The Wild Crocodile

Buaya Liar >> Edisi Bahasa Indonesia

Folklore from South Sumatra

Help!!! Please help me!!!" a man was screaming for help. 

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" 

"The crocodiles are attacking and eating my cows. Please help me!" begged the man.

"Help you? No one can help you. No one dares to handle the crocodiles."

"But all my cows will be gone if no one helps me," the man looked so sad.

"I know.... It happened to me too. The crocodiles ate my cattle. Now I don't have anything left," he said sadly.

"We have to do something. Otherwise the crocodiles will eat all our cattle. And when all the cattle are gone, the crocodiles will eat us!"

"Hey, you are absolutely right. This crocodile problem has bothered us a lot. We have to tell the king about this."

"I agree. Let's go to the palace and talk to the king about these crocodiles."

And those two men were going to the palace. They wanted to tell the king that the crocodiles that lived in the Musi River were dangerous. When they were hungry, the crocodiles always ate people's cattle. The people were upset. But there was nothing they could do. Everybody was scared of the crocodiles.

The two men arrived at the palace. They talked about their problem to the king.

"I understand how you feel. We have to do something to make the crocodiles stop their wild behavior. We have to tame them. We need a tamer," said the king.

The king's advisor talked, "Your Majesty, I know a good tamer. He can tame even the wildest crocodiles. But he lives very far from here."

"Pick him up now. Go with some soldiers and when you meet the tamer, tell that I will give him lots of gold if he can tame the crocodiles," said the king.

The king's advisor and the soldiers then went to the crocodile tamer's house. After spending several days, they finally arrived. The tamer agreed to help. Then they immediately went back. The tamer went to Musi River. He did his job very well. All the crocodiles in Musi River were tamed! They did not attack the cattle anymore. Everybody praised the crocodile tamer.

"It's wonderful. You have done a great job," said the king.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said the tamer proudly.

"I have another plan. I have promised to give you lots of gold if you can tame the crocodiles in Musi River, and now I will give you more gold if you can tame the crocodiles that live in a swamp in the forest," said the king.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I can tame all crocodiles. Just take me there, and I will tame the crocodiles," said the tamer.

On the way to the forest, the king ordered his soldier a special mission. And when they arrived, the tamer directly did his job. He tamed all the crocodiles successfully.

"I have another request. Can you make the crocodiles to be wild again?" asked the king.

"That's easy. I will make them even wilder than before," said the tamer.

And it worked! The crocodiles were wilder than before.

Suddenly the king said, "Now!" And the soldiers pushed the tamer towards the crocodiles. And the crocodiles immediately attacked and ate the tamer!

"Your Majesty, I still don't understand why we pushed and let the crocodiles ate the tamer," asked one soldier.

"Well, with his great ability in controlling the crocodiles, I'm afraid the tamer will use it to attack us. We don't have to worry, because the crocodiles in Musi River are tamed now," said the king. ***

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