantra was very sad. He asked the dragon to bring his son back to life. The dragon agreed but they had to live in different places. After few moments, Manik Angkeran lived again. Then Sidi Mantra used a stick to make a big line between them on the ground. From the line, water flowed. Soon it became a river.

Finally it became a strait. It separated Java and Bali. People then named the strait as Bali Strait. ***

Bujang Katak

Folklore from Bangka Belitung

There was an old woman. She lived alone in her hut. She was a poor farmer. She was getting older and getting weaker. She did not have husband but she prayed to god to give her a son. She hoped her son could help her work in the rice field.

“God, please give me a son. I really want to have a son although he looks like a frog”, prayed the old woman.

God answered her pray. She was pregnant. Later the baby was born. Surprisingly the baby looked like a frog. His head and his skin were like frog’s head and skin. At first, the old woman was sad. However, later on she was grateful to god. She raised her son with great love. The baby grew as a kind man. He was very strong and obedient to his mother. People called him Bujang Katak. Bujang means a young man and Katak means a frog.

Later Bujang Katak was adult. He wanted to get married. However he did not want to marry the girl in his village. He wanted to marry one of the king’s seven daughters’!

He told his plan to his mother. She was sad. She knew that the king would reject his married proposal. But she did not want to see her son sad. And later they arrived at the palace. Bujang Katak told the king about the married proposal.

“I really appreciate your courage young man. But I can not make any decision. I will ask my seven daughters to give their opinions and decisions”, said the king.

One by one all the seven daughters talked. The first daughter didn’t say good things about Bujang Katak. She insulted him. “You are so ugly. No wonder people call you Bujang Katak. You really look like a frog. I don’t want to have a husband who looks like a frog”, said the first daughter.

The second daughter also said bad things to him. “You are very poor. I don’t want to have a poor husband”. So the other daughters talked bad things about him.

Finally the youngest daughter had her turn to talk. She was the most beautiful and kindest daughter. She didn’t say bad things about him. She accepted Bujang Katak’s married proposal! “I will marry him, Father” said the youngest daughter to the king.

Everybody was surprised. All the elders’ sisters were laughing at her. The king was shocked! He never thought that one of his daughters would marry Bujang Katak. He wanted to cancel the married. So he asked Bujang Katak to do something very difficult.

“I will let you marry my daughter but you have to build a golden bridge from your house to this palace”, said the king.

Bujang Katak and his mother went home. His mother was very sad and confused.

“How can you build a golden bridge, Son?” she asked Bujang Katak. “Don’t worry, Mother. I will pray to God to help me”, said Bujang Katak.

Then Bujang Katak prayed days and nights. One night, amazing things happened. His frog’s skin removed from his body. His head also changed. He became a very handsome man. His mother burned the removed skin. Amazingly the skin changed into gold. They had a lot of gold. Slowly they built a bridge using the gold.

Finally the bridge was built from they house to the king’s palace. The youngest daughter was very happy. Her husband was very handsome and also very rich. He had a lot of gold. All her sisters were jealous. They were even more jealous when the king asked Bujang Katak to be the new king.***

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Kelingking

Folklore from Bangka Belitung

A long time ago in Bangka Belitung lived a husband and a wife. They were poor and they did not have any children yet. Days and nights they prayed to God. They really wanted to have a child.“God, please give us a child, even though he is only as big as a little finger,” prayed the husband.Their dream came true! The wife was pregnant.However they were surprised when they saw the baby. He was so small. He was as big as a little finger.“You prayed to God to give us a child, although he is as big as a little finger right? Be thankful to God. Let’s love him. How will you name him then?” asked the wife.“You are right.We have to be grateful. Well, I will name him Kelingking,” said the husband. Kelingking means little finger.Time passed by and Kelingking did not grow much. His body was still physically small compared to other kids.Though he was so small, Kelingking ate like adults. He ate much food. And that made his parents really worried. They were poor and sometimes they could not eat because they had to give their food to Kelingking.“I cannot hold it anymore. I want to put Kelingking in the jungle. Let him live there. I think he can survive,” said the father.In the morning, Kelingking and his father went to the jungle. When they arrived, the father asked Kelingking to cut down a very big tree.

When Kelingking was busy cutting down the tree, his father silently went home.The father thought that Kelingking could not cut down the big tree. The father was sure thatKelingking would be lost in the jungle. But he was wrong! In the morning Kelingking suddenly showed up in front of the house. And he brought the big tree also!“Father, where do you want me to put this big tree?” asked Kelingking.The father was surprised. He asked Kelingking to put the tree in the backyard.Kelingking then went inside the house. As always he ate all the food and that made his father got angry. He then had another idea.“Kelingking, let’s go to the mountain. I need a big stone from there.”Kelingking was an obedient kid. He followed his father to go to the mountain. When they arrived, his father pointed a big stone.The stone was as big as their house!“I want you to bring that big stone to our house,” asked the father.When Kelingking was trying to bring the stone, the father immediately ran home.At night, when the father was sleeping , suddenly he heard Kelingking’s voice.“Father, I’m home. Where do you want me to put this big stone?”This time Kelingking’s father realized his mistake. It was true that Kelingking’s body was small and he ate much food. But he was a nice kid and he had great power. With that power, they could get a job and had a lot of money. The father then apologized to Kelingking. Since then they always worked together. ***

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Umpit and the Wild Hogs

Folklore from Bangka Belitung

A long time ago in Bangka, lived a hunter. His name was Umpit.

He was called Umpit because he always went hunting using his blowpipe. The villagers liked him very much. Umpit often hunted the wild hogs. Those animals often destroyed the villagers’ plantation. After Umpit killed the wild hogs, the villagers gave him some money.Pak Raje was the richest man in the village. Nobody liked him. He was very stingy. He did not like to donate his money. One day he asked Umpit to hunt the wild hogs. Umpit agreed. At night he was prepared and waited at the Pak Raje’s plantation.While he was waiting, suddenly seven wild hogs entered the plantation. Umpit prepared his blowpipe.Then, whoosssh! One of the hogs was shot.Amazingly, the hog disappeared.Umpit could not find the hog anywhere.However he found blood shed on the ground. He followed the blood trail. It went to the jungle. Finally the blood trail stopped in a big cave. Slowly he entered the cave. Then he heard a voice.“Who are you?”“My name is Umpit.I’m looking for a wounded hog. I shot it using my blowpipe.”“So, it’s you! You are the man who hurt my daughter!”Slowly a woman appeared in front of him.“Come, follow me,” said the woman.She then pointed a girl. She was wounded. Her leg was bleeding.“She was not a real hog. We are the goddess of the jungle. I will forgive you, but you have to cure my daughter.”Umpit was so scared. He did not know that it was not the real hog. He then took some leaves. He knew some medication because his parents taught him before.He put the leaves on the wound. After a while, the girl was cured. The woman then gave Umpit a present. Umpit immediately went home. He ran very fast.At home, Umpit immediately opened the present. Wow! He got jewelries, gold and diamond. Umpit sold the jewelries and now he became a rich man.Pak Raje heard that Umpit had become a rich man. He asked Umpit how he became rich. After he knew all about it, he borrowed Umpit’s blowpipe.He waited at his plantation, and he shot a wild hog.He followed the blood trail and arrived at the cave. He met the woman and the injured girl. Pak Raje was asked to cure the girl. But he could not do that, and that made the woman angry. She asked all the wild hogs to attack Pak Raje.Pak Raje ran very fast. He went to Umpit’s house. He asked Umpit to help him from the wild hogs. He agreed to help if only Pak Raje donated some of his money. Pak Raje said yes and he also promised he would be helpful to the villagers. ***0 comments

Putri Pinang Gading

Folklore from Bangka Belitung

A long time ago in Belitung, there were a couple of husband and wife. The husband was a fisherman. The husbands name was Pak Inda and the wife’s name was Bu Tumina. They lived alone in their house. They did not have any children. Pak Inda always went fishing in the morning. And in one morning as always he went to the sea. On the way there, he stumbled on a stick of bamboo. This is dangerous. Someone may get hurt with it, said Pak Inda. He threw the bamboo to the sea. Then he continued walking. Again, he stumbled on a bamboo. “Why are there a lot of bamboos here?” asked Pak Inda to himself. He wanted to throw the bamboo to the sea. Before he did that, he looked at the bamboo carefully. I think this is the same bamboo I threw awhile ago. How can it be here again? Pak Inda was confused. He then threw the bamboo to the sea. Amazingly the bamboo kept on coming back to him. He knew that this bamboo was different from other bamboos so he brought it home. At home, Pak Inda told his wife about the bamboo. Bu Tumina suggested him to put the bamboo in a box. They put the box in their bed room. In the morning, they heard a baby crying. Pak Inda and Bu Tumina looked everywhere to find the baby. Finally they found a baby girl inside the box where they put the bamboo. However the bamboo was gone. Pak Inda and Bu Tumina were very happy. They named the baby girl Putri Pinang Gading. Pak Inda and Bu Tumina took care of her with great love. Even though Putri Pinang Gading was their only child, they did not spoil her. They taught her to be independent. They also taught her how to protect herself from wild animals. That was why Putri Pinang Gading grew as a great girl. One day, a giant bird attacked their village. The bird was wild. It hurt many people. Nobody dared to kill the giant bird. Putri Pinang Gading knew she had to do something. She wanted to kill the bird. Be careful my daughter. We love you very much and we don’t want anything bad happen to you. Here, take this arrow with you. The arrow has poison and it can kill the bird. Just aim it at the bird’s heart, said Pak Inda. He knew his daughter could do that. She was skillful with arrows. Putri Pinang Gading then went to the village. She was waiting for the bird. The villagers were scared. They asked her to be careful. Suddenly, the giant bird was flying right above her. The bird tried to attack her. Putri Pinang Gading then prepared her arrow. She aimed at the bird’s heart. Wooosshhh! The arrow hit the bird’s heart! The bird fell on the ground and died instantly. The villagers were very happy. They thanked Putri Pinang Gading for her great action. On the ground where the giant bird fell, bamboo plants grew. The bamboos were poisonous. Later the villagers named the area as Membalong. It means poisonous bamboos. Membalong is now a district in Bangka Belitung. ***

Panji Kelaras

Folklore from Banten

ONCE upon a time, there was a king. he is very rich and had great power. However he was not happy. His only child, the prince, was not a good son. The prince had bad

attitudes.He liked to do cockfighting and gambling. Every time the prince had cock fighting. He also ignored his father's advice. Until one day, the king could not hold it anymore. He asked the prince to leave the palace and lived in the jungle. The prince knew it was his punishment. So he left the palace and went to the jungle. He had never been to the jungle before. He was very confused. He did not know where to stay.While he was busy looking for a place to stay, he found a hut. He was so happy. He immediately knock the door, then a beautiful girl opened the door. She was an orphan. Her parents just died and now she lived alone. The prince fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him. The girl agreed and later they got married. The prince and his wife had a happy life. They got happier when the wife was pregnant.The prince worked harder. He wanted to give the best to his baby. When the prince was working in the field, he heard that his father, the king, died. And now there was no king in the palace. The prince rushed to the palace. When his wife asked to join him, the prince forbade her. The wife was sad. She was pregnant and she was alone in the jungle. While she was sitting for the husband, and eagle flew above her. The eagle dropped an egg. It was a chicken egg. She keep the egg. And when she delivered a baby son, the egg also hatched.She named her son Panji Kelaras. While she was working, Panji Kelaras always played with his chick, which soon grew as a cock. Meanwhile, Panji Kelaras father now was the king. However, the king did his bad behaviour again.He liked to do cock fighting. The king's cock always won the fighting. He was not satisfied, he made a competition of cockfighting and the prize was a bag of gold. Many people brought their cocks and fought them with the king's cock. No cock should beat the king's cock. Panji Kelaras heard about the competition. He asked his mother's permission to go the palace. She gave him her blessing. She let her son go to the palace because she wanted him to meet his father, the king. When Panji Kelaras arrived at the palace he immediately gave his cock to the soldiers.Soon, the kocks were fighting. Finally, Panji Kelaras cock won the fighting. He was so happy. The king kept his promise. He gave Panji Kelaras a bag of gold. When Panji Kelaras left the palace, the king secretly follow him. The king was surprised when Panji Kelaras went to the hut he used to stay with his wife. And he was more surprised when he saw his wife hugged Panji Kelaras. "Who is he?" asked the king. He was jealous."He is you son. Where were you? I was waiting for you for long time but you never came back," said his wife.The king regretted his mistake. He apologized to his wife and to his son. Later the king asked them to stay in the palace. And when the king died, Panji Kelaras became the king. He led the kingdom wisely.***0 comments

The Legend of Pinang Mountain

Folklore from Banten

ONCE upon a time in Banten, there lived a poor fisherman. His name was Dampu

Awang. He lived with his mother. Dampu always worked hard. He wanted to be a rich man. However, he only had a small boat. And he also did not have big net just like his friends. That was why he could not catch a lot of fish and did not have much money.Dampu heard that there was a rich merchant coming to his village. The merchant had a big ship. He always sailed in the sea. He bough and sold things in the places he visited. Dampu wanted to work for him. He did not want to be a merchant.Dampu Awang had made up his mind. He was tired of being a poor man. He really wanted to be rich. His mother could not do anything. She finally let him go.Dampu met the merchant. He told him that he wanted to work for him."Okay, I will let you join me. But you have to work hard. If you want to be rich merchant like me, you have to pay attention to what I'm doing," said the merchant.Dampu Awang was extremely happy. He already imagined that he would be a rich man.Since he join the merchant's ship. Dampu always worked hard. Slowly the merchant trusted him. He asked Dampu to buy and sell the merchant's thing. Dampu did the assignment very well. He started to make a lot of money.The merchant was happy. He knew that Dampu could be a great merchant. He was old and wanted Dampu to marry his daughter. Dampu agreed. By marrying the merchant daughter, he could become a rich man. He would have a big ship and sail to many places.Meanwhile, Dampu's mother heard that her son had become a rich man. She also heard that he was already married and had a big ship. Everyday she prayed to God. She hoped that Dampu would come home soon.God answered her prayer. Dampu and his wife arrived at the village. Many people greeted Dampu. They all praised him.Dampu's mother tried to meet Dampu.She mentioned Dampu's name loudly. She finally came closer to Dampu."Dampu...Dampu... It's me, your mother."Sadly he ignored her. Dampu was so ashamed of his mother. She was old and her cloth was worn-out. She was also dirty."Guards! Ask that old woman to go away. She is not my mother. my mother was a rich woman and she already died," said Dampu to his guards.The guards pushed Dampu's mother away. She was so sad. She prayed to God."If he is not my son, let him sail safely. But if he is my son, punish him."God again answered her prayer. When Dampu sailed in the sea, great storm attacked his ship. Rain and thunder attacked the ship. Dampu realize his mistake but it was to late. The ship was slowly sinking and it finally submerged.The ship slowly changed into a mountain. People named it Pinang Mountain.***0 comments

The Legend of Tanjung Lesung

Folklore from Banten

THERE was a handsome traveler, his name was Raden Budog. He was resting under a big tree and soon he fell asleep. He had a dream. In his dream, he met a very beautiful woman. The woman was standing in front him. Raden Budog tried to touch her. Suddenly, a twig of the tree fell down and hit him. And that made him wake up from his

sleep. He was upset!Raden Budog could not forget that woman, he wanted to meet her. He traveled days and nights and never stopped to rest. And finally he arrived in a village. All of the villagers were farmers. Some girls were pounding rice in a mortar. The people called the mortar as lesung. They were busy pounding and the sound they made was like a harmony. The girls pounded the rice everyday, except Friday. Friday was a holy day for them, because it was time to pray to God.Raden Budog enjoyed the sound. He was looking at all the girls one by one.And suddenly, Aha! He saw the girl he met in his dream.Raden Budog was very happy. He came closer to the girls. All the girls were afraid and they all went home. Raden Budog followed the beautiful girl.And when the beautiful girl arrived home, Raden Budog knocked the door.An old woman opened the door.“Who are you, young man,” asked the woman.“My name is Raden Budog. May I spend the night in your house? I’m a traveler and I don’t have a place to stay,” said Raden Budog. He was trying to find an excuse to stay in the house.“My name is Nyi Siti and I live with my daughter. Her name is Sri Poh Haci. My husband passed away. If you want to spend the night here, you can sleep in the terrace. I’m so sorry, I don’t allow men to stay in my house,” said Nyi Siti.In the morning, Sri Poh Haci woke him up.She also gave him a glass of coffee. Raden Budog was extremely happy. He then tried to find a way how he could stay in the village and got married with her. Later, he told Nyi Siti that he would help her in the rice field. Nyi Siti agreed.Days passed by and later Sri Poh Haci also fell in love with him. Then they got married.Raden Budog still worked in the rice field and Sri Poh Haci also continued to pound the rice in the lesung. One day Raden Budog wanted to pound the rice. He also wanted to make the good sound. However it was Friday, and he forgot that pounding rice in the lesung was not allowed on Fridays. And when he was busy making the sound, the villagers screamed.“Hey, look! A monkey is pounding the rice!”Slowly the villagers came closer to Raden Budog. He did not notice that all the villagers were looking at him, until one man yelled at him. “Hey, monkey! Stop it! It is Friday!”Raden Budog did not understand why the villagers called him monkey. And when he looked at his body, he was surprised! His body was full of hair. He even had a tail. He had changed into a monkey! Raden Budog was so ashamed. He ran away to the jungle.Since then people named the village as Lesung Village or Kampung Lesung.And since the village is located in a cape, people then named the village as Lesung Cape or Tanjung Lesung.***0 comments

Nyi Banjarsari

Nyi Banjarsari

Folklore from Banten

IT was a rainy season. The villagers were happy, most of them were farmers. Rain would water their rice field and soon they would harvest their rice. Pak Bong was one of the farmers. He was also very happy. He wanted to buy some clothes for himself, his wife, and his beloved daughter, Nyi Banjarsari. She was a very beautiful girl. Her parents loved her because she was very obedient. One night, Pak Bong had a terrible dream. An old man came to him and said the rain would never stop. There would be a great flood. At first Pak Bong thought it was just a dream but he had the same dream in the following nights. He decided to tell all the villagers about his dream and asked them to evacuate on a hill not far from their village. "Ha ha ha? You are joking, Pak Bong. How can we leave our rice field? We are going to have great harvest, remember?" Everybody was laughing at Pak Bong. Pak Bong did not give up. He kept on asking the villagers to evacuate to the hill. Finally some villagers believed him. Together with his wife, and his daughter Nyi Banjarsari, Pak Bong and his friends went to the hill. In the meantime, heavy rain fell days and nights. It continued until water entered the houses. The villagers were sorry they did not listen to Pak Bong and ignored his advice. Soon, the village was drowned! Pak Bong and his friends could not do anything. They were sad because their village was under water. Then they prayed to God. They asked God how the water dried up from their village. The answer came in Pak Bong's dream. In his dream, the same old man told him how to save their village. "If you want the water to dry up, you have to sacrifice your daughter. She has to jump into the water!" said the old man. Pak Bong was very sad. He then told his family about his dream. His wife did not agree at all. She did not want to lose her lovely daughter. "That's OK, Mother. If this is the only way to save our village, I would jump into the water," said Nyi Banjarsari. Her parents could not say anything. They could not prevent their daughter from jumping into the water. Slowly, water dried up. Pak Bong and his friends then returned to their village. They built their houses and had their lives back. To show their thankfulness and gratefulness to Nyi Banjarsari, the villagers named their village into Banjarsari.(*)Showing posts with label Batam. Show all posts

Mah Bongsu and a Snake

Folklore from Batam

ONCE upon a time in Batam, lived an orphan named Mah Bongsu. She was a nice girl. Mah Bongsu was poor. To earn a living, she worked as a maid at a rich woman’s house, her name was Mak Piah. She had a daughter named Mayang. Mah Bongsu andMayang were at the same age.Mak Piah was a mean lady. She always asked Mah Bongsu to work hard, she often hit MahBongsu and sometimes she did not gave enough food to MahBongsu.Mah Bongsu was helpless. She could not do anything.She was alone in this world and she did not have any other place to stay. Everyday she prayed toGod. She wanted to have a better life. Mah Bongsu was washing the clothes in the river. Suddenly she saw a big snake swimming towards her. Mah Bongsu was scared. She wanted to run away. However, she saw the snake was wounded. It was bleeding. Mah Bongsu felt sorry to the snake. Carefully, she brought the snake home. She put the snake in her room and healed the wound.When Mah Bongsu was healing the wound, a piece of the snake’s skin was removed. Mah Bongsu took it. Amazingly the skin turned into gold. Mah Bongsu was happy. Everyday the snake removed its skin and the skin always turned into gold. Mah Bongsu collected all the gold and save it. She wanted to sell it later. Mah Bongsu sold all the gold and she became a rich girl. She did not work for Mak Piah anymore. She was richer than Mak Piah. Mah Bongsu also helped all the poor people. She bought a big house and she brought the snake with her.Mak Piah was very jealous. She was so curious. She wanted to know how Mah Bongsu got the wealth. Secretly, she went to Mah Bongsu’s house. She saw Mah Bongsu was healing a snake.Later, Mak Piah asked her daughter, Mayang, to go to the river. She asked Mayang to find a wounded snake.And when Mayang finally found a wounded snake, she brought it home. Sadly, the snake bit her and poisoned her. Mayang instantly died. Mak Piah was scared, she tried to run away. Just right before she left the house, the snake was able to bite her. And she also died then.Meanwhile, the wounded snake at Mah Bongsu’s house was finally healed.Amazingly, the snake turned into a handsome man.“ Thank you, Mah Bongsu.Actually, I’m a prince. A witch cursed me into a snake .And thanks to you I changed into a man now. Because you already helped me, I want to propose you to be my wife. Will you marry me?” asked the prince.Mah Bongsu was so happy. She accepted the proposal and lived with the prince.Since then people named the river where Mah Bongsu found her husband as Sungai Jodoh. It means the river of soul mate. ***

Showing posts with label Bengkulu. Show all posts

The Legend of Tes Lake

Folklore from Bengkulu

THERE was a man lived in Kutei Donok village, Bengkulu. People call him Pahit Lidah. He was named Pahit Lidah because he had magical power. Whatever he said would come true. That was why Pahit Lidah was always careful with his words.Pahit Lidah had a son. One day Pahit Lidah left his village. He wanted to open new rice field. He asked permission to the head of the village.The head of the village gave him the permission.Pahit Lidah went alone.His son still stayed at home.After walking for several hours, he finally found a good place for his new rice field. He brought his hoe and started using it. He dug the soil and threw it to the Air Ketahun River.He was working days and nighst and he never stopped to rest. He was very powerful. He kept on hoeing the soil and always threw it to the river.He had been working for two days and there was a lot of land covering the river. Slowly the soil blocked the water. The soil in the river made the water did not flow smoothly.The villagers were restless. They knew if Pahit Lidah kept on throwing the soil to the river, finally the river would totally blocked by the soil. They were afraid that the water would overflow and their village would be flooded.The villagers then reported this to the head of the village. After he knew the problem, the head of the village sent some villagers to meet Pahit Lidah. They had to persuade him to stop working and returned home.“If he still does not want to go home, tell him that his son is dead,” said thehead of the villagers.Later the villagers left. They finally met Pahit Lidah.As planned, they tried to persuade him to stop working. However, Pahit Lidah ignored them. Then they told him that his son was dead.“Impossible. My son is fine. He is still alive,” said Pahit Lidah.They villagers gave up. They went home and reported to the head of the village.“I’m sorry, Sir. Pahit Lidah did not want to listen to us. Maybe if you tell him, he will listen to you. He really respects you,” said one villager.“Hmmm. Alright, I will go now,” said the head of the village.The head of the village then found Pahit Lidah still hoeing the soil. Later he persuaded Pahit Lidah.“Pahit Lidah, let’s go home now. Your son is dead,” said the head of the village.Pahit Lidah stopped working. He really respected the head of the village.Then he said, “Because you said that my son is dead, now I really believe that my son is dead,” said Pahit Lidah sadly.“So, why don’t you go home now?”“I will, Sir. I just need to hoe the soil a little more,” said Pahit Lidah.After that, the head of the village left him. Pahit Lidah just realized his mistake.Pahit Lidah was so sure that his son was not dead, then his son was indeed dead. He was so angry. However it was too late. He kept on hoeing and throwing the soil to the river.

And finally the land completely blocked the river and it made a new lake. People named the lake as Tes Lake.***0 comments

The legend of n'Daung Snake

Folklore from Bengkulu

ONCE upon a time in Bengkulu, a widow lived with three daughters. They all were beautiful but they had different personalities. The oldest and the middle daughter were lazy but the youngest daughter was diligent. One day, their mother was terribly ill. She could be cured only by eating special leaves that cooked by magical fire. Unfortunately, the leaves and magical fire were on top of the mountain and were guarded by a snake. It was not just an ordinary snake.The snake had magical power. The name was n'Daung Snake. The oldest and the middle daughter did not want to go to the top of the mountain. "I will go there, Mother. I'll take the leaves and the magical fire for you," said the youngest daughter. Actually she was also very scared of the n'Daung Snake.Then, after several days climbing the mountain, she finally arrived at the n'Daung Snake's place. It was a cave. The special leaves and the magical fire were inside the cave. Suddenly, she heard some noises. The n'Daung Snake was coming! She was very terrified but she did not want to run. She wanted to talk about her problem to the Snake.In just a minute, the snake was already in front of her. "Who are you, young girl? What are you doing here?" asked the snake politely. She was surprised. Although the snake looked scary, he was very polite. Then, she asked the snake to give her the leaves and the magical fire. "You can take them, but you have to be my wife. Agree?" asked the snake. She did not think twice. She just wanted her mother to be cured soon. Then, the snake gave her the leaves and the torch burned with the magical fire. She directly went home.Later, the mother got cured. The youngest daughter knew that she had to keep her promise to n'Daung Snake. So, she left the house without saying goodbye. When she arrived at the cave, it was already in the evening. She went inside the cave but she could not find the snake. She met a handsome man instead. "Don't be afraid. My name is Prince Abdul Rahman Alamsjah. My uncle cursed me into a snake only during daylight. In the evening, I became a human. My uncle did not want me to be a king," explained the man. In the meantime, her mother and her older sisters were looking for her. They finally arrived at n'Daung Snake's cave. It was also already in the evening. They saw the youngest daughter was with a handsome man.After they knew who the man was, the older sisters were jealous. They burned the snakeskin. They hoped n'Daung Snake could not change back as a human. However, the result was the opposite. By burning the snakeskin, the spell was broken. Prince Abdul Rahman Alamsjah was free from the curse. He then asked his wife to go with him to the palace. He would be the next king and sent his uncle to the jail. The youngest daughter also asked her mother to stay with them in the palace. How about the older sisters? They were ashamed with their behaviours, so they stayed at the cave. ***

Pak Dungu

Folklore from Central Java

PAK Dungu and his wife lived in a village. His name is Dungu because people thought that he is stupid. People always made fun of him.One day, his wife asked Pak Dungu to sell their cow to the market. “Remember, don’t sell the cow less than 250 rupiahs,” said the wife to Pak Dungu.Unfortunately, Pak Busuk heard their conversation. He is a bad man and always tricks people. He immediately went to his friend’s house, Pak Cokel and Pak Colek. Together, they were planning to trick Pak Dungu.On the way to the market, Pak Dungu met Pak Busuk.“Where are you going, Pak Dungu?” asked Pak Busuk.“I want to go to the market. I want to sell my cow,” answered Pak Dungu.“A cow? Are you kidding? This is not a cow, this is a goat.”Pak Dungu was upset, and then continues walking. Later, he met Pak Cokel. He asked Pak Dungu the same question.“How much?” asked Pak Cokel.“Two hundred and fifty rupiahs.”“Wow, that is too expensive for a goat,” said Pak Cokel.Again Pak Dungu was upset. He thought Pak Cokel was crazy just like Pak Busuk. They thought his cow as a goat.He ignored Pak Cokel and continued walking, and then he met Pak Colek. Again, Pak Colek said that Pak Dungu did not have a cow but a goat. Pak Dungu was confused. Because Pak Dungu did not want to lose a lot of money, he then sold his ‘goat’ to Pak Colek.At home, his wife was angry. She asked Pak Dungu to find Pak Colek to get his cow back. Pak Dungu was very sad. He blamed himself for being stupid. He then prayed and then got an idea. He bought a small bell and told all the sellers to help him. Every time he ate or bought something at their places, Pak Dungu did not have to pay. All the sellers agree to help; they knew Pak Dungu was a kind man.“Hello friends, I want to treat you. Let’s eat,” said Pak Dungu to Pak Busuk, Pak Cokel, and Pak Colek.They all were eating and after they had finished, Pak Dungu rang the bell. When the seller heard the bell ring, he said, “Ok, you have already paid.”They then walked to another seller. After Pak Dungu rang the bell, the seller said Pak Dungu had already paid.Pak Busuk, Pak Cokel, and Pak Colek thought that Pak Dungu had a magic bell. So they asked Pak Dungu to sell it for them. Pak Dungu agreed but he said that the price was Rp250. They agreed and paid the money to Pak Dungu.After they had the bell, they went to a big restaurant. They ordered a lot of food. After they were full, they rang the bell and left. They restaurant owner was angry. He called the police and said that they were criminals. They ate and did not want to pay. The police then sent them to the jail! ***0 comments

Baturaden

A Folktale from Central Java

Suta is a servant in a kingdom in Central Java. His duty is to look after the king's horses. Suta likes to take a walk after doing his chores.One day, when Suta is walking near a lake, he hears a woman screaming. So, Suta hurries to find the source of the scream. Finally, he arrives near a big tree. He sees the king's daughter screaming. Above her, there's a giant snake about a strike.Suta was afraid, but he is worried about the princess. So he takes a big stick and hit the snake in its head. The snake hisses in pain and finally dies."Thank you, Suta. You've saved my life," says the princess."No needed for that princess. It's my duty as your father's servant to help you."Since that day, Suta and the princess become good friends. They even fall in love with each other. So, the princess tells Suta to go to her father and ask his permission to marry her.The king is furious to hear about their plans."Suta is just a servant while you are my daughter, the princess. It is unacceptable for you to marry a servant."The princess is sad to hear her father's answer, especially after her father throws Suta in jail for having the nerve to ask her to marry him.In jail, Suta is not given anything to eat or drink.Hearing that, the princess makes a plan to break her lover out of jail. They succeed and they run far away. They rest near the river. There they get married and start a family.The place where Suta and the princess raise their family is called Baturraden. Batur means servant while raden means noble. Nowadays, Baturaden is very interesting tourism spot. It's located at the foothill of Mount Slamet in Purwokerto, Central Java. *** 0 comments

Mouse Deer and Tiger

Folklore from Central Java

Long Time ago in a jungle of Java, tiger was wandering around for food. He hadn't been eating for days. He was really hungry! While he was approaching a small lake, he saw Mouse Deer drinking. The tiger want to eat him.Tiger smiled, "Hmmm yummy, finally I get my lunch!"Tiger slowly ducked, crawled, and held his breath. And then..."Gotcha!" said Tiger. He caught Mouse Deer and bit his leg. Mouse Deer was trembling. He was really shocked. But he tried to be calm. He was thinking of a plan to escape from Tiger. He looked around and suddenly he had an idea!He said, "Hey Tiger, I know you are hungry and want to eat me. But the king will angry if he knows you eat me now.""Why? The king knows that I eat meat. I eat animals like you! Said Tiger.Mouse Deer explained, "I guard king's cake. It's very delicious. Only the king and his family eat it. "Mouse Deer pointed at one big, black lump near the lake. It did not look delicious at all. But Tiger was curious."Don't be fooled by its appearance. Its taste is very delicious. That's why it meant for kings. And you won't get hungry for a month after you eat it. I tasted it once, "said Mouse Deer.Tiger's mouth watered. "Can I taste it?""Of course you can not The king will punish me like he did when I tasted it last time. He would kill me if something happened to the cake again!"Well...it's all up to you. I eat you or I eat the cake.The choice is yours.""Well, then. You don't give me much choice, Tiger. You can have the cake. But first, let me run away as far as I can. By the way, the king won't be able to get me.""All right...Now, go!" He was really hungry. He could not wait any longer to eat king's cake.Mouse Deer took a save distance away from Tiger. But he still could watch him, as Tiger eagerly took the peace of the 'cake'.Phooey, it's no cake! It's...it's buffalo's dung! I'll get you, Mouse Deer! You! Watch it!"

But Mouse Deer was already far away. He laughed aloud. Mouse Deer was safe for now. But Next Time, he might meet face to face with Tiger again.***0 comments

Timun Mas

Folklore from Central Java

Once upon a time, not far from a jungle, lived husband and a wife. The were farmers. The were diligent farmers and always worked hard on the paddy fields. They had been married for many years and still not have a child yet. Everyday they prayed and prayed for a child.One night, while they were praying, a giant passed their house. The giant heard they pray. "Don't worry farmers. I can give you a child. But you have to give me that child when she is 17 years old," said the giant.The farmers were so happy. They did not think about the risk of losing their child letter and agree to take the offer. Letter, the giant gave them a bunch of cucumber seeds. The farmers planted them carefully. Then the seeds changed into plants.Not longer after that, a big golden cucumber grew from plants. After it had ripe, the farmers picked and cut it. They were very surprised to see beautiful girl inside the cucumber. They named her Timun Mas or Golden Cucumber. Years passed by and Timun Mas has changed into a beautiful girl.On her 17th birthday, Timun Mas was very happy. However, the parents were very sad. They knew they had to keep their promise to the giant but they also did not want to lose their beloved daughter. "My daughter, take this bag. It can save you from the giant," said the father. "What do you mean, Father? I don't understand," said Timun Mas.Right after that, the giant came into their house. "Run Timun Mas. Save your life!" said the mother. The giant was angry. He knew the farmers wanted to break their promise. He

chased Timun Mas away. The giant was getting closer and closer.Timun Mas then opened the bag and threw a handful of salt. It became sea. The giant had to swim to cross the sea. Later, Timun Mas threw some chilly. It became a jungle with trees. The trees had sharp thorns so they hurt the giant.However, the giant was still able to chase Timun Mas. Timun Mas took her third magic stuff. It was cucumber seeds. She threw them and became cucumber field. But the giant still could escape from the field. Then it was the last magic stuff she had in the bag. It was a shrimp paste, terasi. She threw it and became a big swamp.The giant was still trying to swim the swamp but he was very tired. Then he was drowning and died. Timun Mas then immediately went home. The farmers were so happy that they finally together again.***0 comments

Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih

Folklore from Central Java

BAWANG Putih lived with her step mother and her step sister, Bawang Merah. Bawang Putih's mother died when she was a baby. Her father remarried another woman and later her step sister was born. Unfortunately, not long after that her father died. Since then, Bawang Putih's life was sad. Her step mother and her step sister treated Bawang Putih badly and always asked her to do all the household chores. One morning, Bawang Putih was washing some clothes in a river. Accidentally, her mother's clothes were washed away by the river. She was really worried so she walked along the river side to find the clothes. Finally she met an old woman. She said that she kept the clothes and would give them back to Bawang Putih if she helped the old woman do the household chores. Bawang Putih helped her happily. After everything was finished, the old woman returned the clothes. She also gave Bawang Putih a gift. The old woman had two pumpkins, one pumpkin was small and the other one was big. Bawang Putih had to choose one.Bawang Putih was not a greedy girl. So she took the small one. After thanking the old woman, Bawang Putih then went home. When she arrived home, her step mother and Bawang Merah were angry. They had been waiting for her all day long. Bawang Putih then told about the clothes, the old woman, and the pumpkin. Her mother was really angry so she grabbed the pumpkin and smashed it to the floor. Suddenly they all were surprised. Inside the pumpkin they found jewelries. "Bawang Merah, hurry up. Go to the river and throw my clothes into the water. After that, find the old woman. Remember, you have to take the big pumpkin," the step mother asked Bawang Merah to do exactly the same as Bawang Putih's experience. Bawang Merah immediately went to the river. She threw the clothes and pretended to search them. Not long after that, she met the old woman. Again she asked Bawang Merah to do household chores. She refused and asked the old woman to give her a big pumpkin. The old woman then gave her the big one. Bawang Merah was so happy. She ran very fast. When she arrived home, her mother was impatient. She directly smashed the pumpkin to the floor. They were screaming. There were a lot of snakes inside the pumpkin! They were really scared. They were afraid the snakes would bite them. "Mom, I think God just punished us. We had done bad things to Bawang Putih. And God didn't like that. We have to apologize to Bawang Putih," said

Bawang Merah. Finally both of them realized their mistakes. They apologized and Bawang Putih forgave them. Now the family is not poor anymore. Bawang Putih decided to sell all the jewelries and used the money for their daily lives.***

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Aji Saka

Aji SakaFolklore from Central Java

A long time ago there was a kingdom. Its name was Medang Kamulan. The people in the kingdom were very scared. They wanted to leave the kingdom. It all happened because the king was a beast. His name was Prabu Dewata Cengkar and he ate humans! Every day Patih Jugul Muda always provided some humans to be eaten by the king! Not far from the kingdom, there was Medang Kawit village. A young man with a great supernatural power lived there. His name was Aji Saka. Everybody liked him because Aji Saka was nice, diligent, and kind hearted. One day, Aji Saka saw an old man was wounded. Some thieves just hit him and stole his money. The old man was the villager in Medang Kamulan kingdom. He told what happened in his kingdom to Aji Saka. Aji Saka was very angry. He decided to go to Medang Kamulan to give Prabu Dewata Cengkar a lesson. The king had to stop his bad behavior, eating humans. Aji Saka then went to the kingdom. He was wearing his magic turban. When he arrived in the kingdom, the king was angry to Patih Jugul Muda. He was not able to give the king some humans. All the villagers already saved themselves by leaving the kingdom. “Who are you, young man? Ha...ha...ha.... I’m glad you are here. I'm starving,” said the king. He was so happy to see Aji Saka. He thought Aji Saka was there to be eaten by him. “I would gladly let you eat

me. But I have one request. You give me your land with the size of my turban,” said Aji Saka. He then took off his turban and threw it on the ground. The king and Aji Saka then measured the size of the turban. Suddenly the turban grew bigger and bigger. It finally covered the whole kingdom. The king was totally angry. He knew Aji Saka was planning to take over his kingdom. He then attacked Aji Saka. With his supernatural turban, Aji Saka twisted the king’s body and threw him to the ocean. The king never returned to the kingdom. Aji Saka then asked the villagers to come back. They all were very happy. They also asked Aji Saka to be their king. Aji Saka then ruled the kingdom wisely. He led Medang Kamulan kingdom into its golden moment. The people lived happily and peacefully. ***0 comments

Sendang Sani

Sendang SaniA Folktale from Central Java

Once upon a time, Sunan Kalijaga planned to visit Sunan Muria in Pati, Central Java. He asked his friend, Ki Rangga, to go with him. Several servants also joined them to carry their luggages. And they began walking to Sunan Muria’s house. Of course there were no cars or trains, so they walked. Several hours later, Ki Rangga felt tired. “Are we still far from Sunan Muria’s house?” asked Ki Rangga to Sunan Kalijaga. Sunan Kalijaga answered, “We are already in Kadipaten Pati Pesantenan. We will arrive in Sunan Muria’s house shortly. Please be patient.”Ki Rangga was embarassed to be walking together with Sunan Kalijaga because Sunan Kalijaga did not look tired while Ki Rangga was very tired and thirsty. Finally Sunan Kalijaga asked Ki Rangga to take a rest under a big tree. It was time for Zuhur pray. But there was no water around for them to clean up

or wudu. Ki Rangga was confused. He said, “I don’t see any water nearby. Where should we take wudu?” Sunan Kalijaga only smiled and said, “We should pray to Allah SWT for water. Now you must guard this big tree, Ki Rangga. It might bring water to us. But remember, everything happens because of Allah SWT. Don”t act alone. You must inform me when water comes out. I will be behind that hill.” Ki Rangga promised Sunan Kalijaga to inform him when water came out. So Sunan Kalijaga went behind the hill and Ki Rangga with his servants sat under the big tree. They quickly fell asleep. Suddenly water came out from the big tree. Ki Rangga and his servants became wet. They woke up. They were very happy to see the water because they were very tired and thirsty. They drank and played in the water. Ki Rangga forgot Sunan Kalijaga’s message to inform Sunan Kalijaga when water came out. Behind the hill, Sunan Kalijaga was worried. So he went to the big tree. He was surprised to see Ki Rangga and his servants were playing in the water. “You forgot my message to inform me when water comes out. Instead, you are playing in the water like a turtle,” said Sunan Kalijaga, softly. A miracle happened. Ki Rangga and his servants turned into turtles. Ki Rangga was sad. He changed into turtles because he did not keep his promise. The water formed a pond. It is now called Sendang Sani, in Pati, Central Java. Many people still visit Sendang Sani now. ***0 comments

A Test for the King

A Test for the KingA Folktale from Central Java

There is a small kingdom called Mergosono. Although Mergosono is small, it is famous because the king is a very good and wise man. One day, the gods hear about the king’s goodness and wisdom. So, they decide to test him. The king of the gods sends four of his

gods to Mergosono to test the king. At that time, the king’s son, Pangeran Sembara is studying abroad. So one of the gods disguise as Pangeran Sembara. Two other as villagers while one disguise as a villager who is killed by Pangeran Sembara. The two villagers then go to see the king to tell him about the death of their friend. They say that they saw the prince killed their friend. ÒI accept your report. But my son hasn’t returned from his study. I will hold my judgement until his return. If my son indeed killed your friend then I will give him the punishment he deserve. But if you lie then I will punish you for ruining my family’s good name,” says the king. When the two villagers leave, the king calls his trusted advisors. He asks for their opinion about this matter. They all agree that if the report is true then the prince should be punished. The king is sad to hear that but he knows he must uphold the law. The next morning the false prince comes to see his father. He admits killing the vilager. So the king decides to execute the prince for his wrong doing. The next day the prince is going to be hung as his punishment. When the executioner hang the prince, suddenly his body disappear and a voice is heard across the field. “King of Mergosono, you really are a wise and justfull king. You pass my test. So I will give you and your people prosperity as long as you and your descendant stay true and wise. Don’t be sad. Your son is well and on his way home to see you.” When the sound is gone, the people of Mergosono yells with joy. Their prince is safe and they know that their king is a wise man. When the prince finally arrives home, they hold a party to celebrate the event. (BP/X-12)0 comments

The Baruklinting Dragon

The Baruklinting DragonFolklore from Central Java

A long time ago, there was a giant dragon. His name was Baruklinting. One day, one of the gods asked him to take nine shepherds as an offering for the gods. Then Baruklinting went to a mountain. He opened his big mouth everyday. He hoped that shepherds would enter his big mouth. In the village, ten shepherds took their cows to the grass field on the mountain. They didn’t know there was a dragon. One of the shepherds was very skinny and dirty. His friends always made fun of him. The skinny shepherd never got angry. He

just kept quiet and left his friends every time they laughed at him. It was a very hot day. All shepherds were very tired. They wanted to find a cool place to rest. The skinny shepherd had already found a nice place to rest. It was under a big tree. The place was cool so he did not feel hot anymore. His friends were jealous. “Let’s steal his place,” said one of them. “Yes! Let’s do it!” other shepherds agreed. They took some mud and threw it to the skinny shepherds. The skinny shepherd was so sad. Still, he did not get angry. He just left them and walked away. “Ha ha ha go now! You skinny boy!” they laughed at him. Suddenly the sky became dark. There was a thunder and lightning. Heavy rain began to fall. The shepherds did not want to get wet. They had to find a better place. They finally found a big cave. The cave had sharp rocks inside it. All shepherds did not know that the cave was actually the mouth of the giant dragon. Yes, it was Baruklinting’s mouth! When all shepherds were inside the ‘cave’, suddenly one of them pushed the skinny shepherd away. “Go out! You don’t belong here! It’s only for the big boys!” "But it was raining outside,” said skinny shepherd. ÒI don’t care!” then they pushed him. Right after the skinny shepherd was outside the cave, it suddenly closed! Yes, Baruklinting just finished his job to get nine shepherds for the gods. When the skinny shepherds saw the cave closed, he ran away! He ran as fast as he could. He then told the villagers about the cave and the dragon. The villagers then went to the mountain to kill the dragon. But when they arrived, the dragon had already gone. From that day on, the village was named Kesongo Village. Songomeant nine for the nine shepherds who were eaten by Baruklinting Dragon***0 comments

Keong Emas (The Golden Snail)

Keong Emas (The Golden Snail)Folklore From Central Java

PRINCE Raden Putra and Dewi Limaran were husband and wife. They lived in a palace. Prince Raden Putra's father was the king of the kingdom.

One day, Dewi Limaran was walking around in the palace garden. Suddenly she saw a snail. It was ugly and disgusting. "Yuck!" said Dewi Limaran and then she threw it away into a river. She did not know that the snail was actually an old and powerful witch. She could transform herself into anything. The witch was angry to Dewi Limaran. The witch put a spell on her and changed her into a golden snail. The witch then threw it away into the river. The golden snail was drifting away in the river and got caught into a net. An old woman was fishing and used her net to catch some fish. She was surprised to see a golden snail in her net. She took it and brought it home. When the old woman woke up in the morning, she was surprised that the house was in the good condition. The floor was mopped. And she also had food on the table. She was thinking very hard. "Who did this to me? The person is very kind." It happened again and again every morning. The old woman was very curious. One night she decided to stay up late. She was peeping from her room to know who cooked for her. Then, she could not believe what she saw. The golden snail she caught in the river turned into a beautiful woman. The old woman approached her. "Who are you, young girl?" "I am Dewi Limaran, Ma'am. A witch cursed me. I can change back as a human only at night," explained Dewi Limaran. "The spell can be broken if I hear the melody from the holy gamelan," continued Dewi Limaran. The old woman then rushed to the palace. She talked to Prince Raden Putra about her wife. Prince Raden Putra was so happy. He had been looking for his wife everywhere. He then prayed and meditated. He asked the gods to give him the holy gamelan. He wanted to break the witch's spell. After several days praying and meditating, finally gods granted his wish. He immediately brought the holy gamelan to the old woman's house. He played it beautifully. And then amazingly the golden snail turned into the beautiful Dewi Limaran. The couple was so happy that they could be together again. They also thanked the old woman for her kindness. As a return, they asked her to stay in the palace. ***0 comments

Loro Jonggrang

Loro Jonggrang

Folklore from Central Java

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Prambanan. The people lived peacefully. However, soon their happy lives were disturbed by Pengging Kingdom. The king, Bandung Bondowoso, wanted to occupy Prambanan. He was a mean king. The war between Prambanan and Pengging could not be avoided. Prambanan lost the war and led by the new king, Bandung Bondowoso. Pengging could win the war because Bandung Bondongwoso had a supernatural power. His soldiers were not only humans but also genies. Those creatures always obeyed Bandung Bondowoso. They always did whatever Bandung Bondowoso asked them to do. The king of Prambanan had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Loro Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. "If you want to marry me, you have to build a thousand of temples in just one night," said Loro Jonggrang. She hated Bandung Bondowoso because he made the people of Prambanan suffered. "What? Impossible! You just gave me an excuse for not marrying me!" said Bandung Bondowoso. But he did not give up. He asked the genies to helphim. Then all those genies worked hard to build the 1.000 temples. Meanwhile, Loro Jonggrang heard from the lady-inwaiting that the building of 1.000 temples was almost finished. She was so scared; she did not want to marry Bandung Bondowoso. And then she had a great idea. She asked all the ladies-inwaiting to help her. "Please prepare a lot of straw and mortar. Come on! Hurry up!" said Loro Jonggrang. All those ladies-in-waiting were confused. They did not know why Loro Jonggrang asked them to prepare a lot of straw and mortars in the middle of the night. "Listen, all those genies are building the temples, right? We have to stop them by burning the straw and make some noise by pounding the mortar. The genies will think that sun is going to rise and they will run away. Genies are afraid of sunlight." It worked! All those genies thought that sun rose. They did not know the light was from the fire that burning the straw. And the noise from pounding the mortar was like the start of a new day. Bandung Bondowoso was angry. He knew Loro Jonggrang just tricked him. "You cannot fool me, Loro Jonggrang. I already

have 999 temples. I just need one more temple. Now, I will make you the one-thousandth temple." With his supernatural power, Bandung Bondowoso made Loro Jonggrang a temple. Until now, the temple is still standing in Prambanan area, Central Java. And the temple is named Loro Jonggrang temple. ***0 comments

Ki Semar and Slamet Mountain

Ki Semar and Slamet MountainFolklore from Central Java

A long time ago, Slamet Mountain was very high. It was so high that it could reach the sky. People heard that they could take the stars if they were on top of the mountain. But no one dared to go there. The people were afraid that the gods in heaven would be angry if people took the stars. However, the beauty of the stars made some monkeys dared to go to the top of the mountain. Led by their king, they went there and took some stars. Then, the sky became dark at night. People were sad and the gods were angry! Batara Guru was the leader of the gods. He held a meeting. He invited Batara Narada, Batara Brama, Batara Bayu, and others. Batara Narada had an idea how to stop the monkeys. They would ask Ki Semar to help them. Ki Semar was actually one of the gods. He was even older than Batara Guru. But Ki Semar did not live in heaven. He lived on earth with his children, Gareng, Petruk, and Bagong. Ki Semar had a great supernatural power. He could cut the top of the mountain easily. But first, he wanted to give a lesson to the naughty monkeys. They had to be punished for stealing the stars. He then set a plan with his children to trap the monkeys. Gareng then went to the top of the mountain. He had to attract the monkeys to go down by giving them some bananas. It worked! The monkeys followed Gareng. After the monkeys left the top of the mountain, Ki Semar immediately cut the top of the mountain. He threw the biggest part to Cirebon. It became Ceremai Mountain and the small parts became small mountains, like Clirit Mountain, Tapak Mountain, and others. After the monkeys left the mountain and followed Gareng, Petruk

was ready with some hot water. He planned to pour the hot water over the monkeys. He waited and waited but the monkeys never came to him. He did not know that while the monkeys chased Gareng, they met a giant dragon. The monkeys had a fight with the dragon. It was so terrible that both the monkeys and the dragon finally died. Because of tired waiting for the monkeys, Petruk then left the place. He did not bring his hot water and left it there. People then named the place where Petruk left his hot water as Guci. It is about 50 kilometers from Tegal, Central Java. It is famous for its hot water.***

Jangga Hatuen Bulan

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago, a man lived on the moon. his name was Jangga. He lived with his mother. Jangga loved hunting. Everyday he went hunting with his dog. His mother often told him not to go hunting too long. But Jangga often ignored her.One day Jangga and his dog went hunting as usual. He was looking for the animals. However, he could not find any of them. Sadly, he was lost. He could not find a way to his home. While he was walking, suddenly he saw an old woman.Jangga followed the old woman. She arrived at her house. jangga wanted to stay the night at her house. He knocked the door. an old man opened the door. Jangga told him that he wanted to stay. The old man gave him the permission.Apparently, it was a family. The old man and the old woman had a beautiful daughter. Jangga told them that he was lost. He said that he lived on the moon. The old man said that Jangga was really far from home. They were on the earth.

Jangga was so sad. He could not go back to his home and meet his mother.The old man offered Jangga to stay at his home. Jangga agreed.Day passed by ans soon Jangga fell in love with the old man's daughter. Then they got married.Jangga still enjoyed hunting. With his dog, he often went hunting in the jungle. His wife often told him not to go hunting too long. However, Jangga ignored her.Jangga's wife was pregnant. She often asked Jangga to stay at home and not to go hunting. Again, Jangga ignored her. Her wife was often angry with him.In the morning, Jangga wanted to go hunting. This time his wife was really angry."Please stay. Don't go! I feel like I'm going to deliver the baby today.""Don't worry. If the baby is a boy, name him Jangga Batuen Bulan. It means Jangga, a man from the moon. And if the baby is a girl, name her Hendan Bawi Bulan. It means Hendan, a woman from the moon," said Jangga.Then he left his wife. Not long after that Jangga's wife delivered a baby boy. She was so angry that her husband was not next to her. She did not want her husband to see the baby.Later Jnagga came home. He heard a baby was crying. He was so happy."Where is the baby? I want to see my baby," said Jangga."No, you can't! I don't want you to see the baby!" said Jangga's wife.Jangga was so sad. Ans he was also very angry! He went outside of his home. His dog followed him. After that he prayed. He called out his mother.Suddenly thunder attacked the place. Dark cloud covered him and his dog. Surprisingly, Jangga and his dog disappeared. Not long after that the baby was dead. Jangga brough the baby spirit to the moon.Jangga's wife was so sad. She called out Jangga's name. But it was to late. Jangga and the baby now lived on the moon. Jangga's wife was crying. She never stop crying.The Gods heard how she cried and they didn't like it. The were upset with her and changed her into a bird. People named the bird as pungguk bird.Until now, during full moon we still can hear the sound of pungguk bird. And we can also see the image of a dog in the moon. From the legend, people make a proverb. It says, "Just like a pungguk waiting for the moon". It means that it's just waiting in vain.*** 0 comments

The Salty River

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago in Sepang Village, Central Kalimantan, lived a widow named Emas.Her husband died when her daughter was a baby. Her daughter’s name was Tumbai.The villagers in Sepang Village were poor.Though they were poor, the villagers always worked hard. Fortunately there was a well in the village. So they always had enough water to live.Tumbai was a very good daughter. She was diligent and obedient. She always helped her mother and listened to her mother’s advice. She also liked to help other people. That was why everybodyknew her.Tumbai was not only famous for her kindness, but she was also famous for her beauty.

She was very beautiful! Many young men fell in love with her. One by one, they proposed her to be their wife. However, Tumbai always refused the marriage proposal. She was confused. So she prayed to God to give her guidance.Finally she got the answer. In her dream, an old man asked her to marry a man who could change the well from fresh water into salt water. When she woke up, Tumbai was very confused.She thought it was diffi cult for a man to change the fresh water into salt water. Fresh water did not have any taste. It was different from sea water which is salty.When Tumbai told her mother about her dream, her mother was also confused. However, she knew that her daughter was very good and wouldnít lie to her. Her mother had a feeling, probably God was going to help t h e m from poverty.Her mother then made an announcement that Tumbai would marry a man who could change the fresh water in the well into salt water. Everybody was laughing.They thought Tumbai and her mother were crazy.But it did not stop those young men to try. They really wanted to marry Tumbai.So they all tried to change the fresh water into salt water. But they all failed.One day a man came. He lived in the riverside of Barito River. He had supernaturalpower.“Ma’am, I’m here to marry your daughter,” said the man to Emas, Tumbai’smother.“Do you know the test?” asked Emas.“I do. I will change the fresh water into salt water,” said the man.The man then sat down next to the well. He was meditating and prayed to God. All the villagers were circling the man. They all were curious.After a while, the man finished meditating. He stood up and asked the villagers to taste the waterfrom the well.It worked! He succeeded in changing the water. Tumbai was happy. She fi nally foundher dream husband.And her mother was right.After the water was salty, the villagers were not poor anymore. They changed the salty water into salt. They sold it and they had money.The salty water was fl owing from the well to the KahayanRiver. Until now people still taste the salty water in Kahayan River. They also think that the legend really happened. ***0 comments

The Legend of Nusa Island

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago there was a man named Nusa, he was a farmer. He lived with his wife and his brother. Nusa and his brother were very diligent farmers.Nusa and other farmers in the village were sad because the rain had not fallen for a very long time. Their rice fi elds were dried. They needed water.Nusa then decided to ask his family to move to another place. After walking for three

days, they finally arrived in a new place. It was very fertile. They had a lot of water because there was a river there.After they arrived, Nusa looked for something to eat. Later he brought a very big egg. He asked his wife to cook the egg.After it was cooked, he asked his wife and his brother to eat the egg. However, they refused to eat. They were not sure with the egg. It was very big, Nusa did not care because he was so hungry. After he ate, then he slept.In the morning Nusa screamed in pain.His wife and brother immediately came to him. They were surprised to see what happened to Nusa. His body was full of scales. His legs changed into a tail.His body was getting bigger.“What happened to me?”, He said. “Was it because of the egg I ate last night? Oh my God! Maybe it’s a dragon’s egg. Now I changed into a dragon?Nusa then asked his wife and brother to move him to the river. He could not walk and move his body on the land.Slowly they tried to pull Nusa’s body.Finally they succeeded.“Please forgive me, I cannot live with you anymore. I will live in this river, go home and tell people about me. Ask them to be careful with what they eat” said Nusa. Later Nusa disappeared into the river.Nusa had completely changed into a dragon. He ate fi sh. All the fi sh were scared.Nusa ate a lot of fi sh. The fi sh had to do something. They had to stop Nusa from eating them. They then held a meeting.“I have an idea,” said a small fi sh. “Just be prepared to attack the dragon when I give you all the sign.”The small fi sh then came to Nusa. He said, “Master, there is another dragon live in the river. The dragon is bigger and more powerful than you are. He challenges you to fight”, said the small fi sh to Nusa.“Oh yeah, hmmm I’m the biggest dragon and the most powerful dragon. I will fi ght him!” said Nusa.Days and nights Nusa was preparing the fight. He was always thinking about his enemy. He could not sleep. He was very tired. When Nusa was sleepy, the small fi sh screamed.“Master! Your enemy was behind you!”Nusa turned his big body very fast.His tail was still in front of him. He thought his tail was his enemy.He attacked and bit his own tail and he screamed. Suddenly the small fish said, “Attack!”Than all the fi sh attacked Nusa.They all bit Nusa’s body. Nusa tried to save his life. He swam to the river side. But it was too late. He was very weak. Finally he died.His body slowly changed into an island. People then named the island as Nusa Island.It’s located at Kahayan River, Central Kalimantan.0 comments

The Curse of King Mintin

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago in Kahayan Hilir, Central Kalimantan, there was an island named Mintin. The people in the island lived peacefully. The king of the island, King Mintin, was wise. He loved his people very much. However, soon the happiness was ended. The kingdom was mourning. The queen just passed away. The king was sad and decided to leave the palace and went to another island. He asked his twin sons, Naga and Buaya, to lead the kingdom while he was away. At first, Naga and Buaya led the kingdom wisely. They did their father’s advice to them. Unfortunately, it did not last long. Naga and Buaya had different personalities. Naga was ignorant to the people and loved parties, while Buaya was very caring and loving to the people. Buaya then asked Naga to stop his bad habits. Naga was angry. He asked Buaya not to disturb him. Buaya was also angry. He reminded Naga about their father’s advice. “Father is not here! And you are not my father, why do I have listen to you?” said Naga. Both of them were angry and could not control themselves. They were fighting. The fighting was getting bigger and it changed into a civil war. It was because the soldiers were involved. The soldiers were divided into two parts. Some of them supported Naga and the other soldiers supported Buaya. The people of Mintin Island were suffering great pain. Because of the war, they could not live peacefully. Some of them were very hungry and suffered from illnesses. Mintin Island was in chaos! The king finally heard the war. He decided to go back to Mintin Island. When he arrived, he immediately asked his twin sons to stop the war. The king was really angry. “I’m very disappointed with you, sons. I trusted you to take care of this kingdom. But you have failed. I don’t care who is right or wrong. Both of you will be punished!” said the king. He then continued. “Buaya, I know you are a good son. You are wise and love the people. But you cannot control your emotions. Buaya, you have fewer mistakes than Naga. But I still have to punish you. I curse you into a crocodile. You can stay here in Mintin Island and your job is to take care of the people,” said the king. He then talked to Naga. “You have more mistakes. So, the punishment is bigger. I curse you into a dragon. You are not allowed to stay here. Go away and live in other place!” asked the king. Right after the king finished his last words, heavy storm attacked Mintin Island. Buaya and Naga slowly changed.Buaya became a crocodile and Naga became a dragon. ***

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Sangi the Hunter

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago in Central Kalimantan, a great hunter named Sangi lived. Every time he

went to the jungle to go hunting, he brought a lot of animals home. Sangi lived with his family on a riverside.As always, Sangi went to the jungle. He saw some footprints of a wild hog. He slowly followed the footprints. The footprints ended in a big tree. Sangi thought the hog was behind the tree. Slowly he walked around the tree then he was really amazed. He saw a big dragon was trying to swallow a wild hog. The hog was so big that the dragon could not swallow it easily.After several times trying to swallow, finally the dragon gave up. Suddenly, the dragon looked at Sangi. He was really shocked! He wanted to run very fast. He thought the dragon would eat him alive.Though Sangi had tried to run, his feet could not move at all. The dragon slowly came to him. Then they were face to face. When the dragon was exactly in front of him, it turned into smoke. When the smoke was gone, there was a handsome man.He said, ''Eat that wild hog. This is your punishment for seeing me try to eat.''''I can't. I am a human. I cannot eat a wild hog that big,'' said Sangi.''Yes, you can. If you are a dragon, you can eat that hog,'' said the man.Then Sangi changed into a dragon. After that, he ate the hog. Later, he changed back as a human.''What happened to me? Why could I change as a dragon?'' said Sangi.''It also happened to me years ago. I did what you did. I saw a dragon ate then the dragon made me a dragon. It is great to be like us. We are half dragon and half human. You can change to be a dragon or human anytime you like. Besides that, you can be forever young. I'm more than 100 years old but I still look young right?'' said the man.He continued, ''There is one condition that you have to do. Don't tell anyone that you are a half dragon and half human. If you did, you could be a dragon forever and unable to change back as human,'' said the man. After that, he disappeared.Since then, Sangi had two lives, one as a dragon and one as a human. He also looked young although he was really old. People always asked the secret, but he never told them why he could look young forever.On his 150th birthday, people could not stand it anymore. More and more people asked him. Sangi gave up. He told them that he was actually half dragon and half human. People were laughing at him. They did not believe that.''I am a dragon!'' screamed Sangi. He was upset because they did not believe him.Right after Sangi finished saying that, his body was shaking. Slowly he changed as a dragon. People were scared. They were running away.Sangi was really sad. He regretted for telling them his secret. He knew he could not live in the village with his family anymore. He went to the river and lived there. Since then, people named the river Sangi River. ***0 comments

Siuk Bimbim and Siuk Bambam

A Folktale from Central Kalimantan

Siuk Bimbim and Siuk Bambam are brothers. They are orphans. Their parents died when Siuk Bimbim was a baby. Siuk Bambam always takes care of his younger brother, Siuk

Bimbim. They help each other and never quarrel.It's the late afternoon. Siuk Bimbim and Siuk Bambam want to the dinner. "We don't have enough food. I have to go to the barn now," says Siuk Bambam."But, don't go too long. Please come back soon," says Siuk Bimbim."Don't worry. Lock the door and never open to anyone except me, OK?"Siuk Bambam then leaves. Actually he wants to take his brother goes with him to the rice barn. But it's very far. He doesn't want his younger brother to be tired.Besides that, he can go there faster by walking quikly.Meanwhile, Siuk Bimbim is sleeping. He is very tired. Suddenly, he wakes up. He hears someone knocks the door. The sound is very loud. Siuk Bimbim is very scared. When he looks outside through a window, he sees a giant the front of the door. He is shocked. The giant then breaks the door and enters the house. Siuk Bimbim then runs. He runs and runs until he gets very tired. He feels he cannot stand up anymore. Then he is fainted.After a while, Siuk Bambam comes home from the rice barn. He is shocked when he sees the house is in a mess. He is calling his brother, "Siuk Bimbim, whre are you?" No one answers Siuk Bambam gets more shocked when he sees some footprints. They are not his brother's footprints. They are the giant's footprints!Siuk Bambam gets much panicked. He looks for his brother everywhere.Suddenly he sees his brother under the tree. Siuk Bimbim is unconscious. Siuk Bambam then takes him to a well. It's a magic well. It can cure any disease. He gives some water to his youger brother. Ater a while, Siuk Bimbim cured. Siuk Bimbim is very happy. He hugs his younger brother and takes him home. ***0 comments

The Calf and the Crocodile

A Folktale from Central Kalimantan

A Calf wants to play outside his house. "Mom, can I play outside?""OK. But don't play near the river. A crocodile lives there. Ho will eat you if he is hungry," says mother cow.The calf then goes outside. He doesn't realize now he is near the river.Suddenly he hears an animal asking for help. He sees a crocodile pinned down a big trunk of a tree. He cannot move. He asks the calf to remove the trunk."Help me. It really hurts me. Please remove the trunk," the crocodile is crying.The calf then removes the trunk. After the crocodile is free, suddenly he bites the calf's leg."Hey, what are you doing Mr. Crocodile?" the calf is very shocked.Thanks for your help, now you have to help me becoming my lunch. I'm really hungry," says the crocodile. He is still biting the calf's leg.The calf is very sad, now he remembers his mother advice, not to play around the river. Suddenly, a monkey passes by. He asked what happens to them."The crocodile is bad to me. I already helped him but now, he wants to eat me," explain the calf to the monkey."Is it true? Well I cannot say if the crocodile is bad or not. I didn't see the accident. Now can you repeat your help?" asked the monkey. He has a plan to help the calf.

The crocodile then opens his mouth. The calf and the monkey put the big trunk of the tree to crocodile's body.And then the monkey whispers to the calf, "Now run! That stupid crocodile cannot eat you!""Thank you, Mr. Monkey. You are very clever. I always remember your help!"The calf then runs as fast as he can. And the crocodile regrets his stupidity. ***0 comments

A Buffalo and a Monkey

A Buffalo and a MonkeyFolklore from Central Kalimantan

IT was a very hot day. A monkey was walking by the riverside. He was very thirsty and hungry. He took some water and drank it. He was very happy. Then, he saw some banana trees. But they were across the river. The monkey could not swim so he was thinking very hard. Suddenly, "Aha!" said the monkey. He had an idea. Not far from him, a buffalo was drinking some water in the river. He came closer to the buffalo and told him his plan. "Hello, Mr Buffalo. Are you hungry?" "Yes, I am. I really want to eat some grass," said the buffalo. "I know a place where you can eat a lot of grass. It is across the river." "I know that place. It's a field. A farmer owns it. He will be angry if I eat the grass on his field," said the buffalo. "You are right. He is angry if he sees you eating the grass. If he does not see you, he won't be angry, right?" the monkey kept on persuading the buffalo. "Come on! Let's go now. We just have to be quiet and do not make noise," said the monkey. Actually, he wanted to trick the buffalo. He wanted to sit on the buffalo's back while they were crossing the river. "Ok then. But promise you won't be noisy," said the buffalo. The monkey immediately jumped to the buffalo's back. The buffalo's body was big. He did not have problem in crossing the river. After a while, they arrived at the farmer's field. Both of them immediately ate. "Mr Buffalo, I'm already full. Let's go back," said the monkey. "But I'm not full yet. Wait for a moment." The monkey was impatient. He was thinking how he could ask the buffalo to go back across the river. Then he had an idea. He made a lot of noise. It was very loud! The farmer heard the noise and he approached them. When he saw two animals were eating on his field, the farmer threw some stones. One big stone hit the buffalo's head. The buffalo's cried in pain. He immediately ran to the river. The monkey followed him and jumped on the buffalo's back. "Why did you make a lot of noise? You promised to keep quiet!" said the buffalo while they were crossing the river. "Now, I want to take a bath here. I want to clean up my wound." "But I cannot swim. If you take a bath here, I will be drawn," the monkey was panic."I don't care. You made me bleeding." The buffalo then rolled over his body. The monkey had to hold very tight. He was very scared. After the buffalo finished taking bath, then he crossed back to the riverside. The monkey was very wet. He was very weak and frightened. He apologized to the buffalo. And he promised not to do it again. (*)0 comments

The Lazy Uder

The Lazy Uder Folklore from Central Kalimantan

He always woke up in the afternoon. Then he went fishing on the river until evening. Uder never helped his wife. That’s why she always worked alone in the field. She never gave up giving him advice. But, Uder never listened to his wife. On one afternoon, Uder went fishing. He took some worms as bait. On the way to the river, he met his neighbor. “Hey Uder, where are you going?” “I’m going fishing,” said Uder. “What do you have for the bait?” “Some worms,” answered Uder. Then he continued walking. Then he met another neighbour. Again, the neighbour asked where Uder was going and what he had for the bait. Uder answered. After that, he met another neighbour. He also asked the same question. Uder was tired of answering. He was upset. So he decided to ignore everyone. While he was walking very fast, he met a group of monkeys. They could talk like humans. “Hey Uder, are you going fishing?” asked one of the monkeys. “Yes, I am.” “What do you have for the bait?” Uder was still upset with all those same questions. This time he could not take it anymore. “I’m going to use your mother for the bait!” said Uder. “Hey! Don’t make fun with my mother!” Those monkeys were angry. They took Uder. Then they tied him in a big tree. “ Please forgive me. I did not mean to make fun with your mother. I was just upset with all those questions my neighbours had asked me?” explained Uder. “Okay, we forgive you. We will free you, if you can tell us a place where we can eat fruits. We are hungry.” “Go across the river. There you can see a very big rambutan tree. You can eat those rambutans until all of you are full.” Then the monkeys freed him. Uder then ran as fast as he could. After he arrived home, he apologized to his wife and promised to be a good husband. *** [link]

The Legend of Bagga Stone

Folklore from Central Sulawesi

ONCE upon a time in Tolitoli, Central Sulawesi, lived a man with his son in a hut.The man’s name was Intobu and his son’s name was Impalak. Intobu’s wife passed away when Impalak was a baby.Impalak was a diligent and obedient son. Intobu and Impalak were fishermen and they were poor. They did not have a big ship to go fishing. They only used a small sampan. They really wanted to have a big ship so they could have a lot of fish. The local people there named the big ship as bagga.Impalak wanted to be rich. He asked permission from his father to leave him to fi nd better life. Though it was very diffi cult, his father let him go. Impalak promised to his father that he would come back after he was rich.Impalak went to a port. He saw a bagga. He came to the owner and said, “May I join you to sail in your bagga? I will work hard, Sir,” said Impalak.The owner agreed. He let Impalak join his bagga. Impalak was happy. His dream to be a rich man would soon come true.Impalak worked very hard. The bagga’s owner was very happy with him. Impalak was also skillful in fi shing. After Impalak joined, they always got a lot of fi sh.The bagga’s owner planned to ask Impalak to marry his daughter. So when they arrived in the bagga’s owner place, they held a wedding. Impalak’s dream really came true. He was a rich man and he had a big bagga!Several years had passed, but Impalak never returned home. Sadly he already forgot his promise to his father.In the mean time, Impalak’s father, Intobu, always thought of his son. Everyday he went to the port. Whenever a bagga came, he always looked for him. But he never found his son.One day Impalak’s wife asked Impalak to sail in his bagga. Stormed attacked and it accidentally arrived in Impalak’s hometown.Intobu saw a big bagga. He felt that Impalak was inside the bagga. And he was right! Impalak was there!“Impalak? Impalak?“ said his father.“I’m your father!”“Who is that old man?” asked Impalak’s wife“I don’t know. Maybe he is just an old crazy man,” said Impalak. Actually he recognized his father. But he was ashamed with his wife.“Go away, you crazy man! You are not my father!” said Impalak.“Impalak?. Wait for me!” Intobu rowed his sampan. He wanted to meet his son.However, Impalak asked his crew to leave. They left Intobu.Intobu was very sad. He knew Impalak had already forgotten him. He prayed to God to punish him.Again storm attacked Impalak’s bagga.This time it was very hard. Finally the bagga was stranded. Slowly the bagga turned into a big stone. Until now the stone is still in Tolitoli, Central Sulawesi.People named the stone as Bagga Stone. ***0 comments

The stupid Dog

The stupid DogFolklore from Central Sulawesi

DEER have horns, right? But long time ago, deer did not have horns. Instead, dogs had horns. How did the deer get the horns? Here is the story. It was a very hot day. A couple of deer went to a river to drink. They were husband and wife. After arrived in the lake, they immediately drank some water. Suddenly, the wife saw an animal coming. “My husband, who is he? Wow! He is very handsome with his horns,” said the female deer. “Oh, that’s my friend. He is a dog. By the way, did you say he is more handsome than me?” asked the male deer. He was jealous. “Of course not, you are still more handsome than he is. But I have to admit that his horns are beautiful. If you have those horns, I think you will look very attractive.” “Ok, then, I have an idea how to take the horns from the dog. Just wait here.” “Hi, how are you?” asked the male deer to the dog. “I’m just fine,” answered the dog. “How about you?” “Not really good. You see my wife over there? He thinks that I cannot run fast like other male deer. Do you mind if we have a running match? I really want to practice,” said the male deer. “Don’t worry, my friend. Let’s have the running match now.” After that, the running match began. The male deer won. Then, he tried to cheer the dog up. “Well, don’t be sad. You cannot run fast because you have your horns on your head. What if you let me wear the horns,” asked the male deer. “OK, but please wear the horns carefully. I don’t want them to be broken.” “Don’t worry. I will be very careful,” replied the male deer. And then he immediately put the horns on his head. “Wow? my wife is right. I really look great with these horns,” said the male deer to himself. Then, they started the running match again. The male deer ran as fast as he could. He ran very fast and did not stop. He was trying to steal the dog’s horns. “Hey come back! Bring back my horns!” the dog was very angry. Until now, dogs always try to catch deer. The dogs want to get their horns back. ***

Lembusura

Folklore from East Java

BRAWIJAYA was the king of Majapahit Kingdom. He had a daughter, her name was Dyah Ayu Pusparani. She was very beautiful. Many young men fell in love with her. However, she always refused their marriage proposals. King Brawijaya was sad. He really wanted to see his daughter to get married.“You have to get married soon, my daughter,” said King Brawijaya. He continued, “I’m getting older, I know you are looking for a great husband. I have an idea, I’m going to hold a competition.If a man can stretch Kyai Garudayaksa’s bow and lift Kyai Sekardelima’s gong, hewill be your husband.Princess Dyah Ayu Pusparani was speechless. She knew her father really wanted her to get married. She just hoped that she would marry a great man. She knew the bow and the gong had supernatural power. So the winner must had supernatural power too.One by one men tried to stretch the bow and lifted the gong. No one succeeded.They were injured, their hands and backs were broken.King Brawijaya planned to stop the competition. He thought no one could win the competition. However, before he stopped it, a man came to him.“Don’t stop the competition now. I haven’t tried it yet.”Everybody was looking at him. He was very strange. His head was unlike human’s head. He had a bull’s head.“What’s your name?” asked the king.“My name is Lembusura.”Then he tried to stretch the bow, he succeeded. The next test, he had to lift the gong. Again, he succeeded. Everybody applauded. They all were amazed by his power. However, Princess DyahAyu Pusparani was sad.She never thought that she would marry a man who had a bull’s head.King Brawijaya was also sad. But he had no choice. He had to keep his promise.Later, he asked his men to prepare a wedding ceremony.The ceremony was getting closer and Princess Dyah Ayu Pusparini was really sad. She really wanted to cancel the wedding. She was thinking very hard. Finally she had an idea. She toldhis father.“Father, ask Lembusura to make a well on the top of Kelud Mountain. The well is for me to take a bath,” said Princess Dyah Ayu Pusparini.King Brawijaya understood the plan.He asked Lembusura to go to the top of Kelud Mountain. Lembusura agreed.When he arrived, Lembusura dug the ground. He was digging until the hole was deep. Suddenly, some soldiers pushed him into the hole. They buried him alive. Lembusura was helpless. He could not do anything. Before he died, he cursed the King.“King Brawijaya, wait for my revenge. I will destroy your kingdom!” cursed Lembusura.Everybody was so scared. They really believed that Lembusura would revenge to the

kingdom. Until now, every time Kelud Mountain erupts, people say that Lembusura is doing his revenge!***1 comments

Jantur and Menur

Folklore from East Java

JANTUR and Menur were twins. Jantur was a boy and Menur was a girl and they had different personalities. Jantur was lazy, he got angry easily. He always said bad words when he was angry. However, Menur was a very kind, diligent, patient and always helped their parents. She always reminded her brother to behave well.“Menur! Where are you? Iím hungry!Give me some food!” said Jantur.“Be patient Jantur Iím still cooking, the food is not ready yet. Why don't you help me mop the floor? Father and mother will be home soon,” said Menur.“Arrrgggh! What took you so long?I’m hungry, you are so slow!” said Janur.And he said bad words to Menur.Menur was very sad. She cried. When their parents went home, Menur told them about Janturís bad behavior.Her father then advised him. However, Jantur did not want to listen to him. He ignored him, and it was getting worse.Jantur asked his parents and his sister to leave the house. They were very sad. They never thought that Jantur would ask them to leave the house.After his parents and his sister left he house, Jantur lived alone. At first he felt very happy because no one disturbed him. He could do anything he wanted. He even spent his parents’ money for bad things. When all the money was gone, he sold his parents animals, cows, goats, cocks and hens.Meanwhile, Menur and her parents lived in another place. When they left home, they did not bring anything.Because they worked very hard, they could build a new home and they had new animals.They were rich.How about Jantur? Soon all his parents’ wealth was gone. Jantur was lazy, he did not want to work. He wanted to have much money in an easy way. So he sold the last wealth, it was the house.After Jantur sold the house, again, he spent the money foolishly. It was not surprising that Jantur became poor again.He did not have any money and he did not have a house. His body was very thin. He suffered skin disease, his skin was full of black dots.Jantur did not have a way to go, he just walked and walked. Finally, he arrived at his parents’ house.Menur was in front of the house sweeping the floor. At first, they did not recognize each other. Menur thought that Jantur was a beggar.“Are you hungry? Here, I have some food,” said Menur.Jantur was happy. He was so hungry that he did not recognize his sister. However Menur

knew him.“Jantur? Is that you brother? Father, mother, Jantur is here!!” screamed Menur.“Jantur my son, what happened to you?” said his mother.Jantur was surprised. “Mother, is that really you? Father, mother, and Menur! Please forgive me. I was punished by God.I suffer an illness, I’m poor, and I don’t have a house to live. I have done bad things to you all. I promise I will be good,” promised Jantur.The family now reunited. They have already forgiven Jantur and amazingly Jantur was cured. And as he promised, Jantur became a very good man. ***0 comments

The Legend of Panekan

Folklore from East Java

“Where are you going?”“I need some water for my cattle. They are thirsty.”“Where are you going to find it?”“I don’t know.”It was a very common conversation for people in Magetan, East Java, a long time ago. They did not have enough water.They needed water for their daily needs, such as taking a bath and washing dishes and clothes. They also needed water for their cattle and trees.Actually they were quite lucky because the land was fertile. However, since they did not have enough water, the villagers could not plant a lot of trees. Therefore, the villagers sometimes had to walk very far away to fi nd water.In every morning, the head of the village always asked some young men to find water. In one afternoon, the young men came home with good news.“There was a water spring far from here. However, it was very difficult to go there.”“Wol, who dares to go there?” asked the head of the village.Some young men raised their hands.“We will go there, Sir.”Then those young men went to the water spring. they were right. The place was not easy to reach. They had to be very careful.And finally they arrived. However, they saw a girl was there first. They were surprised. They all thought that a girl could not go there.“Maybe she is not really human, maybe she is an angel,” said one man.“Come on, let’s approach her,” said another man.Strangely, before the men came to her, the girl disappeared.“Look! She is over there!” he pointed to one place.They immediately ran to come to her. Again, the girl disappeared.“Look! What is that? It is shining!”Exactly on the ground where the girl was standing, they found a big diamond. The diamond wasnext to the well.Then they brought home the diamond and a lot of water. When they showed the diamond

to the head of the village, he said, “Our great great grand parents named this kind of diamond as Manikan.”Then he continued. “Since the diamond was found next to the water spring. So let’s name the water spring as Manikan.”Everybody agreed. Since then the area was named Manikan.The word Manikan had changed into Panekan. And now Panekan has become a great area in East Java. The people are happy because they have fertile land. ***0 comments

Jantur and Menur

Folklore from East Java

JANTUR and Menur were twins. Jantur was a boy and Menur was a girl and they had different personalities. Jantur was lazy, he got angry easily. He always said bad words when he was angry. However, Menur was a very kind, diligent, patient and always helped their parents. She always reminded her brother to behave well.“Menur! Where are you? Iím hungry!Give me some food!” said Jantur.“Be patient Jantur Iím still cooking, the food is not ready yet. Why donít you help me mop the floor? Father and mother will be home soon,” said Menur.“Arrrgggh! What took you so long?I’m hungry, you are so slow!” said Janur.And he said bad words to Menur.Menur was very sad. She cried. When their parents went home, Menur told them about Janturís bad behavior.Her father then advised him. However,Jantur did not want to listen to him. He ignored him, and it was getting worse.Jantur asked his parents and his sister to leave the house. They were very sad. They never thought that Jantur would ask them to leave the house.After his parents and his sister left he house, Jantur lived alone. At fi rst he felt very happy because no one disturbed him. He could do anything he wanted. He even spent his parents’ money for bad things. When all the money was gone, he sold his parents animals, cows, goats, cocks and hens.Meanwhile, Menur and her parents lived in another place. When they left home, they did not bring anything.Because they worked very hard, they could build a new home and they had new animals.They were rich.How about Jantur? Soon all his parents’ wealth was gone. Jantur was lazy, he did not want to work. He wanted to have much money in an easy way. So he sold the last wealth, it was the house.After Jantur sold the house, again, he spent the money foolishly. It was not surprising that Jantur became poor again.He did not have any money and he did not have a house. His body was very thin. He suffered skin disease, his skin was full of black dots.Jantur did not have a way to go, he just walked and walked. Finally, he arrived at his

parents’ house.Menur was in front of the house sweeping the fl oor. At fi rst, they did not recognize each other. Menur thought that Jantur was a beggar.“Are you hungry? Here, I have some food,” said Menur.Jantur was happy. He was so hungry that he did not recognize his sister. However Menur knew him.“Jantur? Is that you brother? Father, mother, Jantur is here!!” screamed Menur.“Jantur my sonÖ what happened to you?” said his mother.Jantur was surprised. “Mother, is that really you? Father, mother, and Menur! Please forgive me. I was punished by God.I suffer an illness, I’m poor, and I don’t have a house to live. I have done bad things to you all. I promise I will be good,” promised Jantur.The family now reunited. They have already forgiven Jantur and amazingly Jantur was cured. And as he promised, Jantur became a very good man. ***0 comments

The Twin Masks

Folklore from East Java

A long time ago in East Java, there was a kingdom named Bintolo. The king had a very beautiful princess.Many young men fell in love with her and proposed her to be their wife.But the princess always refused the wedding proposal politely.She always said that she did not want to get married yet.In the small village, there was a young man who lived with his mother. His father died a long time ago.The man’s job was a mask maker. He also fell in love with the princess but he did not have any courage to propose her. The man was ugly.“How can I propose her? The princess even refused the proposal from handsome and rich men,” that’s what this ugly man always thought.But he could not stop thinking about her. Days and nights the mask maker always thought the beautiful princess. He did not want to eat and he could not sleep either. Soon, the man was ill.And that made his mother really worried about him.“What's a matter with you? Is there something wrong? Please tell me.”“I.. I... love the princess, Mother. But I’m not confident enough to express my feelings to her.I’m ugly and I’m sure the princess doesn’t want to marry me.”The mother replied. “You are a great mask maker. Make a mask of a handsome face and wear it when you propose the princess.”The man thought it was a great idea. He immediately made the best mask. And when the mask was finished, he wore it. Amazingly the mask really looked like a real face. So he went to the palace confidently.“Your majesty, I’m here to propose your daughter,” said the man to the king.“Stay here. I will talk to my daughter,” said the king.

The king then told his daughter that there was a very handsome man wanted to propose her.“It’s all up to you, Dear. If you love him, you can marry him,” said the king.And when the princess met the man, she fell in love with him at the first sight. She thought that he was the most handsome man in the world.Later the princess told the king that she accepted the man’s wedding proposal.At first the man was very happy. His dream finally came true, he could marry the girl of his dream. However, he realized that the princess did not fall in love with him. But she fell in love with his mask. He then planned to tell the truth to the princess and the king. The man was ready with all the risks.After the man told the truth about the mask, the princess was not angry.“It is true I love you at the first time we met, because you are so handsome. But after I know you so well, I love you the way you are. Now, I want you to make the same mask you are wearing. I want to wear it in our wedding,” said the princess.During the wedding, all the guests were surprised to see the bride and the groom were wearing the same masks. And that inspired some people to create a dance and named it Joged Topeng Kembar or Twin Masks Dance. Until now people in Lumajang, East Java, still do the dance. ***0 comments

The Legend of Banyuwangi

Folklore from East Java

ONCE upon a time in Sindureja Kingdom, King Sidareja was talking to his vice regent, his name was Patih Sidapaksa. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him the flesh of a young deer.Patih Sidapaksa took the mission.When he arrived at the jungle, he saw a young deer. He pointed his arrow to the deer. Unfortunately, he missed the target. He ran after the deer. He was running and running until he arrived at a hut. Patih Sidapaksa knocked the door.A young and beautiful girl opened the door. She was very beautiful. Patih Sidapaksa fell in love at the first sight.“How can I help you Sir?” asked the girl."I...I...am looking for a young deer", Patih Sidapaksa was speechless.You can find a lot of deer in the jungle. But it s already late and it will be dark soon. You can continue hunting tomorrow morning. You can come and spend the night here. Both my father and I are happy to welcome you, said the girl.Patih Sidapaksa accepted the offer.He introduced himself. The girl's name was Sri Tanjung and her father's name was Ki Buyut.In the morning, Patih Sidapaksa continued his hunting and after he got a young deer he returned to the hut.He came back because he wanted to marry Sri Tanjung.Luckily, Sri Tanjung also loved him.Later Patih Sidapaksa asked them to join him to the palace.The King was very happy Patih Sidapaksa brought him a young deer.

However he was also amazed by the beauty of Sri Tanjung.The King also fell in love with her. The King had a bad plan. He wanted to marry Sri Tanjung. So he gave Patih Sidapaksa a very difficult mission. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him three golden rings from Indran Kingdom. Patih Sidapaksa knew the mission was more difficult than hunting a young deer. Indran Kingdom was not an ordinary kingdom. It was a kingdom of criminals! No one ever came back after going there. However he still accepted the mission. And before he left, he asked Sri Tanjung to wait for him.After Patih Sidapaksa left, the King approached Sri Tanjung. He proposed Sri Tanjung to marry him. He promised Sri Tanjung to be a queen. She did not accept the proposal. She loved Patih Sidapaksa and she already promised to wait for him. The King was angry and put her in the jail.Luckily, Patih Sidapaksa could do the mission and came back to the palace. Sadly he could not meet Sri Tanjung. The King lied. He said Sri Tanjung was in jail because she asked the King to marry her. The King said Sri Tanjung wanted to be a queen.At first Patih Sidapaksa believed the King. But Sri Tanjung then said.Throw me to the river. If the river smells good, it means I m innocent.However if the river smells bad, then the King is lying, said Sri Tanjung.Patih Sidapaksa then threw her into the river.Amazingly, the river smelled good.Patih Sidapaksa was very sorry. Sri Tanjung died. He regretted not to believe her.When the river smelled good, people instantly said Banyuwangi. Banyu means water and Wangi means good smell.Since then the place is named Banyuwangi. ***1 comments

Ungrateful Son

A Folktale from East Java

JATUR and Menur are twins. Jantur is a boy and Menur is a girl. Jantur and Menur are very different. Jantur is lazy and gets angry easily. When Jantur is angry, he always says bad things. On the other hand, Menur is kind, diligent, and patient girl.When their parents are working in a paddy field, Jantur as Menur to cook. He is hungry. Menur then cooks for her brother. After the food is served, Jantur eats. Suddenly he throws the food on the floor. “What food is this? Yuck! It’s not delicious!”Menur cries. She is very sad. But she is not angry to her brother. Slowly she collects the food on the floor and put it in the trash bin.When their parents return home, Menur tells about the food. The father advises Jantur, “Why did you do that to your sister? She already helped you.”Jantur is angry, “I don’t care! Her food is not delicious! I hate her.”“Lease don’t say that. She is your sister, “ father tries to calm him down.“Why did you defend her? Why didn’t you support me? I f you don’t love me anymore, go away! I hate you all!”Jantur is very angry. He cannot control himself. Menur and her parents then leave the house. They now stay in a mountain. Everyday they pray to God to make Jantur becomes

a good person.Not long after that, Jantur suffers a disease. His body is full of umors. It’s very bad. Nobody wants to see him. He looks very ugly. Jantur realizes that God punishes him. He regrets. Then he leaves his house to look for his parents and his sister.Finally he finds them. He asks for their forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I’m sorry Menur. I have done bad things to you all. Now please forgive me,” Jantur says.“We all already forgave you, Son. Everyday we pray for you. Now God hears our pray. Come here…” Mom then hugs Jantur.Suddenly all the tumors in Jantur’s body are gone! Jantur is very happy. “Thank you, God! Thank you, Mom, Dad, and Menur. I promise I will be a good person.***0 comments

Putri Kemuning

A folktale from East Java

Putri Kemuning and her mother live in a jungle. They are poor. Putri Kemuning always helps her mother collect woods in the jungle and sell them in the market.In the jungle, Putri Kemuning has animal friends. One day, Putri Kemuning's mother is ill. Putri Kemuning is very sad because she does not have enough money to buy medicine. She then collects many woods and plans to sell them. She wants to spend the money to buy medicine.While She collects the woods, Putri Kemuning meets her animal friend, the rabbit. He is worried because Putri Kemuning looks very sad.Putri Kemuning tells the problem to the rabbit."I can help you. Take this ring and then sell it," says the rabbit."Is this your ring?" asks Putri Kemuning."No. This is the King Ngarancang Kencono's ring. I fell when he washunting here."Putri Kemuning hesitates. She really needs the money but it is not her ring. Finally she says, "No, I have to return this ring to the king."Putri Kemuning then goes to see the king at his palace."What is your name and what is your purpose here?" says the king."My name is Putri Kemuning. I want to return your ring," says Putri Kemuning."Thank you very much. Now, I want to give you something. What do you want?""I don't anything. I just want to go home. My mother is very ill," says Putri Kemuning."You are a very kind girl. Now, take this gift,"Putri Kemuning goes home. When she arrives, Putri Kemuning tells her mother about the king's ring. Her mother is very proud of her. When they open the gift, they see a bag full of gold coins. They are very happy because they can buy medicine. ***0 comments

Sidomukti

A Folktale from East Java

SIDOMUKTI and his father live in Widorokandang, East Java. Right now, Sidomukti is

sad. His father is seriously ill. His father asks him to go to a jungle to take some special leaves for his medicine. Sidomukti then immediately goes to the jungle.In the jungle, Sidomukti goes here and there to find the leaves. While he is busy searching the leaves, suddenly he finds a hut. He goes to the hut and knocks the door.An old woman opens the door. "What can I do for you, young man?" asks her."My father is very ill. I want to find some special leaves for his medicine.""Well, it's getting late outside and going to be dark soon. Why don't you stay here and spend the night in my place. You can continue searching for the leaves tomorrow, "the old woman offers him a help.Sidomukti agrees. He feels very tired and wants to sleep. While he sleeping, he feels something moving on his leg. The spider stings him. Sidomukti screams in pain. "Ouuuchh. That's hurts!!!"He is looking around the bed room. He wants to use something to kill the black spider. He takes a broom in the corner of the room."Gotcha?" He kills the black spider.Suddenly a beautiful woman comes to his room. Sidomukti is confused. He asks her. "Who are you?"The beautiful woman answers. "Don't be afraid, young man. I was the old woman. A witch cursed me into an old woman. She also put a black spider to guard me. Actually I'm a princess. Because you already helped me, I will tell my father the King to help you."Sidomukti and the princess then go to the kingdom. The king is very happy his daughter is back. To show his gratitude to Sidomukti, the king gave him gold. He also orders his people to help Sidomukti find the special leaves. ***0 comments

Putri Bunga and the Prince of Fish

Folklore from East Java

PUTRI Bunga was a kind girl. She lived with her uncle and aunt. Her parents died when she was a baby. She was an orphan."Aunty, I have done the chores, sweeping and mopping. Now I want to go to the river to clean the dirty plates, spoons, forks, and the cooking pot," said Putri Bunga to her aunt."Yes, Dear. But please be careful. And don't spend too much time there. After you have finished, go home immediately," said the aunt."I will, Aunty," said Putri Bunga.Putri Bunga then rushed to the river. Her aunt watched her go.On the way to the river, Putri Bunga sang a song. She was a truly polite girl. She greeted people she met nicely. In return, people greeted her back warmly. Everybody in the village knew her. Putri Bunga was a beautiful girl.When arrived at the riverside, she immediately cleaned all the dirty kitchen utensils. They put them on the riverside. One by one she cleaned the plates, spoons, forks, and the last one was the cooking pot.When she was cleaning the forks, a golden fish was rushed by the water and went into the cooking pot. Putri Bunga did not see the fish; she was too busy cleaning the forks.Suddenly, she heard someone called her name and asked for help.

"Putri Bunga, please help me!"Putri Bunga looked around. She did not see anyone in the riverside. She then continued cleaning the forks."Putri Bunga, please help me. I'm inside the cooking pot."Putri Bunga did not believe what she heard. But she was so curious. She then looked inside the cooking pot."A golden fish? Why is it inside the cooking pot?" She then took the fish up. She wanted to throw the fish back to the river.Before she did that, the fish turned into a handsome man."Don't be afraid, Putri Bunga. I'm the golden fish you helped. I'm the prince of fish. I was rushed by the water and accidentally went inside your cooking pot."The man then continued, "Putri Bunga, I have known you for a long time. Every time you go to the riverside, I always watch you. Putri Bunga, you are very beautiful. I'm in love with you. Will you marry me?"Putri Bunga was surprised. She never thought that a prince of fish would propose her. She then said, "I will marry you. But you have to live with me and my uncle and aunt on the land. You also have to make us happy," said Putri Bunga.The prince of fish agreed. Then they got married and lived happily ever after. *** 0 comments

Cindelaras

Folklore from East Java

RADEN Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen. Besides that, the king also had a beautiful concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. By doing so, she could be the new queen.

The concubine asked the palace healer to help her do the bad plan. They told the king that the queen wanted to poison him. The king was angry. He sent the queen to a jungle. It is the punishment for her. There was one condition that the king did not know, the queen waspregnant.

After several months lived in the jungle, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy, and handsome young man. One day, while Cindelaras helped her mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle dropped an egg. He took the egg and carefully took care of it.

The egg hatched into a chick and then it became a strong rooster. The rooster had a magical skill. It was very powerful and skilful in fighting with other roosters. Besides that, the rooster could also sing. The song was about Cindelaras and his father, Raden Putra. “My master is Cindelaras. He lives in the jungle. His father is a king. His name is Raden Putra.” The rooster often sang the song.

When Cindelaras first heard that song, he ignored it. However, he could not stand it anymore. He talked to his mother about it. His mother told him the whole story. Cindelaras was very surprised. He decided to go to the palace to meet the king, his father. Cindelaras also brought his rooster to go to the palace.

On the way to go there, he met some people. They asked him to fight his rooster with their roosters. Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight. He won again and again. Cindelaras great rooster was heard by King Raden Putra. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace to fight his rooster with the king’s rooster.

The king made a bet. If Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight, he would get all king’s jewellery. However, if Cindelaras’s rooster lost, he would be punished in a jail. The two roosters fought bravely. In just few minutes, Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight! Then, the rooster sang the song.

The king was surprised, he asked who Cindelaras was. He then told the king about her mother living in the jungle. Later, the palace healer admitted his mistake. He said that the queen was innocent. She never tried to kill the king. The king was very angry. He ordered the concubine to be sent to jail. The king immediately went to the jungle to pick up his wife. He apologized for sending her to the jungle and made her the queen again. ***

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Jaka Tarub and Nawang Wulan

Folklore from East Java

A Tarub was a handsome young man. He was very popular in the village. Many young girls fell in love with him. However Jaka Tarub thought that they were not beautiful enough to be his wife. That's why he was still single. He wanted to have a very beautiful

wife.As always, Jaka Tarub went to the forest to collect some woods. Suddenly he heard some noise from the waterfall. He was curious. The noise was from the girls taking a bath in the waterfall.Slowly, Jaka Tarub walked to the area. When he arrived there, he saw seven beautiful girls taking a bath. He was really amazed by their beauty. After they were finished, the girls slowly took their shawls. Amazingly after they wore the shawls, they flew to the sky. They were not humans. They were fairies!After that Jaka Tarub went home. He was very restless. He was still thinking about those seven beautiful girls. On the next day, Jaka Tarub then decided to go back to the waterfall. When those fairies were taking a bath, he stole one of their shawls. And that made one fairy could not fly back to the sky.She cried. Jaka Tarub then approached her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" "I lost my shawl. I cannot go back home. All my sisters have left me. My name is Nawang Wulan. I will give you anything if you can find my shawl." "I'll help you. But if we can?t find it, you can stay at my house. You can be my wife," said Jaka Tarub. Then Jaka Tarub pretended to look for the shawl. And of course they could not find it. After that they went to Jaka Tarub's home. Later they got married.They had a baby girl. They had a happy life. They always had enough rice to eat. They did not have to work hard like their neighbors. It was because Nawang Wulan used her magic in cooking. One day, Jaka Tarub asked her about the magic. Nawang Wulan did not tell him the secret and asked him not to open the cooking pan's lid. She said that if Jaka Tarub opened the lid, they had to work hard to get a lot of rice to cook. One day, Jaka Tarub was really curious. He then opened the cooking pan's lid. He saw there was only a small portion of rice to cook. When she got home, Nawang Wulan knew that Jaka Tarub had opened the lid. She was angry because she already lost the magic in cooking. Now she had to take a big portion of rice to cook. Slowly there was not enough rice in the silo. And when Nawang Wulan wanted to take the last portion of rice, she found her shawl. Jaka Tarub hid the shawl in the silo.Nawang Wulan was really happy. She then said, "I will go home now. Take care of our daughter. When there is full moon, take her out of the house and I'll come to get her." Nawang Wulan then flew to the sky. Jaka Tarub was really sad. And to keep the promise, Jaka Tarub always went out of the house with his daughter when there was full moon. But Nawang Wulan never came back. ***1 comments

The Legend of Surabaya

The Legend of SurabayaFolklore from East Java

A long time ago in East Java there were two strong animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea. Actually, they were friends. But when they were hungry, they were very greedy. They did not want to share their food. They would fight for it and never stop fighting until one of them gave up. It was a very hot day. Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat. “Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You are greedy! I had not eaten for two days!” said Sura. Then Sura and Baya fought again. After several hours, they were very tired. Sura had a plan to stop their bad behavior. “I’m tired of fighting, Baya,” said Sura. “Me too. What should we do to stop fighting? Do you have any idea?” asked Baya. “Yes, I do. Let’s share our territory. I live in the water, so I look for food in the sea. And you live on the land, right? So, you look for the food also on the land. The border is the beach, so we will never meet again. Do you agree?” asked Sura. “Hmm... let me think about it. OK, I agree. From today, I will never go to the sea again. My place is on the land,” said Baya. Then they both lived in the different places. But one day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was very hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry when he knew that Sura broke the promise. “Hey, what are you doing here? This is my place. Your place is in the sea!” “But, there is water in the river, right? So, this is also my place!” said Sura. Then Sura and Baya fought again. They both hit each other. Sura bit BayaÕs tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up. He went back to the sea. Baya was very happy. He had his place again. The place where they were fighting was a mess. Blood was everywhere. People then always talked about the fight between Sura and Baya. They then named the place of the fight as Surabaya, it’s from Sura the shark and Baya the crocodile. People also put their fight as the symbol of Surabaya city. ***0 comments

Joko Panjer and Lara Inten

Joko Panjer and Lara IntenA Folktale from East Java

'JOKO Panjer, take the cows home.It’s late and going to rain soon.’ “Yes, father. I’m going home now. The cows are also full.” The boy, Joko Panjer, was a shepherd. Everyday his father always asked him to take the cows to the field to eat some grass. Joko Panjer was a nice and diligent boy. He always obeyed and helped his poor parents. One day, while Joko was busy looking after the cows, a little girl came to him. “Hello, young girl. What’s your name? And what are you doing here? Where do you live?” Joko gave her some questions. He was surprised to see a little girl on the field. He felt that the girl was not from his neighbourhood. She dressed beautifully. “My name is Lara Inten. May I be your friend? I don’t have a friend to play,” said the little girl. “I’m Joko Panjer. Lara Inten, where do you live? Where are you from?” “If I tell you, you don’t want to play with me. So, may I be your friend?” Actually, Joko was also lonely on the field. Everyday he did not have a friend to talk and play together. All of his friends were in the village. Since then, Lara Inten and Joko were friends. They always had a good time on the field. Sometimes, they played hide and seek and other times they just sang some songs. They were happy! In one afternoon, while Joko and Lara were playing, suddenly some men came to them. Those men were soldiers from the kingdom. “Princess Lara, here you are. Now we know why you always disappear in the palace. Please come back with us, the king and the queen are waiting for you.” “You are a princess? Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Joko to Lara. “Joko, I already told you. If you know who I am, you don’t want to play with me. I want you to be my friend, because I am lonely.” Lara Inten then returned back to the palace. She talked to her parents about Joko. The king and the queen then decided to ask Joko and his family to stay in the palace. Now everyday, Joko and Lara could play together. Joko’s parents were very happy. Now the family were not poor anymore. ***0 comments

The Story of Pari Temple

The Story of Pari TempleFolklore from East Java

A long time ago, an old man lived in Penanggungan Mountain. His name was Kiai Gede Penanggungan. He had supernatural power. Kiai Gede Penanggungan also had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Dewi Walangangin. Although very beautiful, she was not married yet. That's why Kiai Gede Penanggungan prayed days and nights for her daughter. Finally, God answered his prayer. A young handsome man came to his place. "My name is Jaka Pandelegan. I came here because I want to be your student. I want to learn a lot of things from you," said the young man. "I will take you as my student but you have to marry my daughter. Agree?" Jaka took a deep breath. Then he said,"Yes, I agree. I will marry your daughter." Both Dewi Walangangin and Jaka Pandelegan lived a happy marriage. Especially Jaka, he was even happier. Kiai Gede Penanggungan taught him many things. After several years living with Kiai Gede Penanggungan, now it was time for the couple to leave him and found a new life as husband and wife. "I know you can't live with me forever. Before you go, take this seed of pari. Every time people ask you, give them some. Don't be arrogant when you are rich." After that, the couple left him and brought pari seed. Pari means rice. Then, in the new place, they planted the seed. Soon, grew a lot of rice. Now the couple became very rich. The poor neighbours came to the couple to ask for some pari seed. "No way! If you want to eat, you have to work hard like me!" said Jaka. Kiai Gede Penanggungan heard his bad behaviour. So, he decided to visit him. He wanted to remind him about his promise. Kiai Gede Penanggungan immediately called their names when he arrived in the rice field. "Jaka Pandelegan, come here! I want to talk to you." But Jaka ignored him. He kept on doing his activity. "My daughter, Dewi. It's me, your father." But Dewi also ignored him. Kiai Gede Penanggungan was really angry. He then said, "You two are like temples. You cannot listen to me." Right after he said those words, an incredible thing happened. Slowly, Jaka

and Dewi turned into temples. Because the temples stood among the pari, people then named them as Pari Temple.***

Princess Bungsu and Maniki

Folklore from East Kalimantan

Once upon a time there was a king in Berau Kingdom. The king was wise. He had seven beautiful daughters and he did not have a son yet. Among the seven daughters, the most beautiful daughter was the youngest one. Her name was Princess Bungsu. She was a kind girl. She was not spoiled and liked to do the household chores and cooking. She had a special knife to cut the vegetables or meat.One day the princess’ knife was broken. She was very sad. She did not want to cook anymore. The king loved his daughters very much. He did not want to see his youngest daughter sad.Therefore the king had a competition. He asked the people to make a new knife for his daughter. The king would give great rewards for the winner.Soon, everybody was busy making a knife. After they were finished, they brought the knives to the palace. One by one, the villagers showed their knives toPrincess Bungsu. Sadly, the Princess was not interested.She thought that all the knives were not as beautiful as her knife.On the following day, a young man came to the palace. His name was Maniki. He was handsome and very helpful to others and also skillful. He could make anything.Maniki also wanted to join the competition. He brought his knife and showed it to Princess Bungsu. The knife was very beautiful. Princess Bungsu liked it instantly. She immediately brought the knife to the kitchen and began to cook.Princess Bungsu really loved the knife.She always kept the knife carefully. She even brought the knife to her bed room and put it on the pillow.In one morning, Princess Bungsu did not feel very well. The king then asked the palace healer to cure the illness.After a while, the palace healer was surprised. He found out that PrincessBungsu was pregnant! He immediately reported to the king.The king was really angry. He asked the princess who the father of the baby was. The princess was confused. She always stayed in the palace and never had any contacts with any men.Nine months later, the princess had a baby son.The palace healer knew how to find out the father of the baby. He invited all men in the kingdom. Then he gave each of them a banana.If the baby crawled to the man holding the banana, then he was the father.After all men came to the palace, they all sat down in a big circle. The baby was in the middle.Amazingly the baby started to crawl. He came to a young man. It was Maniki!Maniki was confused.He said that he was innocent. But the king ignored him. Later the king sent Maniki,

Princess Bungsu and the baby to the jungle as a punishment.Days passed by and the baby turned to a boy. Maniki and Princess Bungsu were also rich. They worked hard and always saved their money. One day they heard that the king was terribly ill. They decided to go to the palace to visit the king.It was true. The king was dying. He was terribly ill because he felt guilty by sending her daughter to the jungle.When he met Maniki and Princess Bungsu, the king apologized to them and asked them to stay in the palace.***0 comments

Queen Aji Bidara Putih

Folklore from East Kalimantan

ONCE upon a time in East Kalimantan, there was a kingdom in Muara Kaman.

The kingdom was led by Queen Aji Bidara Putih. She was a very beautiful queen. She was also wise, kind, and loving to her people.

The queen was single. Many kings and princes from other kingdoms have tried to propose her. However, she was still not interested in getting married.

She only wanted to take care of her people.Though the queen has rejected proposal from many rich men, the proposals kept on coming to her. Many kings and princes did not give up. One of them was a prince from China.

The Chinese prince came with a big ship.

He brought his soldiers and also a lot of jewelleries. The prince wanted to give the jewelleries as wedding proposals.When the ship arrived at Muara Kaman, the Chinese prince asked a messenger to meet the queen. The messenger then told the queen about the wedding proposal.Before I accept the proposal, please tell me about your prince, asked the queen.

He is a very rich man and also very handsome, Your Majesty.

Alright then, tell your prince I need time to think, said the queen.The queen thought it was time for her to get married. She felt she was old enough. That was why she did not reject the proposal immediately. However, she did not want to choose the wrong husband. She asked one soldier to secretly go to the ship. The queen asked the soldier to describe her how the Chinese prince looked like.The soldier was finally able to enter the ship. He was peeping from a hole.

He saw the prince was eating. The soldier could not see the prince clearly. The hole was too small. But he could hear how the prince ate.The prince was eating using chopsticks.

He made strange sounds when he was eating. The soldier was so scared. He never heard that sound before. He thought the prince was not a real human. He thought the soldier was a ghost!When he arrived back at the palace, the soldier immediately reported to the queen. He told the queen about the strange sound.Maybe he is not a human, Your Majesty.

Maybe he is a ghost! said the soldier.

At first, the queen did not believe him.

But the soldier was very sure with what he heard. The queen then decided to refuse the wedding proposal. And that made theChinese prince got very angry. He asked his soldiers to attack Muara Kaman kingdom.The Chinese soldiers were able to beat the Muara Kaman s soldiers.Queen Aji Bidara Putih was cornered in the palace. She then prayed to God.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. The voice asked her to chew betel then threw the betel to the Chinese soldiers.

Amazingly, the betel changed into giant centipedes and attacked them.

The Chinese soldiers died and from the ground appeared a lake. People of Muara Kaman then named it as Danau Lipan or Centipede Lake. And sometimes people could find pieces of antique Chinese porcelain in that lake.***

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The Legend of Pesut Mahakam

Folklore from East Kalimantan

A long time ago, there was a village in East Kalimantan.The village was near the Mahakam River. The villagers always worked hard. Although they were poor, they were very happy. They also helped each other.In the village, there was a rich family. The head of the family was Pak Pesut. Everybody knew Pak Pesut. He was known not because of his wealth, but because his stinginess. He did not like to help others. His family always ignored people. That’s why Pak Pesut’s family always lived alone and never mingled with others.It was a very long dry season. All the rice fields could not get water properly. The villagers could not harvest the rice.Therefore, all villagers were planning to leave their village and find other place to stay. Then they sent some young men to look for a place that had enough water for their rice fields.After several weeks looked for a new place, finally those young men arrived.They brought good news. There was a waterfall and it was enough to water their rice fields. Later, all the villagers rushed to the new place. Some villagers went to Pak Pesut’s house to inform about the waterfall. Although Pak Pesut was stingy, the villagers did not hate him.“I’m not going with you! I will stay here. I have enough rice for my family.We will survive!” said Pak Pesut arrogantly.The villagers knew it was useless to ask Pak Pesut to join them. So, they allleft him and his family alone in the village. When they arrived at the new place, they all were very happy. They had enough water from the waterfall.In the mean time, Pak Pesut and his family were beginning to worry. Their rice slowly was gone. Soon they would not have enough rice to eat.

It was in the morning when Pak Pesut’s wife was cooking their last portion of rice. Suddenly, someone knocked the door. A beggar came to his house.“Go out! I don’t have enough rice,” said Pak Pesut. He was lying.“Please mercy me. I’m so hungry.Give me a little rice please,” asked the beggar.Pak Pesut immediately asked his family to eat the rice. He was worried the beggar would enter his house and stole the rice.“But the rice is still in the cooking pot. Mother is still cooking it. If we eat the rice, it will be very hot,” said his son.“I don’t care! If you all don’t eat now, you will never eat again,” said Pak Pesut.Later, Pak Pesut and his family ate the rice. It was very hot. They needed water to drink. They rushed to Mahakam River. It was so hot that they finally jumped to the river.The beggar saw the incident. He then prayed to God. Amazingly, Pak Pesut family slowly changed into fish. The fish looked like dolphin. Since then, everybody named the fish as Pesut fish. ***

Putri Tangguk

Folklore from Jambi

THERE was a village in Jambi. The people were farmers. One of them was Putri Tangguk. She lived with her husband and her children.Putri Tangguk and her husband had a very small rice field. Amazingly, the rice field was able to harvest a lot of rice. Their harvest was always abundant. They put their harvest in their big barn. They were very happy with their life.Putri Tangguk always helped her husband in the rice field. One day, she said that she wanted to quit helping her husband. She wanted to take care of the children and mingle with the neighbours.In the morning, Putri Tangguk wanted to cook some rice. However she could not find any rice in the kitchen. She was surprised and she felt that she just took some rice from the barn and put it in the kitchen. Then, she went to the barn. Surprisingly, there was no rice in the barn. She immediately told her husband about the missing rice."Look! The rice is gone. Our rice is stolen!" said Putri Tangguk.Putri Tangguk and her husband immediately went to the rice field. And after they finished, they brought the rice. On the way home, rain fell down heavily. The rain made the road slippery. Putri Tangguk fell down several times.She was really upset. Later, she asked her husband to put the rice on the road."What for?" asked the husband."The road is slippery. If we throw the rice on the field, we can step on it. Therefore the road is not going to be slippery. Don't worry, we have an amazing rice field right?" asked Putri Tangguk.Although he did not completely agree with her idea, the husband still threw the rice in front of them. The idea worked. Every time they stepped on the rice, they did not fall down.When they arrived home, their rice was only left a little. It was only enough for their

dinner. However they were not worried. Tomorrow morning, they planned to go to their rice field and took a lot of rice. They planned to fill their barn.Surprisingly when they arrived, their rice field was full of grass. There was no rice at all. They were really confused.At night Putri Tangguk had a dream. An old man came to her and said, "You were really ungrateful. You treated us badly.""I am one of the rice you threw away on the road. You stepped on us! The god of the rice was really angry. He decided not to give you a lot of rice anymore. You can only get a little rice," said the old man.Putri Tangguk then woke up. She really regretted what she did. She knew it was wrong to throw away the rice but it was too late. She could only feel sorry.***3 comments

The Legend of Jambi Kingdom

Folklore from Jambi

Once upon a time, there were five villages, Tujuh Koto, Sembilan Koto, Petajin, Muaro Sebo, and Batin Duo Belas. The villagers of those five villages lived peacefully. They helped each other.Soon, the number of villagers grew highly. The villagers thought that they needed a leader to guide them. They wanted to have a king. So, the leaders from the five villages had a meeting.They wanted to set the criteria who could be their king.Our king should be physically strong, said the leader from Tujuh Koto.I agree. The king should be able to protect us from the enemies, said one leader. Not only that. He should also be well respected by us. So, the king should be strong and have good manners, said the leader from Petajin.Then, let’s set the criteria. I have a suggestion. The king should be strong from fire. He cannot feel the pain if we burn him, said leader from Muaro Sebo.And he cannot feel the pain when we boil him in the hot water.If we mill him in winding machine, he will survive, said another leader.Alright then, now every village must send one representative.Choose the best man in your village.He must be the strongest and the most respected, said one leader.Later, the best five men were gathered in the field. All the leaders had prepared fire, a hot water, and a winding machine. The first one to come was the villager of Tujuh Koto. First he had to walk through a ring of fire. He survived! Audiences were applauding. Next he had to be boiled inside a big water jug. The water was so hot but still he survived!Finally, he had to do the last test. He had to enter the winding machine. The machine was made of steel. The man was a bit scared. He knew his bones could break. Then, he was lying on the surface. Right after his feet were milled, he screamed in pain. The machine was stopped. He failed.Then another contestant came forward. Unfortunately he also failed in the last test. Then came another contestant but he also failed. All the best men from five villagers failed. The leaders of the five villagers then had a meeting.

If we cannot find a king from our place, let s find from other area.They then sailed the sea. And every time they visited an island, they always looked for the best man.However, no one dared to take the tests.Finally, they arrived in India. There was a strong man there. They met him and talked about the tests. The man was interested and they went back to their hometown.When they arrived, the man immediately took the tests. He passed the first test. Then, he was boiled in the hot water and amazingly he survived.And then the final test. When he was lying on the surface, everybody screamed.They were afraid the man’s bones would break just like other contestants bones.But they were wrong. The man survived. He passed the test.All the villagers were happy. They finally had a strong king that could protect them. And they named their kingdom as Jambi. ***

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The Pirate Crocodile

Folklore from Lampung

A long time ago, not many people dared to sail in Tulang Bawang River. A big crocodile lived there.People believed the crocodile would eat anyone who sailing in the river.Not far from the river, there was a village. Aminah and her parents lived there. She was a beautiful girl. One day her parents asked her to go to another village. It was across the river. Aminah was a kind daughter. She always obeyed her parents.“Please be very careful, dear. If you see the crocodile near you, row your sampan as fast as you can,” said the mother.“I will be careful, Mother. I will come back to you later. I promise you,” said Aminah.Aminah then took her sampan. She rowed it slowly. She did not want to make any noise. She did not want the crocodile to hear her.But she was wrong! The big crocodile was looking at her. The crocodile was swimming silently. Then... it attacked the sampan. It turned upside down.Aminah was so scared.“Help! Somebody please help me!” screamed Aminah.Aminah was drowned. She was unconscious. When she was awake, she was inside a big cave. She stood up and looked around. She saw something shining in the dark. When she approached it, she found a lot of jewelries. She was very surprised. Suddenly she heard a voice.“You can take those jewelries. But you have to stay with me.”The voice was from the crocodile. It was the same crocodile that attacked her in the river. to run but she was cornered. The crocodile was right in front of her.“Don’t be afraid. I’m not a real crocodile. I was a human. I was a pirate and always stole

people’s jewelries. A witch cursed me into a crocodile. And now I keep all the jewelries here inside the cave.”“How do you go to the river?” asked Aminah.“There is a tunnel that connects the cave to the riverside,” explained the crocodile. He did not realize that he already broke his secret.Aminah then pretended to agree stay inside the cave. When the crocodile was sleeping, she took the jewelries and went to the tunnel.Finally she arrived at the riverside. She met some villagers and they helped her.Aminah’s parents were very happy, their daughter back home. They sold all the jewelries and gave the money to other villagers. Everybody was happy, they were not poor anymore. ***0 comments

The Legend of Blue Pond

Folklore From Maluku

“Hey look over there! Water is fl owing!”A man pointed out to a direction. He saw something strange. Water was fl owing out of the big stones. The water was flowing into a lower ground. Slowly, the ground was full of water.The water was clear and it was bluish.“Look! It is blue! I have never seen bluish water like this,” said another man. And then, he tried to taste the water, “The water is so fresh. Come on, let’s drink the water.”Those people were villagers in Lisawa, Halmahera.They never saw water coming out of the stones before. It was very strange for them.“We have to report this to the head of the village,” suggested one man.They all agreed. Soon, the head of the village arrived at the pond. He was also surprised. The water was clear and bluish. He also wanted to know how it happened. He then asked all the elderly of the village pray to the gods and goddess.They all prayed and fi nally they got the answer. The water was fl owing froma girl’s tears. She was crying so badly until the tears was fl ooding the ground.“Who is she? We need to know who the girl is! Ask all the villagers including their children to gather here,” said the head of the village.Later, all the villagers gathered in the pond. They all brought their children.However there were two families who did not bring their children. Those two children were teenagers. The boy was Magohiduruu and the girl was Majojaru.One woman told the villagers about them. The woman was Majoraru’s mother.She told them that Magohiduruu and Majojaru were lovers. They planned to get married. A year ago, Magohiduruu left the village to fi nd a better life. He wanted to earn a lot of money beforethey got married.A year passed by but Magohiduruu did not come back yet. She fi nally heard that Magohiduruu was dead. Majojaru was very sad. Everyday she was always sat down under a big tree. She spent her time crying. Majojaru was very sad. She did not

believe that Magohiduruu had already died. She always cried. Her parents tried to comfort Majojaru, but she never listened to them. And one day Majojaru disappeared. She never returned to her home.After they heard the story, all the villagers agreed to take care of the pond. And since the water was bluish, they named the pond as the Blue Pond. 0 comments

The King of the River

A Folktale from Maluku

“The snake is coming!” screams a fish to his friends. A frog, a turtle, a snail, and all other animals are surprised. They are immediately hiding. They are afraid of the snake. They are worried the snake will harm them.“Hey! Where is everybody!” says the snake. He is looking around for all the animals. “I’m hungry. Give me some food. Come on, get out now!”The snake goes here and there. Finally he finds them.“Ha…ha…ha…What are you doing here? Why are you hiding? Are you afraid of me? You should be afraid of me. I’m the biggest animal in this river. I’m your king.”“You are not our king. There is no king here. Everybody is equal,” says the turtle.“Let’s prove it! Who wants to fight me? I can beat you easily. With my big body, I can twist you easily. Ha…ha…ha! Now, give me some food!”The animals are afraid. They don’t have any courage to fight the snake. They then prepare some food for him. After the sake finishes eating and leaves them, they have a meeting.“We can’t be like this all the time. I want to live peacefully,” says the frog.“I have and idea. Let’s go to the alligator’s house. Talk to him about our problem. We ask him to help us,” says the fish.All the animals agree with his idea. Finally, the alligator meets the snake.“I heard what you do to the animals in the animals in this river. You have to stop your bad behavior,” says the alligator.“I’m not afraid of you. I will twist your body.” The snake and the alligator than are fighting. The alligator uses his tail to hit the snake. He does that several times.“Mercy me, mercy me!” the snake screams in pain.“Are you still the king in this river? Are you going to harm the animals again?”“No. I’m not the king and I promise I will be good to them,” says the snake.***0 comments

Mother

A Folktale from Maluku

Maluku, a fisherman and his wife lived with their two children, a daughter and a son. The children are naughty. They never listen to their parent's advice. But the parents still love their children very much.One day, the father goes fishing as usual. Before he goes, he tells his children not to eat

the fish-egg. "If you are hungry, eat something else. Do not eat this fish-egg."The children are just laugh. They do not pay attention to their father.The mother has to leave the house to do something. Once again, she remains her children about the fish-egg."The children just laugh. They do not pay attention to their father.The mother has to leave the house to do something. Once again, she remains the children about the fish-egg. "Your father asked you not to eat the fish egg. So please, don't eat it."Again, the children do not listen to their mother. They continue playing. After they finish playing, the children have lunch. The son eats the fish-egg. His sister reminds him, "Hey...don't eat the fish-egg. Father forbids us to eat that.""But father is not here...so I can eat this fish egg."Not longer after that, the mother comes home. She is so surprised when the fish-egg is gone.The mother is suspicious. On the son's teeth there is some fish-egg left. She knows that her son just ate it. She is very angry."We have told you not to eat the fish-egg. But why do you still eat that? Why do you never listen to us?"The mother runs. She goes to sea.The children run after her. They scream, "Mother...Mother...please don’t leave us!"The mother then stops in front of the big stone. She says, "Open up!"The big stone opens up. The mother then goes into the big stone. After that the big stone closes.The children shouts, "Mother please forgives us!" But their mother never returns home. ***0 comments

The Deer and the Sea Snail

The Deer and the Sea SnailFolklore from Maluku

A long time ago in a jungle in Aru Islands, Maluku, lived a group of deer. They were very proud of their ability in running very fast. They always stayed in different places. They challenged other animals in a running match. If the deer won the match, they took over the place and stayed there. Not far from the jungle, there was a beautiful beach. A group of sea snail lived there. The deer heard about the beautiful beach and planned to live there. They had a plan to challenge snails in a running match. They were very sure to win the match. Sea snails were slow in walking. “What’s the rule?” asked the leader of the sea snails after he heard about the challenge. “Do you see all the capes there? There are twelve capes, from here until there,” the deer leader pointed the capes. The distance between one cape to another was very far. “We run from the first cape until the twelfth cape. If my runner arrives first at the twelfth cape, we’re the winner. And we stay here!” The sea snails then had a meeting. They set a strategy to win the match. “My plan is to put the twelve of us in every cape. If their runner arrives in every cape, you shout. So, the deer will never rest and gets very tired,” said the leader. And the day of the match finally arrived. All animals watched this unique match, the deer versus the sea snail. The runners were standing side by side. Then, the deer ran very fast. In just a second, he already left the sea snail. After a few hours of running, he arrived at the first cape. He shouted, “Hey? Where are you?” “I’m here,” said the sea snail. He was another sea snail that was hiding in the first cape. The deer was surprised. He cancelled his plan to get some rest. He continued running. In every cape, there was always a sea snail. And the deer always cancelled his plan to get some rest. Finally, the deer almost reached the twelfth cape but he was exhausted. He was really tired. And he gave up. He did not have any more strength to run. He fell down on the ground. “Hooray!” said all the sea snails. The deer were so embarrassed. They were just tricked by the clever sea snails. So the deer came back to the jungle and never returned to the beach. ***

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Putri Bungsu and the Dragons

Folklore from Aceh

ONCE upon a time, there were two dragons lived in Aceh. The dragons were male and female, they were husband and wife. The dragons really wanted to have a child. They always prayed to God to give them a child.One day the dragons were resting at the river side. Suddenly they saw a baby beside a basket. The basket was drifting by the current of the water."Myn husband, look! There is a human baby inside the basket. Let's save the baby!" said the mother dragon.The father dragon immediately swam fast. He brought the baby to the side.She was a baby girl. The dragons were very happy. They had a child. Although the baby was a human child, the dragons really loved her. They named her Putri Bungsu.Days passed by, Putri Bungsu was adult. She was very beautiful. The dragons always took care of her. They also always protected her.In mean time, putri Bungsu real parents were looking for her.In the mean time, Putri Bungsu real parents were looking for her. There was an incident and accidentally Putri Bungsu was drifting in the river.After years looking for her, Putri Bungsu's real parents finally found her."My child, thank God we finally found you. You are our daughter. We know it from the mark in your hand," said the mother.The dragons were angry! they said Putri Bunsu was their daugter. "No! She is our daughter! We have raised her since she was a baby. We loved her and she loved us," said the mother dragon.Putri Bungsu's real parents and the dragons were arguing. They each claimed to be Putri's Bungsu's parents and they asked Putri bungsu to stay with them.They were arguing and they did not get any solutions. Putri Bungsu's real parents asked for help. They asked Tuan Tapa to help them. Tuan Tapa was a holy man. He also had supernatural power.Tuan Tapa then asked the dragons to let Putri Bungsu leave and stay with her real parents. The dragons were angry. They asked Tuan Tapa not to interfere.Tuan Tapa realized that the dragons could not negotiate. Therefore Tuan Tapa challenged them to fight."If you win, you can keep her. However you have to let her go and stay with her real parents if you both lose the fight," said Tuan Tapa."Ha ha ha...No problem! We will win the fight!"Then Tuan Tapa and the dragons were fighting bravely. Although he was alone and had to fight with two dragons, Tuan Tapa was very brave. he used all his skills to fight them.And finally he won the fight! The father dragon was dead. The mother dragon was very sad and angry. She knew she could not win the fight. She escaped.The mother dragon was very angry. She wagged her tail. It broke an island into two small islands. people named the islands as Pulau Dua.The tail also wagged another big island into many small islands. People named the island as Pulau Banyak.While the body of the father dragon changed into a big stone.People named it as Batu Hitam. And the blood dried into a big red stone, people named it as Batu Merah.***

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The Legend of Laut Tawar Lake

Folklore from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

A long time ago, there was a kingdom in Takengon, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. The king and the queen had a beautiful princess. Her name was Princess Pukes. She was single. The king and the queen wanted her to get married soon.However they did not know that their daughter already had a boyfriend.The princess did not tell his parents because they did not approve their relationships.The princess really loved her boyfriend.They did not want to separate. Therefore they secretly got married.Soon the king found out their marriage. The king was really angry. He asked the soldiers to lock her in her room.The princess could not meet her husband.She was locked for many days.Meanwhile her husband always waited for her. The princess tried to escape. But she always failed. And finally she succeeded!She jumped through the window and ran towards the palace garden.Unfortunately, she was caught!The soldiers immediately brought her to the king. The king was so angry. “You really make me angry! You are truly ungrateful daughter. If you want to leave this place, leave now! You can meet your husband.But remember on the way you go, don’t look back. Something bad will happen to you if you look back,” cursed the king.Princess Pukes was sad. She was really confused.She had to choose between her parents and her husband. She loved her husband and she did not want to be apart from him.Sadly, she walked and left the palace. Some soldiers followed her. The king asked them to guard her.While she was walking, Princess Pukes heard her mother crying. Princess Pukes wanted to see her mother for the very last time. But she remembered her father’s message, not to lookback or something bad would happen to her.She could not hold it anymore. She desperately wanted to see her mother. Then she looked back. Surprisingly, thunder attacked the kingdom. It was a very bright day, but suddenly rain fell heavily.The guards asked the princess to go to a cave. The rain was so heavy.The guards did not want the princess to be wet.Later the princess went inside the cave. Shewas standing in the corner of the cave. And after the rain stopped, the guards asked the princess to continue walking.They called outthe princess to go out.“My princess, let’s go now. The rain has stopped. We can continue walking,” asked the guards.

But the princess did not respond. Again, the guards asked her to go out. But still the princess did not respond. The guards were so curious. They went inside the cave. They were surprised. The princess had changed into a stone.Meanwhile, the heavy rain had created a new lake. The lake was so big and then people named it as Laut Tawar Lake. People also can still find the stone of Princess Pukes. The local people say that when someone visits the stone and feels sad about the story of the princess, the stone will also cry!***0 comments

Kepar

Folklore from Nangroe Aceh Darussalam

A long time ago in Tanah Alas, Aceh, lived a widow with her son named Kepar. They lived alone in a hut. Kepar was a kind kid. He always helped his mother. Kepar’s parents divorced when he was a baby. Kepar’s father left and stayed in other place. He never visited Kepar.That made Kepar did not know his father. Kepar’s friends always made fun of him. They said that Kepar was not a normal kid because he did not have a father. They said that Kepar’s father hated Kepar so much and that was why he left Kepar.One day, Kepar could not hold it anymore. He dared himself to talk to his mother and askedabout his father. At first, his mother refused to tell him. But Kepar kept on pushing her to tell him the truth. Finally, Kepar’s mother gave up.She then told everything about his father.After he knew all about his father, Kepar went to look for him. He went to a very high mountain where his father lived. He was walking for days and nights. Finally he arrived at his father’s hut.“Good morning, Sir,” said Kepar.“Good morning kid. Who are you and where are you from?”“My name is Kepar. I’m from Tanah Alas,” answered Kepar.The man was surprised. He knew his son and his former wife lived there. Kepar then told him about himself and his mother.“So, you are my son,” cried his father. They were hugging each other.“I missed you, Father. I always think about you. My friends said that you hated me and so you left me,” said Kepar.“They were wrong. I never hated you. Your mother and I had to live separately. But don’t worry, now you can stay with me also,” said Kepar’s father.Kepar was so happy. Since then he lived in two houses. He stayed at his father’s for a week and stayed with his mother in another week.One day Kepar had an idea to reunite his parents.“Father, I am really sad to see you live alone. Why don’t you remarry? I can find you abeautiful woman for you,” said Kepar.“I don’t know about that Kepar. Let me think about it,” answered Kepar’s father.Kepar also said the same thing to his mother.There was a man who wanted to marry her.

Kepar then set the time and place for his parents’ meeting. When they finally met, Kepar’s parents were surprised. They haven’t seen each other for a long time. At first, they did not recognize each other. Kepar’s mother was still beautiful and his father was still handsome.Kepar then begged to them. He asked them to reunite.Kepar’s parents then forgave each other. To make their son happy, they remarried and lived happily ever after. ***0 comments

The Parakeet King

A folktale from Nangroe Aceh Darussalam

In the jungle of Aceh, parakeet birds live peacefully with their wise king. However, now their peaceful life is disturbed. A hunter goes into their jungle and plans to catch them.It's a beautiful morning. The parakeets and their king perch on a branch of tree. They do not know that the hunter is hiding. The hunter wants to catch the parakeets with his net.The hunter throws his net towards the parakeets. Some parakeets and the parakeet king are caught under the net. The parakeets are scared but the parakeet king tells them what to do."Relax. I have a plan. We all pretend to be dead. When the hunter lifts the net up, we fly fast to the sky," advise the parakeet king. The hunter goes to his net. He is upset! He thinks all the parakeets are dead."Oh no! I can't sell dead birds to people." He then lifts the net up. Not long after that, the parakeets free themselves and fly to the sky. But the parakeet king is still trapped. He does not want to fly to the sky until the parakeets are free.The hunter is surprised when he sees the parakeets are flying. He sees there is one parakeet left in the net.He moves quickly. "Gotcha!" he catches the parakeet king.And then the hunter goes home. He puts the parakeet king in a birdcage.

In the jungle, all the parakeets are sad because their king is locked in a birdcage. They set a plan to free their king. All the parakeets fly to the hunter's house. With their beaks, the parakeets peck the birdcage. Slow but sure, the birdcage is destroyed. Then the parakeet king can free himself. “Thank you. You all are very kind to me. Without your help, I'm still trapped in this birdcage, "says the parakeet king. ***0 comments

Mentiko Betuah

Folklore from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

A long time ago, there was a kingdom in Semeulue, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. The king and the queen had a son, the prince. They loved the prince very much. They always gave him anything he wanted and that made him grew as a spoiled young man.The king realized his mistake. He wanted to give the prince a lesson. He asked the prince to leave the palace and became a merchant."I will give you some money. Use the money only for trading. Don't come back until you are rich!" asked the king.The prince was sad. He knew his father was angry with him because he was a spoiled boy. He then promised himself that he could become a great merchant.After he left the palace, he went to a village. While he was walking, he saw some kids were trying to shoot a bird using their slingshots."Stop! Don't hurt the bird! I'll give you some money if you stop hurting him," said the prince. After that, he gave some money to those kids.Later, he saw some men were torturing a snake. Again, the prince asked them to stop hurting the snake. He also gave them some money. He kept on giving some money to people who tortured animals. Finally he did not have any money at all. He was so worried. He knew he could not become a merchant without any money in his pocket. He was also scared of going home. His father would be very angry at him.Next, the prince went to the forest. He did not know anywhere to go. While he was sitting under a big tree, a giant snake came to him. He was so frightened."Don't worry, young man. I will not eat you. I am the king of snakes in this jungle. I heard you helped many animals from being tortured. Now, I want to give you a gift. This is Mentiko Betuah. This magical stone can give you anything you want."The prince was happy. He asked the Mentiko Betuah to give him a lot of money. Amazingly, the prince later had a lot of money. So he went home and told his father that the money was from his business as a merchant.The prince kept the Mentiko Betuah carefully. He went to a goldsmith and asked him to make the magical stone as a ring. Unfortunately, the goldsmith stole the Mentiko Betuah. The prince was angry. Luckily he had made friends to the animals. Then they all helped him find the Mentiko Betuah.A cat, a dog, and a mouse went together to find the magical stone. They finally found the goldsmith. However they could not enter his house, only the mouse could. After waiting for a moment, the mouse came out of the house. He said he could not find the magical stone. After that they all went back to the palace. The cat and the dog did not know that the mouse actually had found the magical stone. He was hiding it in his mouth. He then

gave the Mentiko Betuah to the prince. He was so happy and said that the mouse was the hero.The cat and the dog were jealous and angry. They tried to kill the mouse. That's why until now cats and dogs always try to catch mice. ***

Showing posts with label North Sulawesi. Show all posts Showing posts with label North Sulawesi. Show all posts

Napombalu

Folklore from North Sulawesi

ONCE upon a time there were a handsome hunter, his name was Lawongo. In the jungle he only hunted wild hogs. The animals often always destroyed the villagers' fields. The villagers were very grateful. With Lawongo's help, their field were safe from the wild hogs.Lawongo was also very great in playing a flute, it was so melodious. Everybody always enjoyed listening his playing the flute. One of the people was a beautiful girl. She always listened attentively. Lawongo knew there was a beautiful girl who always paid attention to him. Lawongo fell in love with her. The girl also loved him, later they got married.They were very happy. They loved each other and promised to be always together. They would be together until they died.In one night, Lawongo had a strange dream. In his dream he was hunting a very big wild hog. The hog attacked him. He did very hard to kill the hog. He used his knife to stab the hog and it finally died.On the next morning, Lawongo went hunting. It was still early in the morning and he did not want to wake his wife up.In the jungle ha did not see any animals. He could not find any wild hog either. He felt very strange. He walk and he felt very thirsty. He picked a coconut. And when he wanted to open it using his knife, he saw his knife was full of dried blood. He was confused. Suddenly he remembered his wife. Somehow he had a bad feeling about his wife. He immediately went home.When he arrived home, many people were in front of his house. One of the people said,"We're sorry for your wife, Lawongo. Please accept our condolences.""What happened?" asked him. He rushed into his house. He saw his wife was dead. Her body was full of blood. Lawongo was very sad. He felt very guilty. He knew last night he stabbed hi wife. He then told the villagers to do something."I cannot live without my wife. Please prepare two coffins, one for me and the other one is for my wife.""No, please don't do it. You are still young and we still need you here. Besides that we still want to hear you play the flute." said one of the villagers."Don't worry, I still play the flute for you. Male a hole on the coffin's cover. If you cannot longer hear my playing, it means I'm dead. You go to the beach. A strange thing will appear from the sea. Do not point at that thing and do not say anything. It is my

reincarnation." said Lawongo.Later, the villagers buried the two coffins. At the first night, they could still hear his playing. However the sound was getting weaker and weaker. And finally the villagers did not hear anything.They did Lawongo's request. They went to the beach. They all set down on the beach. Suddenly, a strange thing appeared from the sea. It was very big. They all were surprised. However they did not say anything. The thing finally stooped growing.The villagers used their sampan and came to the thing. It was a coral island. They named the island as Napombalu, which is from the words Napo and Nawalu. Napo means a coral island and Nawalu means a strange thing which turn into an island. ***0 comments

The Legend of Moopoo Bird

Folklore from North Sulawesi

A long time a go in Minahasa lived an old man with his grandson. The grandson’s name was Nondo. The old man loved Nondo very much.He was a nice and diligent boy. When his grandfather went to the jungle to collect some fire woods, Nondo stayed at home. He always did the household chores.Nondo always wanted to join his grandfather to the jungle. However, his grandfather did not allow him. Nondo was limped. He could not walk well.His grandfather always went to jungle in the morning and returned home in the afternoon. In the evening, just before bedtime, the grandfather always told Nondo anything that happened inthe jungle.Nondo really enjoyed listening about the animals in the jungle. Nondo always dreamed of going to the jungle and seeing the animals.On one morning, Nondo could not hold his feeling anymore. He begged to his grandfather.He really wanted to go to the jungle and see the animals.“Please, Grandpa. Let me join you. Just this time, please,” Nondo begged. The old man did not want to disappoint his beloved grandson.After thinking deeply, he then said, “You can join me this time. But you have to be near me, okay? I will bring the woods, so I cannot see you all the time.”Nondo was so happy. He promised to his grandfather that he would always be near him.Nondo could not wait to see the animals.Then, they left the house. And finally they arrived at the jungle. At fi rst, Nondo was able to walk near his grandfather.However soon, the distance was getting farther.Every time Nondo saw an animal, he always stopped for a moment. He was really amazed. The grandfather always reminded Nondo not to stop walking. Sadly, Nondo was so happy looking at the animals. He ignored his grandfather’s warning.Soon, Nondo was lost in the jungle. He was separated from his grandfather.“Grandpa! Grandpa! Where are you? Grandpa, don’t leave me here,” Nondo screamed.Slowly, darkness covers the forest. Nondo was really scared. The sounds of the animals

really frightened him. He kept on calling his grandfather.Meanwhile, the grandfather just realized that his grandson was lost. He looked for Nondo and called out his name. But still he could not find Nondo.The grandfather was really sad. He regretted to let Nondo join him. The grandfather decided to go back home. He hoped Nondo would already arrive at home. Unfortunately, Nondo did not come home yet.In the morning, the grandfather went to the jungle again. He wanted to fi nd Nondo. And when he arrived in the jungle, he saw a bird.The bird made a strange sound. It said, “Moo poo... Moo po...”The grandfather was really curious. He never heard a bird make a sound like that. He looked at the bird carefully, and again the bird said, “Moo poo...”Then he felt very strange. He felt that the bird said, “Opoku... Opoku...” It means “My grandpa... My grandpa...” Being really curious, he approached the bird. He was very surprised because the bird was limped.The grandfather cried. He remembered his grandson. He was sure that his grandson had changed into a bird. Since then, people named the bird as Moopoo bird. It can be found inMinahasa, North Sulawesi. ***0 comments

Abo and The Giant

Folklore from North Sulawesi

ABO Mamongkuroit and his wife, Monondeaga, lived in a jungle. Even though they were poor, they lived very happy. They loved each other. One day Abo had to go the village. He asked his wife permission."Don't go too long. Please come back soon," said Monondeaga.Abo then left their house. Actually, he did not want to leave his wife alone, he had heard the Tulap was hungry. Tulap was a giant. He ates humans!Not long after Abo left, Monondeaga heard heavy footsteps. She then remembered Abo's message. She had to hide under the bed. But it was too late. Suddenly, Tulap was breaking the front door."Ha ha ha... Come here. I want to take you to my place," said Tulap.Monondeaga was so scared. However, she finally had an idea."Don't take me now. I haven't taken a bath yet. Come back tomorrow."On the following day, Tulap was impatient. "I don't want to hear your excuses again!"He then grabbed Monondeaga and took her to his place.Later, Abo went home. He called out his wife's name. But he could not find her. He then had a bad feeling. He was afraid that Tulap had taken her. He immediately rushed to Tulap place.After several days, he finally arrived at Tulap's place. It was a big cave."Tulap! Get out! Bring back my wife!" screamed Abo.Tulap then got out from his cave. He was so happy because there was a human came to his cave. He did not have to hunt him.Abo was ready with his weapons and he immediately attacked him. Tulap was not ready with the attack. He though Abo did not have any guts to fight him.

Abo did very hard to kill Tulap. Finally, he succeeded. Tulap was dead! Abo hurried entering Tulap's cave. He saw many people were inside the big cage. One of them was his beloved wife, Monondeaga.Abo immediately opened yhe cage. Everybody inside the cage was so happy. They thanked Abo for his great courage. Abo and Monondeaga then went home. Now people could live peacefully. The giant was dead. ***0 comments

Sigarlaki and Limbat

Sigarlaki and LimbatFolklore from North Sulawesi

A long time ago in Tondonao, there lived a great hunter. His name was Sigarlaki. He was very skillful with his spear. He used his spear to hunt animals in the jungle. He was a very famous hunter. Every time he hunts in the jungle, he always went home with some animals. Sigarlaki had a servant. His name was Limbat. Sigarlaki was very lucky; Limbat was always loyal to him. Everywhere Sigarlaki went hunting, Limbat was always next to him. As always, in one beautiful morning, Sigarlaki and Limbat went to the jungle to hunt some animals. Sigarlaki prepared his great weapon, the spear. But, today was not his lucky day. They have looke for animals for several hours. For the first time in his life, Sigarlaki was not able to bring home an animal. Sigarlaki became angrier when Limbat told him that their food at home was stolen. Sigarlaki accused Limbat stealin the food. Limbat was sad. He never thought that his master would accuse him as a thief. Then Sigarlaki asked Limbat to prove that he is innocent. Sigarlaki would throw his spear to a big pond. At the same time, Limbat had to jump also to the big pond. If the spear would com out from the water earlier than Limbat, it meant that Limbat was innocent; he did not

steal the food. However, if Limbat came out earlier than the spear, so he was guilty. That strange rule made Limbat very sad. But he really wanted to prove that he was not guilty. So he directly jumped to the pond when Sigarlaki threw his spear. But, when the spear reached the bottom of the pond, Sigarlaki saw a wild pig near the pond. He immediately jumped to the pond and took his spear. Just before Sigarlaki was ready to throw his spear, the pig was gone. That automatically made Limbat innocent. The spear came out earlier than he was. Sigarlaki did not want to admit that. So he asked for the second chance. Just before he was ready to throw his spear, suddenly a big crab bit him. "Ouch! That's hurts!" Sigarlaki was screaming in pain. Seeing this, Limbat came to his master and helped him. Sigarlaki was ashamed. He already accused Limbat, instead Limbat helped him. He knew he got the punishment. A big crab bit him! ***

Showing posts with label North Sumatra. Show all posts Showing posts with label North Sumatra. Show all posts

Dayang Bandir

Folklore from North Sumatra

Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms in North Sumatra, the Eastern Kingdom and the Western Kingdom. The Eastern King got married with the Western King's sister. Later, they had a baby girl. They named her Dayang Bandir. Seven years later, they had another child. They named him Sandean Raja.When Sandean Raja was a kid, his father, the Eastern King died. The rule said that the king's son would be the next king. However, Sandean Raja was still a kid. He had to wait until he was adult to be the king. The elderly of the kingdom asked Uncle Kareang to be the king. Uncle Kareang was the Eastern King's younger brother.The Eastern king had a magical sword. Uncle Kareang wanted to have the sword. Without the sword, he was only the temporary king. He was looking for the sword everywhere but he could not find it. he knew Dayang Bandir hid the sword. She wanted to give the sword to her brother, Sandean Raja, when he was adult. She wanted her brother to be the next king. Uncle Kareang was really angry. He asked the soldiers to take Dayang Bandir and Sandean Raja to the jungle.Soldiers then tied Dayang Bandir on top of a big tree in the jungle. They would bring her down after Dayang Bandir told them where the sword was. But she never told them. Then the soldiers left Dayang Bandir and Sandean Raja alone in the jungle. Sandean Raja cried under the big tree. He could not climb the big tree. Everytime he tried to climb, he fell down. Days passed by. Dayang Bandir was getting weaker and weaker. She finally died.Sandean Raja then left alone in the jungle. He was not really alone actually. Her sister spirit always accompanied him. They still could talk each other.When Sandean Raja was adult, he decided to go to the Western Kingdom. The King, King Soma, was his uncle. He wanted to talk about his bad experience.King Sorma was surprised when he met Sandean Raja. He heard that sandean Raja and Dayang Bandir died in the jungle. He was not sure that Sandean Raja was really his nephew.If you are really my nephew, remove that big tree, said king Sorma.

Sandean Raja was a powerful man. He could remove that big tree easily."I have the last test. Go to that dark room. There are many girls there. Which one is my daughter?' said King Sorma."Don't worry, my brother, I will help you," said Dayang Bandir's spirit.Sandean Raja then could find the King Sorma's daughter. The king then was sure that the young man was really his nephew. After that, Tandean Raja told told him about his sister and all his bad experience with Uncle Kareang. King Soma then asked his soldier to attack the Eastern Kingdom.The Western Kingdom won the war. Sandean Raja then became the king of the kingdom. Later, her sister,s spirit told him where the sword was.***1 comments

Sampuraga

Folklore from North Sumatra

Once upon a time in Padang Bolak, North Sumatra, lived a man named Sampuraga. He lived with his mother. His father had passed away when Sampuraga was a baby. Sampuraga and his mother lived in a hut. They were poor. Sampuraga worked in his neighbor’s rice field. When they had harvest, the neighbor gave some money to Sampuraga for his work.Sampuraga worked in the morning and went home in the afternoon. One day while he was working, his neighbor told him about a place named Mandailing.It was a great place.The land was fertile. There were many rich people there. Sampuraga listened to his neighbor carefully.He really wanted to go toMandailing and became a rich man.Later he told his mother about his plan. His mother was sad. She did not want to lose his only child.But Sampuraga promised that he would go home and brought her a lot of money.Finally Sampuraga went to Mandailing. There, he worked for a very rich merchant.The merchant liked Sampuraga because he was diligent and honest. Soon, the merchant gave Sampuraga a lot of money. He wanted Sampuraga to have his own business.Sampuraga was successful with his new business.He was very rich. The merchant knew that Sampuraga could be a great merchant like him.The merchant wanted to retire and gave his business to Sampuraga. He had a plan. He wanted Sampuraga to marry his daughter. Sampuraga agreed. Afterall, he fell in love with her. The merchant’s daughter was very beautiful.Then the merchant set a great wedding party.He invited many people. He wanted to hold the best wedding party for his daughter.People started to talk about the party. They were talking about the great party and the merchant’s daughter. They said Sampuraga was very lucky. He was going to marry the most beautiful girl in Mandailing.The news about Sampuraga’s wedding party finally arrived in his hometown,

Padang Bolak. The people there almost did not believe that Sampuraga would marry the merchant’s daughter. They also did not believe that Sampuraha could become a rich man.However his mother believed that. “I’m sure my son is a rich man now. He already promised me that he will be a rich man,” said Sampuraga’s mother.With great happiness, she went to Mandailing. She wanted to attend his son’s wedding party.When she arrived at the party, Sampuraga’s mother immediately called his name.“Sampuraga… Sampuraga…It’s me… I’m your mother.”Sampuraga was surprised.His wife was also surprised.“Who is she? Is she really your mother?” asked Sampuraga’s wife.“No! My mother is dead. This ugly and old woman is not my mother. Go away!” Sampuraga yelled at his mother.His mother was crying. She was very sad. She knew Sampuraga had already forgotten her. She cried and cried. She prayed to God to punish him.Suddenly, rain fell down heavily. Thunder attacked the place. People ran away to save themselves.Soon, the party changed into a big pond.The water was hot. Around the pond there was a big stone. It looked like a cow. There were also other ruins. People said that the stone and the ruins were from Sampuraga’s party. ***0 comments

Lundu Nipahu

Folklore from North Sumatra

ONCE upon a time, there was a prince of a kingdom. His name was Lundu Nipahu. His father, the king, had already planned Lundu Nipahu to be the next king. Unfortunately, the king’s younger brother also wanted to be the next king. He did a terrible thing. He killed the king. Before he died, the king gave Lundu Nipahu a ring. He asked Lundu Nipahu to run away and save himself.

Lundu Nipahu later hid in a jungle.

While Lundu Nipahu was resting under a big tree, a snake passed by. The snake had a frog in his mouth. The frog was screaming in pain. Lundu Nipahu was very sad to see that. He took a piece of wood then pressed it to the snake’s head. He pressed it very hard and finally the frog was able to escape.

After the frog ran away, the snake looked at Lundu Nipahu.

He was angry. Lundu Nipahu thought the snake would attack him. Amazingly, the snake was able to talk!

“Why did you do that? The frog is my lunch!?”

“I’m sorry. My father said I have to help anyone, humans or animals that need a help. I saw the frog was in pain,” said Lundu Nipahu.

“Because you have made my lunch gone, you have to replace it. Give me some fl esh in your leg.

Otherwise I will bite you!?” said the snake.

Lundu Nipahu was helpless. He took his knife and then cut his leg. He was bleeding. The snake gave him some leaves. He asked Lundu Nipahu to put the leaves on the wounds. Amazingly the bleeding stopped, and the leg was cured and back to normal.

“You are a nice kid. You obey your parents and love to help others. These are special leaves.

You can heal any illness with these leaves,” said the snake.

Lundu Nipahu thanked the snake. He then continued his journey. He kept on walking until he finally arrived in another kingdom. There he heard that the princess was ill. She was very weak and always stayed in her bed. Lundu Nipahu wanted to heal the princess. When he arrived at the palace, he told the king that he wanted to heal the princess. The king gave him the permission.

Lundu Nipahu put the leaves on the princess’s forehead. Amazingly, the princess was healed.

She was able to walk!

The king was happy. He asked Lundu Nipahu to marry his daughter. After se veral years lived in the pa lace, Lundu Nipahu wanted to go home.

The king agreed. He gave Lundu Nipahu a big ship and some soldiers. Lundu Nipahu was ready to attack his uncle.

While the ship was sailing, accidentally Lundu Nipahu’s ring fell down to the river.

Lundu Nipahu was sad. The ring was the proof that he was the prince of the kingdom. While he was thinking of the ring, a frog jumped out of the river. It was the frog he helped! The frog opened his mouth. The ring was inside his mouth! Lundu Nipahu was very happy. He continued his mission.

Finally he arrived at home, the palace. He immediately looked for his uncle. He was not around. After that Lundu Nipahu went to his uncle’s room. He was surprised. His uncle was dead. Next to him, there was a snake. It was the snake that gave him the special leaves.

Lundu Nipahu made an announcement. He was the prince. And he showed them his father’s ring.

Everybody believed him. After all, they hated his uncle very much. He was a terrible king. Lundu

Nipahu then became the king. He and his wife lived happily.***

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Wa Lancar

Folklore from North Sumatra

WA Lancar was a poor young man. However he always wanted to study hard. He did not have enough money to go to a teacher.Fortunately he met a kind teacher. He was willing to teach Wa Lancar. For a return, he asked Wa Lancar to help him in the rice field. Wa Lancar agreed.The teacher taught him everything.After several years, the teacher thought it was enough for Wa Lancar as his student.Before Wa Lancar left, the teacher gave him one advice. “If you are hungry don’t eat immediately, Just wait.”Wa Lancar then left. He still wanted to study. He met the second teacher. Like the first teacher,Wa Lancar also did not have to pay. He was just asked to help the teacher in the rice field. WaLancar studied for several years and the teacher asked him to leave. He also gave advice to Wa Lancar. “When you are tired walking, stop and get some rest.”Wa Lancar still not satisfied. He met the third teacher. Again, he did not have to pay some money.He was also asked to help the teacher in the rice field. Later, it was time for him to leave. Again, the third teacher gave him an advice. “Get a stone and a knife,and then grind the knife.”Wa Lancar was very thankful.He wanted to help all the poor kids. He then taught them. At first, he just had few students, after that he had more and more students. And that made anotherteacher jealous.The jealous teacher went to the palace and told the king that Wa Lancar taught bad lessons to the children. The king was angry. He punished Wa Lancar.The punishment was Wa Lancar had to marry the king’s daughter. Wa Lancar was scared. It was because any man who married the king’s daughter, would die mysteriously.

At the wedding reception, the guests were served with delicious foods. The jealous teacher gave Wa Lancar food.Wa Lancar remembered his first teacher’s advice, not to eat immediately when he was hungry. Wa Lancar refused the food. However the man next to him ate the food. Not long after that, the man suffered stomachache terribly. Later the man died. Apparently, the food was poisoned.In the following morning, the jealous teacher told Wa Lancar that the king asked Wa Lancar to give the king a black stone from the hill. Wa Lancar went with some soldiers. After severalhours walking, Wa Lancar was tired. He remembered his second teacher’s advice, to stop and get some rest if he was tired walking.Wa Lancar told the soldiers to walk first. Wa Lancar was lucky.The soldiers were trapped in a big hole. Wa Lancar then took the b l a c k stone andbrought it to the palace.When he arrived at the palace, Wa Lancar wanted to sleep.Suddenly he remembered his third teacher’s advice, to grind a knife with a stone.Wa Lancar took a knife and ground it with the black stone.After he was finished, he went to bed. He saw a centipede on the bed! He killed the centipede with his knife. His wife woke up. She heard all the noise. She was surprised to see a dead centipede on the bed.Wa Lancar told his wife everything. He was sure that all the bad things happened because of the jealous teacher.His wife immediately told his father, the king, all the bad things. The king asked the jealous teacher if it was true. The jealous teacher could not do anything. He told everything and confessed his mistakes. The king then punished the jealous teacher. ***2 comments

The Princess of Snake

Folklore from North Sumatra

ONCE upon a time in Simalungun, North Sumatra, there was a king with her beautiful daughter.The princess was famous. Many young men admired her beauty.One of the young men who fell in love with her was a prince from the neighboring kingdom. The prince came to Simalungun and talked to the king. He wanted to propose the princess.Later, the king talked to his daughter about the wedding proposal. The princess was a very kind daughter. She did not want to disappoint her parents.She knew her parents wanted her to accept the prince s wedding proposal.The king and the queen were happy.They were glad that finally their daughter planned to get married.Then, a wedding ceremony was prepared. Everybody in the kingdom was busy. They all wanted to contribute to the wedding.

The princess was also busy preparing herself. One thing that she had to do was she had to take care of her body carefully. She wanted to look very beautiful during the wedding ceremony.As always, the princess and her ladies-in-waiting were taking a bath in the pond inside the palace garden.The princess was so happy and she was playing around inside the pond. She was not careful and she accidentally slipped.Her nose hit a big stone and got bleeding. The ladies in-waiting immediately helped her. When they could stop the bleeding, they were surprised. The princess nose was no longer beautiful.When the princess knew what happened, she was very sad. She was afraid that the prince would cancel the wedding.And if that really happened, the king would be very angry. The prince was very sorry, she was not careful in the pond.However, it was too late. There was no use for her to regret what had happened.The princess then prayed to God.I am not a good child, God. I cannot make my parents proud of me.Please punish me. I cannot live anymore. I don t want to see my parents being sad just because of me, prayed the princess.Amazingly, right after the princess finished praying, the princess slowly changed into a snake. It started from her legs and slowly to the upper body also changed.The ladies-in-waiting were shocked.They went to the palace and reported to the king. When the king and the queen arrived at the pond, the princess had completely changed into a snake. The king and the queen were sad. They saw their only daughter had changed into a snake. The snake also looked very sad but she could not speak anymore.Slowly, the snake went to the bushes and disappeared. The snake could not live in the palace anymore and could not change back as a human anymore. After all, that was her prayer to God. ***0 comments

The Legend of Kantan Island

Folklore from North Sumatra

ONCE upon a time in Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra lived an old widow with her son named Kantan. Her husband passed away when Kantan was a baby. They lived in a village not far from a jungle.They were poor.One night, Kantan’s mother had a dream. An old man came to her and asked her to go to the jungle. Under the big tree, the old man asked her to dig a hole. She would a find something very valuable.Kantan’s mother knew it was not just a dream. So, she asked Kantan to go to the jungle with her. When they found a big tree, Kantan dug a hole. Later, they found a box. When they opened it, they saw a golden stick. It was very beautiful.“Mother, we have to sell this. We will be very rich!” said Kantan.“You are right. The golden stick is so beautiful. I’m sure someone is willing to pay with a lot of money. But who is going to buy this stick? All our neighbours are poor.”“Don’t worry, mother. I will go to the other island to sell it. I will find a very rich man to buy this golden stick,” said Kantan.

Later, Kantan sailed the sea to go to Malaka Island. When he arrived there, Kantan offered the stick to merchants.But they could not pay him. Kantan asked them to pay with a lot of money.The news spread very fast. Everybody in Malaka knew that Kantan had a beautiful golden stick. The king also heard that. He asked his soldiers to take Kantan to go his palace. The king wanted to see the stick.“You are right. The stick is very beautiful,” said the king after Kantan showed him the stick. The king then continued, “I want to have this stick. But I will not give you a lot of money. I will ask you to marry my daughter. You can stay here in the palace and later you can be the king to replace me,” said the king.Kantan immediately agreed. Not long after that, they got married and stayed in the palace. Kantan was very happy and started to forget about his mother in the village.In the meantime, Kantan’s wife always asked him about his mother. His wife really wanted to meet her mother-in-law. Kantan agreed. With a big ship, they sailed to Kantan’s hometown. When they arrived, all the villagers were surprised to see Kantan.He was a prince! They then told everyone about Kantan. Finally,Kantan’s mother heard the news. She was very happy. When she arrived at the ship, she immediately called Kantan’s name.“Kantan! Kantan! It’s me, I’m your mother.”But Kantan ignored her. He was ashamed with his mother. She was an old woman and wore ragged clothes.When his wife asked, Kantan just said she was a crazy woman pretending to be his mother.Kantan’s mother was very sad. She prayed to God. Suddenly, a big storm attacked! Big waves swallowed Kantan’s big ship. When the storm was gone, slowly an island appeared. Since then, people named the island as Kantan Island.***0 comments

Glutinous Rice

A Folktale from North Sumatra

Olih and her mother live in a village in North Sumatra. They are poor. Their neighbors love them because they are kind and always help other people.In the evening, seven old women come to Olih’s house. Those women look dirty, and they are wearing ragged clothes. They are also very hungry.“Good evening. We are hungry. Could you please give us some food?” ask one of the old women.“Don’t worry, Ma’am. We have some food for you. Just wait for a moment.” Olih then goes to his house. He opens the cupboard then takes some food. A moment later he gives the food to those old women.“Thank you very much, Kid. It’s very kind of you. We are also very tired. Would you let us stay here to spend the night? Nobody wants to let us stay in their house. We are strangers here, we have no place to go.”“Don’t worry. You all can stay here,”says Olih’s mother.“Thank you very mich. You two are very kind to us.”

In the morning, those seven old women are still sleeping. Olih’s mother asks Olih to wake them up to have breakfast.Suddenly Olih screams! “Mom! Come here!!!”Olih’s mother then runs to the bedroom. She finds the room full of rice. The old women are gone. But there is one beautiful girl sitting on the bed.“Don’t be afraid. I am one of the women. My father sent me here. He has a great super natural power. He changed me into an old woman and ask me to deliver this special rice to a family that helped me, “says the girl.Olih and her mother are very happy. Now they have enough rice to eat. They also share the rice to the neighbors. The rice is so delicious. They call it beras pulut or glutinous rice, it means sticky and delicious rice. *** 0 comments

The Story of Sugar Palm Tree

Folklore from North Sumatra

A husband and a wife lived happily in a village. They had two children a son and a daughter. The son’s name was Tare Iluh and the daughter’s name was Beru Sibou. Their happy life ended when their father died. Since then their mother worked hard for them. She worked so hard that it made her suffer from a terrible illness. Their mother then died. Later, Tare Iluh and Beru Sibou stayed at their uncle’s house.Days passed by and those kids have grown into adults. Tare Iluh decided to find a job in another village.He then left his sister and his uncle.Tare Iluh wanted to make money in a short time. He thought gambling was the answer. He gambled using the money his uncle gave him. At first he won some money. He was so happy and used all the money. Sadly, he lost. All the money he had was gone. He was upset. After that he borrowed money from the villagers, he lost again and he borrowed some money again. He kept on borrowing some money until he had a lot of debts.When the villagers asked him to pay the debt, Tare Iluh could not pay them.He did not have any money. The villagers were angry. They put him in the jail!In the mean time, Beru Sibou was waiting for his brother. She was worried because he had not given her any news. Finally she heard that his brother was in the jail. She rushed to go and wanted to meet her brother.Beru Sibou did not know the way to the village. She was lost in a jungle.She met an old man and asked about his brother. The old man knew that there was a man in the jail because of gambling. He then suggested BeruSibou to climb a high tree and sang a song about his brother. His brother might hear her song.Beru Sibou then climbed a high tree. She sang a song about his brother. She sang and screamed his brother’s name.“My brother Tare Iluh? Where are you? The villagers, please release my brother.”Nobody listened to the song and that made Beru Sibou frustrated.She then prayed to God.“God, I’m willing to pay my brother’s debts. I will pay with my tears, my hair, and all

parts of my body can be used by the villagers. But please free my brother.”Right after she finished praying, heavy storm attacked. And slowly Beru Sibou changed into a tree. It was just not an ordinary tree. All parts of tree were useful. Her tears changed into sweet water. Her hair changed into very strong leaves. People can use them as roof of their houses. The fruits of the tree named kolang kaling are very delicious. People name it as sugar palm tree or pohon enau.People in other villages name it as pohon aren. ***0 comments

The Story of Kelana Sakti

Folklore from North Sumatra

ONCE upon a time in North Sumatra, there was a kingdom named Purnama. The king was King Indra Sakti. He was a wise king. All of his people lived prosperous and happy. The king and the queen had a baby boy. He was the prince of the palace.In Purnama kingdom, there was a small village. Kelana Sakti and his parents lived there. Kelana Sakti was a nice boy. He was diligent and always helped his parents.One day, there was a bad news from the kingdom. King Indra Sakti was terribly ill. All the palace healers tried to heal him but did not succeed. The King was getting weaker and weaker everyday. So, he called all his family and the palace commander, Panglima Badau to meet him.“My wife, please forgive all my mistakes. I cannot live any longer. Please take care of our son. Make him the king when he is adult,” said the king to the queen.Then he continued, “Panglima Badau, I trust this kingdom to you. You are the king until my son is adult. Please train him and teach him how to be a good king.” Not long after that, King Indra Sakti died. Panglima Badau then became the king. He really enjoyed his time as a king. He often had parties and neglected the people.Soon, the kingdom was in a mess and the king only had fun in his parties. To pay all his parties, Panglima Badau asked his people to pay expensive taxes. Soldiers went to people’s house to collect the money, and that was including Kelana Sakti’s house.“Give me your money! You have to pay the tax!” said a soldier.“I’m sorry. I don’t have enough money. I have spent my money to buy some food,” said Kelana Sakti’s father.“You are a liar!” The soldier then brought Kelana Sakti’s parents to the palace. Punishment for people who refused paying the taxes was sent to jail!“Please don’t take my parents away!” said Kelana Sakti. A soldier was angry at him and hit him. Kelana Sakti was unconscious.When he was awake, he was inside an old man’s house.“Where am I? Where are my parents?”“Don’t worry. You are in my house. You are safe here. Your parents are in the palace. The king sent them to the jail,” said the old man.Since then, Kelana Sakti lived with the old man. He learned many things from him, especially martial arts.When Kelana Sakti was adult, he completely changed. He was a man with great skills of martial arts. It was time for him to go to the palace and freed his parents. The old man

gave him the blessings and asked him to be careful.So, Kelana Sakti fought bravely against the soldiers. He won. Then the last one was fighting against Panglima Badau himself. Again he won the fight and freed everybody in jail. Then he sent Panglima Badau to the jail. The prince was so thankful to Kelana Sakti. The prince then asked Kelana Sakti to be the palace commander.

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Nai Manggale

Nai ManggaleFolklore from North Sumatra

Once upon a time, there lived a famous sculpture in Tapanuli, North Sumatra. His name was Datu Panggana. He could carve wood into many things. One day, he got an inspiration to carve a wood into a statue of a beautiful woman. Then, he put the statue in front of his house. It was not finished yet. The statue still had any clothes yet. Later, a young merchant passed by in front of Datu PangganaÕs house. His name was Bao Partigatiga. He sold jewelleries and clothes. He was very impressed by the beauty of the statue."She would be more beautiful by wearing my clothes," said Bao Partigatiga. He then put on the clothes he wanted to sell on the statue. Bao Partigatiga was very pleased now. The statue looked like a real human. Then he left Datu Panggana's house. After that, a priest and his wife passed by. They were also impressed by the beauty of the statue. "I want to pray to God to make her live like a real human. I want to make her as our daughter," said the priest to his wife. The couple had any children yet. Their dream came true. The statue had changed into a very beautiful girl. The priest and his wife then took the girl home.

They named her Nai Manggale. The news about Nai Manggale spread very fast. All the villagers came to the priest's house to see Nai Manggale. Among them were Datu Panggana and Bao Partigatiga. Datu Panggana said, "She has to stay in my house. The statue was mine." But, Bao Partigatiga also claimed the same thing. "She is wearing my clothes. So, she has to stay in my house." The priest did not want to lose Nai Manggale. "Remember, I am the one who made her live like a human. So, she stays here." Those three men then were busy arguing. They claimed to have the rights of Nai Manggale. To calm them, an elderly of the village gave a solution. His name was Aji Bahir. "You all can have her and have a relationship with her. Datu Panggana, you are her uncle. Bao Partigatiga, you are her brother. And you the priest, you are her father."The three men accepted Aji Bahir's advice. And now they were happy because they all could ask her to stay in their houses. Besides that, now those three men were related. ***

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Lau Kawar

Lau Kawar

Folklore from North Sumatra

IT was a beautiful day. Everybody in Kawar village was happy. The farmers just had their best harvest. All the barns were full of rice. The villagers were planning to hold a party to celebrate the good harvest. On one beautiful day, all the villagers gathered in a field. They wore beautiful dresses and made delicious food. Everybody was having good times! They were singing, laughing, and of course, eating delicious food. Did everyone go to the party? Unfortunately, there was one old woman still stayed at her house. She is too old and weak to go to the party. Her son, her daughter-in-law, and her grandchildren all went to the party. At home, the old woman felt very sad and lonely. She was very hungry too. But when she tried to find some food in the kitchen, she was very sad. Her daughter-in-law did not cook that day. At the party, the son asked her wife, "Why don't you take some food from the party and give it for my mom. Ask our son to deliver it."

Then the little boy brought the food to her grandmother. The old woman was so happy. But her happiness turned into sadness when she saw the food was not in the good condition. It seemed that someone has eaten the food. It just had little rice. The fish just had the bones. Then, old woman cried and cried. She was very sad. She thought bad things about her son. She thought that her son neglected her. The old woman did not know that it was her grandson who ate the food. He did that on the way from the party to the house. But it was too late. The old woman was so sad and angry. She cursed her son. Then, an incredible thing happened. There was a great earthquake! Thunder struck the village. And heavy rain started to fall. All the villagers were so scared. They wanted to save themselves. They tried to find shelters. Slowly, the field turned into a lake. The lake was getting bigger and bigger and finally the whole village turned into a big lake. People then named the lake into Lau Kawar. (*)0 comments

Siranggir the Cow

Siranggir the CowFolklore from North Sumatra

SIRANGGIR was a cow. She had some children. Everyday they went to a field to eat some grass with their owner, Aji Tonggal. He was a young man and he loved his cows very much. He even could talk with them.Aji Tonggal and his parents build a new house for them. The people had a tradition. Before a family stayed in their new house, they had to sacrifice a cow. So, the father asked Aji Tonggal to sacrifice the biggest cow they had. And it was Siranggir, the mother cow.

Siranggir was very sad. But Aji Tonggal had to listen and obey his parents. So, he went to Siranggir and explained what happened. Siranggir knew about the tradition, and he also knew that sooner or later she would also be sacrificed."Don't worry, Aji Tonggal. I'm ready to be sacrificed. Please promise that you will always take care of my kids after I have gone. And I have a request. Give me time to talk to my children. I want to say good bye to them," said Siranggir.All the children were very sad. They did not want to lose their mother. They understood about the tradition after their mother explained it to them.Then, it was time for the ceremony. Aji Tonggal did not have the heart to kill his beloved cow. He asked somebody else to do that. After Siranggir was killed, Aji Tonggal's parents shared the meat to the neighbours. The family still kept Siranggir's head. The head was hung in the kitchen.Several days after the ceremony, a strange thing happened to the family. Every morning, the family went to the field and when they arrived home in the afternoon, they always had food in the kitchen. The food was enough for the whole family.Aji Tonggal was really curious. One day, he went home earlier. He saw a beautiful girl was cooking in the kitchen. Slowly he walked towards the girl, and grabbed her hand."Please let me go. I will explain everything. I am Siranggir. Even though I'm dead, I still want to dedicate my life to you. That's why I transformed my life into a girl," said the girl.Aji Tonggal was surprised. He then looked for Siranggir's head in the kitchen. But he could not find it. Then he believed that Siranggir's head had already transformed into a young girl.Aji Tonggal then fell in love with the girl. After that, he talked to his parents. He wanted to marry the girl. The parents agreed. Once again the family had a ceremony. This time, it was ceremony for their marriage. ***[link]0 comments

Raja Omas

Raja OmasFolklore from North Sumatra

IN Simalungun, North Sumatra, there was a king with six wives. Although the king had six wives, he did not have a child yet. Therefore, he decided to marry another woman. His seventh wife gave him a son. The king named him Raja Omas. The other six wives were jealous. The king only loved his seventh wife and the baby. Those six wives had a bad plan. They got rid of the baby by putting him in a big pumpkin and let it drift in a river. On the following day, an old woman was washing her clothes on the river. She heard a baby crying. She was surprised to see ababy boy inside a pumpkin and brought him home. The old woman took good care of Raja Omas until he became a handsome and diligent man. To help the old woman, Raja Omas opened a coffee shop. He also provided tuak, a traditional drink. His tuak was very delicious. Many people came to his coffee shop to drink his tuak. In the mean time, the king was ill. He only could be cured by drinking a very delicious tuak. He heard that there was a young man sold delicious tuak. So, the king went there. Right after the king met Raja Omas, the king knew that Raja Omas was his son. Raja Omas said, "It is impossible, Your Majesty. I have a mother. She is inside." But then, the old woman told the truth. Raja Omas was not her son. She found Raja Omas in the river. Later the king brought him in the palace. After that, the king asked Raja Omas to get married. So, Raja Omas decided to visit the villages to find the right woman. When he arrived in a big lake, he saw some women were taking a bath. He stole one cloth. He did not know that those women were angels from heaven. Because her cloth was stolen, one angel could not fly to go back to the heaven. She was sad. Raja Omas then asked the angel to marry him. Then they got married and had a baby boy. However, the angel found her cloth. She was so happy, now she could fly to the heaven Right before she flew, she wanted to grab her son. But Raja Omas moved very fast. He wanted his son to stay with him and did not go to heaven. The angel was angry. She turned into saringgon, a typhoon. To protect his son, Raja Omas covered the baby with some smelly ingredients. The angel hated smelly ingredients. Since then, mothers in Simalungun also covered their babies with some smelly ingredients every time they hear saringgon. They are afraid that saringgon would take their babies away. ***

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The Legend of Golog Stone

Folklore from Nusa Tenggara Barat

Once upon a time, there was a family of farmers. The father's name was Amaq Lebain and the mother's name was Inaq Lebain. They had two children, a son and a daughter. They lived happily.The parents really loved their children. Every time they went farming, they always brought they children to the rice fields.One day the father went to the market to sell their harvest Meantwhile, the mother went to the rice field alone to pound the rice. And as always, she brought the children to the rice field.Pllease take care of our children. I won't to be long in the market. I will go to the rice field after I finish selling the harvest, said the father.I will be carefull, said the mother.Okay, Mother, said the children.Later the mother was busy pounding the rice. It was quite noisy. Strangely, every time the mother pounded the rice, the stone where the children were sitting down was growing.The children were scared. They screamed."Mother? The stone is getting taller!" They screamed.The mother could not hear them well. She thought the children asked her to go home.Just the minutes kids, I will finish this soon, said the mother.But mom, the stone is getting taller. We were scared, the children were crying.Be patient, I will finish pounding the rice soon, said the mother.Again, she could not hear them well.It was repeated again and again.The golog stone was getting taller and taller and finally it reached the clouds. The children could not be seen it anymore.When the mother finished pounding the rice, she was shocked! She could not find her children. She was crying. She then prayed to God. She wanted to bring her children down but she did not know how to do it. Somehow God answered her pray. She had to use the rice pounder to cut down the Golog stone.Then she hit the stone with the rice pounder. Amazingly, the stone broke down into three pieces. The first part fell in an area which later called Gembong Village. The second part fell in area which was later named Dasan Batu, and the last part fell in area which later was named Montong Teker. Unfortunately, the two children could not come back to their mother. They had changed into birds.***0 comments

Princess Mandalika

Folklore from Nusa Tenggara Barat

ONCE upon a time, there was a kingdom in Lombok. The king had a very beautiful daughter. Her name was Princess Mandalika. She was very beautiful; many young men fell in love with her.Princes from all over the place wanted to marry her. One by one, they came to propose her. Princess Mandalika was a kind girl. She hated to make people sad. So, when those princes came to propose her to be their wives, she was very confused. She could not decide, and she also did not want to make them sad.The king then held a competition in Seger Kuta beach, Lombok. He asked all the princes to take part in archery competition. The rule was simple: whoever shot the target perfectly, he could be the husband of his beautiful daughter.One by one, all participants tried their best. They all wanted to be the winners. After several time, there was no winner. All the participants were great. Those princes were great in archery.Because there was no a winner, then they started to argue. They claimed to be the best. The argument was getting hotter and hotter. Finally, they all were fighting. Soon, the fighting was bigger. It was like a war, because all princes brought their soldiers in the archery competition.Princess Mandalika was really worried. She did not want the war to get bigger and hurt many people. Finally, she had an idea."Everybody, listen up! I know you all love me and want me to be your wife. But I can't be all your wives. I don't want you to fight because of me. And I don't want you to be sad either. I want you all to have me, but not as your wives. I want to be someone that everybody can have. I want to be useful for you. I want to be nyale that you all can enjoy together," said Princess Mandalika.The king and all other people in the beach did not understand what she meant. The king then came to her. But before he came closer to his daughter, Princess Mandalika jumped to the sea. She was disappeared in the big waves.It was chaos on the beach. People were screaming. All the princes tried to swim to find the princess. But no one dared to jump in the sea, the waves were too high.After several hours trying to search the princess, suddenly they found a lot of sea worms on the beach. The king then realized that his daughter had returned as sea worms. Later he named the worms as nyale.Until now, people in Lombok always try to catch nyale. Nyale is very delicious and that is why more and more people come to Lombok to catch it. However, they cannot catch it anytime they want. They can only find it once a year, in February or March. The tradition to catch the sea worms is called Bau Nyale. ***

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A Story from roti island

A Story from roti island

Folklore from Nusa Tenggara Timur

ONCE upon a time, a grandmother and her grand daughter lived in Roti Island, Nusa Tenggara Timur. They had a field and grew some vegetables. The grandmother sold them at the market. On one morning, the grandmother would go to the market. Before she left, she asked her granddaughter to cook. “ Please cook some rice for lunch. But just cook one grain of rice. It’s enough for both of us.” “Why, Grandma?” asked the girl. “Just do what I said.” The grandmother then left for the market. Later, the girl started to cook. However, she felt a grain of rice would not be enough for them. “I think it’s not enough for me and my grandmother.” Then she took two handful of rice. Suddenly, something bad happened to the rice pot. “Oh, no! The rice flowed out of the pot!” shouted the girl. “What should I do?” The rice became rice porridge. It flowed and flowed until it covered the kitchen. Suddenly, the grandmother came home. The girl explained what happened. “You are a naughty girl! Why didn’t you listen to me?” the grandmother was so angry. She hit the girl with a wooden stick. “ Please forgive me, Grandma!” the little girl cried and cried. But the grandmother kept hitting her. Then, an incredible thing happened! The girl turned into a monkey. The monkey then ran away and climbed a tree. The grandmother chased the monkey. From the tree, the monkey said. “Grandmother, I’m a monkey now. I cannot live with you anymore. You are all alone.” Then the monkey climbed up and disappeared. The grandmother was very sad. She regretted what she done to her beloved grand daughter. “ Please come back to me. Please forgive me, my grand daughter!’ but it was too late. The little girl has turned into a monkey and never came home. The people of Roti Island believe this story. And that is why until now; people in Roti Island never hit their children or other people’s child. They are afraid that the child would turn into a monkey. ***

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Biwar

A Folk tale from Papua

PEOPLE in a village in Mimika are busy. They want to find sago. They prepare 12 boats to sail in the river. After three days, their boats are full with sago and now they want to go back to their hometown.While they are sailing, suddenly a dragon comes! The dragon uses his tail to attack people. The tail makes a very big wave in the river. Most of them are drawn. Only one person survives. The person is a woman. She is hanging to her boat and finally arrives in a land.She is very sad. She is pregnant and her husband is killed. Her boat is broken so she cannot go back to her hometown. Later she gives birth to a son. She names her son Biwar. She raises Biwar and gives skills, like how to make weapons, set traps to catch animals, and how to make fire.Biwar becomes a handsome, strong, and healthy man. One day she asks his mother."Mother, where is my father? And how do we live alone? Where is everybody?"Biwar's mother cries. "Your father is killed by the dragon. I'm the only one survived from the incident. That's why we live alone here, Son."Biwar is very sad. His father has died. Then he plans to take his mother to go back to their hometown.Biwar makes a big boat. He also makes a lot of weapons. He wants to protect his mother from the dragon. After the boat is ready, they are sailing in the river. While they are sailing, suddenly there is a big wave. The dragon is coming!From his boat, Biwar uses his arrow to attack the dragon. After several times, he finally kills the dragon.When they are arrive in the village, people are happy to welcome Biwar. Thanks to him, they are not afraid to sailing in the river anymore. *** 0 comments

The Unhappy Cendrawasih

Folklore from Papua

Mr and Mrs Brown Bird lived in a jungle in Papua. Mr Brown always complains about his feathers. He thinks they were ugly. He is jealous with his friend, Mr Green Bird."I want to have beautiful feathers like Mr Green Bird. His feathers are not brown like mine. They are very beautiful," says Mr Brown Bird to his wife."Honey, you have to be grateful with your feathers. With feathers like this, humans are not interested in us. So they will not hunt us," says Mrs Brown Bird.Mr Brown Bird then goes to the God of Jungle. "I want to have beautiful feathers like Mr Green Bird's feathers,” says Mr Brown Bird."Don't worry. I can make your wish comes true. Just choose one color.""Hmm I don't know. How about red? Yellow? Green? I'm confused."The God of Jungle is upset. "Choose now!"Mr Brown Bird then looks up to the sky. He has an idea. "Aha! I know which color to

choose. I don't want want one color of my feathers. I want many colors. I want my feathers to be colorful like the rainbow in the sky."Not longer after that, Mr Brown Bird's feathers are colorful. When he goes home, his wife does not recognize him."Honey, it's me. I'm your husband.""No, my husband is not like you! His feathers are brown!" says Mrs brown Bird.Mr Brown Bird tries very hard to convince his wife realizes that he is really her husband."You are very stupid, my husband. Wit color like these, humans will hunt you. What if thy also take our children? Now, please go away! Our lives are in danger if you are still here," says Mrs Brown Bird. She is crying.Mr Brown Bird is very sad. He knows he just made a very big mistake. He then lives his house. His name then changes into Cendrawasih. It means a bird of paradise. ***0 comments

Towjatuwa and the Sacred CrocodileFolklore From papua

ONCE upon a time in Papua, Towjatuwa and his wife lived by the Tami River. They were very happy. They had been waiting to have a baby and after some time, his wife got pregnant. The pregnancy was in the ninth month. Soon, his wife would give a birth. Days passed by, but his wife was still unable to give birth. She had a problem that made her in the great pain. To help her give the birth, Towjatuma needed a sharp stone. He wanted to have an operation to help his wife. So, he went to the river side to find a sharp stone. While busy looking for the stone, he heard a noise. He was so scared. He knew the river was full of crocodiles. Just before he left, a big crocodile was in front of him! The crocodile was different from any other crocodiles. It had feathers. The feathers were like kaswari's. Towjatuma was ready to run, suddenly the crocodile talked. "Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you. What are you doing here?" asked the crocodile politely. Towjatuma was really scared. He was really amazed to see a crocodile talked like humans. After a while, he then answered. "I'm here to find a sharp stone. My wife is pregnant and she has a problem. She cannot give birth. So, I want to do an operation," explained Towjatuma. "I will help you. Go home now and I'll come to your house tomorrow," said the crocodile. Towjatuma immediately went back to his house. When he arrived, he explained about the crocodile to his wife. On the following day, the crocodile came to Towjatuma's house. With his magical power, the crocodile helped her to give birth. The baby was a boy. The crocodile named him Narrowra. "Towjatuma, I already helped you. Now I ask you to help me. Your son Narrowra will grow as a great hunter. He has great skills in hunting. He can catch many animals. However, don't hunt my friends, the crocodiles. You have to tell Narrowra not to hunt crocodiles. And not only Narrowra, all your descendants have to protect crocodiles. If they hunt and eat crocodile’s meat, all your descendants will die," said the crocodile."Yes, I understand. I will never forget your help. So I will teach my child and all my descendants to protect you and your friends," said Towjatuma. Since then, Towjatuma and his descendants promised to protect the crocodiles from other hunters. They also protected other animals that lived in the river. ***0 comments

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The Legend of Senua Island

Folklore From Riau

ONCE upon a time, there lived a poor fisherman. His name was Baitusen.His wife's name was Mai Lamah. They lived in Natuna, Riau. They were so poor and they were not satisfied with their lives. They decided to go to another island. They planned to go to Benguran Island. The island was rich with the natural resources. They hoped they lives would be better. They wanted to be rich.When they arrived in Bunuran Island, they were so happy. The people were very nice. They were kind and helped each other, They also helped Baitusen build his house.Baitusen and Mai Lamah were also happy to live in Bunguran Island. They were so grateful. The people did not treat them differently although they were new comers on the island. One of the people in Bungutan island was Mak Semah. She was a midwife. He helped pregnant women in childbirth. Besides that, she also helped sick people."Remember. Whenever you are not feeling well, do not hesitate to call me," said Mak Semah to Mai Lalmah.Baitusen worked very hard. He really wanted to be rich. He never complained. His work hard finally gave him plained. His work hard finally gave him great wealth. Slowly he became very rich. He build bigger house. His wife also started to buy jewelries.Mai Lamah changed her appearances. She wanted to look like rich woman.She did not want to look dirty and poor. Sadly, it was not only her appearance that changed. Her attitude also changed. Previously, she was a nice and kind woman. But after she was rich, she became arrogant. She did not want to get along with her neighbors.In one night, Mah Semah went to Baitusen's house. She wanted to ask for some rice to cook. She was poor. She hoped that Baitusen could help her."Please help me. May I have some rice? I'm so hungry and I don't have any money to buy rice," said Mak Semah.Mai lamah was upset. "What? If you want to have some rice, you have to buy. And if you don't have any money, you have to work. No, I don't want to help you.""But, I really don't have any money. And I'm too old to work." said Mak Semah."I don't care. Now go away!"May Lamah's bad behaviour made the people hate her. However, she did not care. Indeed, she felt very happy when the people did not talk to them. So, they did not disturb her anymore.Mai Lamah and Baitusen were happy. Mai Lamah was pregnant. They soon would have a baby. And finally it was time for Mai Lamah to deliver her baby.She was in great pain. Baitusen asked Mak Semah to help his wife. But she refused to help. He asked other neighbors to help, but they also refuse to help."Don't worry. Let's go another island. I'm sure the people there will help us," said Baitusen to Mai Lamah.

"Okay, but don't forget to bring our jeweleries," said Mak Lemah.Then, they were sailing in their ship. It was loaded with their wealth.Unfortunately, their journey was not in the good condition. There was a great storm. Thunder attacked their ship. they asked for help. But no one helped them. Slowly their

ship was sinking.Mai Lmah's body turned into a big stone. Slowly the stone turned into an island. People named it Sanua Island. Sanua mean one person with two bodies. Meanwhile her jewelries turned into swallow birds. Until now, Bunguran island is known as home for swallow birds.***0 comments

Dayang Kumunah

Folklore from Riau

Once upon a time, lived an old fisherman.His name was Awang Gading and he lived alone. His wife died a long time ago and he did not have any child.In one morning, Awang Gading was fishing. He hoped he could catch some fishtoday. Sadly, he was not lucky. It was almost dark but he still did not catch a fish yet. Heplanned to go home and rowed his sampan to the riverside.When he reached the riverside, he heard a baby cry. He was surprised. It was almost dark and he did not see anyone there.However, he still tried to find the baby.Finally he found the baby! It was a baby girl and she was very beautiful.Carefully, Awing held the baby and brought her home.In the morning, he told the head of the village about the baby.When the head of the village saw the baby, he said, “You arelucky. The baby is the child of the spirit of the river. Please take care of her.”Awing Gading was very happy. He named the baby girl Dayang Kumunah.He took care of her with great love. Dayang Kumunah grew as a verybeautiful and diligent girl. However, there wassomething strange about her. She never laughed.Dayang Kumunah was so famous for her beauty.One of the young men who fell in love with her was Awangku Usop. He was a handsome and rich man. He proposed Dayang Kumunah to be his wife.

Dayang Kumuna agreed, but he had to promise one thing. He never asked Dayang Kumunah to laugh.Though he felt very strange, Awangku Usop agreed to promise. Then, they got married. Sadly,after they got married, Awing Gading died.Dayang Kumunah was very sad. He loved his father very much.Days passed bu, now Dayang Kumunah and Awangku Usop had five children.Awangku Usop actually wanted to know why Dayang Kumunah never laughed.However, he did not want to break his promise.Their youngest child was still a toddler. He just learned how to walk. One day, the whole family gathered in the house.They saw the youngest child tried to walk. Everybody was laughing because the child was so funny. Everybody was laughing except Dayang Kumunah.This time Awangku Usop could not hold it anymore. And he broke his promise, he asked his wife to laugh. “I have told you not to ask me to laugh, why did you break your promise?” Said Dayang Kumunah.“I am really curious. We have been married for years but I never see you laugh,” said Awangku Usop.Then Dayang Kumunah did it, she laughed. And when she laughed people could see her fish gills. Dayang Kumunah was so sad. She ran to the river and swam.Awangku Usop and the children followed her. They saw Dayang Kumunah slowly changed into a fish.Awangku Usop was really sad. He already broke his promise.“Please take care of our children. I am not a human. I am from the river and Iwill live here,” said Dayang Kumunah. She then changed into a fish. People named the fish as Patin Fish.*** 0 comments

The Legend of Putri Mambang Linau

Folklore from Riau

BUJANG Enok was collecting fire woods in the jungle.He wanted to sell them in the market. Suddenly, a snake was in front of him. He tried to kill the snake with the woods. And he did it! The snake died.Then he heard a voice of women talking. “The snake is dead, we are safe now.”The voice was from the river not far from the jungle. He ignored the voice. It was noon, Bujang Enok went home.When he arrived, he saw the house was clean and neat. The food was also served! He wasreally confused.On the following day, it happened again. The house was clean and he had food on the table. He wanted to know who did it. So, on the next day he was hiding in the bushes in front of his house.After waiting, then he saw seven beautiful girls were entering his house. They all were wearing colorful shawl.Bujang Enok was peeping through the window. He saw all the seven girls were doing the

household chores. Later, they left the house. Bujang Enok followedthem.The girls went to the river, they were talking. Bujang Enok remembered the voice when he was collecting the woods.It was their voice.The girls were taking a bath. They put their shawls on the river side. Bujang Enok took one of them. After they finished, the girls wore their shawls.However, one of them could not find her shawl.“I’m sorry, we have to go home now.Find your shawl and go back home immediately after you find it,” said a girl.The girl who lost the shawl was really sad. Her sisters were wearing the shawl then they were flying.They were angels.Bujang Enok saw the girls flying and he was surprised. Then he came to the girl.She asked, “Do you see my shawl? If you give it to me, I’ll do anything for you.”“Yes, I do. And I will give it to you if you marry me,” said Bujang Enok. He fell in love with this beautiful angel.“Alright, my name is Putri Mambang Linau. I will marry you, but please don’t ask me to dance. If I dance, I will leave you and I will go back home in the sky.”After that Bujang Enok and Putri Mambang Linau were married. They had happy life, and soon Bujang Enok became a rich man. He was very generous.He always helped the needy. He became famous.The king heard the news about Bujang Enok. He invited Bujang Enok and his wife to the palace. There was a ceremony there. In the ceremony all the women had to dance. Bujang Enok was very confused. He already promised his wife not to ask her to dance, but he had to respect the King. Then he decided to ask her to dance.Putri Mambang Linau was sad. Actually she loved Bujang Enok, but she knew her husband really respected the king.Then Putri Mambang Linau danced. She wore her shawl. She moved her hands like an eagle fl uttering it’s wings. Slowly her body was going up. She was flying.Everybody was surprised. The king asked Bujang Enok who she was. Bujang Enok explained all about it.The king was really touched. He was very impressed with his sacrifice. To honor him, he asked the girls to dance like Putri Mambang Linau’s dance.Because the movement was like a flying eagle, then the dance was named elang-elang dance. Until now, people still do the dance. However, the name is gradually changed into olang-olang dance.***0 comments

Prince Suta and King Bayang

Folklore from Riau

SULTAN Hasan Salehuddin Kemaramtsyah was the king of Indragiri Kingdom in Riau. The King was very wise. He was also very kind to his people. The people lived happily and peacefully. The King had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Princess Halimah. She

was very famous.Many young men fell in love with her.The peaceful life in Indragiri Kingdom was disturbed. A king from a neighboring kingdom came. His name was King Bayang. The King brought his soldiers. They stole and robbed people’s house. Sultan Hasan immediately sent his soldiers to fi ght King Bayang’s soldiers.Sadly, Sultan Hasan’s soldiers lost the fight. King Bayan came to the palace. He wanted to meet Sultan Hasan.“Why did you do terrible things to our people?” asked Sultan Hasan.“Ha ha ha… Sorry if I make you angry. Actually, I’m here because I heard you have a beautiful daughter. I want to marry her,” said King Bayang.“Impossible. I’m sure my daughter doesn’t want to marry a bad king like you!”“What?! You refused my proposal?! You will be sorry, Sultan Hasan!!”King Bayang was very angry.He left the palace and later came back with more soldiers. They attacked the palace.Sultan Hasan fought bravely. However he did not have many soldiers.They lost the fi ght. Sultan Hasan, his daughter, and some loyal soldiers escaped.Finally they arrived in a small village. Sultan Hasan and his soldiers set a new strategy.“Your Majesty, we need to get some help. With the soldiers we have right now, we cannot win our kingdom back,” said one soldier.“Do you have any ideas? Who can help us?” asked Sultan Hasan.“I heard there is a great prince. His name is Prince Suta. He is from eastern area. He is very kind. He already helped Jambi Kingdom from bad people.”“Alright then… fi nd Prince Suta. Tell him about King Bayang and also tell him that we need his help to win our kingdom back,” said Sultan Hasan.The soldier immediately left. Luckily he found Prince Suta. The soldiers told him about Sultan Hasan’s messages.“I’ve heard about King Bayang before. He is a bad king. He disturbed many people. Tell Sultan Hasan, I will help him. I will go to Indragiri now,” said Prince Suta.When he arrived in Indragiri, he immediately went to the palace.He challenged King Bayang to fight.“Ha ha ha…. Why do you want fi ght me, young man?” asked King Bayang.“Because this is not your kingdom, you have to go back!”“Alright, if I win I will stay. And if I lose, I will go back home.”Prince Suta and King Bayang were fi ghting! Both of them were very powerful. Luckily, Prince Suta was younger. He had more power than King Bayang. Soon, King Bayang lost the fi ght.King Bayang and his soldiers left Indragiri Kingdom. Later, Sultan Hasan and Princess Halimah went back home. The people were so happy. To express his gratitude, Sultan Hasan asked Prince Suta to marry his beautiful daughter. Prince Suta agreed.Prince Suta and Princess Halimah were very happy. Since then Indragiri Kingdom was always safe from bad people. ***0 comments

The Ungrateful Student

Folklore from Riau

A long time ago in Riau, the people in Daik Lingga kingdom lived happily. It was peaceful and no criminals would dare to do bad things there. The criminals were afraid of Apek Huang Tai. He was a master of martial arts. He was old and had many students. They learned martial arts from him. One of the students was Mahmud.Mahmud was an intelligent student. In a very short time he already mastered all the skills and techniques of martial arts.Apek Huang Tai felt that it was time for Mahmud to stop learning from him. He suggested Mahmud to go to other place. Before he left, Apek Huang Tai gave him an advice.“Remember, wherever you go, use your martial arts skills wisely. Use it only when it is necessary, because it can hurt people,” said Apek Huang Tai.Mahmud did not have any place to go.He just listened to his heart.He finally arrived in Palembang.It was in mid day, he heard a cock crowing.He was curious.Normally, cocks crowed in the morning. He then had funny idea, he imitated the crow.Suddenly, some soldiers were in front of him and cornered him.“Because you have just crowed, then you have to fight my Commander.”“I don’t understand. What do you mean? I am new here,” said Mahmud.“You heard a cock crowing right? Well, it was not a cock. The crow was made the Commander of the palace. His nick name is Commander Cock Crowing. He always challenges people to fight him. If someone responds to his crow, he has to fight him. You respond, then you have to fight him!”Mahmud knew he just made a mistake.However, he did not want to run away. He wanted to be responsible. The soldiers later brought him to the open field. The commander was waiting for him. Without waiting any longer, the commander attacked him. Mahmud was bleeding. He remembered his teacher’s advice. He thought he had to use his martial art skills, otherwise he would be killed!Mahmud fought back. He used all the skills he mastered. He attacked the commander. The commander gave up!He asked Mahmud to stop attacking him. The king saw the fight. He knew that Mahmud was more powerful than the commander. The king then asked Mahmud to be the new commander.Right after Mahmud was appointed to be the new commander, he stayed in the palace. The new life in palace changedMahmud. He was now arrogant.Nobody dared to remind him, and that included the king.Mahmud did whatever he wanted. The king finally met Mahmud’s teacher. The king asked him to talk to Mahmud to do good things.“Why are you here, old man? I don’t need you anymore. I am the commander here. I can ask my soldiers to get rid of you!” said Mahmud to Apek Huang Tai.“You have changed. Remember my advice, I’ve told you to use the skills wisely.”

The fight could not be avoided.Mahmud and Apek Huang Tai fought courageously. Mahmud thought he could beat Apek Huang Tai. He was wrong. Even though Apek Huang Tai was old, he still had a lot of energy. And he knew Mahmud’s weaknesses. And Mahmud gave up! He apologized to his teacher. He knew he was wrong and he promised to be good again. ***0 comments

Batangkup Stone

Folklore from Riau

ONCE upon a time, there was a village in Indragiri Hilir, Riau. There lived a widow named Mak Minah. She had three children, two sons, and a daughter. Her son s names were Utuh and Ucin. And her youngest child’s name was Diang. Everyday Mak Minah always went to the jungle to collect some fire woods. She sold the woods in the market and used the money for their daily needs. She always worked alone. Her three children were lazy and only liked to play. They never helped her. It was already late in the evening. Mak Minah did not feel well. After selling the woods in the market, she wanted to go to bed immediately. However dinner was not ready yet. So she asked her three children to help her. "Utuh, Ucin, and Diang... please help me prepare the dinner", asked Mak Minah. Those three children ignored their mother and continued playing in the front yard. Mak Minah then forced herself to prepare the dinner. When it was ready, she called her children to have dinner. This time they listened to Mak Minah. Sadly after they finished eating, the children did not help their mother clean the dishes. Instead, they played again. Mak Minah cried. She was so sad. It was not the first time her children did not help her and ignored her. She was so sick that she went to bed immediately. In the morning, Mak Minah went to the riverside. There was a magical stone called Batangkup Stone. The stone had magical power. It could open and close its body like a sea shell. The stone could also talk to humans. "Batangkup Stone, please help me. I cannot hold the pains anymore. I'm so sick and my children did not want to help me. They always ignored me. "Please swallow my body", asked Mak Minah. "Well, if that s what you want.. get inside". I will open my body now. Batangkup Stone then opened its body. Mak Minah later went inside. Her long hair was still outside of the stone. In the meantime, Utuh, Ucin, and Diang woke up and felt hungry. Breakfast was not ready so they were looking for their mother. The children went here and there to find their mother. Finally they were in front of the Batangkup Stone. They saw their mother s hair. They knew their mother was inside Batangkup Stone s body. Please open your body. Let my mother go outside, scr eam Diang. "No, I won't! You are not good children. You always ignored your mother and never helped her", said Batangkup Stone. "But we need her now", said Utuh. "Yes, you need her now because you are hungry. You only listed to her when you want to eat. But you never help her. You will never see your mother again!" said Batangkup Stone. Those three children were crying very loud. They knew they were wrong. But it was too late to regret. They would never see their mother again. ***

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Bujang Buta

Folklore from Riau

ONCE upon a time in Riau, lived a mother with her three sons. The oldest was Bujang Perotan, the middle child was Bujang Pengail, and the youngest child was Bujang Buta. He was named Bujang Buta, because he was blind.Those three children had different personalities. Although he was blind, Bujang Buta was the kindest child.While his older brothers were busy playing, Bujang Buta always helped his mother.One day, their mother asked them to go to the jungle to collect some fire woods. Bujang Perotan and Bujang Pengail agreed to help. The mother and Bujang Buta did not know that Bujang Perotan and Bujang Pengail planned something bad. They wanted to leave Bujang Buta alone in the jungle!“Bujang Buta, stay here under this tree. Bujang Pengail and I will look for the woods in other areas. Wait for us and we’ll go home together,” said Bujang Perotan.Then, Bujang Buta waited and waited for hours.His brothers did not show up!Bujang Buta was so scared. He tried to walk. He could not find his stick. His brothers had hid it. Suddenly, he stepped on something.“What is this? I think this is a fruit.Hmm..it’s mango. Yummy!”Bujang Buta then enjoyed the fruit.He was really happy to eat the mango.He was very hungry. He ate the mango very fast until he made a mistake. He accidentally swallowed the pip fruit! His eyes were wide open. Amazingly the incident made his eyes able to see. He was no longer blind!However, his happiness soon ended after he saw there were a monkey and a tiger in font of him. He was so scared. He wanted to run away.“Don’t be afraid, my friend. We’re not going to hurt you,” said the tiger.“We know everything. We know you are a good kid. We want to help you.Take these ropes and stick. You will need them someday to help you,” said the monkey.Bujang Buta received those things. After saying thank you, Bujang Buta then continued walking. He wanted to go home.On the way home, he met some people. They told him that the king’s daughter was arrested by the king of elephants. Nobody dared to release her because the king had big elephants as his soldiers, which are why he was named as king of elephants.Bujang Buta wanted to release the princess. With the ropes and the stick, he was fighting bravely against the elephants. He won! He then released the princess and brought her back to the palace.The king was so happy, he then asked Bujang Buta to stay in the palace and marry his daughter. Bujang Buta was so happy; he immediately went home to ask his mother to stay with him in the palace.Bujang Buta did not have a hard feeling towards his brothers. He forgave them and also

asked them to stay in the palace. His brothers really regretted their bad behaviours. They promised to be nice. *** 0 comments

Dang Gedunai

Folklore from Riau

ONCE upon a time in Riau, lived a kid named Dang Gedunai. He lived with his mother. His father passed away when he was a baby. Dang Gedunai was a stubborn kid. His mother was sad. He was her only child but he never made her happy.“Mother, I want to go to the river. I want to go fishing,” said Dang Gedunai.“It’s cloudy outside. Rain will soon fall. Why don’t you just stay at home?”As always Dang Gedunai ignored her. He then went to the river.It was very cloudy when he arrived at the riverside. Soon it was drizzling but Dang Gedunai was still busy fishing. Later rain fell down heavily. Dang Gedunai finally gave up. However right before he left, he saw something shining in the river.It was a very big egg. Carefully, Dang Gedunai brought the egg home.His mother was surprised to see him brought a big egg.“What egg is that? Where did you find it?”“In the river, Mother.”“Be careful with the egg. You have to return it,” replied his mother.As always, he ignored his mother’s advice. He planned to boil the egg and ate it.In the morning, his mother was ready to go to the paddy field.Again, she advised him to put the egg back to the river. Dang Gedunai did not say anything.When his mother left the house, he immediately boiled the egg. When it was cooked, he ate it. It was so delicious. He was so full then he fell asleep. He had a dream. A giant dragon came to him.“You stole my egg. For the punishment, you will become a dragon!”Dang Gedunai woke up. He felt very thirsty. Later his mother went home.“What happened?”“I don’t know. Suddenly I feel very thirsty. My throat is very hot.”His mother then gave him a glass of water. It’s not enough. He drank another glass, then another glass, then another glass until there was not any water in the house. His mother asked him to go the pond. Dang Gedunai drank all the water until the pond was dried. But it was not enough. Then they went to the river.Again it was not enough. DangGedunai knew his dream would come true. He would become a dragon.“Mother, please forgive me. I ignored you. I ate the egg. It was a dragon’s egg. I will change as a dragon. I cannot live with you anymore. I will live in the sea. If you see big waves in the sea, that means I’m eating. But if the waves are calmed, then I’m sleeping,” said Dang Gedunai.His mother cried. Then slowly Dang Gedunai left her. His mother then told the villagers not to go to the sea when the waves were big. Her son was eating.Until now fishermen do not want to go fishing in the sea when the waves are big. They

know the dragon is eating. They just wait until the dragon is finished eating and the waves are calmed.***0 comments

The Greedy Poor Man

Folklore from Riau

Once upon a time in Negeri Rantau Baru, Pelalawan, Riau, lived husband and wife. They were very poor. Their clothes were the ones they wore everyday. They were not able to eat everyday. One day they ate, on the following day they did not eat.The wife always asked the husband to work hard. But he was lazy. He just slept and slept everyday. He did not want to help his wife to earn a living. The wife was helpless, she often prayed to God to help her husband.One night the husband had a dream. In his dream, an old man came to him. He told the husband to take his sampan and went to Sepunjung River."Just go to the middle of the river and wait until a rope appears from the river. Take the rope slowly then you will find a golden chain. Cut the golden chain, but don't take the chain too long," said the old man.The poor husband then woke up from his dream. He thought about his dream and wanted to do the old man's advice. So he took his sampan and went to Sepunjung River."Where are you going?" asked the wife. She was so surprised to see her husband was busy preparing the sampan."I want to go fishing. See you later!" the husband did not want to tell about his dream. He knew his wife would think he was crazy by following up a dream.After arrived in the river, slowly he rowed his sampan. He wanted to make sure he would be right in the middle of the river. Then he waited and waited. Suddenly a rope appeared from the river."The old man is right!" said the husband. He then pulled out the rope. Slowly he pulled out and later at the end of the rope he saw a golden chain! The chain was sparkling and glowing. It was made by real gold."Yippee!" said the husband. He pulled the chain again and again. He forgot the old man's advice to take only short chain because it was enough for him. The poor man became a greedy man. He wanted to take the golden chain as long as possible. He wanted to sell the golden chain and had a lot of money.While he was busy pulling out the golden chain, a bird came to him. He talked, "Hey poor man, remember the old man's advice. Take only a short golden chain."But the poor man ignored the bird and kept on pulling out the chain. Slow but sure, his sampan was full of the golden chain. It was so full that finally the sampan could not hold the weights any more.The sampan was drowned. The golden chain was sinking and went to the bottom of the river. It created big waves and the waves almost swallowed the poor man. He was so panicked and swam fast to the river side.When he arrived on the river side, he felt sorry to himself. He blamed himself for being a greedy man. But it was too late and it was useless for feeling sorry. But then he realized that it was a lesson for him to work hard if he wanted to have a lot of money. ***

Showing posts with label South Kalimantan. Show all posts Showing posts with label South Kalimantan. Show all posts

The Dandaung Snake

Folklore from South Kalimantan

A long time ago, there was a big kingdom in South Kalimantan. The people lived happily and peacefully. There were no poor people. The land was fertile and they always had great harvest. The kingdom was also peaceful. The king was wise and always protected his people.The king had seven daughters. Those seven princesses were very beautiful.The king and the queen really loved them. Their daughters were all still single.It was a beautiful afternoon. The king and his family spent their time in the garden. Suddenly the chief soldier came.He told the king a very bad news.“Your majesty! A giant bird attacked our kingdom. The bird is destroying the rice fields. It is also attacking the people.Many people are wounded,” said the soldier.“We have to do something. Prepare the soldiers. I’ll command the attack,” said the king bravely. He then took his weapon and led the soldiers.When the king and the soldiers arrived, they were very shocked. The bird was very big. It was very powerful and mean. The king did not want to wait any longer.The king and the soldiers fought bravely. At fi rst, they could not match the fight. However they all were very brave. Slowly the giant bird gave up. It was very tired and stopped its attack.The people were happy. For a moment they were safe from the bird.A week later, the kingdom was restless again. This time a giant snake came to the palace. Amazingly the snake could talk like humans. The snake wanted to meet the king and his family.“Your Majesty, my name is Dandaung Snake. I’m here to marry one of your seven daughters,” said the snake.All the daughters were screaming.They all were afraid. However the king was silent and calmed. He knew he had to be very careful. He tried to fi nd a solution.“I cannot decide right now. We need to discuss. Come back tomorrow,” said the king.He planned to prolong the time.Meanwhile he also had to ask his daughters. One by one the king asked them, but they all refused to marry the snake.The king was hopeless. He was afraid the snake would attack his kingdom, he still had problems with the giant bird. It was because the bird was still alive and it could return and attack the kingdom and his people at any time.Suddenly his youngest daughter came to him. She said, “Father, I’m willing to marry the snake. I’m afraid the snake will be angry and attack our kingdom if nobody wants to marry him.”The king was speechless. He was very touched with her youngest daughter’s sacrifice.

Then he ordered his peopleto hold a great wedding ceremony for her youngest daughter and DandaungSnake.The party was great. All the guests were proud with the youngest princess.When everybody was having fun, suddenly something strange happened.Dandaung Snake slowly changed into a very handsome man. He looked into the youngest princess face and he said. “Don’t be afraid. You have already helped me from the curse.A bad witch cursed me into a snake.Actually I’m a prince and I have great supernatural power.”The prince went away. He knew the people were still afraid with the giant bird. The prince wanted to kill the bird. And fi nally he succeeded!The giant bird was dead. Everybody was happy. The king was also happy.He asked the prince to be the new king.Since then the kingdom was always peaceful. ***0 comments

Dewi Luing Indung Bunga

Folklore from South Kalimantan

PEOPLE in Kampung Datar, South Kalimantan, suffered. There has been disaster. Long drought has made them lack of water. Many people were ill. Children were crying because they were veryhungry. Their parents could not work because they were too weak. They had not eaten much.The head of the village was Datu Beritu Taun.He asked all the villagers to have a meeting. He wanted to discuss how to fi nd the solutions of the problem. He knew God was angry with them.They had wasted all the blessing from God. Yes, previously their village was fertile. Water was easy to fi nd. Their life was prosperous.It all changed when the villagers cut down the trees recklessly in the jungle. After all the big trees were cut down, their village was flooded. It was very terrible.After that, long drought attacked their village.“My fellow villagers, let’s fi nd solutions for this disaster. We need a lot of water. Do you have any ideas?” asked Datu BerituTaun, the head of the village, during the meeting.“I think we have to dig to fi nd well, Sir,” said one villager.“But we are too weak to work,” said another villager.“Well, if we don’t do anything, more people are going to die. I think we have to dig deeper to find the source of water,” said another villager.“I agree. Now I want all the strong men to dig the land. We have to fi nd water!” said DatuBeritu Taun.Without waiting any longer, all strong men were busy digging. One of them was Antun Kumara Sukma. He was Datu Beritu Taun’s oldest son. Antun had a sister. Her name was Dewi Luing Indung Bunga. Days and nights the villagers were digging. In one night,

Datu Beritu Taun had a dream while he was sleeping. In his dream, he heard that the village could be prosperous again if a girl was willing to be sacrifi ced. The girl had to be kind hearted and obedient to her parents.When he woke up, Datu Beritu Taun told the men about his dream. He asked them to fi nd a girl who was willing to be sacrifi ced.The villagers waited and waited… Sadly, no girl wanted to be sacrifi ced.Dewi Luing Indung Bunga was a very kind girl.She knew she had to be sacrifi ced. She then told his father about it.“Father, mother… I want this disaster to end. I want our people to be happy again. If there is no girl to be sacrifi ced, let me sacrifice myself,” said Dewi Luing Indung Bunga.Though they were very sad, but the family let Dewi to sacrifi ce herself. All the villagers gathered in a big fi eld. Dewi Luing Indung Bunga was standing in the middle. Suddenly, she fell down.She died. Not long after that rain fell down heavily.All the villagers were thankful to God. They would never forget Dewi’s sacrifice to them.Since then the villagers were very careful to the forests. They did not want to cut down the trees recklessly. ***0 comments

Ning Rangda

Folklore from South Kalimantan

A long time ago, there was an old woman named Ning Rangda. She was called Ning because she was old and had a hunchbacked body. Everybody knew her because she always makes a wedding dress. Every time people asked why she sewed a new wedding dress, she always said that it was for her prospective husband. Do you want to know the whole story why Ning Rangda always sewed a new wedding dress? Read on!When Rangda was a young girl, she always helped her parents. Her father was a tailor and Rangda always helped him sewed people's dress. Rangda was also very beautiful. Many young men fell in love with her.The king's son heard about Rangda. He was a prince of the kingdom and one day he would replace his father as the king. The prince was single and wanted to get married. So, he decided to go to Rangda's house. He wanted to order a dress from her.When the prince arrived at Rangda's house, he fell in love with her. After got his dress, he immediately went back to the palace. He wanted to tell his father that he already found his prospective wife.However, right after the prince arrived at the palace, he suffered a terrible illness. He got high fever. And every time the prince slept, he always whispered a name, "Rangda, Rangda, Rangda."The king was really worried. He asked his advisor about the Rangda's name. The advisor then told the king about the beautiful Rangda. The king knew that his son fell in love with her. The king then asked his soldiers to take him and the prince to Rangda's house. A soldier went first to Rangda's house. He was asked to tell Rangda and her parents about the wedding proposal.As he arrived at Rangda's house, he told Rangda and her parents that the king and the

prince would come to propose her. Rangda was very happy because she also fell in love with the prince.When the prince heard that she would meet the beautiful Rangda, he was very happy. He was then cured from his illness.Then the prince, the king, and the soldiers went to Rangda's house. The trip was very tiring and that made the prince suffered his illness again. The illness was worse than the previous one. It was so bad that finally the prince died.The king was sad. He thought it was useless to continue the trip. Then he went back to the palace. Meanwhile, Rangda did not know that the prince had died. She was sewing a wedding dress for the prince. She wanted to give him the best wedding dress.Everyday, she waited and waited for the prince but he never came. She always waited for the prince. She kept on sewing the wedding dress until she was old and had a hunchbacked body.***

Showing posts with label South Sulawesi. Show all posts Showing posts with label South Sulawesi. Show all posts

La Dana and His Buffalo

Folklore from South Sulawesi

IN Toraja, South Sulawesi, lived a young man. His name was La Dana. Everybody knew him. He was known for his clever ideas. He always tricked bad people. That’s why the villagers loved him. In Toraja, there was always a ceremony when someone passed away. In the ceremony, the guests could get buffalo meat from the host of the ceremony. La Dana went to the ceremony. Before he went home, the host gave him buffalo legs. On the way home, La Dana met Pak Kikir. He brought the whole body parts of the buffalo except the legs. Pak Kikir was a very stingy man. Nobody liked him. La Dana then had an idea to trick him. “Pak Kikir, you have all parts of the buffalo except the legs. And I only have the legs. Why don’t we put them together and gave them back to the host. We ask him to exchange it with a life buffalo. We raise the buffalo until it is big. Do you agree?” “That is a good idea. Let’s meet the host,” said Pak Kikir. Together they went back to the ceremony. The host agreed with one condition. He would exchange with a young buffalo. After they got the young buffalo, Pak Kikir and La Dana went home. “La Dana, let me raise the buffalo,” said Pak Kikir. He wanted to raise it by himself because he was afraid that La Dana would steal it. “I agree, but let me visit the buffalo everyday,” said La Dana. He was happy, his idea was running well so far. On the following day, La Dana came to Pak Kikir’s house. “Hey! Look! The buffalo is getting fatter,” said La Dana. “The buffalo has just been here for a day. How can you say he is getting fatter?”

“Look at the buffalo carefully. It is getting fatter. Pak Kikir, I want the legs now. They are mine, right?” said La Dana. Pak Kikir was silent. He knew if the legs were cut, the buffalo would die. “Don’t take the legs now. Wait for another time,” said Pak Kikir. On the following day, La Dana again came to Pak Kikir’s house and asked for the legs. Pak Kikir said the same thing, he asked La Dana to wait. Then La Dana came and came again. Every time he visited the buffalo, he always asked Pak Kikir to give him legs. Finally, Pak Kikir could not hold it anymore. “It’s enough La Dana! If you cut the legs, the buffalo would die. The buffalo is still young. We will not get a lot of meat. If you want to get the legs, here take this buffalo with you!” said Pak Kikir. He gave the buffalo to La Dana. La Dana was happy. His plan worked! He got a living buffalo and brought it home. ***

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Princess Tandampalik

Princess TandampalikFolklore from South Sulawesi

KING of Luwu had a very beautiful daughter. Her name was Princess Tandampalik. She was very beautiful. Any man who saw her would fall in love with her. Everybody knew about her beauty, including King of Bone. Bone was a kingdom that was far away from Luwu Kingdom. Then, King of Bone paid a visit to Luwu in order to propose Princess Tandampalik to be her daughter in-law. His son, Prince of Bone, was still single. King of Luwu actually did not want to accept the proposal. According to the culture, he could not have a son-in-law who lived very far from him. Otherwise, he would suffer from terrible disease. But, he knew if he refused it, kingdom of Bone would attack Luwu. Many of his people would suffer. After that, King of Bone came to Luwu and talked about the

marriage proposal. King of Luwu said he needed time to decide. King of Bone understood and went home. Suddenly, a bad thing happened. Princess Tandampalik was ill. She got skin rash. The kingdom healer said the disease could infect others. The king then decided to put the princess in a safe place. It was in a remote island named Wajo Island. The princess was not alone. Some soldiers accompanied her. The princess was sad. But she knew if she stayed in the kingdom, many people would be infected. So she was not angry with her father for making her stay in a remote island. Several days after Princess Tandampalik lived in Wajo Island, a cow came to her. The cow was different from other cows. The skin was albino. The cow licked Princess Tandampalik's skin. Amazingly, the disease was cured. Her skin was smooth again. Her beauty was back! In the mean time, Prince of Bone was sailing in the sea. He landed in Wajo Island. He was so surprised to see a very beautiful girl lived in such a remote island. "Wow, may be she is an angel," he thought. "Who are you, beautiful girl? Do you live here?" asked Prince of Bone. Princess Tandampalik then explained everything. Prince of Bone had heard about her before. He was so happy that he finally met her. He immediately brought Princess Tandampalik and the soldiers back to Luwu Kingdom. The King of Luwu was so happy that her daughter was cured. Not long after that, the King held a wedding party for her daughter and Prince of Bone. ***

Showing posts with label South Sumatra. Show all posts Showing posts with label South Sumatra. Show all posts

The Legend of Kemaro Island

Folklore from South Sumatra

A long time ago, there was a kingdom in South Sumatra. The king had a very beautiful daughter. her name was Siti Fatimah. She was single. many young man fell in love with her. however, they did not have any courage to propose her. The king wanted his daughter only to marry a rich man.One day, a ship from China arrived. The captain of the ship was Tan Bun Ann. He was a prince. He came to South Sumatra to do business. He was a merchant. he planned to stay for several months. He came to the palace to meet the king. He wanted to ask the king's permission."I will let you stay here and do this business. but remember, you have to share your profit. You have to give half of your profit to the kingdom," said the king."I agree, your majesty," said Tan Bun Ann.Since then, Tan Bun Ann often came to the palace. He met Siti fatimah several times.He really admired her beauty. He tried to find out more about her. He asked his man to ask the people about her.After several days, Tan Bun Ann finally got information about Siti Fatimah. He knew that she was single and the king only wanted to have a rich son in law. The information made Tan Bun Ann worked harder. he wanted to be richer.Tan Bun Ann also approached Siti Fatimah secretly. Siti Fatimah really admired his patience and his spirit to work hard. She also fell in love with him. they secretly had a relationship. After a while, Tan Bun Ann felt it was time for him to propose Siti Fatimah.

He talked to the king."I will let you marry my daughter. But there is one thing you have to do. Give me nine big jars filled with gold," said the king.Tan Bun Ann wrote a letter to his parents in China and told them about Siti Fatimah. The parents agreed and sent him nine big jars filled with gold. To cover the gold from the thieves, the parents put some vegetables on top of the gold.Later, the nine big jars arrived at the pier of Musi River. Tan Bun Ann immediately looked for the jars. He was so surprised. When he opened the cover of the jar, he saw rotten vegetables. He only looked at the top of the jar. he did not search at the bottom of the jars."Hmmm...Maybe the gold is in the second jar," thought Tan Bun Ann. Again he did not find the gold. He was so angry. He threw the jars into the river. Every time he did not see any gold in the jar, he always threw it to the river. And finally he opened the last jar. Again, he did not see any gold. This time he was so tired. He did not have any power to throw the jar into the river. Instead he smashed the jar with a big stone.And when the jar was broken, Tan Bun Ann found the gold! He knew he made a mistake.He immediately jumped to the river. He wanted to collect the gold.Siti Fatimah saw what was happening. She waited for Tan Bun Ann at the river bank, but he never showed up. She was impatient. She also wanted to jump and helped him.Before she jumped, she told her guards a message, "If you see a pile of soil on the river bank, and that means it is my grave." Then she jumped into the river.The guards waited and waited. And several days the people saw a pile of soil. The soil was getting bigger and bigger. It finally became an island. The people named it Kemaro Island. Kemaro is from the word kemarau, it means drought season. People named it that because the island is never drowned although the level of the water in the Musi River is high.***

Showing posts with label Southeast Sulawesi. Show all posts Showing posts with label Southeast Sulawesi. Show all posts

Oheo

Folklore from Southeast Sulawesi

THERE was a handsome man in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. His name is Oheo. He is a kind and diligent farmer. He plants sugarcane trees on his fi eld. Everyday he always takes care of the trees. And he also takes care of the animals.It was time to harvest the sugarcane. He was so happy. Early in the morning, he left his house and went to the field. However, he was so surprised when he arrived at the field. The field was in a mess. It seemed that some people had already taken his sugarcane. He was so upset.He wanted to fi nd the thief! He heard some people were laughing.He heard, “Hmmm this sugarcane is so yummy!”“Aha!” said Oheo.“The thieves are still here. I’m going to catch them!”Oheo tried not to make sounds. However, he could not fi nd them. And when he looked

upward, he saw seven beautiful angels fly at the sky. They had the sugarcane! Those angels flew to the river. They wanted to take a bath. Oheo followed them.Oheo was not angry anymore.Instead, he was so happy. He fell in love and wanted to marry one of the angels. Secretly, he took one of the angels’ shawls. And of course, after finished taking a bath, one angel could not fly to the sky.Oheo then showed up. He pretended that he was willing to help her.“My name is Oheo. Why do you look so sad?”“My name is Princess Anawai. I’m an angel. I just lost my shawl. Without it, I cannot fly back to my home. I live in a palace in the sky,” said the angel.“Why don’t you stay at my home while I’m looking for it,” said Oheo.Princess Anawai agreed to stay at his house.She did not know that Oheo was hiding her shawl. Later, Oheo asked her to marry him.Princess Anawai agreed but Oheo had to promise one thing. Oheo had to clean and wash their children, if they defecated. Oheo agreed. He was really in love with her. Princess Anawai was so beautiful. He also thought that washing the child is not difficult thing to do.It was a year after they got married and they had one child. As promised, Oheo always washed the child after the child defecated.In one morning, Oheo was busy in the field.The child was defecating. Princess Anawai asked Oheo to wash the child. Oheo refused. He said that he was very busy. Princess Anawai was so sad that her husband did not keep his promise.So, she washed the child. And then accidentally, she found her shawl.It was kept in the bathroom.She wore her shawl and flew to the sky. Oheo tried to impede her but Princess Anawai had already made up her mind. She was so disappointed.Oheo was so sorry. He blamed himself for not being able to keep the promise. He really loved his wife. He tried very hard to fly to the sky. Finally, he got help.A tree was willing to help him.Oheo and his child climbed the tree.Slowly, the tree is getting higher and higher.And soon, Oheo was able to go to the palace in the sky.When he arrived, the king was angry. “You already made my daughter sad. If you want to find her, go to that dark room. If you can find her, you can take her back to your home. But if you cannot find her, I will put you in the jail.”Oheo was confused. He did not know how to find her wife in the very dark room. Suddenly, a firefly came to him. He was willing to help Oheo.With the help of firefly, the room was no longer dark. Therefore, he could find her wife easily. After he found her, Oheo asked her to forgive him. He promised to be a better husband.Later, they went back to their home on earth.***0 comments

The Naughty Monkey

A Folktale from Southeast Sulawesi

A hen and her children are eating. While they are enjoying the food, a monkey comes. The monkey is the hen's friend."Hmmm yummy. May I have some?" asks the monkey. He is very hungry.The hen feels sorry to the monkey. So, she gives some of her food to the monkey.The monkey immediately eats the food. He is thinking himself."Wow, this food is delicious. Too bad I only can get some?"The monkey then is planning to steal the entire hen's food. He has an idea."Hey, look at the sky. An eagle is coming. He wants to take your children," screams the monkey.The hen is shocked! She immediately protects her children. While the hen is protecting her children, the monkey steals her food. After that the monkey runs away.The hen realizes that the monkey just tricked her. He goes to her another friend, the crab. The hen tells all the problems to the crab."Don't worry, my friend. I have an idea to give him a lesson." says the crab.On the following day, the hen meets the monkey. She says, "Let's go to the island over there. There is much food in that island.""But I cannot swim," says the monkey."Don't worry. I have a boat. You and I can use it to cross the sea," says the hen.Later, they are in the boat. The monkey does not know that the crab is hiding and making a hole inside the boat. Slowly the boat is full of water and drowning. The crab swim and the hen flies. Soon they arrive in the land. They see the monkey is very scared. He screams, "Help! Help! I can't swim!"The hen shout, "I will help you, but promise you will never do bad things again.""OK. I promise. I'll never do bad things again," says the monkey.After that the hen and the crab help the monkey. ***

Showing posts with label Yogyakarta. Show all posts Showing posts with label Yogyakarta. Show all posts

The Curse of Joko Bandung

Folklore from Yogyakarta

A long time ago, there were two kingdoms. They were Pengging Kingdom and Prambanan Kingdom. The king were fighting. They were at war! Pengging's king was Joko Bandung. He was very strong and powerful. He had great martial art skill. He led the soldiers and fought bravely.Meanwhile, Prabu Boko, the king of Prambanan sent a giant to fight against Joko Bandung. The Giants name was Bandawasa.Bandawasa was very big. Joko Bandung was not afraid with the giant. They were fighting.. And finally Joko Bandung won the fight. Before he died, Bandawasa's spirit joined Joko Bandung's spirit. That made Joko Bandung became more powerful. He then added Bandawasa's name into his name. His name changed into Joko Bandung Bandawasa.

Joko Bandung and his soldiers were attacking the palace of Prambanan Kingdom. Joko Bandung was looking for Prabu Boko. He wanted to kill the king of Prambanan Kingdom. Joko Bandung was more powerful. He killed Prabu Boko.Joko Bandung occupied the palace. He asked all Prabu Boko's family to gather. He met Prabu Boko's beautiful daughter. Her name was Roro Jonggrang. he fell in love with her. He wanted to marry her.Roro Jonggrang did not want to marry him. She hated Joko Bandung. However she was afraid and did not have any courage to refuse the marriage proposal. She had an idea how to refuse the proposal.She would ask Joko Bandung to build 1.000 temples only in one night. If he could build the temples, Roro Jonggrang would marry him. Joko Bandung agreed. He accepted the challenge. He was not worried, he would asked the genies and the spirits to help him.Joko Bandung and his genies started to work. They build the temples one by one. Roro Jonggrang was really worried. She knew Joko Bandung could not finish building 1.000 temples before sun rose.She was thinking very hard. She had to find a way how to stop the genies and the spirit fro building the temples. Suddenly she had an idea.She asked all the girls to make a lot of noise by grinding the rice in the mortar. She also asked them to make fire. She hopped that the spirits and the genies would think that sun was going to rise.It worked! The noise and the fire woke the cocks up. The cocks were crowing. The spirits and the genies thought that morning would come soon.And they also thought the sun would rise soon. The spirits and the genies were afraid of the sunlight. They left Joko Bandung alone. Joko Bandung was very angry! He knew Roro Jonggrang was plying a trick on him."Why did you do that? If you do not want to marry me, why don't you just say it? You are just looking for an excuse to refuse me!" said Joko Bandung.He continued, "You are so stubborn like a stone. I curse you to become a statue!"Joko Bandung's magic power had changed Roro Jonggrang into a statue! Since then people named the temples that the spirit and the genies build as Sewu Temple. And the people also named the Prambanan Temple as Roro Jonggrang Temple.***1 comments

The Legend of Lime Stone Hill

Folklore fom Yogyakarta

Once upon a time in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, there was a kingdom named Medang Kingdom. The king was King Dewata Cengkar. He liked to eat. The chef in the palace always worked hard. The king was never satisfied with the food.One day, the chef accidentally cut his finger and the blood dropped into the food. The chef was really scared and he told his friends not to tell the king about it. His friends agreed.After the food was served, the king immediately ate. He really enjoyed the food. He said it was the most delicious food he ever had. Then he had a party and invited many people. He wanted his guests to eat his delicious food. However, the food was not as delicious as

the king had earlier. The king was angry, he sent the chef to the jail.Later, the chef’s friends told the king about the chef’s blood in the food.Probably the blood made the food delicious. The king then asked his soldiers to bring him a villager and dropped his blood to the food. It was true! The food was very delicious. Since then the king always asked his soldiers to go around the villages and bring him someone’s blood.People were scared. They did not want their blood to be taken. They prayed to Gods days and nights.Gods listened to their prayer. They sent Aji Saka. He was a man with great supernatural power.When he was meditating, he heard a whisper. He was asked to go to Medang Kingdom to help the people.When he arrived at the kingdom, he told the soldiers that he wanted to give his blood. The soldiers later told the king that there was a man who willing to gave his blood.The king was very happy. He had not eaten delicious food for a long time.That was because his soldiers could not find a villager who was wiling to give his blood.“I will give you my blood, but with one condition. You have to take off my robe,” said Aji Saka.“Ha ha ha! That is easy,” said the king.However when he tried to take off the robe, the king never succeeded. The robe seemed to be very long. The king was very tired. When the king stopped to rest, Aji Saka pushed him. The king fell down. And amazingly the king slowly changed into a white crocodile.Aji Saka prepared his arrow. He pointed the arrow to the white crocodile.Right after the arrow hit the crocodile’s body, it died instantly.And on the spot where the crocodile lied down, grew a lime stone hill. The hill was infertile. It was very difficult for the villagers to plant a tree there.The villagers then made good use of the hill to decorate their houses.***

Showing posts with label West Sumatra. Show all posts Showing posts with label West Sumatra. Show all posts

Sabai nan Aluih

Folklore from West Sumatra

A long time ago in Padang Tarok, West Sumatra, lived a family. The father's name was Rajo Babanding and yhe mother's name was Sadun Saribai. They had two children, one daughter and one son. Their daughter's name was Sabai nan Aluih and their son's name was Mangkutak Alam. Those two children had different personalities. Mankutak Alam was lazy. He never helped her parents. He often played outside with friends. While Sabai nan Aluih was an obdient girl. She was also kind to other people. Everybody loved her. She was famous because she was beautiful. The news about Sabai nan Aluih was finally heard by a rich merchant. His name was Rajo nan Panjang. Nobody liked him. He was rich but he never helped people. He was also cruel. He had three strong guards. they always protected Rajo nan Panjang. Rajo nan Panjang wanted to marry Sabai nan Aluih. He sent his guards to meet Sabai's

father, Rajo Babanding. The guards told him the proposal. However Rajo Babanding rejected it. "I'm sorry. I don't want my daughter to marry a man who is as old as I am," said Rajo Babanding. The guards went home. They told Rajo nan Panjang that the Proposal was rejected. He was angry. He felt that he was being humiliated. Again he sends his guards. This time he asked his guards to invite Rajo Babanding to meet him at Padang Panahunan. It was a place that people used for a fight. Sabai nan Aluih knew about the marriage proposal. And she also knew that Rajo nan Panjang challanged her father to fight. Sabai nan Aluih tried to stop his father to go to Padang Panahunan. She had a bad dream last night. "Don't worry my daugter. I'll be fine." said Rajo babanding. Then he went to Padang Panahuna. When he arrived, Rajo nan Panjang was already there. Rajo Babanding did not know that Rajo nan Panjang's guards were hiding. They would also attack Rajo Babanding. One of them brought a rifle. He would shoot Rajo Babanding if Rajo nan panjang lost hte fight. "Rajo Babanding, you should accept my wedding proposal I'm very rich, you know!" said Rajo nan Panjang. "I don't care!" said Rajo Babanding. Later they fought. Both were very powerful. They fought bravely. However Rajo Babanding had better skills in martial arts. Soon Rajo nan Panjang lost the fight. The guard knew he had to protect his master. Silently he aimed his rifle at Rajo Babanding. He shot the man! Rajo Babanding fell down. He died instantly. Not long after that Sabai nan Aluih arrived in padang Panahunan. She was sad. She saw her father was on the ground. She cried. She knew her father was shot. She was angry. "Why did you shoot him? My father did not bring any weapon." "Ha ha ha... Your father tried to stop me from marrying you," said Rajo nan Panjang. Sabai nan Aluih grabbed the rifle. With great courage she shot Rajo nan Panjang. He died instantly. Later all the villagers came to Padang pananhunan. They arrested Rajo nan panjang guards. They also talked about Sabai nan Aluih's great courage. Until now people still talk about Sabai nan Aluih and they put her name in traditional song.***

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Pak Belalang

Folklore from West Sumatra

Pak Belalang was famous. He had a magic book that could tell everything. He always learned something every time he read the magic book.It was a beautiful evening. Pak belalang had some guests. Suddenly he asked his son to get him the magic book. He wanted to show his magic ability to the guests.After reading the magic book, he said, "I think there is a mouse in the trap."His son immediately went to the kitchen and took the mousetrap. Pak Belalang was right! There was a mouse caught in the trap.The guests were surprised. They were Belalang's magic book.After all the guests went home, Pak Belalang laughed. "Ha...ha...ha... I fooled them. They didn't know I had put a mouse trap. Ha...ha...ha..."Yes, Pak Belalang was a liar. He actually did not have a magic book. It was just an ordinary book. He lied because he wanted to be famous.One day, the king called Pak Belalang to the palace to find the missing jewellery. The king gave him seven days to find it. Pak Belalang knew that if he could not find the jewellery, he would be punished. He would go to jail.Pak Belalang went to every place to find the jewellery. On the seventh day he still could not find them. So, he held a farewell dinner with his family.Pak Belalang said to his wife, "Please make some pancakes."When the first pancake was ready, Pak Belalang said, "This one is yellow. Please make another." When the second one is ready, he said, "This is too brown, make me another one."Within every pancake, Pak Belalang said too dark, too fat, too thin, and so on. Meanwhile, Pak Belalang did not know that some thieves were hiding under his house. Those were the thieves who stole the king's jewellery.

The thieves wanted to know what Pak Belalang would say about them. When they heard the words yellow, brown, dark, fat, thin, they become frightened because each of them were yellow, brown, dark fat and thin.A moment later, the seven thieves knocked on his door. They cried, "Please help us, Pak Belalang! We will return the jewellery. We promise not to steal anymore!"Pak Belalang then brought the jewellery to the palace. The king was so happy and gave him great gifts.Pak Belalang was so thankful. he promised himself not to lie anymore. Next time he wouldn't be lucky. He could be punished for his wrong doing. ***0 comments

Legend of Desa Sungai Jernih

Folklore From West Sumatra

ONCE upon a time in West Sumatra, a widow took her two children to a party. Her children, a boy and a girl, were very happy. They wore beautiful clothes to the party. they found delicious foods, and saw many guests in the party. The children were having a great time.There was also a traditional music show. The show crowded with people.The children asked their mother if they could see the music show which was located a few meters away."Yes, you two may go there. But please remember, don't go to far," said the mother. The children ran to the stage where the music show was performed. They enjoyed the music. But they were bored just watching the show so they took a walk around the stage. They forgot their mother's message not to go too far.Suddenly they saw a pond. The water was very clear and fresh. Because the sun was very hot, they were tempted to play in the water. So they took off their clothes and jumped in to the water. They swam together happily. It felt so fresh!Meanwhile, the party was almost over. The mother remembered her two children. She felt so desperate because she could not find them. The day turned into night. The children were still missing. The mother cried and cried.She went home without her children.She fell a sleep after a long hour of crying. And she had a dream about her children. In her dream, she met an old woman. The old woman told her, "Your children are in the pond near the party house. If you want to see them, throw a handful of rice in to the pond. Your children will appear."As soon as she woke up, she quickly ran to the pond. She also had a handful of rice in her hand.When she reached the pond, she threw the rice in to the pond and she called her children's names. The dream was true! Two big fish with beautiful colors appeared in the pond. The mother cried when she saw them. Her children turned into big beautiful fish because they disobeyed their mother's message.The mother cried and cried again. All the people of the village cheered her up. But she was still very sad.The village where the pond was located is now called Desa Sungai Jernih. It is called so

because the water in the pond was very clear. Desa Sungai Jernih is located in northern part of Nagari Baso, in Kabupaten Agam, West Sumatra.The name of the village also reminds people today in West Sumatra that it is important to obey our parents.Today, the people of the village come to that pond because they think it is a sacred place. ***0 comments

Pak Lebai Malang

Pak Lebai MalangFolklore from West Sumatra

Pak Lebai was a wishy-washy man. He always change his mind before he did something. He lived in a village next to a river. Everyday, he always used his sampan for travelling at the river. One day, Pak Lebai was paddling his sampan at the river. Suddenly, he heard someone called out his name. It was his neighbou. "Pak Lebai, can you come to my house tomorrow? I will have a party, said the neighbor. Pak lebai was happy. He loved party because he coul eat delicious food. He also could get a buffalo's head frokm the party. Still on the same day, he got another invitaion. Those two party invitations made him confused. The two parties were held at the same time, but at the different places. The two neighbors who invited him lived in different sides of the river. One neighbor lived on the east side and another one lived in the west side. "I will go to the east side. I can have two heads of buffalo. He is richer," said Pak Lebai. On the following day, he paddled his smpan with great power to the east side. He did not want to be late and lost the buffalo's head. On the way to the party, he met some friends. "The party is awful. There are not many buffalo's heads. He is very stingy, "said one of them. "I don't care. I'm still going

there. He is my friend. I'm sure he will give me the buffalo's head," said Pak Lebai. He immediately paddled his sampan. Right before he arrived at the east side of the river, he changed his mind. He knew the host was stingy. He thought that he would not get a buffalo's head. So he turned back his sampan and went to the west side. Again, he paddled his sampan with great power. he did not have much time. Unfortunately, right before he arrived at the west side he met his friends again. "What are you doing here, Pak Lebai? The party is over." Pak Lebai was upset and blaming himself for being wishy-washy. He also tired because he was padding back and forth in the river. later he fell asleep in his sampan. He did not realize his sampan was drifting awahy at the river. When he woke up, he was already in the different village. When all his neighbors heard what happened to Pak Lebai, then they all started to cal him Pak Lebai Malang or the poor Mister Lebai.***0 comments

Minangkabau

MinangkabauFolklore from West Sumatra

Do you know why the roofs of houses in West Sumatra have the shape of buffalo horns? Here is the story. Once upon a time there was a kingdom in West Sumatra. The people worked as farmers. Their lives were full of happiness. The land was fertile and the weather was always beautiful. The people also had a wise king. He always protected the people. However, soon their happy lives would be disturbed. Majapahit, a kingdom fromJava would attack them. The people were so scared. They were so restless. They went to the king to talk about it. The king tried to calm them down."Don't worry, my fellow country men. I know Majapahit have many soldiers. They are also great in war. If we fight them, maybe we lose. But I have an idea how to beat them, 'said the king. Then he continued. ÒWe can challenge them to a buffalo fight. If their buffalo dies, we win. But if our buffalo dies, they win." "We have to make sure our buffalo will win, Your Majesty.

How?" asked one of the people. The king smiled. He continued, ÒWe just need to find a strong baby buffalo." The king thenordered his people to give him the strongest baby buffalo. After that, the strong baby buffalo was separated from his mother. They did not give any food to the baby buffalo for several days. The baby buffalo was very hungry! The baby buffalo cried and cried. He asked for food. Then the king took two sharp knives and attached them strongly to the baby buffalo's horn. Now it was time for the buffalo battle. Everyone gathered on the field. The Majapahit soldier released a big and wild buffalo out of his cage. Everyone was surprised with the size of the buffalo. Later, the West Sumatran released their baby buffalo. The Majapahit soldiers were laughing. "Ha ha ha. It's so small. How can you win?" They did not know that the hungry baby buffalo had two sharp knives on the horn. The baby buffalo ran fast towards the big buffalo and went straight under the big buffalo's stomach to find the teat. The knives at the baby buffalo's horns cut through the big buffalo's stomach. The big buffalo fell down to the ground and died. "Yes! We win, we win, we win!" The people of West Sumatra cheered. Then, the king changed the name of the kingdom into Minangkabau. It means the buffalo won. That is why the roofs of the houses in West Sumatra are similar to the form of buffalo horns and the traditional headdress of the women of West Sumatra is also like buffalo horns. ***[link]

Showing posts with label West Sulawesi. Show all posts Showing posts with label West Sulawesi. Show all posts

I Tui Tuing

Folklore from West Sulawesi

THERE were a husband and a wife lived in Mandar, West Sulawesi. The husband was a fisherman.They had been married for many years but they had no any children yet. Everyday they prayed to God. They never gave up asking God to give them a child.“Dear God, please give us a child even though he looks like a tui-tuing fish,” prayed the couple.Tui-tuing is a flying fi sh found in that area.And finally God answered their pray, the wife was pregnant. And when the baby was born,they were surprised. The baby looked like a fish.The skin had scales, just like the body of a fish.They remembered their pray. But still they were very happy. They took care of the baby withgreat love. They named him as I Tuing-Tuing.I Tuing-Tuing grew as a great boy. He was diligent and obedient to his parents.Soon I Tuing-Tuing grew as a young man.It was time for him to get married. He asked his parents to fi nd him a girl. The parents knew it

was not easy to find a wife for their child. They thought no girls wanted to marry him. However,they did not want to make him sad. So the parents went to the villagers’ houses, proposing anysingle girl to be their daughter-in-law.And it happened as they thought. All the girls they met always rejected their marriage proposal. There was one last house they hadn’t visited yet. It was the merchant’s house.The merchant lived in a very big house. He had six daughters. All the daughters looked very happy. Actually, the third daughter, Rukiah, was not happy. She was the most beautiful daughter and her sisters were very jealous toher. Therefore, they put charcoal dust on her body. Her white skin turned into dark.In the meantime, I Tuing-Tuing’s parents arrived at the merchant’s house. After they explainedthe purpose of their visit, the merchant asked all his daughters to answer.All the daughters rejected! They also insulted I Tuing-Tuing as a fish. Suddenly, Rukiah answered, “Yes, I will marry I Tuing-Tuing.” All of his sisters were laughing. They said that Rukiah was crazy. They did not know that Rukiah did not want to live with them anymore.I Tuing-Tuing was very happy. Finally, there was a girl who was willing to be his wife. Hedid not care although Rukiah’s skin was very dark. And after they got married, they lived in their own house. I Tuing-Tuing worked as a fisherman and Rukiah stayed at home. Rukiah had lot of time washing her skin. Later, it was completely clean. She got her beauty back.While she was waiting for her husband, a man knocked the door. Rukiah opened it and saw ahandsome man in front of the door.“Who are you?” asked Rukiah.“My name is I Tuing-Tuing. Where is my wife?” he asked.“You are lying. I Tuing-Tuing has fish scales in his body.”“It is true. But after I got married, I’m cured.My skin has changed into normal. By the way, who are you?” asked I Tuing-Tuing. He also did not recognize his wife.“I’m Rukiah. My sisters have done a terrible thing to me. They put charcoal dust in my body.But I have completely washed and cleaned my skin,” said Rukiah.And they were very happy. They were not ugly anymore. All the villagers really admired their great looks. And Rukiah’s sisters were even more jealous to her.***1 comments

The Legend of Pamboang

Folklore from West Sulawesi

A long time ago, three men came to Majene, West Sulawesi. They wanted to open a new place. Those three men were brothers. They were I Lauase, I Lauwella, and I Labuqang.

They arrived in the beach. It was empty. No humans lived there. So the three brothers divided jobs among them.I Lauase worked in the land. He wanted to open new fi elds for plantation. I Lauwella and I Labuqang worked on the beach. I Lauwella cleaned the beach from the seaweeds and I Labuqang covered the hole made by the crabs.They worked hard everyday. And finally they succeeded. I Lauase had fields with so many trees, fruits and vegetables. I Lauwella and I Labuqang already cleaned the beach from the seaweeds and the covered the holes.One by one people came to their place.And slowly it became a new village.The three brothers were the leaders of the village. They thought they had to fi nd a name for their village.“I have an idea. Let’s name it Pallayarang Tallu,” said I Lauase.“What does it mean,” asked I Lauwella.“Well, Pallayarang means ship pole and Tallu means three,” explained I Lauase.They all agreed. Since then they named the village as Pallayarang Tallu.More and more people came to Pallayarang Tallu. The village was growing into a small town.The name Pallayarang Tallu was so famous. One man was interested to know more about the new town. His name was Puatta Di Karena. He was from Passokkorang kingdom. He went to Pallayarang Tallu with many people.They were refugees. Their kingdom was attacked by their enemy. They came to Pallayarang Tallu to ask for help.The leader, Puatta Di Karena came to I Lauase’s house.“Our kingdom is attacked. Can you help us?” asked Puatta Di Karena.“I’m not the only leader here. I have to discuss with my brothers,” answered I Lauase.Later, the three brothers held a meeting.After that they met Puatta Di Karena to tell him about their decision.“We cannot help you. We don’t have enough soldiers yet. You can see thatPallayarang Tallu is a new town. There are not so many people live here,” explained I Lauase.“But we really need your help. Pallayarang Tallu is the nearest town from our kingdom. Besides that, the three of you are very strong men. You can build this town. It means you have great power. I’m sure we can win if you help us,” said Puatta Di Karena.He continued, “If you help us, I will give you tambo.” Tambo means fee or money.The three brothers then discussed.They needed more money.And the tambo could be used to build Pallayarang Tallu.“When will you give us the tambo?” asked I Lauase.“Next week,” answered Puatta Di Karena.Then the people of Pallayarang Tallu helped them. They won! However Puatta Di Karena did not show up yet. He disappeared.Nobody knew where he was. The people of Pallayarang Tallu always talked abou the tambo. Slowly the word tambo changed into tamboang, then changed into pamboang. Since then the people changed the name Pallayarang Tallu into Pamboang. Pamboang is an area in Majene, West Sulawesi.***

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Samba’ Paria

Folklore from West Sulawesi

A long time ago in Mandar, West Sulawesi, lived a beautiful girl named Samba’ Paria. She lived with her younger sister in a hut.Their hut was in the jungle. They both lived alone. Their parents had died. Samba’ Paria loved her younger sister very much. They always helped each other.One night they had a dinner. Suddenly someone knocked the door.“Who is that?” asked Samba’ Paria.“We are the soldiers and the king. We are lost in the jungle. We are hunting here,” said one man.Samba’ Paria then opened the door.There were some soldiers and the king!Samba’ Paria was very nervous. She did not know what to do. She was speechless.“May we come in?” asked the king.“Yes, you can,” answered Samba’ Paria.And when the king was inside the house, he was amazed by Samba’ Paria’s beauty. He never saw a beautiful girl like her. The king fell in love with her. However he had a bad plan. He wanted to kidnap Samba’ Paria and brought her to the palace. He was thinking and fi nally he had an idea.“I want to drink water from the waterfall.And I want your sister to go to the waterfall and bring me the water,” said the king.In a hurry, the sister went to the waterfall.Right after she left, the king immediately asked the soldiers to take Samba’ Paria. She tried to release herself. But it was useless.The soldiers were too strong. She knew she could not escape, so she grabbed some leaves and put them one by one on the way to the palace.Later, the younger sister arrived at home. She was so confused. No one was at home . The door was open .She was crying and screaming her sister’s name. Suddenly she saw some leaves on the ground.She followed the leaves and finally she arrived in the palace.“Kakak Samba’, are you there? If you are in the palace, please show me yourself in the window,” asked the sister.The king heard that. Actually Samba’ Paria was locked in the room and she could not show herself because the room did not have any windows. The king wanted the sister to think that Samba’ Paria did not want to see her anymore. So he put a cat in the window.The sister was surprised to see a cat in the window. She thought her older sister did not want to see her anymore. So she went home crying.Samba’ Paria was also sad. The king asked her to marry him. But she did not want to. Days and nights she was locked in the room. She was always thinking about her younger sister.She knew her sister needed her very much. Samba’ Paria prayed to God.

She asked God to help her escape from the palace.God heard her prayer. In one night, she was able to escape! She ran very fast and finally she arrived at home.The two girls hugged each other. They were crying. This time they cried because they were very happy. Samba’ Paria knew the king would follow her. So the two girls set a trap. She prepared some chilies and later she was grinding them. Finally, she mixed it with water. She wanted to throw the water to king’s face.And it worked! And when the king arrived at their home, Samba’ Paria threw the water to the king’s face. The king’s screamed in pain. He fell and his head hit a big stone.He died instantly. Since then Samba’ Paria lived peacefully with her younger sister. ***0 comments

Hawadiyah

Folklore from West Sulawesi

The people of Mandar were farmers. Most of them worked for a rich man. He hired the villagers to work in his coconut plantation. The rich man had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Bekkandari. She had a best friend. Her name was Hawadiyah. Unlike Bekkandari, Hawadiyah was a poor girl. She lived with her mother in a hut. Hawadiyah was also beautiful.Many people said she was more beautiful than Bekkandari.It was harvest time. The villagers worked very hard in the plantation. Hawadiyah helped her mother collect the coconuts. Bekkandari’s father gave coconuts as the fee for the villagers. The more they collected the coconuts, the more Bekkandari’s father gave them the fee.After it was finished, Hawadiyah’s mother received five coconuts. She immediately grated and cooked them in order to get the coconut oil. She then brought the coconut oil to Bekkandari’s father. Other villagers also brought the coconut oil to him. Bekkandari’s father would sail to Java to sell his coconut oil. The villagers also wanted to sell their coconut oil, so they brought it to Bekkandari’s father.Hawadiyah’s mother really wanted to see her daughter to get married. She prayed to God. She hoped the man who bought her coconut oil would marry her daughter.Later Bekkandari’s father and his men sailed the sea. When they arrived in Java, Bekkandari’s father sold the coconut oil to a rich merchant. He was young and handsome. When he bought the coconut oil from Hawadiyah’s mother, the merchant felt something strange. He saw a picture of a beautiful girl in the coconut oil. The merchant could not forget about her. Later he decided to go to Mandar to find the beautiful girl.When he arrived, the merchant went around.He met Bekkandari’s father. He brought the merchant to his house. He introduced the merchant to his daughter, Bekkandari. She loved him instantly.She tried to approach the merchant.However, it was not Bekkandari’s face he saw in the coconut oil. So he ignored her. Finally, the merchant met Hawadiyah. He was so happy finally he found the girl of his dream. The merchant went to Hawadiya’s house to propose her. The proposal was accepted and they were going to get married in the merchant’s house in Java. Bekkandari

was jealous.She planned something bad. She told the merchant that she was also going to Java to accompany Hawadiyah. Before the wedding, Bekkandari threw hot oil to Hawadiyah’s face. Hawadiyah was very sad. She was not beautiful anymore. She ran away and hid in a jungle.The merchant was confused. Hawadiyah was missing. He asked all his men to find her. In the mean time, Bekkandari kept on telling the merchant that Hawadiyah ran away, and she was ready to be her wife.Again, the merchant ignored her.In the jungle, Hawadiyah made friend with the animals. They were sorry to see her life. They suggested Hawadiyah to take a bath in magic pond in the jungle. Amazingly after she took a bath, she got her beauty back.And when the merchant’s men found her, they immediately brought her to the merchant’s house.Hawadiyah told him about everything. The merchant was really angry. He asked his men to get rid of Bekkandari from his house. Later the merchant and Hawadiyah got married. Her mother was happy to see Hawadiyah to get married and have a happy life.***0 comments

The Legend of Pattuddu Dance

Folklore from West Sulawesi

ONCE upon a time in Mandar, West Sulawesi, there was a kingdom. The king and the queen had a handsome prince. He was still single. The prince was a diligent man. The palace had a beautiful garden and a pond. There was also waterfall in the pond. The prince always spent his time in the garden. He loved gardening and always took care of the plants.In one afternoon, rain fell heavily. After it stopped, the prince went to the garden. On the way to the garden, he saw a beautiful rainbow. The rainbow ended in the pond. There were seven doves flying through rainbow and they stopped flying above the pond. Amazingly, those seven doves turned into beautiful angels. They put their shawls on the ground then they all swam in the pond.The prince watched them. He was amazed by their beauty and wanted to marry one of them. He stole one of the shawls and hid it. After all, those angels finished taking a bath and one by one they wore their shawls and changed back as a dove. However, the youngest angel could not find her shawl. She cried and then made a promise."If a man finds my shawl, I will marry him. And if a woman finds my shawl, I will treat her as my own sister," said the angel.The prince heard the promise. He then pretended to help her. Because they could not find the shawl, then the prince asked the angel to stay with him in the palace. The angel agreed because without her shawl she could not fly back to her home in heaven.Then the prince and the angel got married. Later, they had a baby boy. They loved their son very much. The prince and the angel took care of their son lovingly.In one morning, the angel wanted to enter one room. She wanted to use the room for their baby. The room was locked and the prince always forbade her to enter the room. Because

she really wanted her son to sleep in the room, she ignored her husband warning.When she was inside the room, she was surprised. She found her shawl. She then knew that her husband stole her shawl and never planned to return it.The angel immediately wore her shawl. She then came to her husband."My Dear Husband, I have found my shawl. Now I want to go back home to heaven. Please take care of our son. And if you miss me, just look at the rainbow."The angel then waggled her shawl. Slowly, she flew to the sky. The prince was very sad. He just lost his beautiful wife. And every time he missed her, he always looked at the rainbow.The people of Mandar, West Sulawesi, then imitated the way the angel waggling her shawl into movements of a dance. The dance is known as Pattuddu Dance. ***

Showing posts with label West Kalimantan. Show all posts Showing posts with label West Kalimantan. Show all posts

The Greedy Fisherman

Folklore from West Kalimantan

A long time ago in Sintang, West Kalimantan, lived a fisherman with his family. The fisherman was poor.

Everyday he went fishing in the river using his fishing rod, because he did not have a net. That was why he always caught a few fish.

In one morning the fisherman rowed his sampan in the river. As always, he brought his fishing rod. He stopped his sampan and put the bait.

He was waiting but no fish caught the bait yet. He changed the bait. He hoped this time a fish would catch the bait. Sadly, he was not lucky yet.

After waiting for a long time, finally he felt that a fish caught his bait.

“Aha!”, he said. He slowly pulled the string of his fishing rod. It was hard!

The fisherman could not pulled the string.

Wow! The fish must be very big!

The fisherman thought.

He was thinking about the size of the fish. He knew that the big fish was very expensive. He hoped he would get a lot of money if he could sell the fish.

After thinking about the money, he suddenly had more power to pull the string of his rod. He pulled the rod with great power, but still, he did not succeed. The fisherman was very tired, he had been pulling with great power. The fisherman decided to get some rest.

It was almost dark, the fisherman thought that he already had enough rest. He hoped that the fish would be weak.

He took a deep breath and counted, one, two, three! He pulled the String, and yes! This time he succeeded! He lifted the fishing rod.

He wanted to see the size of the fish.

However, he did not see any fish!

Instead, he found some wire on the hook.

At first he was very disappointed.

But when he looked at the wire carefully, he was so happy. The wire was made of gold. He wanted to sell the wire and had a lot of money.

So he pulled the wire, he pulled more and more wire. The wire covered all area in his sampan.

Suddenly, there was a voice. “Enough, don’t take the wire anymore”.

The fisherman ignored the voice.

He wanted to take the gold wire as much as he could. He wanted to be rich.

“Enough! Don’t take the wire anymore, stop now!” Again, the voice asked him to stop.

“No! I don’t want to stop now!” said the fi sherman. He continued pulling the gold wire. The sampan was fi lled with the gold wire. It could not hold the wire anymore. Slowly, the sampan sunk to the bottom of the river.

The fi sherman did not realize that because he was busy pulling the wire.

When he found out what happened, it was too late. The sampan was completely sunk and the fi Sherman panicked!

He wanted to save the wire but the sampan sunk very fast. Finally, the fisherman swam to the river side. He regretted his bad behavior.

People heard about the fi Sherman and his wire. Since then people named the river as Wire River or Sungai Kawat. ***

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The Crying Stone

A Folktale from West Kalimantan

IN a small village, a girl lives with her mother. The girl is very beautiful. Everyday she puts make-up and wears her best clothes. She doesn't like to help her mother work in a field. The girl is very lazy.One day, the mother asks the girl to accompany her to go to the market to buy some food. At first the girl refuses, but the mother persuades her by saying they are going to buy new clothes. The girl finally agrees. But she asks her mother to walk behind her. She doesn't want to walk side by side with her mother.Although her mother is very sad, she agrees to walk behind her daughter.On the way to the market, everybody admires the girl's beauty. They are also curious. Behind the beautiful girl, there is an old woman with a simple dress. The girl and her mother look very different!"Hello, pretty lady. Who is the woman behind you?" asks them. “She is my servant,” answers the girl.The mother is very sad, but she doesn't say anything.The girl and the mother meet other people. Again they ask who the woman behind the beautiful girl. Again the girl answers that her mother is her servant. She always says that her mother is her servant every time they meet people.At last, the mother cannot hold the pain anymore. She prays to God to punish her daughter. God answers her prayer. Slowly, the girl's leg turns into stone. The process continues to the upper part of the girl's body. The girl is very panicky."Mother, please forgive me!" she cries and ask her mother to forgive her.But it's too late. Her whole body finally becomes a big stone. Until now people still can see tears falling down the stone. People then call it the crying stone or batu menangis. ***0 comments

The Wise King

A Folktale from West Kalimantan

"Hello everybody, come and visit my restaurant. I have delicious food for you," Pak Razak is standing in front of his restaurant. He is inviting people to come and eat in his place.A moment later a farmer comes. He is standing in front of the restaurant. He smells the aroma of the delicious food."Hmm...yummy," says the farmer."Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to come to my restaurant or not?' asks Pak Razak."No, I don't. Smelling the aroma of your delicious food makes me full," says the farmer."But you still have to pay! You smell my delicious food," Pak Razak is angry.

"No way! I don't want to pay! It's impossible!" The farmer is also angry.Then Pak Razak and the farmer have an argument.People come and ask to calm down. They suggest Pak Razak and the farmer go to the King to solve the problem."Please tell me what happened,” asks the King.Pak Razak and the farmer tell the King about the problem."Hmm...I have the solution. Now put your coins into this bottle.""Do you hear the sound of the coins?" asks the King to Pak Razak."Yes, I do," answes Pak Razak."Then, the farmer has just paid you. He pays your delicious aroma with the sound of his money," explains the King.Pak Razak is silent. He knows the King is right. The King just gave him a lesson. He then apologizes to the farmer. ***0 comments

A Farmer and a Hedgehog Statue

A Farmer anda Hedgehog Statue

Folklore from West Kalimantan

IT was a very hot day. A farmer was working on his field. He was there for several hours. He was very tired and wanted to get some rest. Just before he found a nice place to rest, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. Those were the shiny objects he saw. The farmer then brought the statue home. He wanted to show it to his wife. His wife was so happy. They were so poor and planned to sell the statue. At night,

the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him. He said, “Please let me stay in your home. As a return, I will give you everything you want. Just caress the statue’s head and say the prayer. There are two kinds of prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop your wish. Now memorize the prayers.” The farmer told his wife about his dream. They really wanted to prove it. The farmer slowly caressed the statue's head. He said the prayer and asked for rice. Suddenly, a magic thing happened. Rice came out of the mouth of the statue. The rice kept on coming out from the statue's mouth. The farmer immediately said the prayer to stop it. It worked! The rice then stopped coming out from the statue's mouth. Now the farmer mentioned other things, they were jewellery and other stuffs they needed. In just a moment, the farmer and his wife became very rich. They then shared their materials with the neighbours. There was one neighbour who was very jealous. He was actually a thief! He wanted to know how the poor farmers became rich. After the thief found out, he stole the magic hedgehog statue. He immediately took it and ran away. He was very tired from running and was very thirsty. He wanted to get some water from the statue. He said the prayer. His wish came true. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. The thief was so happy. He drank and drank the water. He wanted to stop drinking but he did not know how to stop the water. He forgot the prayer to stop the wish. Water kept on coming out. He did not know what to do. He was really panic. He asked for help. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water. More and more water surrounded him. Slowly, it became a small pond. Water flowed on the ground. It became a river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak. ***

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Origin of Lotus

Folklore from West Java

PRABU Ranubahu is the king of Umbul Wening. He had a beautiful doughter, Dewi Anum. Dewi Arum has an unusual habit. She loves to take a bath and swim in the lake. Everytime she takes a bath, she forgets about everything, food, rest, even her duties as a princess.The king and queen often scold Dewi Arum for her habit. But she never pays attention to them. One day, Umbul Wening is stroke by a plaque. Many of its citizen die. Many physicians try to cure the people of Umbul Wening but they all fail.Suddenly a monk comes to see the king and says he has a vision from God. According to the monk, this plaque can be cured using the plants that live in the lake located at the Krendawahanan Forest. But, there is a catch. Those plants must be taken only by Dewi Arum.So the king orders her daughter to go to Krencawahana Forest to get the plants. Dewi Arum agrees and goes to the forest accompanied by her beloved servants, Nyai Wijen and Nyai Empul.After a long and tiring journey, they finally arrive at the lake.Seeing the clear and blue water, Dewi Arum jumps and take a bath in the lake. She

forgets about her duty to go and get the cure for her people. Her servants try to remind her about her duties but the princess ignores them.Back at the kingdom, Prabu Ranubahu in worried about her doughter. So, he goes after her. He is surprised to see her daughter is bathing in the lake and forget about the duties. The king furious."Arum?! What are you doing? Our people are dying and here you are having fun bathing in the lake. Since you enjoy beeing in the lake so much, you should become part of the lake!"Right after the king finishes his sentence, a strange thing happens. Dewi Arum turns into a beautiful red flower. The king is surprised and sad to see what happens to her daughter. So, he picks the flower and goes back to his kingdom.When the king arrives with the flower, the sickness that has been plaguing the kingdom is gone.The beautiful flower that was once Dewi Arum is called lotus. It always grows in lakes.***0 comments

Cianjur

Folklore from West Java

PAK Pelit is the head of the village. He also the richest man. He owns alot of paddy fields. All the farmers work for him, they don't have their own paddy fields.The villagers call him Pak Pelit because he is very stingy. Pak Pelit has a son. His name is Budiman. Unlike Pak Pelit, Budiman is very generous to the villager. That's why people call him Budiman.It's harvest time. According to their belief, the villagers have to hold a party to welcome the harvest. If not, the harvest will fail. They will not have good rice. The farmers then ask Pak Pelit to hold a party. At first Pak Pelit doesn't agree. But he is afraid not to get good rice.Then they have a party. Suddenly an old woman comes. She asks for some food. Budiman sees what happens. He secretly takes some food and gives it to the old woman.Nobody knows that the old woman has a supernatural power. She then stamps her foot on the ground On the place the old woman stamps up, slowly water comes out. More and more water comes out. Budiman asks his father to save himself. But Pak Pelit doesn't want to do it. He wants to save his belongings first. Budiman then asks the villagers to go to the higher ground.Water is now high. Pak Pelit and his belongings are down in the water. Budiman and the villagers are sad.Their village now gone and becomes a lake. Budiman suggests the villagers to live their new place. He also suggests the people to use the water in the lake as source of the irrigation for their paddy fields.The farmers work hard. They produce rice with good quality. More and more people come and live there. The village now become a town. They call it Cianjur. Ci means water and anjur means suggestion. The villagers are thankful to Budiman's suggestion.***

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The Legend of Lotus

Folklore from West Java

ONCE upon a time, there was a kingdom named Umbul Wening. The king was Prabu Ranubahu. He had a very beautiful daughter. Her name was Dewi Arum. She had a strange habit. She liked to swim in a pond. She could spend hours swimming and forgot everything. Her parents often reminded her not to swim too long. And the king often got angry when Dewi Arum swam in the pond and neglected her duties as a princess.Meanwhile, people lived happily. However their happy lives were disturbed when they suffered a terrible illness. And that made the king sad. He already asked the palace healer to heal them. Unfortunately the palace healer was also unable to heal the illness.The king then prayed to god. Days and nights he asked god to heal the illness. And when the king was sleeping, he had a dream. An old man told the king that the illness could be healed with flowers in the pond. And the person who had to pick the flowers was Dewi Arum.However the pond was in Krendawahana jungle.When the king woke up, he immediately called the princess. He told her about the dream and asked her to pick the flowers. Actually the king was not sure his daughter could go there. It was very far from the palace. The king then asked the ladies-in-waiting to accompany the princess.After going through a very difficult journey, the princess and the ladies-in-waiting finally arrived in Krendawahana jungle. Nobody had ever been to this jungle before. Wild animals were everywhere. They all were really scared. They all hoped to find the pond soon and picked the flowers. They really wanted to leave the jungle immediately.Finally, they found the pond. It was very beautiful. The water was very clear. For a moment, they all forgot about their mission. They were amazed by the beauty of the pond. The princess was the happiest person. She had never seen a beautiful pond like this. She swam and swam for hours. The ladies-in-waiting had tried to remind the princess. They asked her to pick the flowers and went home. Unfortunately she ignored them.Meanwhile the king was waiting in the palace. He was very restless. He knew the people really needed the flowers to heal the illness.The king was impatient. He could not wait any longer. He then went to the jungle to follow the princess. When the king arrived at the pond, he saw the princess swimming! The king was really angry.“Dewi Arum! What are you doing here? Our people are dying and you are having fun swimming in the pond. I’ve told you many times not to neglect your duties. You are allowed to swim but you have to do your duties first. I’m really disappointed with you! You don’t deserve to be the princess and live in the palace. You deserve to live here in the pond!” said the king. He was really angry.Amazingly, the princess disappeared from the water. Later it appeared a beautiful flower. The king was surprised.He regretted what he said. But it was too late. He knew his daughter could not live with him in the palace anymore. The princess had changed into beautiful flowers. And when

the king brought the flower to the palace, surprisingly everybody was cured. And people were also amazed by the flowers. They named it Lotus. ***0 comments

Princess Nilarani

Folklore from West Java

ONCE upon a time in West Java, there was a kingdom named Pasir Batang. The kingdom was ruled by KingMarundata. The King had only one child. Her name was Princess Nilarani.The king and the queen loved the princess very much. She was not only beautiful but also kind-hearted. She always helped people. That was why the people of Pasir Batang kingdom also loved her. Many young men had tried to propose her and asked her to be their wife. But Princess Nilarani could not decide.One of the young men the princess refused to marry was Duruwiksa. He was a son of a witch. The witch was so angry. She kidnapped Princess Nilarani and changed her into a very ugly woman.The king and the queen were sad.They then made a promise. They would give a lot of jewelleries to whomever who could find Princess Nilarani.Many people searched for Princess Nilarani. One of them was Prince Sumirat from the neighbouring kingdom. He was a handsome man and had great skills in martial arts.He had heard that a witch kidnapped Princess Nilarani. He also knew that the witch lived across a jungle. Nobody dared to cross the jungle. There were robbers and wild animals lived in there. Those robbers were mean and would harm everyone. Prince Sumirat was a brave man.He crossed the jungle and met the robbers. The robbers forcedPrince Sumirat to give them his moneyor they would kill him. Prince Sumirat refused to give his money. The robbers then get angry. They were fighting.Luckily, Prince Sumirat had great skills in martial arts.He won the fight and continued his journey.Later, he found the witch’s house.He was sneaking to the window. He heard that Princess Nilarani could be cured if she drank water from a kendi.It was a water jug. The witch hid the kendi in the ceiling. After he knew all about the kendi, Prince Sumirat broke the window and entered the house.The witch was surprised. She was so angry that someone entered her house without permission. She became angrier when she knew that Prince Sumirat wanted to help Princess Nilarani.They were fighting. Luckily, Prince Sumirat did not only have skills in martial arts. His father had taught him about magical skills. So, he used the skills to fight the witch.Finally, Prince Sumirat won and he immediately asked Princess Nilarani to drink water from the kendi. Slowly, Princess Nilarani turned back as she was before, a very beautiful girl. Prince Sumirat then brought Princess Nilarani back to the palace. Princess Nilarani fell in love with Prince Sumirat and Prince Sumirat also had the same feeling. Afterwards, they got married and lived happily ever after. ***0 comments

The Origin of Pantai Karang Nini

A Folktale from West Java

ONCE upon a time in a village in Ciamis, West Java lived a couple of elderly husband and wife. The elderly husband was called Aki and the elderly wife was called Nini. They had two sons and one daughter. Their sons lived across the ocean and their daughter lived in another place far away from Aki and Nini.Every Lebaran, their two sons visited Aki and Nini. But their daughter never did. Aki and Nini missed their daughter. Two days before Lebaran day, Aki toldNini that he wanted to visit their daughter. Nini wanted to come along, but Aki refused.“You should stay home and wait for our two sons,”said Aki to Nini. Aki promised that he would return two days after Lebaran day. Nini was sad when Aki left the village on a boat with other passengers. She looked at the boat as it sailed away on the ocean. She imagined meeting her daughter, together with Aki.On the day Aki promised to return, Nini dressed up and went to the beach, to wait for the boat to return. She couldn’t wait to meet her husband. Hours passed by. Days passed by. Nini still sat on the beach, waiting for her husband. The boat was never seen. But Nini kept waiting on the beach. Several days later, the people of the village heard that the boat sank into the ocean. They quickly went to Nini’s house to tell her about the bad news. But she was not there. Then they looked for her at the beach. Nobody was there either. Only the wind and the sand.They kept searching for Nini, calling her name. Finally they found a rock that looked like an old woman sitting down on the beach. They believed it was Nini, who was sitting down on the beach, waiting for her husband, Aki, to return.The rock symbolizes a wife’s faithfulness to her husband. The beach is then called Pantai Karang Nini. Which means the beach’s of Nini’s rock.***0 comments

Telaga Warna

A Folktale from West Java

The king of a famous kingdom in Cipanas, West Java, is very wise man. He has a beautiful daughter. The king and queen love their daughter so much.But all their love is not enough for the princess. Even though they give her everything, she is not happy. All the jewelries that they have are not enough for her. She is not satisfied with her gorgeous look either.The princess then has an idea. She plans to put all the jewelries that they have in every single hair in her head. She wants to be the most beautiful girl in the world.So the princess goes to see her mother and father and tell them about her plan. She is very sure they will not say no.The king is surprised to hear about his daughter plan. He tries to convince her that her plan is not proper."My Daughter, the beauty of a princess is not measured by her clothes or by the jewelry she is wearing, but by her attitude. It's not that we don't love you, but what will people

think if you go through with your plan?" says the king.The princess is shocked to hear that. So she runs to her room to get her jewelry box. Then she returns to her parents.She screams: "You are so miserly. Here, I am returning the every single jewelry you ever gave me." She throes her jewelry box to her father.The wise king is outraged seeing his daughter did."You are ungrateful daughter!"Suddenly, the floor of the palace erupts and water pours out from the crack. In a matter of second the palace if flooded, drowning the ungrateful princess and her jewelry. The palace then replace by a lake.The lake always reflects multiple colors to its surrounding. Some say the colors come from the princess's jewelry. The lake is known as Telaga Warna that means colorful lake. ***0 comments

Situ BagenditFolklore from West Java

Nyai Bagendit was a widow. She was the richest person in the village. She had a very big house fill with a lot of jewellery. She also had many servants working for her. Nyai Bagendit was also known for her bad attitude. She did not like to help others. Whenever the villagers needed some money, they borrowed the money from her. However, when they returned it, the villager had to pay double. If they were not able to return the debt, Nyi Bagedit would ask her servants to take the villagers belongings. Nyai Bagendit also hated beggars. She thought that beggars were lazy people. She never felt sorry to any beggars coming to her house. So when the old beggar came to her house, Nyai Bagendit immediately to ask her to go. Go away you lazy old woman! Go out of my house! Please, Nyai, give me some money or just give me some food. I'm so hungry. Said the beggar. Food? You asked for food? This is my house not a restaurant. Go now! I dont want to see you here! Nyai Bagendit then threw a stone to the old beggar. The old beggar was very sad. She then said, "Nyai Bagedit, I know you are the riches person in this village. You have anything but you never help other people. You are not grateful to God. Wait for the punishment from God. You will be punished!" The old beggar then left Nyai Bagedit's house. "Ha ha ha! You are right. I'm the richest person here. So no one can punnish me, not even God can punish me!" Nyai Bagendit was very arrogant. Nyai Bagendit then went back to her big house. Not long after that, an earhquake happened. Her house fell down. Nyai Bagendit cried for help. "Help me! Somebody please help me!" But nobody listened her crying for help. Nobody in the village felt the earthquake. amazingly, the earthquake only happened in Nyai Bagendit's house. The land was opened. It was so big that the entire Nyai Bagendit's house, and all her wealth were gone. The villagers just wathes what happened to Nyai Bagendit and her house. They were amazed. They knew that God punished Nyai Bagendit for behaving badly and never helped other people. Slowly, the place where Nyai Bagedit's house stood became lake. Since then, people named the lake as Situ Bagendit It means Lake of Bagendit.***0 comments

The Story of Panyalahan Village

A Folklore from West Java

LONG time ago in Tasikmalaya, West Java, lived a young couple. They were farmers. They lived happily with their baby. The couple also had some animals. One of them was a tiger. When the couple went to work on the paddy field, the tiger looked after their baby. As usual, the couple went to the paddy field. Before they left, they asked the tiger to look after their baby. “We will go to the field now. Look after our baby, okay?” The tiger nodded. So, the couple went to the field. They worked from morning until afternoon. When the couple arrived home, the tiger welcomed them. The tiger acted differently. He wagged his tail and rubbed his body to the couple’s legs. He looked very happy. The husband became suspicious. “Why does this tiger behave strangely? He does not act as usual?” he thought. The husband looked at the tiger carefully. He was shocked. The tiger’s mouth was full of blood. Then he remembered his baby. He thought the tiger had eaten the baby. “Why is your mouth full of blood?” he asked the tiger. “You must have done something bad to my baby! Have you killed him? Why did you do that?” he was very panicked. The husband took his knife and killed the tiger in anger. Then they both entered the house. They were shocked. They looked at each other. Their baby was sleeping peacefully in his cradle. He was not eaten by the tiger. Quickly, the wife took the baby and kissed him. The baby woke up. He opened his eyes and smiled. The couple found a very large snake under the cradle. The snake was dead and full of blood. “Oh, my wife,” the husband said. “We have done a terrible thing. The tiger is not guilty! Look at the dead snake. The tiger must have killed him. He had saved our baby, but I killed him. Oh, my God! What have I done? I am so sorry. Forgive me, my dear tiger. Forgive me, please?” The couple felt very guilty. They have killed their faithful tiger. It all happened because they did not check the baby first before they killed the tiger. Since then, the couple’s village was called Panyalahan. The word Panyalahan derives from the word “nyalahan”, which means “wrong guess”. ***0 comments

The Golden Antelope

Folklore from West Java

THERE was an old and poor man lived alone in the jungle. His wife passed away years ago and he did not have any children. Everyday he collected some woods and sold them in the village. One day, the old man saw a beautiful antelope. The antelope was different from other antelopes. The color of the skin was golden. The old man walked slowly towards the antelope. The antelope looked very weak. He then gave the antelope some food. ÒThank you, Sir. You are very kind to me," said the antelope. "You could talk? Who are you? Are you the ghost of the jungle?" the old man was very shocked. He was so surprised to see a talking antelope. "I'm sorry old man. I can't tell you who I am. If I did, many people will hunt me. Just donÕt tell anyone about me, OK?" asked the antelope. Since then the old man had a new friend, the golden antelope. He did not feel lonely anymore because he had a friend to talk now, it's the golden antelope. One day, the old man was ill. He could not collect the woods. "Don't worry. I will collect the woods for you," said the golden antelope. The golden antelope then went to the jungle. She did not know that some hunters were following her. One of the hunters was Prince Wijaya. Prince Wijaya took his arrow. He pointed it to the golden antelope. The arrow hit the antelope's body. Suddenly, smoke came out of the golden antelope's body. The smoke then was gone, later a beautiful girl appeared. "Thank you. You just released me from the curse. I'm Princess Sutha. A goddess cursed me into a golden antelope. I could turn back into human i a prince hit me with his arrow," she explained. Then Prince Wijaya asked her to go to the kingdom with him. Princess Sutha agreed only with one condition. She wanted the old man also to join them. They then went to the old man's house. The old man was surprised whenthere were a prince and a princess in his house. He was so happy after Princess Sutha explained everything. He then agreed when they asked him to live with them in the

palace. Not long after that, Prince Wijaya and Princess Sutha got married. They were happy ever after. ***0 comments

Lutung Kasarung

Folklore from West Java

PRABU Tapa Agung was an old king. He had two daughters, Purbararang and Purbasari. Prabu Tapa Agung planned to retire as a king. He wanted Purbasari to replace him as the leader of the kingdom. Hearing this, Purbararang was angry."You cannot ask her to be the queen, Father. I'm older than she is. It's supposed to be me, not her!" said Purbararang. But the king still chose Purbasari to be the next queen.Purbararang then set a bad plan with her fiance, Indrajaya. Together they went to a witch and asked her to put a spell on Purbasari. Later, Purbasari had bad skin. There were black dots all over her body."You are not as beautiful as I am. You cannot be the queen. Instead, you have to leave this palace and stay in a jungle," said Purbararang.Purbasari was very sad. Now she had to stay in the jungle. Everyday she spent her time playing with some animals there. There was one monkey that always tried to cheer her up. It was not just an ordinary monkey, he had magical power. And he also could talk with humans. The monkey's name was Lutung Kasarung. He was actually a god. His name was Sanghyang Gurumina. Lutung Kasarung planned to help Purbasari. He made a small lake and asked her to take a bath there. Amazingly, her bad skin was cured. Now she got her beautiful skin back.After that, she asked Lutung Kasarung to accompany her to go back to the palace. Purbararang was very shocked. She knew she had to come up with another bad idea. She then said, "Those who have longer hair will be the queen."The king then measured his daughters' hair. Purbasari had longer hair. But Purbararang did not give up. "A queen must have a handsome husband. If my fiance is more

handsome than yours, then I will be the queen," said Purbararang.Purbasari was sad. She knew Purbararang's fiance, Indrajaya, was handsome. And she did not have a fiance yet. "Here is my fiancé, Indrajaya. Where is yours?" asked Purbararang. Lutung Kasarung came forward. Purbararang was laughing very hard. "Your fiance is a monkey, ha ha ha."Suddenly, Lutung Kasarung changed into a very a handsome man. He was even more handsome than Indrajaya. Purbasari then became the queen. She forgave Purbararang and her fiance and let them stay in the palace. ***

Link:Lutung Kasarung changed into a man