Jumat, 07 Juni 2013

MINANGKABAU

FLOKLORE 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. "We can challenge them to a buffalo fight. If their buffalo dies, we win. But if our buffalo dies, they win."

Kamis, 06 Juni 2013

LORO JONGGRANG


Folklore from Central Java
      Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Prambanan. The people lived peacefully. However, soon their happy lives were disturbed by Pengging Kingdom. The king, Bandung Bondowoso, wanted to occupy Prambanan. He was a mean king.
      The war between Prambanan and Pengging could not be avoided. Prambanan lost the war and led by the new king, Bandung Bondowoso. Pengging could win the war because Bandung Bondongwoso had a supernatural power.
      His soldiers were not only humans but also genies. Those creatures always obeyed Bandung Bondowoso. They always did whatever Bandung Bondowoso asked them to do. The king of Prambanan had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Loro Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her.
     "If you want to marry me, you have to build a thousand of temples in just one night," said Loro Jonggrang. She hated Bandung Bondowoso because he made the people of Prambanan suffered. "What? Impossible! You just gave me an excuse for not marrying me!" said Bandung Bondowoso. But he did not give up. He asked the genies to help him.

Princess Tandampalik



FLOKLORE FROM SOUTH SULAWESI (NARRATIVE)

King of Luwu had a very beautiful daughter. Her name was Princess Tandampalik. She was very beautiful. Any man who saw her would fall in love with her. Everybody knew about her beauty, including King of Bone. Bone was a kingdom that was far away from Luwu Kingdom.
Then, King of Bone paid a visit to Luwu in order to propose Princess Tandampalik to be her daughter in-law. His son, Prince of Bone, was still single. King of Luwu actually did not want to accept the proposal. According to the culture, he could not have a son-in-law who lived very far from him. Otherwise, he would suffer from terrible disease. But, he knew if he refused it, kingdom of Bone would attack Luwu.
Many of his people would suffer. After that, King of Bone came to Luwu and talked about the marriage proposal. King of Luwu said he needed time to decide. King of Bone understood and went home.
Suddenly, a bad thing happened. Princess Tandampalik was ill. She got skin rash. The kingdom healer said the disease could infect others. The king then decided to put the princess in a safe place. It was in a remote island named Wajo Island.
The princess was not alone. Some soldiers accompanied her. The princess was sad. But she knew if she stayed in the kingdom, many people would be infected. So she was not angry with her father for making her stay in a remote island.