The Tale of Ning Rangda and Her Eternal Wedding Dress
A long time ago, in a quiet village, there lived an old woman named Ning Rangda. She was called Ning because of her advanced age, and "Rangda" because of her once graceful figure now bent from years of hard work. Ning Rangda was well-known throughout the village for one thing: she always sewed new wedding dresses. The villagers would often see her hunched over her sewing machine, her hands skillfully weaving beautiful fabrics into exquisite gowns.
Whenever someone asked her why she always made new wedding dresses, Ning Rangda would smile wistfully and say, "It is for my prospective husband." Her answer always left people curious, but none dared ask further. What was it that kept the old woman so dedicated to her work?
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The story began many years ago, when Ning Rangda was a young girl. She was not only known for her kindness and hard work but also for her incredible beauty. Her father was a skilled tailor, and from a young age, Rangda would help him sew clothes for the villagers. As she grew older, her reputation spread far and wide, and it wasn’t long before she caught the eye of many young men in the village. They would often visit her father’s shop, hoping for a chance to win her affection, but Rangda’s heart was still untouched by love.
One day, news reached Rangda that the prince, the son of the king, had heard about her. The prince was young, handsome, and unmarried, and he had heard tales of Rangda’s beauty and the delicate gowns she created. He was determined to meet her. So, he visited her house, hoping to commission a wedding dress for a future bride.
As soon as the prince laid eyes on Rangda, he fell in love with her. He ordered a beautiful dress, but as soon as he held it in his hands, his feelings grew deeper. He immediately knew that Rangda was the woman he wanted to marry. But instead of proposing there and then, the prince took his new dress and returned to the palace, eager to tell his father that he had found his future bride.
However, shortly after the prince returned to the palace, he became gravely ill. A mysterious fever overtook him, one that seemed impossible to cure. As the fever ravaged his body, he kept whispering the name "Rangda... Rangda..." in his delirium. The king, desperate to understand what was happening to his son, called for his advisors. They told him that the prince had fallen in love with Rangda, the beautiful tailor’s daughter, and it seemed that this love had become an obsession.
Concerned for his son's health, the king ordered a soldier to go to Rangda's house and inform her parents of the prince’s intentions. The soldier made the long journey and arrived at Rangda's house, bearing the king’s message. When Rangda heard that the prince wanted to marry her, her heart soared. She had also secretly fallen in love with him.
Excited, she began to prepare for their wedding. But as the prince and his entourage began their journey to Rangda’s house, the prince’s illness worsened. His fever became unbearable, and by the time they reached the outskirts of her village, the prince’s health had deteriorated so much that he was unable to continue. His condition grew more severe, and before he could reach Rangda, he passed away.
Devastated, the king decided to return to the palace. He felt that the journey was in vain and that nothing could be done for his son now. However, Rangda, unaware of the prince’s death, continued her preparations. She sewed and sewed, day after day, making the most beautiful wedding dress she could imagine, hoping to present it to the prince when he arrived.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Still, the prince never came. Rangda waited and waited, hoping for a sign that he would return, but nothing came. As the years passed, she grew older and frailer. Her back became hunched from long hours of sewing, her once youthful beauty faded, but her dedication never wavered. She kept sewing, always believing that the prince would someday come back for her.
She made a wedding dress after wedding dress, each one more beautiful than the last, yet the prince never appeared. And so, as the years went on, Rangda grew older and more bent, her hair turned white, but her heart remained hopeful. The villagers who knew her began to whisper about her obsession. They would see her hunched figure at her sewing machine, stitching another dress for the man who would never come.
But no one knew the truth—why Ning Rangda sewed a new wedding dress every year. It wasn’t for a new bride, nor for a prince who would one day come to claim her. It was for a promise she made long ago, one that bound her to a love that transcended time and death.
As Rangda's body grew frail and bent, her heart remained young and hopeful. She continued to sew her wedding dresses, believing that one day, even in the afterlife, the prince would return to marry her.
And so, the legend of Ning Rangda lives on to this day—an eternal reminder of undying love, hope, and the heartbreaking consequences of waiting for something that may never come.
Moral of the Story:
The tale of Ning Rangda teaches us about the strength of love and unwavering dedication, but also the dangers of being trapped in the past and waiting for something that may never come to fruition. Rangda demonstrates the beauty of hope and perseverance, yet also reminds us that sometimes we need to learn to let go and move forward. Life is not just about waiting, but about accepting reality and living in the present with meaning, even when love and dreams don’t unfold as we had hoped. This story teaches us to find a balance between perseverance and acceptance of reality, and the importance of having the courage to let go and appreciate the life we have now, rather than living in the shadows of unfulfilled hopes.
However, the mystery surrounding the prince’s death—one that was kept hidden from Rangda—adds an extra layer of tragedy to the story. The kingdom’s decision to withhold this painful truth from Rangda, perhaps out of a misguided desire to protect her, leaves her trapped in an eternal wait. The silence surrounding his death speaks to the destructive power of secrets, and how unspoken truths can shape the lives of those left behind. In the end, the tale not only teaches about hope and perseverance but also about the profound consequences of unshared truths and the weight of living in the unknown.
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| Kalimantan Textiles |
