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 fast. He tought 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 can not eat a wild hog that big,” said Sangi. “Yes, you can. If you are a dragon, you can eat the 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 you have to do. Don’t tell anyone that you are a half a dragon 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 to lives, people always the secret, but he never told them why he could look young forever.

On his 150^th 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 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.

Taken from http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

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A test for the king A folktale from central java

There was a small kingdom called Mergosono. Although Mergosono was small, it was famous because the king was a very good and wise man.

One day, the gods heard about the king’s goodness and wisdom. So, they decided to test him. The king of the gods sent four of his gods to Mergosono to test king.  At the time, the king son’s, pangeran or prince Sembara was studying abroad. One of the gods disguised as prince Sembarana and two others as villagers while one disguise as a villager who was killed by prince Sembarana. The two villagers then went to see the king to tell him about the death of their friend. They said that they saw the prince killed their friend. “I accept your report. But my son hasn’t returned from his study. I will hold my judgment until his return. If my son indeed killed your friend then I will give him the punishment he deserves. But if you lie then I will punish you for running my family’s good name,” said the king.

When the two villagers left, the king called his trusted advisor. He asked for their opinion about his matter. They all agreed that if the report was true then the prince should be punished. The king was sad to hear that but he knew he had to uphold the law.

The next morning the false prince came to see his father. He admitted killing the villager. So the king decided to execute the prince for his wrong doing.

The next day the prince was going to be hung as his punishment. When the executioner hanged the prince, suddenly his body disappeared and a voice was heard across the field. “The king of Mergosono, you really are a wise and justified 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 was gone, the people of Mergosono yelled with joy. Their prince was safe and knew that their king was a wise a man. When the prince finally arrived home, they held a party to celebrate the event.

Taken from http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

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Manik Angkeran

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. He also had a bad habit. He liked to gamble. Because of his 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, his father, then went to Agung Mountain. There lived a mightydragon with his supernatural power. He could provide jewelleries 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, jewelleries came out from dragon’s body. He was very happy and immediately brought the jewelleries home. This time Sidi Mantra wanted Manik Angkeran really to stop gambling. The son then promised. But soon he broke the promise. He knew about the dragon.

He heard that his father got the jewelleries from the dragon living in Agung Mountain. Si he stole his father’s 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 jewelleries. Manik Angkeran was very happy. Suddenly, he had a bad idea. He wanted to kill the dragon and stole all his jewelleries.

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

Taken from http://indonesianfolklore.blospot.com

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LANDSLIDE

A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes different types of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows. We usually also say the landslide is a when large amount of soil and rocks falls down the side of a hill, cliff, or mountain.

Landslide can occur naturally or because of human’s action. Natural causes of landslide includes erosion by river, heavy rains or snowmelt, glacier melting, ocean waves which create over steepened slopes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thunder and lighting, and ground water pressure. Human causes of landslide include vibrations from machinery, traffic and road construction, blasting, mining, and logging.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org

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Mentiko Betuah Folklore from nanggroe aceh Darussalam

A long time ago, there was a kingdom in simeulue, 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 mistakes. 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 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, the king 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 a 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’m the king of snakes in this jungle. I heard you help 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 very 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 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 he 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 know that the mouse 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.

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