The Legend of Banyuwangi

The Legend of Banyuwangi
Folklore from East Java

Once upon a time in Sindureja Kingdom, King Sidareja was talking to his vice regent, his name was Patih Sidapaksa. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him the flesh of a young deer.
Patih Sidapaksa took the mission.
When he arrived at the jungle, he saw a young deer. He pointed his arrow to the deer. Unfortunately, he missed the target. He ran after the deer. He was running and running until he arrived at a hut. Patih Sidapaksa knocked the door.
A young and beautiful girl opened the door. She was very beautiful. Patih Sidapaksa fell in love at the first sight.“How can I help you Sir?” asked the girl.I...I...am looking for a young deer, Patih Sidapaksa was speechless.
You can find a lot of deer in the jungle. But it s already late and it will be dark soon. You can continue hunting tomorrow morning. You can come and spend the night here. Both my father and I are happy to welcome you, said the girl.
Patih Sidapaksa accepted the offer.
He introduced himself. The girl s namewas Sri Tanjung and her father s name was Ki Buyut.
In the morning, Patih Sidapaksa continued his hunting and after he got a young deer he returned to the hut.
He came back because he wanted to marry Sri Tanjung.Luckily, Sri Tanjung also loved him.
Later Patih Sidapaksa asked them to join him to the palace.
The King was very happy Patih Sidapaksa brought him a young deer.
However he was also amazed by the beauty of Sri Tanjung.
The King also fell in love with her.The King had a bad plan. He wanted to marry Sri Tanjung. So he gave Patih Sidapaksa a very difficult mission. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him three golden rings from Indran Kingdom. Patih Sidapaksa knew the mission was more difficult than hunting a young deer. Indran Kingdom was not an ordinary kingdom. It was a kingdom of criminals! No one ever came back after going there. However he still accepted the mission. And before he left, he asked Sri Tanjung to wait for him.
After Patih Sidapaksa left, the King approached Sri Tanjung. He proposed Sri Tanjung to marry him. He promised Sri Tanjung to be a queen. She did not accept the proposal. She loved Patih Sidapaksa and she already promised to wait for him. The King was angry and put her in the jail.Luckily, Patih Sidapaksa could do the mission and came back to the palace. Sadly he could not meet Sri Tanjung. The King lied. He said Sri Tanjung was in jail because she asked the King to marry her. The King said Sri Tanjung wanted to be a queen.
At first Patih Sidapaksa believed the King. But Sri Tanjung then said.
Throw me to the river. If the river smells good, it means I m innocent.However if the river smells bad, then the King is lying, said Sri Tanjung.
Patih Sidapaksa then threw her into the river.
Amazingly, the river smelled good.Patih Sidapaksa was very sorry. Sri Tanjung died. He regretted not to believe her.
When the river smelled good, people instantly said Banyuwangi...
Banyuwangi... .
Banyu means water and Wangi means good smell.Since then the place is named Banyuwangi. ***

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Baturraden

Baturraden
A Folktale from Central Java

Suta is a servant in a kingdom in Central Java. His duty is to look after the king's horses. Suta likes to take a walk after doing his chores.
One day, when Suta is walking near a lake, he hears a woman screaming. So, Suta hurries to find the source of the scream. Finally, he arrives near a big tree. He sees the king's daughter screaming. Above her, there's a giant snake about a strike.
Suta was afraid, but he is worried about the princess. So he takes a big stick and hit the snake in its head. The snake hisses in pain and finally dies.
"Thank you, Suta. You've saved my life," says the princess.
"No needed for that princess. It's my duty as your father's servant to help you."
Since that day, Suta and the princess become good friends. They even fall in love with each other. So, the princess tells Suta to go to her father and ask his permission to marry her.
The king is furious to hear about their plans.
"Suta is just a servant while you are my daughter, the princess. It is unacceptable for you to marry a servant."
The princess is sad to hear her father's answer, especially after her father throws Suta in jail for having the nerve to ask her to marry him.
In jail, Suta is not given anything to eat or drink.
Hearing that, the princess makes a plan to break her lover out of jail. They succeed and they run far away. They rest near the river. There they get married and start a family.
The place where Suta and the princess raise their family is called Baturraden. Batur means servant while raden means noble. Nowadays, Baturraden is very interesting tourism spot. It's located at the foothill of Mount Slamet in Purwokerto, Central Java. ***

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The Legend of Surabaya

The Legend of Surabaya
Folklore from East Java

A long time ago in East Java there were two strong animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea. Actually, they were friends. But when they were hungry, they were very greedy. They did not want to share their food. They would fight for it and never stop fighting until one of them gave up. It was a very hot day. Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat. “Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You are greedy! I had not eaten for two days!” said Sura. Then Sura and Baya fought again. After several hours, they were very tired. Sura had a plan to stop their bad behavior. “I’m tired of fighting, Baya,” said Sura. “Me too. What should we do to stop fighting? Do you have any idea?” asked Baya. “Yes, I do. Let’s share our territory. I live in the water, so I look for food in the sea. And you live on the land, right? So, you look for the food also on the land. The border is the beach, so we will never meet again. Do you agree?” asked Sura. “Hmm... let me think about it. OK, I agree. From today, I will never go to the sea again. My place is on the land,” said Baya. Then they both lived in the different places. But one day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was very hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry when he knew that Sura broke the promise. “Hey, what are you doing here? This is my place. Your place is in the sea!” “But, there is water in the river, right? So, this is also my place!” said Sura. Then Sura and Baya fought again. They both hit each other. Sura bit BayaÕs tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up. He went back to the sea. Baya was very happy. He had his place again. The place where they were fighting was a mess. Blood was everywhere. People then always talked about the fight between Sura and Baya. They then named the place of the fight as Surabaya, it’s from Sura the shark and Baya the crocodile. People also put their fight as the symbol of Surabaya city. ***

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The Crying Stone

The Crying Stone
A Folktale from West Kalimantan

In a small village, a girl lives with her mother. The girl is very beautiful. Everyday she puts make-up and wears her best clothes. She doesn't like to help her mother work in a field. The girl is very lazy.
One day, the mother asks the girl to accompany her to go to the market to buy some food. At first the girl refuses, but the mother persuades her by saying they are going to buy new clothes. The girl finally agrees. But she asks her mother to walk behind her. She doesn't want to walk side by side with her mother.
Although her mother is very sad, she agrees to walk behind her daughter.
On the way to the market, everybody admires the girl's beauty. They are also curious. Behind the beautiful girl, there is an old woman with a simple dress. The girl and her mother look very different!
"Hello, pretty lady. Who is the woman behind you?" asks them. “She is my servant,” answers the girl.
The mother is very sad, but she doesn't say anything.
The girl and the mother meet other people. Again they ask who the woman behind the beautiful girl. Again the girl answers that her mother is her servant. She always says that her mother is her servant every time they meet people.
At last, the mother cannot hold the pain anymore. She prays to God to punish her daughter. God answers her prayer. Slowly, the girl's leg turns into stone. The process continues to the upper part of the girl's body. The girl is very panicky.
"Mother, please forgive me!" she cries and ask her mother to forgive her.
But it's too late. Her whole body finally becomes a big stone. Until now people still can see tears falling down the stone. People then call it the crying stone or batu menangis. ***

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