Long time ago in Tasikmalaya, west java, lived a young
couple. They were farmers. They lived happily with their baby. The couple had
also the animal. One of them is a tiger.
When the couple went to work on the paddy field, the tiger
looked after their baby. As usual, the couple went to paddy field. Before they
left, they asked the tiger to look after their baby. “We will go to the paddy
field now. Look after our baby, okay?” the tiger nodded. So, the couple went to
the field. They worked from morning until afternoon.
When the couple arrived home, the tiger welcomed them. The
tiger acted differently. He wagged his tail and rubbed his body to the couple’s
leg. He looked very happy. The husband became suspicious. “Why does this tiger
behave strangely? He does no act as usual?” he thought. The husband looked at
the tiger carefully. He was shocked. The tiger’s mouth was full of blood. Then
he remembered his baby. He thought the tiger had eaten the baby. “Why is your
mouth full of blood?” he asked the tiger. “You must have done something bad to
may baby! Have you killed him? Why did you do that?” he was very panicked. The
husband took his knife and killed the tiger in anger.
Then they both entered the house. They were shocked. They
looked at each other. Their baby was sleeping peacefully in his cradle. He was
not eaten by the tiger. Quickly, the wife took the baby and kissed him. The
baby woke up. He opened his eyes and smiled. The couple found a very large
snake under the cradle. The snake was dead and full of blood. “Oh, my wife,”
the husband said. “We have done a terrible thing. The tiger is not guilty! Look
at the dead snake. The tiger must have killed him. He had saved our baby, but I
killed him. Oh, my God! What have I done! I am sorry. Forgive me, my dear
tiger. Forgive me, please?” the couple felt very guilty.
They have killed their faithful tiger. It all happened
because they did not check the baby first before they killed the tiger. Since
then, the couple’s village was called Panyalahan. The word Panyalahan derived
from the word “Nyalahan”, which means “Wrong guess”.
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