A Farmer and His Three Cats

Folklore From East Java

THERE was a poor farmer in Madura. He lived with his wife and his children. The farmer did not have his own rice field. He worked for his neighbors' rice field. He only got small amount of money when harvest came.

The farmer really wanted to have his own rice field. However, he did not have enough money to buy a piece of land. The farmer told his wife that he wanted to go to Java. He wanted to work there and got a lot of money.

The farmer left his house with a little money. On the way of the harbor, he met an old woman. She brought three cats.

"Please help me, Sir. I'm so hungry and I don't have any money. Please buy my cats," said the old woman.

The farmer was confused. he wanted to help the woman, but if he bought her cats, he would not bring any money.

Finally, he decided to buy the cats. The woman was very happy. she gave him a small cage so the farmer could put the cats in it.

Later the farmer was on the ship. At first the cruise was good, but suddenly there was a heavy storm. The ship could not continue the cruise to Java. It harbored in Mice Island. People named it Mice Island because there were so many mice lived in the island. The nice attacked people's barn and ate their supplies. The people were hopeless. They did not know how to combat the mice.

The farmer heard about the people's problem with the mice. He remembered about his three cats. he wanted to help the people by giving them his three cats.

The people really welcomed the farmer's help. And soon the farmer released his three cats. The cats had not eaten for a long time. they were very hungry. And when the cats saw the mice, they immediately chased and ate the mice.

Slowly the number of the mice decreased. the people were very happy. They wanted to repay the farmer's kindness. They all gave him a lot of money. The farmer was extremely happy. he went back to his home in Madura.

The farmer was not poor anymore. he bought land and his own rice field. He lived happily with his family.

His neighbor was jealous with the farmer. He also wanted to have a lot of money. He heard about the Mice island. So he collected many cats and joined a ship.

Finally he arrived in Mice Island. However, the name of the island was not Mice Island anymore. Its name changed into Cat island. The three cats that the farmer brought had bred. It made the island full of cats.

And so when he offered his cats to the people, they all were laughing at him.

 "What? Are you kidding?! We have too many cats here. we don't need your cats!"

He was so embarrassed. Finally he went home to Madura and brought his cats back to him.***

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source: jongjava.com

Did you know? 

Raas Cat is one of the purest Indonesian cat breed with special characteristics, located in Madura.

Find out more!

http://ilovecatsclub.blogspot.com/2009/05/madura-catsungrinded-pearls.html 

http://www.catfancy-indonesia.org/site/RaasCat.php 

http://jongjava.com/web/hobby/482-memburu-kucing-madura 

http://kucing-online.blogspot.com/2010/05/mengenal-raas-kucing-asli-indonesia.html

Yomngga and the Dragon

Folklore from Papua

YOMNGGA was a beautiful girl. She lived with her grandmother. Actually Yomngga had two sisters. But they lived in another village. 

Yomngga was a kind girl. She always helped her grandmother in the field. Every morning they went to the field and they always went back home in the afternoon. Every day they took the same route. They did not know that a dragon was always looking at them when they passed by a big tree. It was the dragon's house.

The dragon was not an ordinary dragon. During the day he was a dragon, but in the evening he changed into a handsome man. A witch had curse him.

The dragon fell in love with Yomngga. However he did not know how how to express his feeling. He could only stay in the trees during the days. He was afraid people people would kill him if he showed himself. He wanted to visit Yomngga at night when he changed into a human. The problem was he did not know where she lived.

Finally he could not stand it anymore. When he saw Yomngga was almost passing by the big tree, the dragon got off from the tree and approached Yomngga and her grandmother.

Of course they were shocked. They got more shocked when they saw the dragon was able to talk like human.

"Don't be afraid. I will not hurt you. I just want to know where you live."

Yomngga was shacking. She did not know what to do. And after she calmed down, she told the dragon about her house. And it made the dragon happy. He then let them continue their trip.

At night the dragon came to the Yomngga's house. He came as a handsome man. At first, Yomngga was confused. But after the dragon explained about the witch, she understood.

The dragon continued to come to Yomngga's house on the following nights. Soon they fell in love and get married. Yomngga could understand that her husband always changed into a dragon during the days. The grandmother agreed with their marriage but she asked the dragon to keep on staying in the house when he became a dragon. She did not want the villagers to kill him.

Yomngga kept her marriage as their big secret. She even did not tell her two sisters.

Later Yomngga got pregnant. Her two sisters heard the news and they were very curious who her husband was. So the came to Yomngga's house. When they saw the dragon, they got very angry. And they got very angrier when they knew that the dragon was Yomngga's husband. They did not care although the dragon changed into a man at nights. They hated the dragon very much. Therefore, they planned to kill him.

One day the two sisters visited the dragon. The dragon did not know that they had prepared poisoned food. When the dragon ate the food, he died instantly.

The villagers saw the dead dragon. The two sisters told the villagers about the dragon. And when the villagers knew that the dragon was Yomngga's husband, they asked Yomngga to leave the village. Yomngga was very sad. She lost her beloved husband and she had to leave her grandmother in the village.

Yomngga left the village with a sampan. She rowed it along the small river. Since then people named the river as Yomngga's river. ***