The lake of Color

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. The kingdom had a kind and wise kingdom named Prabu. He and all his people lived in happiness. There was only one thing that made Prabu and his people sad. Prabu did not have any children. There was no prince or princess in the kingdom.

 One day, Prabu went to the jungle to pray God. Everyday he begged for a child. And after several time, the dream came true. The Queen got pregnant. All people in the kingdom felt happy so did Prabu and the king. Many of them sent present to the place.

The queen gave birth of a beautiful princess and Prabu and all his people got happier. Many of the people sent presents to the place. Everyone in the kingdom loved her. So did the king and the Queen, Everything she wanted must be realized she become a spoiled girl. Her 17^th birthday was coming and Prabu prepared a beautiful necklace as her birthday present. The party was so crowded and all the people in the kingdom came and attend the party.

And then, Prabu presented the necklace to his beloved daughter and said that the beautiful necklace was presented by all people in the kingdom. Suddenly, the princess threw necklace and said that she did not like the necklace. She said that she did not want to accept that necklace.

All people, including Prabu and her Queen, were sad and began to cry. Then, there was a miracle. Suddenly, the earth was crying. It made a pool of water. The palace was getting full. Soon the palace became a big lake. The lake sank the entire kingdom and became telaga warna (the lake of color).

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The stupid dog Folktale from central Sulawesi

DEER have horns, right? But long time ago, deer did not have horns. Instead, dogs had horns. How did the deer get the horns? Here is the story. It was a very hot day. A couple of deer went to a river to drink. They were husband and wife. After arrived in the lake, they immediately drank some water.

Suddenly, the wife saw an animal coming. “My husband, who is he? Wow! He is  very handsome with his horns,” said the female deer. “Oh, that’s my friends. He is a dog. By the way, did you say he is more handsome than me?” asked the male deer. He was jealous. “Of course not, you are still more handsome than he is. But I have to admit that his horns are beautiful. If you have those horns, I think you will look very attractive.” “OK, then, I have an idea how to take the horns from the dog. Just wait here.”

“Hi, how are you?” asked the male deer to the dog. “I’m just fine,” answered the dog. “How about you?” “Not really good. You see my wife over there? She thinks that I cannot run fast like other male deer. Do you mind if we have a running match? I really want to practice,” said the male deer. “Don’t worry, my friend. Let’s have running match now.”

After that, the running match began. The male deer won. Then, he tried to cheer the dog up. “Well, don’t be sad. You cannot run fast because you have your horns on your head. What if you let me wear the horns,” asked the male deer. “OK, but please wear the horns carefully. I don’t want them to be broken.” “Don’t worry. I will be careful,” replied the male deer. And he immediately put the horns on his head. “Wow? My wife is right. I really look great with these horns,” said the male deer to himself. Then, they started the running match again. The male deer ran as fast as he could. He ran very fast and did not stop. He was trying to steal the dog’s horns. “Hey come back! Bring back my horns!” the dog was very angry. Until now, dogs always try to catch deer. The dogs want to get their horns back.

 Taken from http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

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Sangi the hunter Folklore from central Kalimantan

A long time ago in central Kalimantan, a great hunter named Sangi lived. Every time he went to the jungle to go hunting, he brought a lot of animals home. Sangi lived with his family on a riverside.

As always, Sangi went to the jungle. He saw some footprints of a wild hog. He slowly followed the footprints. The footprints ended in a big tree. Sangi thought the hog was behind the tree. Slowly he walked around the tree then he was really amazed. He saw a big dragon was trying to swallow a wild hog. The hog was so big that the dragon could not swallow it easily.

After several times trying to swallow, finally the dragon gave up. Suddenly, the dragon looked at Sangi. He was really shocked! He wanted to run 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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