Mak Isun Kayo

Folklore from West Sumatra

ONCE upon a time in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra lived a young man named Mak Isun. He was a diligent farmer. Mak Isun always thought of how he could be richer. One day, while he was at the rice field, a man passed by. His name was Pak Sole. He brought a monkey. Me was a monkey tamer. He made money by doing peoples order to pick up the coconuts. He did not have to climb the coconut trees. He always asked his monkey to do that job.

"Pak Soleh, where are you going?" asked Mak Isun.

"I'm going to pick up some coconuts"

"How much do you get for the work?"

"That depends. If the place is near from here, I got three coconuts. But if the place is far, I get five coconut. In one day, I can get 25 coconuts," answered Pak Soleh.

Mak Isun was thinking. "Hmm... if I can get 25 coconuts in one day, I could be rich. I can sell the coconuts at the market. I'm sure I can get a lot of money."

"Pak Soleh, do you want to sell your monkey?"

"This is not my monkey. This belongs to Pak Kari. I work for him. But I'm not sure about my job. I heard Pak Kari wants to sell all his monkeys," replied Pak Soleh.

"Don't worry, I will buy all hos monkeys and you can work for me later."

Then, he met Pak Kari and bought all his monkeys. He also hired all Pak Kari's employees. He told the villagers to contact him if they needed service to pick up the coconuts.

Mak Isun was right. He had a lot of money to his new business. He was richer. People then called him Mak Isun Kayo, kayo means rich.

However, Mak Isun Kayo was not satisfied. He wanted to get more money. So, he told his employees. "Now the fees of picking up the coconuts are raised. If the place is near from here, they have to pay five coconuts. And if the place is far from here, they have to pay ten coconuts," said Mak Isun.

"But the villagers will not agree. Its too expensive," said one of his employees.

"I don't care. They will not have a choice. I am the only one who has this business. The villagers will pay me after all."

All the employees knew that was not a wise decision. They then planned to do something.

Later in the morning, Mak Isun was surprised. He heard noise around his house. When he peeped through the windows, he saw a lot of monkeys around his house. He asked for help, but no one dared to help him. He then asked help from his employees.

"We will help you, but you have to promise not to increase the fees!"

"OK, I promise," said Mak Isun.

The villagers were laughing. They always talked about a rich man who was surrounded by his own monkeys.***

A Lesson for the Tiger

Folklore from Central Java

A Long time ago, all animals had a king. Their king was the tiger. All animals were afraid of him. The tiger was the strongest among them. He was also very mean. He would hit any animals when they disobeyed him. They wanted to give the tiger a lesson.

"Listen friends, we need to find a way. The tiger is also cruel especially to weak animals like me," said the rabbit.

"I have an idea," said the mouse deer. "He is not clever as he looks. I think I can trick him," said the mouse deer.

"How will you trick him?" asked the rabbit.

"It's easy. You meet the tiger and tell him that I challenge him to fight."

"What? Are you kidding? You cannot win!" said the rabbit.

"Don't worry. I'm not really challenging him to fight. It's all part of the plan."

The mouse deer continued. "You just tell him that I challenge him to fight under that big tree," the mouse deer pointed to a big tree near them.

Later the rabbit met the tiger and he told the tiger about the challenge.

What!? Is it true?! OK, tell the mouse deer I accept his challenge. I will beat him so easily," said the tiger. He was so arrogant.

The tiger went to the big tree. He saw the mouse deer staring at the branches of the tree.

"Hey mouse deer! I heard you challenge me to fight. Come, fight now! screamed the tiger.

However, the mouse deer did not move at all. He kept on staring on the branches of the tree.

"Mouse deer! Are you deaf?" the tiger was really angry.

"Shh... Be quiet," said the mouse deer.

"What? You asked me to be quiet." The tiger really don't understand.

"Yes. Do you see that big round thing in that branch? last night I had a dream. An owl told me that the big round thing above us can give me power."

He continued. "The problem is I cannot jump or climb to grab that thing."

"Really? Are you sure?" asked the tiger. "Well, I am the king and I deserve that power. So I want you to get out of here otherwise I will hit you," said the tiger.

The mouse deer pretended to be scared. He immediately ran away. Meanwhile, the tiger climbed the tree. He was trying to grab the round thing in the branch of the tree.

The tiger did not know that the round thing was actually the beehive! And when he was finally able to grab the beehive, he fell down to the ground.

All the bees were angry. They all attacked and stung the tiger. The bees were angry because the tiger had already destroyed their home.

The tiger was in a great pain. He could not fight the bees. he asked for help, unfortunately, the animals did not want to help him.

The tiger finally went to the river. He swam and he survived. He realized the mistake. Since then he changed, he became a wise king.***

Prince Pande Gelang and Princess Cadasari

Folklore From Baten

ONCE upon a time there was a kingdom of Banten. The king had a beautiful daughter. her name was Princess Cadasari. She was very beautiful and kind to people.

However, she was very sad lately. A prince from another kingdom came and planned to marry her. His name was prince Cunihin. People did not like him. he was arrogant and mean to people. He had supernatural power. Prince Cunihin talked to the king about the marriage. The king accepted the proposal. He was afraid that Prince Cunihin would attack the kingdom if the proposal was refused.

The marriage was set. Princess Cadasari was sad. She did not have any choice. She prayed to god. And in one night she had a dream. She was in the park and a handsome man would help her.

On the following day, Princess Cadasari went to the park and waited the handsome man. While she was there suddenly an old man came to her.

"What's the matter Princess? You look very sad," asked the old man.

"I have a great problem. And I'm waiting for someone to help me."

"Maybe I can help you."

The princess was hesitant. In a dream, a handsome man would help her, but then it was an old man who offered to help her. She decided to talk about the problem to him. His name was Pande Gelang. Pande means maker and gelang means a bracelet. He made bracelets to make a living.

"Don't worry princess, I can help you. Just tell prince Cunihin to find a big stone and just ask him to make a big hole in the stone. I will put my giant bracelet inside the stone, after that ask him to go through the bracelet. He will lose his supernatural power then"

Princess Cadasari did it. She asked Prince Cunihin to find a big stone. And make a big hole in it. Prince Cunihin did not have any problem to make the hole. And after he did it, he put the stone in the park. It was the place where the wedding party would be held. And secretly, Pande Gelang put the giant bracelet inside the stone.

On the wedding day, people were gathered in the park. Before the ceremony was started, Princess Cadasari asked Prince Cunihin to go through the stone. Although he didnot understand, Prince Cunihin still did the request.

Prince Cunihin was ready to go through the stone and the princess was waiting on the other side. And when he walked through the stone, Princess Cunihin screamed in pain. He was screaming and finally falling down on the ground. And when he got up, he saw Pande Gelang in front of him.

"You did this to me..." said Prince Cunihin.

Amazingly, Prince Cunihin slowly changed into an old man and Pande Gelang changed into a handsome man.

Pande Gelang then explained to princess Cadasari. He was a prince. Previously, Prince Pande Gelang and Prince Cunihin were best friend. They both were students from a great teacher. But after they finished the lesson, Prince Cunihin killed the teacher and stole Prince Pande Gelang's power. He would get his power back if Prince Cunihin would go throuh his bracelet.

Princess Cadasari was very happy. She then remembered her dream. It was true that a handsome man would help her. Since then, Prince Pande Gelang stayed in the palace. He helped the kingdom from bad people. Later Prince Pande Gelang and Princess Cadasari got married. The people were very happy. They were very grateful. They also named the palace as Pande Gelang. It is known now as Pandeglang.***