Selasa, 21 Januari 2014

O H E O

OHEO
Folklore from Southeast Sulawesi 


THERE was a handsome man in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. His name is Oheo. He is a kind and diligent farmer. He plants sugarcane trees on his field. Everyday he always takes care of the trees. And he also takes care of the animals.

It was time to harvest the sugarcane. He was so happy. Early in the morning, he left his house and went to the field. However, he was so surprised when he arrived at the field. The field was in a mess. It seemed that some people had already taken his sugarcane. He was so upset.

He wanted to find the thief! He heard some people were laughing.

He heard, “Hmmm this sugarcane is so yummy!”

“Aha!” said Oheo.

“The thieves are still here. I’m going to catch them!”

Oheo tried not to make sounds. However, he could not find them. And when he looked upward, he saw seven beautiful angels fly at the sky. They had the sugarcane! Those angels flew to the river. They wanted to take a bath. Oheo followed them.

Oheo was not angry anymore. Instead, he was so happy. He fell in love and wanted to marry one of the angels. Secretly, he took one of the angels’ shawls. And of course, after finished taking a bath, one angel could not fly to the sky.

Oheo then showed up. He pretended that he was willing to help her.

“My name is Oheo. Why do you look so sad?”

“My name is Princess Anawai. I’m an angel. I just lost my shawl. Without it, I cannot fly back to my home. I live in a palace in the sky,” said the angel.

“Why don’t you stay at my home while I’m looking for it,” said Oheo.

Princess Anawai agreed to stay at his house. She did not know that Oheo was hiding her shawl. Later, Oheo asked her to marry him.

Princess Anawai agreed but Oheo had to promise one thing. Oheo had to clean and wash their children, if they defecated. Oheo agreed. He was really in love with her. Princess Anawai was so beautiful. He also thought that washing the child is not difficult thing to do. It was a year after they got married and they had one child. As promised, Oheo always washed the child after the child defecated.

In one morning, Oheo was busy in the field. The child was defecating. Princess Anawai asked Oheo to wash the child. Oheo refused. He said that he was very busy. Princess Anawai was so sad that her husband did not keep his promise.

So, she washed the child. And then accidentally, she found her shawl. It was kept in the bathroom.

She wore her shawl and flew to the sky. Oheo tried to impede her but Princess Anawai had already made up her mind. She was so disappointed.

Oheo was so sorry. He blamed himself for not being able to keep the promise. He really loved his wife. He tried very hard to fly to the sky.

Finally, he got help. A tree was willing to help him. Oheo and his child climbed the tree.

Slowly, the tree is getting higher and higher. And soon, Oheo was able to go to the palace in the sky.

When he arrived, the king was angry. “You already made my daughter sad. If you want to find her, go to that dark room. If you can find her, you can take her back to your home. But if you cannot find her, I will put you in the jail.”

Oheo was confused. He did not know how to find her wife in the very dark room. Suddenly, a firefly came to him. He was willing to help Oheo.

With the help of firefly, the room was no longer dark. Therefore, he could find her wife easily. After he found her, Oheo asked her to forgive him. He promised to be a better husband.

Later, they went back to their home on earth.

Minggu, 19 Januari 2014

THE GREEDY KING

THE GREEDY KING
Foklore from South Kalimantan

ONCE upon a time there was a kingdom in South Kalimantan. The king was Sang Hiyang. He liked to eat. His favorite food was fish intestine. He often asked the palace chef to provide him fish intestine in a big proportion. The King Sang Hiyang would be angry when the chef only gave him a small proportion. The chef did not have any problem preparing the fish intestine because there was a big river near the palace. She always asked the soldiers to catch the fish.

One day, the chef was restless. The soldiers just gave her a few fish. The soldiers said that it was not a good season to catch the fish. The chef immediately cuts and cleaned the fish from the river. She was thinking about the punishment of the king. She was really worried and she did not concentrate when cutting and cleaning the fish. Accidentally, she dropped the fish intestine to the river. The current was very strong. In just a minute, she lost the entire fish intestine!

The chef was really shocked. She talked to her husband about the problem. He had an idea. He dug the land and collected a lot of worms. He gave the worms to his wife and asked her to cook. At first his wiferefused. But the husband convinced her that the worms looked like the fish intestine. The King Sang Hiyang would not recognize the difference.

The chef immediately cooked the worms and prepared it to the king. When it was done, the king ate the worms. He was very happy. He felt that the 'fish intestine' was more delicious. He called the chef and asked her to always provide him the delicious fish intestine.

The chef was very worried. She knew sooner or later the king would find out. She did not want to lie. And finally she told the king about the truth. She did not cook fish intestine, instead she cooked worms!
And after King Sang Hiyang knew the truth, he was not angry. He loved to eat the worms. He asked the chef to always prepare the worms in big proportions.

Everyday the soldiers dug the land to find the worms. Soon, the numbers of worms were decreasing. The king of worms was angry. He was sad to see his people were gone. He asked the worm soldiers to attack King Sang Hiyang.

The worm soldiers went to the palace. They finally found King Sang Hiyang. The king was so scared to see a lot of worms came to him. Amazingly, the King was the only one who could see the worms. Other people could not see the worms. Therefore, they were wondering why the king looked so scared.

The king ran out of the palace. The worms followed him. They slowly chased King Sang Hiyang. The king did not know where to go. He finally found a big tree. He then climbed the tree. Later the worms surrounded the tree. They could not climb the tree. They just waited on the ground. It has happened for many days. And the king was beginning to be frustrated. He just wanted to die. IJe wanted to commit suicide!

King Sang Hiyang tore his shirt and he made it as a rope. He already made up his mind. He wanted to hang himself! And after it happened, the people were shocked. They saw King Sang Hiyang was hanging. They said, "Sang Hiyang tergantung! Sang Hiyang tergantung!" It means Sang Hiyang is hung.

Soon the area of the incident was named Sang Hiyang Tergantung and now it slowly changes into Siang Gantung. It is an area in Sungai Selatan, South Kalimantan.

Minggu, 12 Januari 2014

THE PIRATE CROCODILE

THE PIRATE CROCODILE


Folklore from Lampung

A long time ago, not many people dared to sail in Tulang Bawang River. A big crocodile lived there.

People believed the crocodile would eat anyone who sailing in the river.

Not far from the river, there was a village. Aminah and her parents lived there. She was a beautiful girl. One day her parents asked her to go to another village. It was across the river. Aminah was a kind daughter. She always obeyed her parents.

“Please be very careful, dear. If you see the crocodile near you, row your sampan as fast as you can,” said the mother.

“I will be careful, Mother. I will come back to you later. I promise you,” said Aminah.

Aminah then took her sampan. She rowed it slowly. She did not want to make any noise. She did not want the crocodile to hear her.

But she was wrong! The big crocodile was looking at her. The crocodile was swimming silently. Then... it attacked the sampan. It turned upside down. Aminah was so scared.

“Help! Somebody please help me!” screamed Aminah.

Aminah was drowned. She was unconscious. When she was awake, she was inside a big cave. She stood up and looked around. She saw something shining in the dark. When she approached it, she found a lot of jewelries. She was very surprised. Suddenly she heard a voice.

“You can take those jewelries. But you have to stay with me.”

The voice was from the crocodile. It was the same crocodile that attacked her in the river. to run but she was cornered. The crocodile was right in front of her.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m not a real crocodile. I was a human. I was a pirate and always stole people’s jewelries. A witch cursed me into a crocodile. And now I keep all the jewelries here inside the cave.”

“How do you go to the river?” asked Aminah.

“There is a tunnel that connects the cave to the riverside,” explained the crocodile. He did not realize that he already broke his secret.

Aminah then pretended to agree stay inside the cave. When the crocodile was sleeping, she took the jewelries and went to the tunnel.

Finally she arrived at the riverside. She met some villagers and they helped her. Aminah’s parents were very happy, their daughter back home. They sold all the jewelries and gave the money to other villagers. Everybody was happy, they were not poor anymore.

Selasa, 07 Januari 2014

ROTI ISLAND

A STORY OF ROTI ISLAND

Folklore from East Nusa Tenggara

ONCE upon a time, a grandmother and her granddaughter lived in RotiIsland, Nusa Tenggara Timur. They had a field and grew some vegetables. The grandmother sold them at the market.

In one morning, the grandmother would go to the market. Before she left, she asked her granddaughter to cook.


“Please cook some rice for lunch. But just cook one grain of rice. It’s enough for both of us.”

“Why, Grandma?” asked the girl.


“Just do what I said.”

The grandmother then left for the market.
Later, the girl started to cook.

However, she felt a grain of rice would not be enough for them.

“I think it’s not enough for me and my grandmother.”

Then she took two handfuls of rice. Suddenly, something bad happened to the rice pot.

“Oh, no! The rice flowed out of the pot!” shouted the girl.

“What should I do?” The rice became rice porridge.

It flowed and flowed until it covered the kitchen. Suddenly, the grandmother came home. The girl explained what happened.

“You are a naughty girl! Why didn’t you listen to me?” the grandmother was so angry. She hit the girl with a wooden stick.

“ Please forgive me, Grandma!” the little girl cried and cried. But the grandmother kept hitting her.

Then, an incredible thing happened! The girl turned into a monkey. The monkey then ran away and climbed a tree. The grandmother chased the monkey. From the tree, the monkey said.

“Grandmother, I’m a monkey now. I cannot live with you anymore. You are all alone."

Then the monkey climbed up and disappeared. The grandmother was very sad. She regretted what she has done to her beloved granddaughter.

“ Please come back to me. Please forgive me, my granddaughter!’ but it was too late.

The little girl has turned into a monkey and never came home. The people of Roti Island believe this story. And that is why until now; people in the Roti Island never hit their children or other people’s child. They are afraid that the child would turn into a monkey.