Timun Mas
Long time ago in the island of Java, Indonesia, lived a couple of farmer. They had married for some years but they had no children. So they prayed to a monster called Buta Ijo to give them children. Buta Ijo was a ferocious and powerful monster. He granted their wish on one condition. When their children had grown up, they had to sacrifice them to Buta Ijo. He liked eating fresh meat of human being. The farmers agreed to his condition. Several months later the wife was pregnant.She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Timun Emas. The farmers were happy. Timun Emas was very healthy and a very smart girl. She was also very diligent. When she was a teenager Buta Ijo came to their house. Timun Emas was frightened so she ran away to hide. The farmers then told Buta Ijo that Timun Emas was still a child. They asked him to postpone. Buta Ijo agreed. He promised to come again. The following year Buta Ijo came again. But again and again their parents said that Timun Emas was still a child.When the third time Buta Ijo came their parents had prepared something for him. They gave Timun Emas several bamboo needles, seeds of cucumber, dressing and salt.‘Timun, take these things’‘What are these things?’‘These are your weapons. Buta Ijo will chase you. He will eat you alive. So run as fast as you can. And if he will catch you spread this to the ground. Now go!’Timun Emas was scared so she ran as quickly as she could. When Buta Ijo arrived she was far from home. He was very angry when he realized that his prey had left. So he ran to chase her. He had a sharp nose so he knew what direction his prey ran.Timun Emas was just a girl while Buta Ijo was a monster so he could easily catch her up. When he was just several steps behind Timun Emas quickly spread the seeds of cucumber. In seconds they turned into many vines of cucumber. The exhausted Buta Ijo was very thirsty so he grabbed and ate them. When Buta Ijo was busy eating cucumber Timun Emas could run away.But soon Buta Ijo realized and started running again. When he was just several steps behind Timun Emas threw her bamboo needles. Soon they turned into dense bamboo trees. Buta Ijo found it hard to pass. It took him some time to break the dense bamboo forest. Meanwhile Timun Emas could run farther.Buta Ijo chased her again. When he almost catch her again and again Timun Emas threw her dressing. This time it turned into a lake. Buta Ijo was busy to save himself so Timun Emas ran way. But Buta Ijo could overcome it and continued chasing her.Finally when Timun Emas was almost caught she threw her salt. Soon the land where Buta Ijo stood turned into ocean. Buta Ijo was drowned and died instantly.Timun Emas was thankful to god and came back to her home.
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The Origin of Landak River
Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. They lived simply and they like to help other people, especially one who in afflictions. One night, the farmer and his wife were resting in their house. The farmer was sitting beside his sleeping wife. Suddenly, a white centipede came out from the wife’s head. The farmer was amazed. He then followed the centipede until they reach a small pond not far from their house. Then the centipede suddenly disappeared. The farmer went home and found his wife still soundly asleep.
In the morning, the wife told his husband about the dream she had last night. “I was walking through a vast field, and I came to a lake. I saw a giant hedgehog in the lake. It was glaring at me, so I ran away.” After he heard his wife’s dream, the farmer went back to the small pond. In the pond, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a golden hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. The farmer then brought the statue home.
At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him, “Please let me stay in your home. As 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.”
In the next day, 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, 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. The rice then stopped coming out from the statue.
The farmer and his wife then asked for other things, jewelry and other stuff they needed. They became very rich. But they still like to help other people. A lot of poor came to them for help. Unfortunately, a thief found out about the secret of the golden hedgehog statue. Pretending to be a poor asking for help, he stole the statue from the farmer’s house.
The thief blurred to the district area of Ngabang. There was a drought in the area. The thief wanted sympathy from the people, so he said to them that he would provide them with water. The thief then caressed the hedgehog statue and said the prayer. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. All the people were so happy. But the water kept on coming out. The thief didn’t know the prayer to stop the wish. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water as it was started to flood the area. The thief also wanted to run away, but he cannot move his legs. In his vision, there was a giant hedgehog holding both his legs. Water kept coming from the statue and slowly it became a river. The thief was drowned in the river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.
The Parakeet King
Once upon a time, there was a group of parakeets in the forest. The parakeets group was led by a king. One day, their peaceful life was threatened by a hunter who planned to catch and sell them in the market. The hunter put some glues around the parakeet’s nests to trap them. Some parakeets and the parakeet king were trapped on the glues that the hunter set up before. They had tried to release themselves from the trap, but their efforts resulted nothing. All of them cried for help, except their king. “Relax my friends! This glue is put by the hunter. He wants to catch us alive. If we die, he will not bring us with him. I suggest we all pretend to be dead when he comes to take us tomorrow. When the hunter releases us from this trap, he will checks whether we still alive or not. If he thinks we are dead, he will leave us here. Please wait for my counting to one hundred, and then we will fly together,” the parakeet king said calmly. All parakeets agreed with the idea, “Good idea. Tomorrow we will pretend to be dead to free ourselves from the hunter.”
The hunter came in the next morning, and released those parakeets one by one from the trap. Finding all of them had not breathed, the hunter was very upset. The parakeets were left unattended in the ground, and the hunter walked home. But suddenly, the hunter slipped and felt down. Surprised by the accident, the pretending parakeets flied and scattered to all directions without waiting for the king‘s counting. The hunter realized that the parakeets had deceived him. But then he saw one bird was still on the ground. It was the parakeet king who was still pretending to be dead. "Gotcha!" he seized the parakeet king. “I’ll kill you,” said the hunter in his anger. “Forgive me, sir! Please do not kill me! Please release me,” the parakeet king asked for mercy. But the hunter replied angrily, “I will not release you. Your friends and you have fooled me. But I’ll not kill you if you promise to entertain me,” the hunter said. “Okay, sir. I’ll chirp for you everyday,” said the parakeet king agreed.
The hunter then brought the parakeet king to his home. He put the parakeet in a cage. The parakeet king chirped melodiously everyday to please the hunter. “Wonderful voice, luckily I didn’t kill him,” said the hunter. The news about the beautiful voice of the parakeet king was heard by the king of Aceh. The king decided to invite the hunter to come to his palace. The king intended to buy the parakeet.
At first, the hunter refused to sell the parakeet. “Oh my Majesty, I do not intend to go up against your wish to have this bird, but it is hard for me to hand over him to you,” said the hunter. “I would like to buy him with high price,” replied the king. After thought the price offered by the king for a while, the hunter finally said, “Oh my Majesty, if you really intend to have the bird, I would gladly sell it to you.” The king was delighted to hear the hunter‘s answer, and quickly paid him the amount of the promised money.
At the palace, the parakeet king was put in a golden cage. He was given so many delicious foods, but he still felt imprisoned. He wished that he could back home to the forest and could fly freely with his parakeet fellow. His sorrow made him sick. He stopped singing at all. “Why does my beloved bird stop chirping? Is he sick?” the king asked the guard. “My Majesty, I do not know exactly the causes. I have provided him with many delicious foods and taken care of him carefully, but he still keeps silent,” replied the guard. The king was so sad hearing the guard‘s explanation.
Meanwhile, in his golden cage, the parakeet king began to think a way to escape. He came up with an idea. “I will pretend to be dead as I had ever done before,” he said to himself. In the next morning he began to do his plan and imagined could fly freely. The palace guard who saw the condition of the parakeet king came to the king to tell the bad news. The king was very sad hearing the news, because the parakeet‘s beautiful twitter was no longer be heard. To express his love for the parakeet king, the king had his guards dug a cemetery for the dead parakeet.
The burial ceremony would be held with the kingdom tradition in the next morning. The parakeet was then taken out from the golden cage. Everybody thought that he had been dead. Suddenly, the parakeet king flied fast and high on the sky. All people were amazed seeing him, because they thought that he had died. The parakeet king got his freedom again, and flied directly to the forest.
Mentiko Betuah
A long time ago, there was a kingdom in Simeulue, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. The king and the queen had a son, Prince Rohib. They loved the prince very much and they always gave him anything he wanted. That’s why the prince grew as a spoiled young man. The prince was then sent to study in a school. The King told him to study seriously. But because the prince was used to be spoiled, he couldn’t finish his study in time. The King was so angry. He realized his mistake. He wanted to give the prince a lesson. He then ordered 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!" said the king.
Prince Rohib 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!” Rohib tried to stop the kids. “Hey, it’s none of your business,” replied one of the kids. “I'll give you some money if you stop hurting the bird," said Rohib. After that, he gave some money to those kids.
Later on his journey, Rohib saw some men were torturing a snake. Again, he 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 ran out of money. 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. He knew that his father would be very angry at him.
The prince then went to the forest because he didn’t know anywhere to go. He was so tired, so he took some rest. While he was sitting under a big tree, a giant snake came to him. He was so scared. “Don't worry, young man. I will not eat you,” said the giant snake. “You…you can talk? Who are you?” Rohib asked. “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." Then the snake went deep into the forest. The prince was very happy. He asked the Mentiko Betuah to give him a lot of money. Then he went home and told his father that the money was from his business as a merchant.
Rohib kept the Mentiko Betuah carefully. He then went to a goldsmith and asked him to make the magical stone as a ring. But the goldsmith stole the Mentiko Betuah. Luckily Rohib had made friends to the animals. He asked a cat, a dog, and a mouse to help him find Mentiko Betuah. The dog followed the smell of the goldsmith, and they found his hideaway. However they could not enter his house because it was locked. Only the mouse was small enough to enter through a small hole in the door.
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. The mouse then gave the Mentiko Betuah to the prince. Rohib was so happy and said that the mouse was the hero. The cat and the dog were jealous and angry. They knew that the mouse had tricked them. According to the local people, that’s why until now cats and dogs always tried to catch mice.
Sangkuriang
Long time ago in West Java, lived a beautiful girl named Dayang Sumbi. She was also smart and clever. Her beauty and intelligence made a prince from the heavenly kingdom of Kahyangan desire her as his wife. The prince asked permission from his father to marry Dayang Sumbi. People from Kahyangan could never live side by side with humans, but his father approved on one condition, when they had a child, the prince would transform into a dog. The prince accepted the condition.
They get married and lived happily in the woods until Dayang Sumbi gave birth to a baby boy. The prince then changed into a dog named Tumang. Their son is named Sangkuriang. He was very smart and handsome like his father. Everyday, he hunted animals and looked for fruits to eat. One day, when he was hunting, Sangkuriang accidentally killed Tumang. His arrow missed the deer he was targeting and hit Tumang instead. He went home and tells her mother about the dog. “What?” Dayang Sumbi was appalled. Driven by sadness and anger, she grabbed a weaving tool and hit Sangkuriang’s head with it. Dayang Sumbi was so sad; she didn’t pay any attention to Sangkuriang and started to cry.
Sangkuriang feel sad and also confused. How can his mother love a dog more than him? Sangkuriang then decided to go away from their home and went on a journey. In the morning, Dayang Sumbi finally stopped crying. She started to feel better, so she went to find Sangkuriang. But her son was no where to be found. She looked everywhere but still couldn’t find him. Finally, she went home with nothing. She was exhausted. She fell asleep, and in her dream, she meets her husband. “Dayang Sumbi, don’t be sad. Go look for my body in the woods and get the heart. Soak it with water, and use the water to bathe, and you will look young forever,” said the prince in her dream. After bathing with the water used to soak the dog’s heart, Dayang Sumbi looked more beautiful and even younger.
And time passed by. Sangkuriang on his journey stopped at a village and met and fell in love with a beautiful girl.He didn't realize that the village was his homeland and the beautiful girl was his own mother, Dayang Sumbi. Their love grew naturally and he asked the girl to marry him. One day, Sangkuriang was going on a hunt. He asked Dayang Sumbi to fix the turban on his head. Dayang Sumbi was startled when she saw a scar on his head at the same place where she, years ago, hit Sangkuriang on the head.
After the young man left, Dayang Sumbi prayed for guidance. After praying, she became convinced that the young man was indeed her missing son. She realized that she had to do something to prevent Sangkuriang from marrying her. But she did not wish to disappoint him by cancelling the wedding. So, although she agreed to marry Sangkuriang, she would do so only on the condition that he provides her with a lake and built a beautiful boat, all in one night.
Sangkuriang accepted this condition without a doubt. He had spent his youth studying magical arts. After the sun went down, Sangkuriang went to the hill. Then he called a group of genie to build a dam around Citarum River. Then, he commands the genies to cut down trees and build a boat. A few moments before dawn, Sangkuriang and his genie servants almost finished the boat.
Dayang Sumbi, who had been spying on him, realised that Sangkuriang would fulfill the condition she had set. Dayang Sumbi immediately woke all the women in the village and asked them to wave a long red scarf. All the women in the village were waving red scarf, making it look as if dawn was breaking. Deceived by false dawn, the cock crowed and farmers rose for the new day.
Sangkuriang’s genie servants immediately dropped their work and ran for cover from the sun, which they feared. Sangkuriang grew furious. With all his anger, he kicked the unfinished boat. The boat flew and landed on a valley. The boat then became a mountain, called Mount Tangkuban Perahu (Tangkuban means upturned or upside down, and Perahu means boat). With his power, he destroyed the dam. The water drained from the lake becoming a wide plain and nowadays became a city called Bandung (from the word Bendung, which means Dam).
Lutung Kasarung
Prabu Tapa Agung had led a kingdom in West Java for a long time. He was getting old and therefore wanted to choose a successor. But unfortunately, he had no son. He thought of choosing one of his daughters, Purbararang and Purbasari. But it wasn’t an easy choice. They were both very pretty and smart. The only difference was their temperament. Purbararang was rude and dishonest, while Purbasari was kind and caring. With those considerations, Prabu Tapa Agung finally chose Purbasari to be his successor.
Purbararang didn’t agree with her father’s decision. “It’s supposed to be me, Father. I’m the eldest daughter!” Purbararang said. Prabu Tapa Agung smiled. “Purbararang, to be a queen takes more than age. There are many other qualities that one must possess,” explained Prabu Tapa Agung wisely. “What does Purbasari have that I don’t?” Purbararang pouted. “You’ll find out when Purbasari has replaced me,” Prabu Tapa Agung answered.
After the discussion, Purbararang went back to her room. “Is there something wrong?” asked Indrajaya. Indrajaya is Purbararang’s future husband. “I’m upset! Father chose Purbasari as his successor and not me! I have to do something!” Purbararang said. Driven mad by her anger, she came to a witch and asked her to send rash all over Purbasari’s body. Before going to bed, Purbasari started to feel itch all over her body. She tried applying powder to her body, but it’s no use. Instead, the itching grew even worse. She didn’t want to scratch it, but she just couldn’t help it. In the next morning, there were scratch mark all over Purbasari’s body. “What happened to you?” asked Purbararang, pretending to be concerned. “I don’t know, sis. Last night, my body suddenly felt very itchy. I scratched and scratched, and this is what happened,” Purbasari answered. Purbararang shook her head. “You must have done something really awful. You’ve been punished by the gods!”
That day, the whole kingdom was scandalized. “What have you done, Purbasari?” demanded Prabu Tapa Agung. Purbasari shook her head. “I didn’t do anything that would upset the gods, Father,” she answered. “Then how can you explain what happened to your body?” Prabu Tapa Agung asked again. “If you don’t confess, I’ll banish you to the woods.” Purbasari took a deep breath. “Like I said before, I didn’t do anything wrong. And I’d rather be thrown into the woods than to confess to a deed I didn’t commit.”
After a short discussion with his advisor, Prabu Tapa Agung ordered Purbasari to be moved to the woods. Purbasari was very sad, but she couldn’t do anything to defy her father’s order. She was accompanied to the woods by a messenger. He built a simple hut for Purbasari. After the messenger left, suddenly a black monkey came to Purbasari’s hut. He carried a bunch of bananas. From behind him, some animals looked on. “Are the bananas for me?’ Purbasari asked. The black monkey nodded, as if he understood what Purbasari said. Purbasari took the bananas with pleasure. She also said thanks. The other animals that were looking on also seemed to smile. “Are you willing to be my friend?” Purbasari asked them. All the animals nodded happily. Although she was living by herself in the woods, Purbasari never lacked of supplies. Everyday, there were always animals bringing her fruits and fish to eat.
A long time had passed since Purbasari was banished to the woods, but her body still itched. At some places, her skin was even ulcerating. What am I supposed to do?” Purbasari sighed. The monkey who was sitting next to her stayed still, there were tears in his eyes. He hoped Purbasari would remain patient and strong.
One night, on a full moon, the monkey took Purbasari to a valley. There is a pond with hot spring water. The monkey suddenly spoke, “The water of this pond will heal your skin,” he said. Purbasari was surprised, ”You can talk? Who are you?” she asked. “You’ll find out, in time,” the monkey said. Purbasari didn’t want to force the monkey. She then walked to the pond. She bathed there. After a few hours, Purbasari walked out of the pond. She was shocked to see her face reflected on the clear pond water. Her face was beautiful again, with smooth and clean skin. Purbasari observed her entire body. There were no traces of any skin ailments. “I’m cured! I’m cured!” Purbasari shouted in joy. She quickly offered thanks to the gods and also to the monkey.
The news of Purbasari’s condition quickly spread to the kingdom, irritating Purbararang. She then accompanied by Indrajaya go to the woods to see Purbasari. Purbasari asked if she would be allowed to go home. Purbararang said she would let Purbasari return to the palace if Purbasari’s hair were longer than hers. Purbararang then let her hair down. It was so long, it almost touched the ground. But it turned out that Purbasari’s hair was twice longer than Purbararang’s hair.
“Fine, so your hair is longer than mine.” Purbararang admitted. “But there is one more condition you must fulfill, do you have a future husband who is handsomer than mine?” said Purbararang as she walked toward Indrajaya. Purbasari felt miserable. She didn’t have a future husband yet. So, without much thought, she pulled the black monkey beside her.
Purbararang and Indrajaya burst out, but their laughter didn’t last long. The monkey meditates and suddenly transformed into a very handsome young man, a lot more handsome than Indrajaya. “I’m a prince from a kingdom far away. I was cursed to be a monkey because of a mistake I committed. I could regain my true form only if there’s a girl who would be willing to be my wife,” said the young man.
Finally, Purbararang gave up. She accepted Purbasari as the queen, and also confessed everything she had done. “Please forgive me. Please don’t punish me,” Purbararang said, asking for forgiveness. Instead of being angry, Purbasari smiled. “I forgive you, sis,” she said. Soon after, Purbasari become queen. Beside her was the handsome prince, the former monkey known as Lutung Kasarung.
Aji Saka
A long time ago there was a kingdom called Medang Kamulan. The kingdom of Medang Kamulan was ruled by Prabu Dewata Cengkar. The people in the kingdom were very scared by the king. It was because the king liked to eat human flesh. Once a week, he commanded his messenger, Patih Jugul Muda, to find him a human to eat.
Far away from the kingdom of Medang Kamulan, there was a village called Medang Kawit. A young man named Aji Saka lived there. Aji Saka was a brave young man. He loved to help people who needed help. One day, Aji Saka saw an old man lying unconscious on the ground. The old man was wounded. Some thieves just hit him and stole his money. Aji Saka then carried the old man to his hut. Soon after, the old man started to regain consciousness. “Where…am I?” he asked. “You’re in my house. You’re safe now,” said Aji Saka. It turned out that the old man was from the kingdom of Medang Kamulan. “Everybody was leaving Medang Kamulan,” the old man told Aji Saka. He also told him about Prabu Dewata Cengkar’s bad habit. “We were terrified, that’s why we left,” The old man said.
After he heard the explanation from the old man, Aji Saka decided to go meet Prabu Dewata Cengkar and make him stop the menace. With his magical white turban on his head, Aji Saka went to the kingdom. The turban was a gift from his Guru that could be used to fight evil. On his journey to Medang Kamulan, Aji Saka passed through a very dark forest where he met an evil genie. The genie blocked his path. “If you want to get through this forest, you must be my slave for ten years,” the genie demanded. Aji Saka refused to be the genie’s slave. The two of them then fight for seven days and seven nights, until at last Aji Saka came out as winner. The genie finally allowed Aji Saka to pass through the forest.
When Aji Saka arrived in the kingdom of Medang Kamulan, the king was angry to Patih Jugul Muda. He was not able to find the king some humans. “If you can’t find me any humans, I’ll eat you instead,” Prabu Dewata Cengkar said to Patih Jugul Muda. After Patih Jugul Muda left, Aji Saka revealed himself. Prabu Dewata Cengkar’s eyes suddenly widened upon seeing Aji Saka. He could already imagine how delicious his meat would taste. “Who are you?” asked Prabu Dewata Cengkar. “I am Aji Saka from the village of Medang Kawit,” Aji Saka answered. “Ha...ha...ha.... I’m glad you came here. You would be my meal. I'm starving,” said the king.
“I would gladly let you eat me, but I want something in return.” Aji Saka said. “What is it that you want?” asked Prabu Dewata Cengkar. “I want a land as large as my turban,” said Aji Saka. He then took off his turban and threw it on the ground. Prabu Dewata Cengkar agreed. He himself would measure the land with Aji Saka’s turban. Suddenly the turban grew bigger and bigger. It just kept on stretching until it finally covered the whole kingdom. Prabu Dewata Cengkar was angry. He then attacked Aji Saka. But, then the turban wrapped itself around him and began to strangle him. The turban then threw the king’s body to the South Sea. The waves carried Prabu dewata Cengkar away until he finally drowned and died.
Aji Saka then asked the people of Medang Kamulan to come back to the kingdom. They all thanked the brave Aji Saka. They also agreed to make Aji Saka to be their king. Aji Saka then ruled the kingdom wisely. Under the leadership of Aji Saka, Medang Kamulan become a peaceful and prosperous kingdom.
Pak Lebai Malang
Pak Lebai was an old man living in a village by the river. Everyday, he used his sampan for travelling at the river. Pak Lebai had a bad habit. He always changed his mind before he did something. He was an inconsistent man. One day, Pak Lebai was invited to a party by his neighbor. Pak lebai was happy. He loved party because he could eat delicious food. He also could get a buffalo's head from the party. Still on the same day, he got another invitation. Those two party invitations made him confused. The two parties were held at the same time, but at different places. The two neighbors who invited him lived in different sides of the river. One neighbor lived on the east side and the other one lived in the west side. "If I go to the west side, I will only get one buffalo’s head. If I go to the east side, I can have two heads of buffalo. But the host at the west side is friendlier,” he said to himself. He was confused.
On the following day, Pak Lebai paddled his sampan to the party at the west side of the river. But then he changed his mind and went to the east side. On the way there, he met with some friends. "The party is awful. There are not many buffalo's heads," said one of them. So, Pak Lebai turned back his sampan again and went to the west side. Unfortunately, the party was already over when he arrived there. Pak Lebai immediately paddled his sampan to the east side again. But he also missed the party.
Pak Lebai was upset and blaming himself for being so inconsistent. He was so hungry and tired because he was padding back and forth in the river. He then fell asleep in his sampan. He did not realize that his sampan was drifting away at the river. When he woke up, he was already in the different village. That’s why all his neighbors started to call him Pak Lebai Malang (poor mister Lebai).
Malin Kundang
Once upon a time, on the north coast of Sumatra lived a poor woman and his son. The boy was called Malin Kundang. They didn’t earn much as fishing was their only source of income. Malin Kundang grew up as a skillful young boy. He always helps his mother to earn some money. However, as they were only fisherman’s helper, they still lived in poverty. “Mother, what if I sail overseas?” asked Malin Kundang one day to his mother. Her mother didn’t agree but Malin Kundang had made up his mind. “Mother, if I stay here, I’ll always be a poor man. I want to be a successful person,” urged Malin kundang. His mother wiped her tears, “If you really want to go, I can’t stop you. I could only pray to God for you to gain success in life,” said his mother wisely. “But, promise me, you’ll come home.”
In the next morning, Malin Kundang was ready to go. Three days ago, he met one of the successful ship’s crew. Malin was offered to join him. “Take a good care of yourself, son,” said Malin Kundang’s mother as she gave him some food supplies. “Yes, Mother,” Malin Kundang said. “You too have to take a good care of yourself. I’ll keep in touch with you,” he continued before kissing his mother’s hand. Before Malin stepped onto the ship, Malin’s mother hugged him tight as if she didn’t want to let him go.
It had been three months since Malin Kundang left his mother. As his mother had predicted before, he hadn’t contacted her yet. Every morning, she stood on the pier. She wished to see the ship that brought Malin kundang home. Every day and night, she prayed to the God for her son’s safety. There was so much prayer that had been said due to her deep love for Malin Kundang. Even though it’s been a year she had not heard any news from Malin Kundang, she kept waiting and praying for him.
After several years waiting without any news, Malin Kundang’s mother was suddenly surprised by the arrival of a big ship in the pier where she usually stood to wait for her son. When the ship finally pulled over, Malin Kundang’s mother saw a man who looked wealthy stepping down a ladder along with a beautiful woman. She could not be wrong. Her blurry eyes still easily recognized him. The man was Malin Kundang, her son.
Malin Kundang’s mother quickly went to see her beloved son. “Malin, you’re back, son!” said Malin Kundang’s mother and without hesitation, she came running to hug Malin Kundang, “I miss you so much.” But, Malin Kundang didn’t show any respond. He was ashamed to admit his own mother in front of his beautiful wife. “You’re not my Mother. I don’t know you. My mother would never wear such ragged and ugly clothes,” said Malin Kundang as he release his mother embrace.
Malin Kundang’s mother take a step back, “Malin…You don’t recognize me? I’m your mother!” she said sadly. Malin Kundang’s face was as cold as ice. “Guard, take this old women out of here,” Malin Kundang ordered his bodyguard. “Give her some money so she won’t disturb me again!” Malin Kundang’s mother cried as she was dragged by the bodyguard, ”Malin... my son. Why do you treat your own mother like this?”
Malin Kundang ignored his mother and ordered the ship crews to set sail. Malin Kundang’s mother sat alone in the pier. Her heart was so hurt, she cried and cried. “Dear God, if he isn’t my son, please let him have a save journey. But if he is, I cursed him to become a stone,” she prayed to the God.
In the quiet sea, suddenly the wind blew so hard and a thunderstorm came. Malin Kundang’s huge ship was wrecked. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship, and fell on a small island. Suddenly, his whole body turned into stone. He was punished for not admitting his own mother.
Princess Mandalika
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in Lombok Island that was ruled by a king named Raja Tonjang Beru. He was a wise king. He had a queen named Dewi Seranting. He also had a beautiful daughter named Princess Mandalika. It is said that princess Mandalika was the prettiest girl in the whole island. Everybody knew about Princess Mandalika’s beauty and kindness, even the people from other kingdom around the island.
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, she was very confused. She could not decide, and she didn’t want to make them sad. She also didn’t want to cause a war to happen because of her.
To solve the problem, Raja Tonjang Beru then held a competition in Seger Kuta beach. He asked all the princes to take part in archery competition. The rule was simple; whoever shot the target perfectly will be accepted as Princess Mandalika’s future husband. One by one, all participants tried their best. After some time, there was no winner. All the participants were great in archery.
Because there was no a winner, all the participants started to argue. They claimed to be the best. The argument was getting hotter. Finally, they all were fighting. Soon, the fighting got bigger. It was like a war, because all the 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 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 wife. I want to be someone that everybody can have," said Princess Mandalika.
Raja Tonjang Beru and all other people in the beach did not understand what she meant. The king then came to her. But suddenly, Princess Mandalika jumped to the sea. She disappeared in the big waves. Everybody was surprised. It was chaos on the beach. All the princes tried to swim to find the princess, but they found nothing.
After several hours trying to search the princess, suddenly they found a lot of colorful sea worms on the beach. Raja Tonjang Beru then realized that his daughter had returned as sea worms. The worms were then called nyale. Until now, people in Lombok always try to catch nyale. Nyale is very delicious and that is why a lot of people come to Lombok to catch it. However, they can only find it once a year, in February or March. The tradition to catch the sea worms is called Bau Nyale.
The Blowpiper
Long time ago in a small village in Bangka Island, lived a young man who was an expert in using blowpipe, especially for hunting. That why people in the village called him the blowpiper. He also had excellent medical skill that was passed down from his late father. One day, the village chief Pak Raje came to the blowpiper’s house, asking him to chase away the fold of wild boars that entered and ruined his paddies. Pak Raje told the blowpiper that his father once owed him some money. Thus, the blowpiper should work for him voluntarily. The blowpiper took the job, though he would not be paid.
In the next day, the blowpiper went to Pak Raje‘s field. He watched the field and did some patrols to every side of the fields. He watched the field everyday, but he still not found any suspicious movements. Entering the seventh day of his work, the blowpiper noticed a suspicious movement from the far distance. He walked slowly to the source of voice where he saw a fold of boars trying to enter the field. The blowpiper then hid behind a big tree with a blowpipe in his hand. When the fold of boars ruined the paddies, the blowpiper pointed his blowpipe toward one of the boars that was closest to him. He blew his blowpipe. The dart hit the boar, but it didn’t paralyze the boar as the blowpiper expected. The fold of boars then runs outside the field and disappeared from the blowpiper‘s view. “Hmm... My dart had hit one of them, it must hurt it,” said the blowpiper curiously.
In the morning, the blowpiper went to follow the blood trail of the boar he shot last night. The trail led him to the forest and finally it ended in front of a big cave. Cautiously, the blowpiper entered the cave. He was surprised to found a beautiful lady bleeding on a soft bed, surrounded by some other beautiful ladies. One of them was an old lady, the mother of the fainted lady. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” asked the old lady. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m looking for my lost dart, it was stuck to a wild boar,” the blowpiper explained to the old lady. “The stuff you are looking for is on my daughter,” said the old lady angrily. “How come it is on your daughter?” asked the blowpiper surprised. “That’s because... the boar that you shot with your blowpipe last night is in fact my daughter‘s manifestation,” explained the old woman sadly.
The old woman‘s explanation surprised the blowpiper. “So..., all of you were the boars that I saw last night?” asked the young man. “What you have said is right young man,” answered the old woman softly. “I did not mean to…. I am so sorry to hear that. I would not do that if I knew that the boars were you,” the blowpiper apologized. “Never mind,” said the old woman. “Forget all about that. The most important thing right now is how to release the dart from my daughter‘s body,” added the old woman sadly. “I can help you with that,” said the blowiper. He came closer to the beautiful lady and uncovered the blanket. He then took out the dart from her body and with his medical skill he immediately stopped the bleeding.
In a short time, the wound recovered, leaving no traces. “Now, she has recovered. Let me go home now. May be we can meet again someday,” said the blowpiper politely. “Yes young man... But before you leave, I have something to give to you as my gratitude,” said the old lady while giving the blowpiper a wooden box. “Do not open the box until you’re in home,” added the old lady. “Thank you for your kindness,” said the blowpiper. He then left the cave and returned home. At his home, the blowpiper opened the wooden box. Surprisingly, the young man found jewelry, gold and diamonds inside the box. “Wow...! I’m rich,” murmured the young man happily.
In the next morning, the blowpiper sold all the precious stuff and used the money he got to purchase a field, garden, house, and paid all debt his father had owed to Pak Raje. The news about the blowpiper fortune quickly spread throughout the village. Everyone knew including Pak Raje. He intended to be like the blowpiper, so he went to borrow the blowpipe from the blowpiper to hunt a boar in his own field. On the way, he met with a boar, and shot it with the blowpipe. Then he followed the blood trail left by the boar until he entered the cave. It was like what happened with the blowpiper. Pak Raje was asked to cure the bleeding woman, but he could do that as he had no such skill. Suddenly, tens of boars attacked him, making him bleeding and seriously wounded. With all his strength, he escaped from the cave. He fainted when he finally arrived in front of his own house.
Pak Raje’s daughter informed what happened to her father to the blowpiper. Hearing the bad news, the blowpiper rushed to Pak Raje‘s house to help him. With his medical skill, he tried to cure Pak Raje’s injuries. Finally, Pak Raje could make it and recovered from his serious wounds. After thinking about what he had been through, Pak Raje realized his own bad intention. He felt sorry for being greedy. “Thank you, young man. You’ve help me once again. As my gratitude, I would like to appoint you as the next village chief. Would you accept?” asked Pak Raje. “Of course, Pak Raje. Thank you,” answered the blowpiper happily.
After a week, the blowpiper asked Pak Raje’s daughter to be his wife. They live happily as a couple. The blowpiper was a polite and kind person, and Pak Raje’s daughter was a beautiful woman. Under the leadership of the blowpiper, all the villagers lived in prosperous and harmony.
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