Text Storytelling Indonesian Legends

Aji Saka

Folklore from Central Java

A long time ago there was a kingdom. Its name was Medang Kamulan. The people in the kingdom were very scared. They wanted to leave the kingdom. It all happened because the king was a beast. His name was Prabu Dewata Cengkar and he ate humans! Every day Patih Jugul Muda always provided some humans to be eaten by the king! Not far from the kingdom, there was Medang Kawit village. A young man with a great supernatural power lived there. His name was Aji Saka. Everybody liked him because Aji Saka was nice, diligent, and kind hearted. One day, Aji Saka saw an old man was wounded. Some thieves just hit him and stole his money. The old man was the villager in Medang Kamulan kingdom. He told what happened in his kingdom to Aji Saka. Aji Saka was very angry. He decided to go to Medang Kamulan to give Prabu Dewata Cengkar a lesson. The king had to stop his bad behavior, eating humans. Aji Saka then went to the kingdom. He was wearing his magic turban. When he arrived in the kingdom, the king was angry to Patih Jugul Muda. He was not able to give the king some humans. All the villagers already saved themselves by leaving the kingdom. “Who are you, young man? Ha...ha...ha.... I’m glad you are here. I'm starving,” said the king. He was so happy to see Aji Saka. He thought Aji Saka was there to be eaten by him. “I would gladly let you eat me. But I have one request. You give me your land with the size of my turban,” said Aji Saka. He then took off his turban and threw it on the ground. The king and Aji Saka then measured the size of the turban. Suddenly the turban grew bigger and bigger. It finally covered the whole kingdom. The king was totally angry. He knew Aji Saka was planning to take over his kingdom. He then attacked Aji Saka. With his supernatural turban, Aji Saka twisted the king’s body and threw him to the ocean. The king never returned to the kingdom. Aji Saka then asked the villagers to come back. They all were very happy. They also asked Aji Saka to be their king. Aji Saka then ruled the kingdom wisely. He led Medang Kamulan kingdom into its golden moment. The people lived happily and peacefully. ***

Baruklinting

Folklore from Central Java

A long time ago, there was a giant dragon. His name was Baruklinting. One day, one of the gods asked him to take nine shepherds as an offering for the gods. Then Baruklinting went to a mountain. He opened his big mouth everyday. He hoped that shepherds would enter his big mouth. In the village, ten shepherds took their cows to the grass field on the mountain. They didn’t know there was a dragon. One of the shepherds was very skinny and dirty. His friends always made fun of him. The skinny shepherd never got angry. He just kept quiet and left his friends every time they laughed at him. It was a very hot day. All shepherds were very tired. They wanted to find a cool place to rest. The skinny shepherd had already found a nice place to rest. It was under a big tree. The place was cool so he did not feel hot anymore. His friends were jealous. “Let’s steal his place,” said one of them. “Yes! Let’s do it!” other shepherds agreed. They took some mud and threw it to the skinny shepherds. The skinny shepherd was so sad. Still, he did not get angry. He just left them and walked away. “Ha ha ha go now! You skinny boy!” they laughed at him. Suddenly the sky became dark. There was a thunder and lightning. Heavy rain began to fall. The shepherds did not want to get wet. They had to find a better place. They finally found a big cave. The cave had sharp rocks inside it. All shepherds did not know that the cave was actually the mouth of the giant dragon. Yes, it was Baruklinting’s mouth! When all shepherds were inside the ‘cave’, suddenly one of them pushed the skinny shepherd away.
“Go out! You don’t belong here! It’s only for the big boys!” "But it was raining outside,” said skinny shepherd. ÒI don’t care!” then they pushed him. Right after the skinny shepherd was outside the cave, it suddenly closed! Yes, Baruklinting just finished his job to get nine shepherds for the gods. When the skinny shepherds saw the cave closed, he ran away! He ran as fast as he could. He then told the villagers about the cave and the dragon. The villagers then went to the mountain to kill the dragon. But when they arrived, the dragon had already gone. From that day on, the village was named Kesongo Village. Songomeant nine for the nine shepherds who were eaten by Baruklinting Dragon***

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A Farmer and a Hedgehog Statue

Folklore from West Kalimantan

IT was a very hot day. A farmer was working on his field. He was there for several hours. He was very tired and wanted to get some rest. Just before he found a nice place to rest, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. Those were the shiny objects he saw. The farmer then brought the statue home. He wanted to show it to his wife. His wife was so happy. They were so poor and planned to sell the statue. At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him. He said, “Please let me stay in your home. As a 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.” 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, a magic thing happened. 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. It worked! The rice then stopped coming out from the statue's mouth. Now the farmer mentioned other things, they were jewellery and other stuffs they needed. In just a moment, the farmer and his wife became very rich. They then shared their materials with the neighbours. There was one neighbour who was very jealous. He was actually a thief! He wanted to know how the poor farmers became rich. After the thief found out, he stole the magic hedgehog statue. He immediately took it and ran away. He was very tired from running and was very thirsty. He wanted to get some water from the statue. He said the prayer. His wish came true. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. The thief was so happy. He drank and drank the water. He wanted to stop drinking but he did not know how to stop the water. He forgot the prayer to stop the wish. Water kept on coming out. He did not know what to do. He was really panic. He asked for help. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water. More and more water surrounded him. Slowly, it became a small pond. Water flowed on the ground. It became a river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak. ***

Ki Semar and Slamet Mountain

Folklore from Central Java

A long time ago, Slamet Mountain was very high. It was so high that it could reach the sky. People heard that they could take the stars if they were on top of the mountain. But no one dared to go there. The people were afraid that the gods in heaven would be angry if people took the stars. However, the beauty of the stars made some monkeys dared to go to the top of the mountain. Led by their king, they went there and took some stars. Then, the sky became dark at night. People were sad and the gods were angry! Batara Guru was the leader of the gods. He held a meeting. He invited Batara Narada, Batara Brama, Batara Bayu, and others. Batara Narada had an idea how to stop the monkeys. They would ask Ki Semar to help them.
Ki Semar was actually one of the gods. He was even older than Batara Guru. But Ki Semar did not live in heaven. He lived on earth with his children, Gareng, Petruk, and Bagong. Ki Semar had a great supernatural power. He could cut the top of the mountain easily. But first, he wanted to give a lesson to the naughty monkeys. They had to be punished for stealing the stars. He then set a plan with his children to trap the monkeys. Gareng then went to the top of the mountain. He had to attract the monkeys to go down by giving them some bananas. It worked! The monkeys followed Gareng. After the monkeys left the top of the mountain, Ki Semar immediately cut the top of the mountain. He threw the biggest part to Cirebon. It became Ceremai Mountain and the small parts became small mountains, like Clirit Mountain, Tapak Mountain, and others.
After the monkeys left the mountain and followed Gareng, Petruk was ready with some hot water. He planned to pour the hot water over the monkeys. He waited and waited but the monkeys never came to him. He did not know that while the monkeys chased Gareng, they met a giant dragon. The monkeys had a fight with the dragon. It was so terrible that both the monkeys and the dragon finally died. Because of tired waiting for the monkeys, Petruk then left the place. He did not bring his hot water and left it there. People then named the place where Petruk left his hot water as Guci. It is about 50 kilometers from Tegal, Central Java. It is famous for its hot water.***

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Joko Panjer and Lara Inten

Folklore from East Java

"JOKO Panjer, take the cows home. It’s late and going to rain soon." “Yes, father. I’m going home now. The cows are also full.” The boy, Joko Panjer, was a shepherd. Everyday his father always asked him to take the cows to the field to eat some grass. Joko Panjer was a nice and diligent boy. He always obeyed and helped his poor parents. One day, while Joko was busy looking after the cows, a little girl came to him. “Hello, young girl. What’s your name? And what are you doing here? Where do you live?” Joko gave her some questions. He was surprised to see a little girl on the field. He felt that the girl was not from his neighbourhood. She dressed beautifully.
“My name is Lara Inten. May I be your friend? I don’t have a friend to play,” said the little girl.
“I’m Joko Panjer. Lara Inten, where do you live? Where are you from?” “If I tell you, you don’t want to play with me. So, may I be your friend?” Actually, Joko was also lonely on the field. Everyday he did not have a friend to talk and play together. All of his friends were in the village. Since then, Lara Inten and Joko were friends. They always had a good time on the field. Sometimes, they played hide and seek and other times they just sang some songs. They were happy! In one afternoon, while Joko and Lara were playing, suddenly some men came to them. Those men were soldiers from the kingdom. “Princess Lara, here you are. Now we know why you always disappear in the palace. Please come back with us, the king and the queen are waiting for you.” “You are a princess? Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Joko to Lara. “Joko, I already told you. If you know who I am, you don’t want to play with me. I want you to be my friend, because I am lonely.” Lara Inten then returned back to the palace. She talked to her parents about Joko. The king and the queen then decided to ask Joko and his family to stay in the palace. Now everyday, Joko and Lara could play together. Joko’s parents were very happy. Now the family were not poor anymore. ***

Kelingking

Folklore from Bangka Belitung

A long time ago in Bangka Belitung lived a husband and a wife. They were poor and they did not have any children yet. Days and nights they prayed to God. They really wanted to have a child.
“God, please give us a child, even though he is only as big as a little finger,” prayed the husband.
Their dream came true! The wife was pregnant. However they were surprised when they saw the baby. He was so small. He was as big as a little finger. “You prayed to God to give us a child, although he is as big as a little finger right? Be thankful to God. Let’s love him. How will you name him then?” asked the wife. “You are right. We have to be grateful. Well, I will name him Kelingking,” said the husband. Kelingking means little finger. Time passed by and Kelingking did not grow much. His body was still physically small compared to other kids.
Though he was so small, Kelingking ate like adults. He ate much food. And that made his parents really worried. They were poor and sometimes they could not eat because they had to give their food to Kelingking. “I cannot hold it anymore. I want to put Kelingking in the jungle. Let him live there. I think he can survive,” said the father. In the morning, Kelingking and his father went to the jungle. When they arrived, the father asked Kelingking to cut down a very big tree.
When Kelingking was busy cutting down the tree, his father silently went home.
The father thought that Kelingking could not cut down the big tree. The father was sure that
Kelingking would be lost in the jungle. But he was wrong! In the morning Kelingking suddenly showed up in front of the house. And he brought the big tree also!
“Father, where do you want me to put this big tree?” asked Kelingking. The father was surprised. He asked Kelingking to put the tree in the backyard. Kelingking then went inside the house. As always he ate all the food and that made his father got angry. He then had another idea. “Kelingking, let’s go to the mountain. I need a big stone from there.”
Kelingking was an obedient kid. He followed his father to go to the mountain. When they  rrived, his father pointed a big stone. The stone was as big as their house!
“I want you to bring that big stone to our house,” asked the father. When Kelingking was trying to bring the stone, the father immediately ran home. At night, when the father was sleeping , suddenly he heard Kelingking’s voice. “Father, I’m home. Where do you want me to put this big stone?”
This time Kelingking’s father realized his mistake. It was true that Kelingking’s body was small and he ate much food. But he was a nice kid and he had great power. With that power, they could get a job and had a lot of money. The father then apologized to Kelingking. Since then they always worked together. *** 

The Lazy Uder

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

He always woke up in the afternoon. Then he went fishing on the river until evening. Uder never helped his wife. That’s why she always worked alone in the field. She never gave up giving him advice. But, Uder never listened to his wife. On one afternoon, Uder went fishing. He took some worms as bait. On the way to the river, he met his neighbor. “Hey Uder, where are you going?” “I’m going fishing,” said Uder. “What do you have for the bait?” “Some worms,” answered Uder. Then he continued walking. Then he met another neighbour. Again, the neighbour asked where Uder was going and what he had for the bait. Uder answered. After that, he met another neighbour. He also asked the same question. Uder was tired of answering. He was upset. So he decided to ignore everyone. While he was walking very fast, he met a group of monkeys. They could talk like humans. “Hey Uder, are you going fishing?” asked one of the monkeys. “Yes, I am.” “What do you have for the bait?” Uder was still upset with all those same questions. This time he could not take it anymore. “I’m going to use your mother for the bait!” said Uder. “Hey! Don’t make fun with my mother!” Those monkeys were angry. They took Uder. Then they tied him in a big tree. “ Please forgive me. I did not mean to make fun with your mother. I was just upset with all those questions my neighbours had asked me?” explained Uder. “Okay, we forgive you. We will free you, if you can tell us a place where we can eat fruits. We are hungry.” “Go across the river. There you can see a very big rambutan tree. You can eat those rambutans until all of you are full.” Then the monkeys freed him. Uder then ran as fast as he could. After he arrived home, he apologized to his wife and promised to be a good husband. ***

Minangkabau
Folklore from West Sumatra

Do you know why the roofs of houses in West Sumatra have the shape of buffalo horns? Here is the story. Once upon a time there was a kingdom in West Sumatra. The people worked as farmers. Their lives were full of happiness. The land was fertile and the weather was always beautiful. The people also had a wise king. He always protected the people. However, soon their happy lives would be disturbed. Majapahit, a kingdom from Java would attack them. The people were so scared. They were so restless. They went to the king to talk about it. The king tried to calm them down."Don't worry, my fellow country men. I know Majapahit have many soldiers. They are also great in war. If we fight them, maybe we lose. But I have an idea how to beat them, 'said the king. Then he continued. ÒWe can challenge them to a buffalo fight. If their buffalo dies, we win. But if our buffalo dies, they win." "We have to make sure our buffalo will win, Your Majesty. How?" asked one of the people. The king smiled. He continued, ÒWe just need to find a strong baby buffalo." The king then ordered his people to give him the strongest baby buffalo. After that, the strong baby buffalo was separated from his mother. They did not give any food to the baby buffalo for several days. The baby buffalo was very hungry! The baby buffalo cried and cried. He asked for food. Then the king took two sharp knives and attached them strongly to the baby buffalo's horn. Now it was time for the buffalo battle. Everyone gathered on the field. The Majapahit soldier released a big and wild buffalo out of his cage. Everyone was surprised with the size of the buffalo. Later, the West Sumatran released their baby buffalo. The Majapahit soldiers were laughing. "Ha ha ha. It's so small. How can you win?" They did not know that the hungry baby buffalo had two sharp knives on the horn. The baby buffalo ran fast towards the big buffalo and went straight under the big buffalo's stomach to find the teat. The knives at the baby buffalo's horns cut through the big buffalo's stomach. The big buffalo fell down to the ground and died. "Yes! We win, we win, we win!" The people of West Sumatra cheered. Then, the king changed the name of the kingdom into Minangkabau. It means the buffalo won. That is why the roofs of the houses in West Sumatra are similar to the form of buffalo horns and the traditional headdress of the women of West Sumatra is also like buffalo horns. ***

Pak Belalang

Folklore from West Sumatra

Pak Belalang was famous. He had a magic book that could tell everything. He always learned something every time he read the magic book. It was a beautiful evening. Pak belalang had some guests. Suddenly he asked his son to get him the magic book. He wanted to show his magic ability to the guests. After reading the magic book, he said, "I think there is a mouse in the trap."
His son immediately went to the kitchen and took the mousetrap. Pak Belalang was right! There was a mouse caught in the trap. The guests were surprised. They were Belalang's magic book.
After all the guests went home, Pak Belalang laughed. "Ha...ha...ha... I fooled them. They didn't know I had put a mouse trap. Ha...ha...ha..."Yes, Pak Belalang was a liar. He actually did not have a magic book. It was just an ordinary book. He lied because he wanted to be famous.
One day, the king called Pak Belalang to the palace to find the missing jewellery. The king gave him seven days to find it. Pak Belalang knew that if he could not find the jewellery, he would be punished. He would go to jail.Pak Belalang went to every place to find the jewellery. On the seventh day he still could not find them. So, he held a farewell dinner with his family.
Pak Belalang said to his wife, "Please make some pancakes."When the first pancake was ready, Pak Belalang said, "This one is yellow. Please make another." When the second one is ready, he said, "This is too brown, make me another one."Within every pancake, Pak Belalang said too dark, too fat, too thin, and so on. Meanwhile, Pak Belalang did not know that some thieves were hiding under his house. Those were the thieves who stole the king's jewellery.
The thieves wanted to know what Pak Belalang would say about them. When they heard the words yellow, brown, dark, fat, thin, they become frightened because each of them were yellow, brown, dark fat and thin. A moment later, the seven thieves knocked on his door. They cried, "Please help us, Pak Belalang! We will return the jewellery. We promise not to steal anymore!"
Pak Belalang then brought the jewellery to the palace. The king was so happy and gave him great gifts.
Pak Belalang was so thankful. he promised himself not to lie anymore. Next time he wouldn't be lucky. He could be punished for his wrong doing. ***

Pak Belalang= Mr. Grasshopper