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A Little Girl in the Moon


Gadis Kecil di Bulan >> Edisi Indonesia

Folklore from Jambi

A long time ago in Kerinci, Jambi, there was a little girl living with her family. The little girl lived with her father, mother, brother, grandfather, and grandmother. The little girl was the youngest in the family.

The little girl was not a happy girl. She was always sad. Her family did not take care of her well. They were always busy with themselves. They did not pay attention to her.





The father and the grandfather were fishermen. Every day they went fishing and went home with a lot of fish.

They sold some of the fish and ate the rest of them. The little girl loved to eat fish.
Whenever her father and her grandfather went home, she was always anxious. She was always waiting for them to bring a lot of fish.

One day, the father and the grandfather went home with a lot of fish. They have sold some of them. They brought enough fish for the whole family. The little girl was very happy. She wanted to eat the fish for her dinner.

The little girl could not prepare the fish by herself. She could not clean and cook the fish yet. She had to wait for the fish to be ready.

"Mother, I'm hungry. When will the fish be ready?" asked the little girl to her mother.

"I'm busy. Ask your father to prepare the fish," said the mother.

The little girl then talked to her father.

"Father, I'm hungry. When will the fish be ready?" asked the little girl to her father.

"I'm busy. Ask your grandfather to prepare the fish," said the father.

The little girl then talked to her grandfather. "Grandfather, I'm hungry. When will the fish be ready?" asked the little girl to her grandfather.

"I'm busy. Ask your grandmother to prepare the fish," said the grandfather.

The little girl then talked to her grandmother.

"Grandmother, I'm hungry. When will the fish be ready?" asked the little girl to her grandmother.

"I'm busy. Ask your brother to prepare the fish,” said the grandmother.

The little girl then talked to her brother.

"Brother, I'm hungry. When will the fish be ready?" asked the little girl to her brother.

“I'm busy. Why don't you prepare it yourself," said the brother.

The little girl was sad. She cried. She was very hungry. Then she sat on the big stone. She sang a song.

"Get higher the stone. Let my parents be happy."

"Get higher the stone. Let my grandparents be happy."

"Get higher the stone. Let my brother be happy."

Amazingly the stone was slowly getting higher. The stone was high. It could reach the moon. With just a little step, the little girl was already standing on the moon. She kicked the stone and it broke into pieces. The biggest part of the stone stayed in her village.

Since then people named the village as High Stone Village or Dusun Batu Panjang. People also said that during full moon, we can see an image of a little girl smiling to the earth. ***


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