Dream Kingdom

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.

"My 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 accidentallyPutri 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'sparents 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 PulauBanyak.

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 BatuMerah.***

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 look
back 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 theprincess to be wet.

Later the princess went inside the cave. She was standing in the corner of the cave. And after the rainstopped, the guards asked the princess to continue walking. They called out the 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!***

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 asked about 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 a beautiful 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. ***

Tanjung Menangis

Folklore from Maluku

THERE was a great kingdom in Halmahera. The people were sad. The king just died. He was a great king. He was kind and very wise. The people loved him very much.

The king had three children, two sons and one daughter. The son were Baginda Arif and Baginda Binaut, while the daughter was Putri baginda Nuri.

The queen talked to commander of the soldiers. They were discussing about the next king. According to the rule, the first child would be the next king. Therefore, they were preparing a ceremony to inaugurateBaginda Arif to be the new king.

Baginda Binaut heard they conversation. Actually, he had an ambition. he also wanted to be the king. He had a plan. Secretly, he talked to the commander and consequently the commander had to send the queen, Baginda Arif and Baginda Nuri to jail.

The commander agreed. He send them to the jail. The queen, the prince and the princess were very sad.Baginda Binaut told the people that his mother, his brother and his sister were drowned in the sea.

"Binaut is really ungrateful. He is really a bad person," said Baginda Arif.

"Be patient, my child. God will help us," said the queen.

Then Baginda Binaut became the new king. Unlike his father, he was very cruel. He asked his people to pay high taxes. The people suffered. They complained but they could not do anything. The soldiers would hurt them.

However, not all the soldiers wanted to follow Baginda Binaut. One of the soldier decided to leave the palace. His name was Bijak. He made his own troops. He knew the queen, the prince and the princess were in jail. He wanted to set them free.

On one night, Bijak and his troops attacked the jail. He wanted to set them free.

On one night, Bijak and his troops attacked the jail. They succeeded! Then he planed to attacked the palace. But the queen did not agree. She did not want to see her own people fighting. The queen then prayed to god.

Not long after that, the mountain erupted. The lava was flowing. It flowed to the palace. The people were running to save their life. Baginda Binaut was also running. Amazingly, wherever he was running, the lava always followed him.

Baginda Binaut was really scared. While he was running, he was thinking of his mother, brother and his sister. He screamed for help.

"Mother, please help me!" He went to the jail but they were not there. He was really panicked because the lava was getting closer to him.

"Help! Help!" screamed Baginda Bimaut but not one helped him.

Finally, Baginda Binaut could not run anymore. He was exhausted and he arrived at the sea. He could not go back to the land because it was full of lava. Then he swam to the sea.

Because he was very tired, he could not swim. He was drowned. Slowly, his body turned into a cave. The people often heard someone crying from the cave, therefore they named it the crying cave or TanjungMenangis. ***

The Legend of Blue Pond

Folklore From Maluku

“Hey look over there! Water is flowing!”

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 from a 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 before they 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.***

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.***

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 laughing. 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 have you never listened 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 shout, "Mother please forgive us!" But their mother never returns home. ***

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. ***

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.***

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. ***

Mundus and the Snake

Folklore from East Nusa Tenggara

MUNDUS was a young man. He lived alone. His parents died a long time ago. Mundus was a farmer. He worked diligently. His neighbors liked him. Mundus always helped people whenever they needed help.

Mundus and other villagers often were hunting in the jungle. They hunted the animals and shared the meat to all villagers.

It was a beautiful day. All the men were ready to go hunting. They all brought their own weapons. When they arrived in the jungle, they separated into two big teams. There was an open land and they choose that place as their base. They would meet in that place two hours later.

Mundus and his team were walking silently. Suddenly they saw a big snake. they all prepared their weapons. In just a minute, they killed the snake.

They brought the snake to the base. the other group also already arrived. Unlike Mundus' group, they were unlucky. They did not bring animals. they all were hungry. they decided to cook the snake and prepare it for their meal. After they all finished eating, they continued their hunting. This time, Mundus did not join them. He was not feeling well, so he stayed in the base.

While he was resting, suddenly a big snake came. Mundus was so scared. The snake looked the same as the snake which was killed by his friends. Mundus thought that the snake was the mate of the dead snake. Well, he was right! The snake was exactly the mate of the dead snake.

Mundus climbed a big tree. he hoped the snake would not chase him. And Mundus saw the strange thing. The snake did not chase him. The snake came to the body of the dead snake. There were not many parts left. The meat of the snake was already eaten by Mundus and his friends. There were only the skin and the head left.

Strangely, the mate was trying to rearrange the body parts of the dead snake. And after all the parts of the body were rearrange, the mate went to the bushes. Later, the snake brought some leaves in his mouth and came to the dead snake. the mate chewed the leaves then covered the skin, the head and the bones of the snake.

Amazingly, the dead snake lived! And then, the two snakes went back to the jungle. Mandus could not believe what he saw. And when his friends came back, he told them about the snakes. They also not believe him.

On the following day, Mundus came to the jungle again. He felt that that snake was giving him a lesson on how to cure the wounds. Mundus then looked for the leaves, Mundus went home.

When he arrived, his neighbor asked for his help. The neighbor fell from the tree, and broke his leg. Mundus then chewed the leaves and covered the broken leg. Amazingly, it was cured! Mundus was very grateful. Since then, every time people had problem with broken bones, Mundus always helped them. Mundus became famous. He was known as master of curing broken bones. ***

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 to Princess 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 Princess Bungsu 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.***

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.***

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 all left 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. ***

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A Farmer and His Three Cats

Folklore From East Java

THERE was a poor farmer in Madura. He lived with his wife and his children. The farmer did not have his own rice field. He worked for his neighbors' rice field. He only got small amount of money when harvest came.

The farmer really wanted to have his own rice field. However, he did not have enough money to buy a piece of land. The farmer told his wife that he wanted to go to Java. He wanted to work there and got a lot of money.

The farmer left his house with a little money. On the way of the harbor, he met an old woman. She brought three cats.

"Please help me, Sir. I'm so hungry and I don't have any money. Please buy my cats," said the old woman.

The farmer was confused. he wanted to help the woman, but if he bought her cats, he would not bring any money.

Finally, he decided to buy the cats. The woman was very happy. she gave him a small cage so the farmer could put the cats in it.

Later the farmer was on the ship. At first the cruise was good, but suddenly there was a heavy storm. The ship could not continue the cruise to Java. It harbored in Mice Island. People named it Mice Island because there were so many mice lived in the island. The nice attacked people's barn and ate their supplies. The people were hopeless. They did not know how to combat the mice.

The farmer heard about the people's problem with the mice. He remembered about his three cats. he wanted to help the people by giving them his three cats.

The people really welcomed the farmer's help. And soon the farmer released his three cats. The cats had not eaten for a long time. they were very hungry. And when the cats saw the mice, they immediately chased and ate the mice.

Slowly the number of the mice decreased. the people were very happy. They wanted to repay the farmer's kindness. They all gave him a lot of money. The farmer was extremely happy. he went back to his home in Madura.

The farmer was not poor anymore. he bought land and his own rice field. He lived happily with his family.

His neighbor was jealous with the farmer. He also wanted to have a lot of money. He heard about the Mice island. So he collected many cats and joined a ship.

Finally he arrived in Mice Island. However, the name of the island was not Mice Island anymore. Its name changed into Cat island. The three cats that the farmer brought had bred. It made the island full of cats.

And so when he offered his cats to the people, they all were laughing at him.

"What? Are you kidding?! We have too many cats here. we don't need your cats!"

He was so embarrassed. Finally he went home to Madura and brought his cats back to him.***

The Legend of Telaga Pasir

Folklore from East Java

ONCE upon a time, there lived a husband and wife in the jungle of Lawu Mountain, East Java. They were Kyai Pasir and his wife Nyai Pasir. They lived peacefully. Kyai Pasir was a farmer. He worked in a field. Nyai Pasir just stayed at home. Everyday she cleaned up the house and cooked for them.

It was a beautiful morning, Kyai Pasir left the house and went to his field. While he was walking, he stumbled upon something. He looked at the thing carefully, "What is this? Is this an egg? But what kind of egg is this? It's very big."

Kyai Pasir put the egg back to the ground. He continued walking. At home, Kyai Pasir told his wife about the egg. "Why didn't you bring the egg home?" asked Nyai Pasir.

"It's really big. I feel really strange about the egg," explained Kyai Pasir.

"If the egg is really big, then we both can eat. Please bring the egg home, Kyai," asked Nyai Pasir.

On the following days, Kyai Pasir went to the field as usual. He planned to bring the egg home as his wife's request.

Kyai Pasir was walking carefully . he did not want to stumble upon the egg for the second time. He looked around. And aha! He found the egg. He carefully brought the egg home.

"Nyai, this is the egg I told you."

"You are right, Kyai. The egg is big. I wonder what animal has this egg."

Nyai Pasit did not wait for long to boil the egg. And when it was done, they both ate the egg.

They both felt very full. And it made them very sleepy. Not long after that they fell asleep. In the morning Kyaiand Nyai Pasir woke up as usual. Kyai Pasir took a bath then he went to the field.

On the way to the field, he felt his body so uncomfortable. He felt his body itchy. He stretched his body. Suddenly he felt his throat so hot. He badly needed water. He was screaming in pain. He was so shocked! he saw his skin changed into scales. Just like scales of reptile. He touched his head. He felt something was growing on his head. He was completely shocked. A horn was growing. And he also had a tail. His body slowly getting bigger. He changed into a dragon!

Meanwhile, at home Nyai Pasir also felt the same. She was so panicked. She was screaming. She was running to the field. She wanted to look for her husband. When she arrived at the field, she saw a dragon was moving his body on the ground.

Slowly Nyai Pasir also changed into a dragon. The two dragons were trying to walk but they were too weak to do that. They just could move their bodies on the ground. They moved their bodies so heavily and it made a very big hole. The hole was getting deeper and deeper. Soon water came out of the hole. The water came out very much. And it made a lake. Since then, people named the lake as Telaga Pasir. ***