Pak Lebai Malang

Pak Lebai was an old man living in a village by the river. Everyday, he used his sampan for travelling at the river. Pak Lebai had a bad habit. He always changed his mind before he did something. He was an inconsistent man.

One day, Pak Lebai was invited to a party by his neighbor. Pak lebai was happy. He loved party because he could eat delicious food. He also could get a buffalo's head from the party. Still on the same day, he got another invitation. Those two party invitations made him confused. The two parties were held at the same time, but at different places. The two neighbors who invited him lived in different sides of the river. One neighbor lived on the east side and the other one lived in the west side. "If I go to the west side, I will only get one buffalo’s head. If I go to the east side, I can have two heads of buffalo. But the host at the west side is friendlier,” he said to himself. He was confused.

On the following day, Pak Lebai paddled his sampan to the party at the west side of the river. But then he changed his mind and went to the east side. On the way there, he met with some friends. "The party is awful. There are not many buffalo's heads," said one of them. So, Pak Lebai turned back his sampan again and went to the west side.

Unfortunately, the party was already over when he arrived there. Pak Lebai immediately paddled his sampan to the east side again. But he also missed the party.
Pak Lebai was upset and blaming himself for being so inconsistent. He was so hungry and tired because he was padding back and forth in the river. He then fell asleep in his sampan. He did not realize that his sampan was drifting away at the river. When he woke up, he was already in the different village. That’s why all his neighbors started to call him Pak Lebai Malang (poor mister Lebai).***

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Malin Kundang

Once upon a time, on the north coast of Sumatra lived a poor woman and his son. The boy was called Malin Kundang. They didn’t earn much as fishing was their only source of income. Malin Kundang grew up as a skillful young boy. He always helps his mother to earn some money. However, as they were only fisherman’s helper, they still lived in poverty.

“Mother, what if I sail overseas?” asked Malin Kundang one day to his mother. Her mother didn’t agree but Malin Kundang had made up his mind. “Mother, if I stay here, I’ll always be a poor man. I want to be a successful person,” urged Malin kundang. His mother wiped her tears, “If you really want to go, I can’t stop you. I could only pray to God for you to gain success in life,” said his mother wisely. “But, promise me, you’ll come home.”

In the next morning, Malin Kundang was ready to go. Three days ago, he met one of the successful ship’s crew. Malin was offered to join him. “Take a good care of yourself, son,” said Malin Kundang’s mother as she gave him some food supplies. “Yes, Mother,” Malin Kundang said. “You too have to take a good care of yourself. I’ll keep in touch with you,” he continued before kissing his mother’s hand. Before Malin stepped onto the ship, Malin’s mother hugged him tight as if she didn’t want to let him go.

It had been three months since Malin Kundang left his mother. As his mother had predicted before, he hadn’t contacted her yet. Every morning, she stood on the pier. She wished to see the ship that brought Malin kundang home. Every day and night, she prayed to the God for her son’s safety. There was so much prayer that had been said due to her deep love for Malin Kundang. Even though it’s been a year she had not heard any news from Malin Kundang, she kept waiting and praying for him.
After several years waiting without any news, Malin Kundang’s mother was suddenly surprised by the arrival of a big ship in the pier where she usually stood to wait for her son. When the ship finally pulled over, Malin Kundang’s mother saw a man who looked wealthy stepping down a ladder along with a beautiful woman. She could not be wrong. Her blurry eyes still easily recognized him. The man was Malin Kundang, her son.

Malin Kundang’s mother quickly went to see her beloved son. “Malin, you’re back, son!” said Malin Kundang’s mother and without hesitation, she came running to hug Malin Kundang, “I miss you so much.” But, Malin Kundang didn’t show any respond. He was ashamed to admit his own mother in front of his beautiful wife. “You’re not my Mother. I don’t know you. My mother would never wear such ragged and ugly clothes,” said Malin Kundang as he release his mother embrace.

Malin Kundang’s mother take a step back, “Malin…You don’t recognize me? I’m your mother!” she said sadly. Malin Kundang’s face was as cold as ice. “Guard, take this old women out of here,” Malin Kundang ordered his bodyguard. “Give her some money so she won’t disturb me again!” Malin Kundang’s mother cried as she was dragged by the bodyguard, ”Malin... my son. Why do you treat your own mother like this?”
Malin Kundang ignored his mother and ordered the ship crews to set sail. Malin Kundang’s mother sat alone in the pier. Her heart was so hurt, she cried and cried. “Dear God, if he isn’t my son, please let him have a save journey. But if he is, I cursed him to become a stone,” she prayed to the God.

In the quiet sea, suddenly the wind blew so hard and a thunderstorm came. Malin Kundang’s huge ship was wrecked. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship, and fell on a small island. Suddenly, his whole body turned into stone. He was punished for not admitting his own mother.***

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The Wise King

Long time ago, there was a kingdom named Sanggau in the Borneo Island. It was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom under the leadership of their wise king. There was a market in the kingdom of Sanggau. Pak Razak was a famous cook there. He owned his own restaurant in the market.

One day, Pak Razak was cooking in his restaurant when a farmer passed by. But the farmer stopped in front of Pak Razak’s restaurant. He smells the aroma of the delicious food Pak Razak was cooking. “Hmmm… delicious… yummy,” said the farmer. "Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to come to my restaurant or not?” Pak Razak asked. "No, I don't. Smelling the aroma of your delicious food makes me full," said the farmer. “So you’re full by smelling my food?” asked Pak Razak again. “Yes, I am,” the farmer answered. “If that’s the case, you have to pay me for the smell of my delicious food,” said Pak Razak. “Ridiculous, I don’t want to pay. I didn’t eat anything,” the farmer refused to pay. But Pak Razak kept persisting that the farmer must pay for the aroma of his food. Both of them started to quarrel. People came and asked them to calm down. They suggested that Pak Razak and the farmer go to the King to solve the problem.

In the following day, Pak Razak and the farmer went to the palace. "Please tell me what happened,” asked the King. Pak Razak and the farmer told the King about the problem. "Hmm...I have the solution,” said the King after he heard the story from both Pak Razak and the farmer.

The King then asked the farmer to bring out his money. The farmer took a gold coin from his pocket. “Now put your coins into this bottle.” The farmer then put his coin into a bottle prepared by the King’s servant. ”Do you hear the sound of the coins?" asked the King to Pak Razak. "Yes, I do," answered Pak Razak. "Then, the farmer has just paid you. He pays your delicious smell with the sound of his money," explained the King. Pak Razak was silent. He knew the King was right. The King just gave him a lesson. He then apologize to the farmer.***

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The Crying Stone

One upon a time, lived a poor old widow in a small village. She lived with her daughter. Her daughter was very beautiful but also very lazy and arrogant. She never helped her mother and didn’t want to know what problem her mother had. Everyday, she put make up and wears her best clothes. She always wanted to look rich and beautiful.

One day, the mother and her daughter went to the market to buy some food. At first, the daughter refused to accompany her mother, but finally she agreed. “I’ll go with you, but you must walk behind me,” said the daughter. She didn't want to walk side by side with her mother. Although her mother was very sad, she agreed to walk behind her daughter.

On the way to the market, everybody admired the girl's beauty. But they were also curious. Behind the beautiful girl, there was an old woman with a simple dress. The girl and her mother looked very different. “Hello, beautiful girl. Who is the old woman behind you? Is she your mother?" they asked. “No, she is not my mother. She is my servant,” the girl answered. Her mother was very sad to hear that, but she didn't say anything. She could understand that her daughter was ashamed.

The girl and the mother met other people. Again they asked who the woman behind the beautiful girl. And again the girl answered that her mother is her servant. She always said that her mother is her servant every time people asked.

At last, the mother cannot hold the pain anymore. She prayed to God to punish her daughter. Suddenly, the girl's leg turns into stone. Slowly, the process continues to the upper part of the girl's body. The girl was in panic. "Mother, please forgive me! Mother!" she cried and asked her mother to forgive her. But it's already too late. Her whole body finally becomes a big stone. Until now, people can still see tears falling down from the stone. People then call it batu menangis (it mean the crying stone).***

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The Origin of Landak River

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.***

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The Golden Watermelon

Long time ago, at the north area of West Kalimantan, lived a wealthy merchant. He had two sons. The older one is named Muzakir and the younger one is named Dermawan. The two brothers were so different in their attitudes. Muzakir had a very mean and greedy character. On the contradictory, Dermawan was a caring and kind person. He was not greedy and always tried to help those in needs.

Before he passed away, the merchant divided all of his money equally to both of his sons. He did it so that both of his sons will not envious at each other. Muzakir then bought a big cash-box. He put his entire share inside the cash-box and locked it. When a poor came to Muzakir’s house, he laughs at them instead of giving them something. If the poor don’t want to leave, Muzakir would summon his servants to chase them away.

Many of the poor in that area had heard about Muzakir’s rude attitude, therefore they preferred to come to Dermawan. When Dermawan saw those peoples coming, he sincerely welcome them to his house and shared money with those who needed it. It was almost every day a poor came for his help that f inally he ran out of money. Dermawan then moved to a smaller house. He also worked as a foreman. His salary was not much, only enough to buy his own daily meals. But Dermawan was happy with his simple life.

His elder brother laughed when he heard the news about Dermawan. He always thought that Dermawan was a fool to share his money with other people. He himself has just bought a large new house. “There is no one who as stupid as my younger brother,” he said.

One day, when Dermawan was sitting and relaxing in his house yard, a sparrow suddenly fell off in front of him. The sparrow twittered in pain. “Poor bird, did you broke your wing?” He took the bird and examines its wings. He’s right. One of the sparrow’s wings is broken. “Let me take care of you,” he said. Dermawan bandaged the sparrow’s wing and then he took some rice to feed the poor bird. After some time, the bird gradually tamed and was no longer afraid to Dermawan. Few days later, its wings were completely healed. After a while, it flew to the sky. The following day, the sparrow came to visit Dermawan. It held a seed with its beak, and then it put the seed in front of Dermawan. It was an ordinary seed, but Dermawan accepted it with a big smile on his face. He then planted the seed in the back yard of his house.

Three days later, the seed started to grow. It was a watermelon tree. Dermawan took good care of the tree. He thought the tree would bear many fruits since it was so blossomy. But, from all the flowers, only one turned to fruit. Day by day, the fruit grows bigger, bigger than any watermelon Dermawan ever see. Harvesting time finally came and he decided to take the watermelon. “Oh my God, it is so heavy”, he uttered while trying hardly to carry it into the house to put on the table. He took a knife and started to cut the watermelon. Dermawan was shocked. Inside the watermelon is some kind of yellow sand. “What could this be?” Dermawan wondered. Then he realized that the strange yellow sand was actually a pile of pure golden sand. “Holy God, it’s gold. I’m rich,” he danced happily. He heard bird twittered and he looked outside. He saw the sparrow on a tree. “Thank you”, he shouted. “Thank you”, he shouted again, and then the sparrow flew away.

Dermawan then bought a big house with a very big garden the next day. All of the poor came to his house and were welcomed for meals. This time, Dermawan would not run out of money. He had so much money, and his fields produced plants with good fruits as well.

The news about Dermawan’s fortune was heard by Muzakir and made him envy. He went to Dermawan house, and Dermawan honestly told his brother about the sparrow. Muzakir immediately commanded his servants to find a bird with broken wings as he heard the story from his brother. A week passed, but Muzakir’s servants still couldn’t find such bird. He was so angry and even couldn‘t sleep during the nights. The next day, he asked one of his servants to catch a bird using chopsticks. Of course, the chopsticks hurt the bird and broke its wings. Muzakir then pretended to pity the bird and took care of it. Days passed and the bird was completely healed and let to fly. The following day, the bird came back to Muzakir and brought a seed for him. He was very happy. ”I will be very rich soon, even richer than Dermawan,” he said to himself.

Muzakir planted the seed at the back yard of his house and it grew to a fine watermelon tree after several days. It also bore only one fruit, which was much bigger than that once owned by Dermawan. As the harvesting time approached, Muzakir asked his servants to take the fruit into his house. He couldn‘t wait to find a pile of golden sand inside. He cut the watermelon himself and was very shocked when black mud mixed with dirt flushed out to his face. It smelled very bad. Muzakir‘s clothes and also the room were terribly dirty because of it. He ran to the street because he couldn‘t stand the rotten smell from the watermelon. All the people on the street laughed at him for what they saw.***

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Telaga Warna

Long time ago there was a kingdom in West Java. The kingdom was ruled by a king called Prabu. He was a kind and wise king. Under Prabu’s leadership, the kingdom grew into a prosperous kingdom. There’s no hunger in the kingdom. Everybody in the kingdom loved their king. But, there’s one problem. The king and his queen hadn’t got any children. It made the couple very sad. That was why Prabu decided to go to the jungle. There, he meditated and prayed to God. Everyday he begged for a child. His dream finally came true. A few months later, the queen got pregnant. All people in the kingdom felt very happy. They sent many presents to the palace to express their happiness. Nine months later a baby girl was born. The baby grew as a beautiful teenager then.

Prabu and his queen loved their daughter so much. They gave what ever she wanted. It made the princess grew into a spoiled girl. When her wish couldn’t be fulfilled, she would be very angry. She even said bad things often. Even though the princess behaved badly, her parents still loved her, and so did the people in the kingdom.
Time passed and the princess grew more beautiful. In a few days, the princess would be seventeen years old. That’s why people of that kingdom brought many presents for her. They bring gold and beautiful jewelries. Prabu collected the presents. Then Prabu stored them in a special room. Some times he would take them to give to his people who needed it. Prabu only took a few gold and jewels. Then he brought them to a goldsmith. “Please make a necklace for my daughter,” said Prabu. “My pleasure, Your Majesty,” the goldsmith replied. The goldsmith worked with all his heart and his ability. He wanted to create the most beautiful necklace for the princess.

The birthday came. People gathered in the palace field. Then Prabu and the queen appeared. They waved to their beloved people. Cheers were loud and louder when the princess appeared. Everybody admired her beauty. Prabu got up from his chair and took a small pillow. A beautiful necklace was on the pillow. Prabu took that necklace. “My beloved daughter, today I give this necklace to you. This necklace is a gift from people in this country. They love you so much. They presented it for you to express their happiness, because you have growing to a woman,” said Prabu. The princess accepted the necklace. She looked at the necklace in a glance. “I don’t want this necklace! It’s ugly!” shouted the princess as she threw the necklace away. The necklace hit the floor and was broken. The gold and jewels were spread out on the floor.

No body dared to speak. They never thought that their beloved princess would do such a cruel thing. In their silence, people heard the queen crying. Every woman felt sad and began crying too. Then everybody was crying. Suddenly, from the middle of the field, a spring emerged. It quickly became a pool. The palace was getting flooded. Soon the place became a big lake.

Nowadays the water on that lake is not as full as before. There is only a small lake now. People called the lake Telaga Warna (it means lake of colour). On a bright day, the lake is full of colour. These colors come from the reflections of forest, plants, flowers, and sky around the lake. But some people said that the colours are from the princess’ necklace, which spreads at the bottom of the lake.***

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