LEGEND OF BATU BAGGA

Long time ago in Sulawesi Island, lived a man named Intobu. He lived alone with his only son, named Impalak. They were poor. Everyday they work as fishermen. They went to the sea every night to catch fish, even in bad weather. Intobu always advised his son, “Being fishermen is our only income. Do not take the bad weather as our enemy.” Impalak nodded. “Yes, Father,” he replied.

Intobu and Impalak worked as fishermen for years. But, Impalak started to feel bored with the job. He wanted to try something new. He wanted to make a better living for his father and himself. One day, Impalak tried to talk to his father about his desire. “Father…, please forgives me,” Impalak felt hesitated. “What is it, my son?” Intobu was curious seeing his son’s strange attitude. “Father, actually I want to quit working as fisherman. I want to go abroad and try working something else,” explained Impalak.

Intobu was sad hearing his son’s decision, but he also wanted Impalak to be a successful person. “If that is your decision, I couldn’t do anything else but to allow you. I can only pray for your safety and success” said Intobu. “But I want you to always remember your homeland. Always remember your father,” he continued. “Yes, Father. I will remember. Thank you,” said Impalak happily.

In the next day, Impalak went to the harbor. He saw a bagga (sailboat) and went to see the owner. “Excuse me, Sir. I’m wondering if I can sail with you?” asked Impalak. The bagga’s owner was silent for a moment. “It’s not a problem for me. But why do you want to sail with me, and have you asked permission from your parents?” asked the bagga’s owner then. “I worked here as fishermen with my father, but I want to try my luck abroad. My father already agreed with my plan,” said Impalak. “All right, I will set sail tomorrow. Come met me here in the morning. And by the way, what’s your name?” asked the bagga’s owner. “Thank you, Sir. My name is Impalak, Sir,” Impalak answered happily.

Back in his house, Impalak told his father about the bagga boat. “When do you depart?” asked Intobu. “Tomorrow, Father,” answered Impalak. The next morning, impalak went to the harbor together with his father. The bagga was ready to set sail. “Hurry, Impalak!” shout the bagga’s owner. Impalak kissed his father’s hand, “I’m going, Father. Take care,” said Impalak. “Go, Son. My blessing is with you,” said Intobu. There were tears in his eyes as he saw the bagga leaving the harbor.

A few years passed. Every time Intobu saw a bagga boat, he always hoped that his son is coming home. But there’s no news at all from Impalak. One day, Intobu went fishing as usual. He used his small sampan and headed to the open water near the harbor. But then he saw a bagga heading to the harbor.

When the bagga was getting close to Intobu’s sampan, he saw a handsome young man standing in front of the bagga’s deck. The young man was accompanied by his beautiful wife. Intobu recognized the young man. He was Impalak, his son. “Impalak! Impalak, my son!” Intobu shout happily.

Impalak heard his father’s shouting, but he ignored him. “Honey, there’s someone down there calling your name. Is that your father?” asked his wife. “No, he’s not my father. Just ignore him, honey” Impalak was embarrassed to acknowledge his old father in front of his beautiful wife.

Intobu tried to row his sampan closer to the bagga, but suddenly there’s a big waves in the sea. Intobu’s sampan was hit by the waves and almost drowned. “Help… Help me… Impalak, help…!” Intobu was shouting, asking help from his son. But Impalak ignored his father. He even turned his bagga into the opposite direction from Intobu’s sampan.

Intobu’s heart was broken to see his son’s ignorance. His felling is mixed with sadness and anger. He looked into the sky and prayed, “Oh, God. Please hear my prayer. I curse that rebellious son’s bagga into stone.” Not long after Intobu said the prayer, a storm came and struck Impalak’s bagga. The wind blew so hard, pushing the bagga to the shore. Suddenly, the bagga and Impalak turned into stone. The stone still exist until now. People called it Batu Bagga (Bagga Stone).***

sumber : http://ceritarakyat.50webs.com/Cerita%20rakyat_Indonesian%20folklore_Central%20Sulawesi_Legend%20of%20Batu%20Bagga.htm

THE PARAKEET KING (nangroe aceh darussalam)

Once upon a time, there was a group of parakeets in the forest. The parakeets group was led by a king. One day, their peaceful life was threatened by a hunter who planned to catch and sell them in the market. The hunter put some glues around the parakeet’s nests to trap them. Some parakeets and the parakeet king were trapped on the glues that the hunter set up before. They had tried to release themselves from the trap, but their efforts resulted nothing. All of them cried for help, except their king. “Relax my friends! This glue is put by the hunter. He wants to catch us alive. If we die, he will not bring us with him. I suggest we all pretend to be dead when he comes to take us tomorrow. When the hunter releases us from this trap, he will checks whether we still alive or not. If he thinks we are dead, he will leave us here. Please wait for my counting to one hundred, and then we will fly together,” the parakeet king said calmly. All parakeets agreed with the idea, “Good idea. Tomorrow we will pretend to be dead to free ourselves from the hunter.”

The hunter came in the next morning, and released those parakeets one by one from the trap. Finding all of them had not breathed, the hunter was very upset. The parakeets were left unattended in the ground, and the hunter walked home. But suddenly, the hunter slipped and felt down. Surprised by the accident, the pretending parakeets flied and scattered to all directions without waiting for the king‘s counting. The hunter realized that the parakeets had deceived him. But then he saw one bird was still on the ground. It was the parakeet king who was still pretending to be dead. "Gotcha!" he seized the parakeet king. “I’ll kill you,” said the hunter in his anger. “Forgive me, sir! Please do not kill me! Please release me,” the parakeet king asked for mercy. But the hunter replied angrily, “I will not release you. Your friends and you have fooled me. But I’ll not kill you if you promise to entertain me,” the hunter said. “Okay, sir. I’ll chirp for you everyday,” said the parakeet king agreed.

The hunter then brought the parakeet king to his home. He put the parakeet in a cage. The parakeet king chirped melodiously everyday to please the hunter. “Wonderful voice, luckily I didn’t kill him,” said the hunter. The news about the beautiful voice of the parakeet king was heard by the king of Aceh. The king decided to invite the hunter to come to his palace. The king intended to buy the parakeet.

At first, the hunter refused to sell the parakeet. “Oh my Majesty, I do not intend to go up against your wish to have this bird, but it is hard for me to hand over him to you,” said the hunter. “I would like to buy him with high price,” replied the king. After thought the price offered by the king for a while, the hunter finally said, “Oh my Majesty, if you really intend to have the bird, I would gladly sell it to you.” The king was delighted to hear the hunter‘s answer, and quickly paid him the amount of the promised money.

At the palace, the parakeet king was put in a golden cage. He was given so many delicious foods, but he still felt imprisoned. He wished that he could back home to the forest and could fly freely with his parakeet fellow. His sorrow made him sick. He stopped singing at all. “Why does my beloved bird stop chirping? Is he sick?” the king asked the guard. “My Majesty, I do not know exactly the causes. I have provided him with many delicious foods and taken care of him carefully, but he still keeps silent,” replied the guard. The king was so sad hearing the guard‘s explanation.

Meanwhile, in his golden cage, the parakeet king began to think a way to escape. He came up with an idea. “I will pretend to be dead as I had ever done before,” he said to himself. In the next morning he began to do his plan and imagined could fly freely. The palace guard who saw the condition of the parakeet king came to the king to tell the bad news. The king was very sad hearing the news, because the parakeet‘s beautiful twitter was no longer be heard. To express his love for the parakeet king, the king had his guards dug a cemetery for the dead parakeet.

The burial ceremony would be held with the kingdom tradition in the next morning. The parakeet was then taken out from the golden cage. Everybody thought that he had been dead. Suddenly, the parakeet king flied fast and high on the sky. All people were amazed seeing him, because they thought that he had died. The parakeet king got his freedom again, and flied directly to the forest.***

SUMBER : 

http://ceritarakyat.50webs.com/Cerita%20rakyat_Indonesian%20folklore_Aceh_The%20Parakeet%20King.htm

PRINCES MANDALIKA (cerita rakyat dari NTB)

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in Lombok Island that was ruled by a king named Raja Tonjang Beru. He was a wise king. He had a queen named Dewi Seranting. He also had a beautiful daughter named Princess Mandalika. It is said that princess Mandalika was the prettiest girl in the whole island. Everybody knew about Princess Mandalika’s beauty and kindness, even the people from other kingdom around the island.
Princes from all over the place wanted to marry her. One by one, they came to propose her. Princess Mandalika was a kind girl. She hated to make people sad. So, when those princes came to propose her, she was very confused. She could not decide, and she didn’t want to make them sad. She also didn’t want to cause a war to happen because of her.
To solve the problem, Raja Tonjang Beru then held a competition in Seger Kuta beach. He asked all the princes to take part in archery competition. The rule was simple; whoever shot the target perfectly will be accepted as Princess Mandalika’s future husband. One by one, all participants tried their best. After some time, there was no winner. All the participants were great in archery.
Because there was no a winner, all the participants started to argue. They claimed to be the best. The argument was getting hotter. Finally, they all were fighting. Soon, the fighting got bigger. It was like a war, because all the princes brought their soldiers in the archery competition. Princess Mandalika was really worried. She did not want the war to get bigger and hurt many people. Finally, she had an idea. "Everybody, listen up! I know you all love me and want me to be your wife. But I don't want you to fight because of me. And I don't want you to be sad either. I want you all to have me, but not as your wife. I want to be someone that everybody can have," said Princess Mandalika.
Raja Tonjang Beru and all other people in the beach did not understand what she meant. The king then came to her. But suddenly, Princess Mandalika jumped to the sea. She disappeared in the big waves. Everybody was surprised. It was chaos on the beach. All the princes tried to swim to find the princess, but they found nothing.
After several hours trying to search the princess, suddenly they found a lot of colorful sea worms on the beach. Raja Tonjang Beru then realized that his daughter had returned as sea worms. The worms were then called nyale. Until now, people in Lombok always try to catch nyale. Nyale is very delicious and that is why a lot of people come to Lombok to catch it. However, they can only find it once a year, in February or March. The tradition to catch the sea worms is called Bau Nyale.***

sumber : http://ceritarakyat.50webs.com/Cerita%20rakyat_Indonesian%20folklore_Nusa%20Tenggara%20Barat_Princess%20Mandalika.htm

THE ORIGIN OF LANDAK RIVER (west kalimantan)

Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. They lived simply and they like to help other people, especially one who in afflictions. One night, the farmer and his wife were resting in their house. The farmer was sitting beside his sleeping wife. Suddenly, a white centipede came out from the wife’s head. The farmer was amazed. He then followed the centipede until they reach a small pond not far from their house. Then the centipede suddenly disappeared. The farmer went home and found his wife still soundly asleep.

In the morning, the wife told his husband about the dream she had last night. “I was walking through a vast field, and I came to a lake. I saw a giant hedgehog in the lake. It was glaring at me, so I ran away.” After he heard his wife’s dream, the farmer went back to the small pond. In the pond, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a golden hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. The farmer then brought the statue home.

At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him, “Please let me stay in your home. As 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.”

In the next day, 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, 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. The rice then stopped coming out from the statue.

The farmer and his wife then asked for other things, jewelry and other stuff they needed. They became very rich. But they still like to help other people. A lot of poor came to them for help. Unfortunately, a thief found out about the secret of the golden hedgehog statue. Pretending to be a poor asking for help, he stole the statue from the farmer’s house.

The thief blurred to the district area of Ngabang. There was a drought in the area. The thief wanted sympathy from the people, so he said to them that he would provide them with water. The thief then caressed the hedgehog statue and said the prayer. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. All the people were so happy. But the water kept on coming out. The thief didn’t know the prayer to stop the wish. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water as it was started to flood the area. The thief also wanted to run away, but he cannot move his legs. In his vision, there was a giant hedgehog holding both his legs. Water kept coming from the statue and slowly it became a river. The thief was drowned in the river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.***

sumber : http://ceritarakyat.50webs.com/Cerita%20rakyat_Indonesian%20folklore_West%20Kalimantan_The%20Origin%20of%20Landak%20River.htm

BIWAR AND THE DRAGON (cerita rakyat dari Papua)

One day, the people from the village of Mimika were very busy. They prepared twelve boats and set off on a journey to find sago (traditional food of the people in the island of Papua). After three days, their boats were filled with sago. But on their way back to the village, they were attacked by a dragon. The dragon’s tail caused a big wave in the river. Most of the villagers were drown, but there’s a woman who managed to save herself. She was hanging to a tree log and finally arrives in a land.
The woman was the only survivor from the incident. She was pregnant. Her boat was broken so she couldn’t go back to the village. The woman then lived in the forest near the river. Later she gave birth to a son. She named her son Biwar. He grew up as a skillful hunter. He can make various weapons, set traps to catch animals, and provided sufficient food for both of them.
One day he brought some fish for their food. When his mother saw him bringing fish, she asked where Biwar got them. He said it was from the river. The mother was still afraid of the dragon, so she forbade Biwar to go near the river again. She also told him about his father and the villagers that were killed by the dragon, "Your father was killed by the dragon. I'm the only one survived from the incident. That's why we live alone here, Son."
Biwar then decided to hunt the dragon so that he and his mother could go back to the village. He set traps near the river. Then he made some noise by playing the tifa (traditional drums). Attracted by the noise, the dragon came to Biwar. When the dragon started to attack, Biwar pulled the rope that linked to his traps, releasing spears that hit the dragon’s head directly. The dragon died instantly.
Biwar then came to his mother and told her about the death of the dragon. The next day, he built a boat and set sail to return to the village. When they arrived in the village, all the people were so happy to hear the news about the dragon’s death. Thanks to Biwar, they are not afraid to sail in the river anymore.***

SUMBER : http://ceritarakyat.50webs.com/Cerita%20rakyat_Indonesian%20folklore_Papua_Biwar%20and%20the%20Dragon.htm