ONCE upon a time in East Kalimantan, there was a kingdom in Muara Kaman.
The kingdom was led by Queen Aji Bidara Putih. She was a very beautiful queen. She was also wise, kind, and loving to her people.
The queen was single. Many kings and princes from other kingdoms have tried to propose her. However, she was still not interested in getting married.
She only wanted to take care of her people. Though the queen has rejected proposal from many rich men, the proposals kept on coming to her. Many kings and princes did not give up. One of them was a prince from China.
The Chinese prince came with a big ship.
He brought his soldiers and also a lot of jewelleries. The prince wanted to give the jewelleries as wedding proposals.When the ship arrived at Muara Kaman, the Chinese prince asked a messenger to meet the queen. The messenger then told the queen about the wedding proposal.Before I accept the proposal, please tell me about your prince, asked the queen.
He is a very rich man and also very handsome, Your Majesty.
"Alright then, tell your prince I need time to think," said the queen.
The queen thought it was time for her to get married. She felt she was old enough. That was why she did not reject the proposal immediately. However, she did not want to choose the wrong husband. She asked one soldier to secretly go to the ship. The queen asked the soldier to describe her how the Chinese prince looked like. The soldier was finally able to enter the ship. He was peeping from a hole.
The queen thought it was time for her to get married. She felt she was old enough. That was why she did not reject the proposal immediately. However, she did not want to choose the wrong husband. She asked one soldier to secretly go to the ship. The queen asked the soldier to describe her how the Chinese prince looked like. The soldier was finally able to enter the ship. He was peeping from a hole.
He saw the prince was eating. The soldier could not see the prince clearly. The hole was too small. But he could hear how the prince ate. The prince was eating using chopsticks.
He made strange sounds when he was eating. The soldier was so scared. He never heard that sound before. He thought the prince was not a real human. He thought the prince was a ghost! When he arrived back at the palace, the soldier immediately reported to the queen. He told the queen about the strange sound.
"Maybe he is not a human, Your Majesty. Maybe he is a ghost!" said the soldier.
At first, the queen did not believe him.
But the soldier was very sure with what he heard. The queen then decided to refuse the wedding proposal. And that made the Chinese prince got very angry. He asked his soldiers to attack Muara Kaman kingdom. The Chinese soldiers were able to beat the Muara Kaman's soldiers. Queen Aji Bidara Putih was cornered in the palace. She then prayed to God.
Suddenly, she heard a voice. The voice asked her to chew betel then threw the betel to the Chinese soldiers.
Amazingly, the betel changed into giant centipedes and attacked them.
The Chinese soldiers died and from the ground appeared a lake. People of Muara Kaman then named it as Danau Lipan or Centipede Lake. And sometimes people could find pieces of antique Chinese porcelain in that lake.***
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| Dayak Wedding Dress, Kalimantan |
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