Majalengka

Folklore from West Java

RATU Ayu Panyidagan was a queen of Panyidagan Kingdom. The queen was beautiful and wise. She led the country peacefully. Many men from other kingdoms fell in love with her. However, the queen was not interested in them. Actually the queen was restless. She wanted to get married and have a baby soon. She wanted her child to be the next leader. She was still waiting for the right man.

The queen had a dream. A handsome man came to the kingdom. However a disaster came along with the arrival. The queen asked her advisors to interpret her dream. The advisors asked the soldiers to guard the border of the kingdom.

Fortunately, there was a big river at the border. People had to cross the river if they wanted to enter the border of the kingdom. The soldier were standing by to monitor anyone crossing the river.

Days and nights the soldiers were standing by the river. And one day, they saw a man was rowing a sampan. The soldiers were getting ready at the river side. And when the man arrived, the soldiers asked him, "Who are you? and why are you going to our kingdom?"

"I came from Cirebon Kingdom. My king asked me to meet your queen."

The soldiers did not want to take a risk. They asked the man to return and go back home. However the man refused and the fight between them was unstoppable.

The man had great skills in martial arts. He was able to defeat the soldiers. One soldier, escaped. He wanted to tell the queen that the man was coming to the palace.

The whole soldiers were protecting the queen. But the queen asked them to welcome the man. She was really curious why he was sent to meet her.

Later the man arrived the palace. He talked to the queen politely.

"Your majesty, I'm here because my king sent me. Our kingdom is in great problem. People are suffering from strange illness. They are dying and many of them have died. The medicine to cure the illness is maja fruit that groe in your kingdom. Therefore I would like to have your kindness to give me some of the maja fruits."

The queen was silent. She was thinking very hard. She was not thinking whether she would give the fruits or not. It was not a problem for her. There were a lot of maja fruit trees in her kingdom. Giving some of the fruits would not be a problem.

However, she was thinking something else! She was thinking how handsome the man was. He was also powerful. He was able to defeat the soldiers. And he was also very loyal. He did his duty from his kingdom to find the fruits.

The queen than said,"You can get the fruits as many as you like. But there is one condition. You have to marry me."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I cannot do that. I cannot marry you. I'm married and have a wife," said the man.

The queen was angry. She asked the soldiers to put the man in the jail. This time the man could not win the fight. There were too many soldiers fighting him.

Not long after the man was in the jail, rain fell down heavily. There was also big storm! People were only staying in their houses. and in the morning, sun was shining brightly, suddenly people were screaming.

"The palace is gone! The queen is gone!"

Other people were also screaming, "Maja langka! Maja Langka!"

It means maja fruit are rare. People were very confused. They did not know why the palace, the queen and the maja fruits suddenly disappeared. They kept on talking about that and later they named the place as Majalangka. Slowly it became Majalengka.***

The Legend of the Seven-Headed Snake

Folklore from Bengkulu

THE people of Kutei Rukam Kingdom in Lebong, Bengkulu, were happy. The Crown Prince Gajah Meram would marry a princess from Suka Negeri Kingdom. King Bikau Bermano asked his people to prepare a great party.

One of the wedding procession was the bride and the bridegroom had to take a bath in the bath Lake. when they were swimming, suddenly the prince and the princess were gone. The soldier immediately jumped into the lake. But they could not find the prince and the princess. They were absolutely confused why the prince and the princess suddenly disappeared.

The king was sad. He asked all the soldiers to swim. But still the prince and the princess could not be found. Later an old holy man came to the king. He said that the prince and the princess were kidnapped by the seven-headed snake. He was the king of the snake and he had many snake soldiers. The only person that could help was a young man who had great skills in martial arts and supernatural power.

The young man he meant was the king's youngest son. His name was Prince Gajah Merik. He was also the student of the holy man. The king was very touched when the Prince Gajah Merik was willing to find his older brother and his brother's wife.

The holy man gave Prince Gajah Merik was not afraid of them. Instead, he fought them bravely. The snake soldiers could not fight him. Gajah Merik was so powerful. He could easily kill the snake soldiers.

And finally he was face-to-face with the snake king. He was a seven-headed snake. He was very angry!

"Hey, you human! Why did you kill all my soldiers?" asked the snake king.

"They tried to stop me. I want to free my older brother and his wife."

"I will free them. But you have to do two things. First you have to make my dead soldiers live again. And second, you have to beat me of course. Hahaha."

With his power, Gajah Merik touched the dead snakes. Amazingly, they lived again. Then, the prince and the snake king were fighting.

Unlike the snake soldiers, the snake king was very powerful. He almost killed Gajah Merik. Fortunately, Gajah Merik had better skills. And after fighting for seven days. Gajah Merik won the fight. The snake king asked Gajah Merik to forgive him and let him free. Gajah Merik felt sorry and he let the snake king and his soldiers go away.

Later, Gajah Merik brought Gajah Meram and his wife back to the palace. The king was very happy. He also planned to make Gajah Meram to be the new king. However, Gajah Meram refused it. He said Gajah Merik was better to be the next king. He was very courageous and powerful. He also had great heart. He was willing to sacrifice himself.

Gajah Merik agreed to be the next king. But he asked his father to let the snake king and his soldiers to be his soldiers. The king agreed. Since then, the snake king and his soldiers became the soldiers of Gajah Merik.

Until now, people in Lebong, Bengkulu, believe that there is a seven-headed snake who guards the Test lake. They do not dare to say bad words when crossing the lake. Otherwise, the seven-headed snake will be angry!***