Folklore From Central Java
PRINCE Raden Putra and Dewi Limaran were husband and wife. They lived in a palace. Prince Raden Putra's father was the king of the kingdom.
One day, Dewi Limaran was walking around in the palace garden. Suddenly she saw a snail. It was ugly and disgusting. "Yuck!" said Dewi Limaran and then she threw it away into a river. She did not know that the snail was actually an old and powerful witch. She could transform herself into anything. The witch was angry to Dewi Limaran. The witch put a spell on her and changed her into a golden snail. The witch then threw it away into the river.
The golden snail was drifting away in the river and got caught into a net. An old woman was fishing and used her net to catch some fish. She was surprised to see a golden snail in her net. She took it and brought it home. When the old woman woke up in the morning, she was surprised that the house was in the good condition. The floor was mopped. And she also had food on the table. She was thinking very hard. "Who did this to me? The person is very kind." It happened again and again every morning.
The old woman was very curious. One night she decided to stay up late. She was peeping from her room to know who cooked for her. Then, she could not believe what she saw. The golden snail she caught in the river turned into a beautiful woman. The old woman approached her. "Who are you, young girl?" "I am Dewi Limaran, Ma'am. A witch cursed me. I can change back as a human only at night," explained Dewi Limaran. "The spell can be broken if I hear the melody from the holy gamelan," continued Dewi Limaran. The old woman then rushed to the palace. She talked to Prince Raden Putra about her wife. Prince Raden Putra was so happy. He had been looking for his wife everywhere.
He then prayed and meditated. He asked the gods to give him the holy gamelan. He wanted to break the witch's spell. After several days praying and meditating, finally gods granted his wish. He immediately brought the holy gamelan to the old woman's house. He played it beautifully. And then amazingly the golden snail turned into the beautiful Dewi Limaran. The couple was so happy that they could be together again. They also thanked the old woman for her kindness. As a return, they asked her to stay in the palace. ***
The Baruklinting Dragon
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***
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar