Cinderella

Once upon a time there lived an unhappy young girl. Her mother was dead and her father had

married a widow with two daughters. Her stepmother didn't like her one little bit. All her kind

thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. Nothing was too good for them -

dresses, shoes, delicious food, soft beds, and every home comfort. But, for the poor unhappy

girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters’ hand-me-downs. No lovely

dishes, nothing but scraps. No rest and no comfort. She had to work hard all day. Only when

evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That’s why

everybody called her Cinderella.

Cinderella used to spend long hours all alone talking to the cat. The cat said, “Miaow“, which

really meant, “Cheer up! You have something neither of your stepsisters has and that is beauty.”

It was quite true. Cinderella, even dressed in old rags, was a lovely girl. While her stepsisters,

no matter how splendid and elegant their clothes, were still clumsy, lumpy and ugly and always

would be.

One day, beautiful new dresses arrived at the house. A ball was to be held at the palace and the

stepsisters were getting ready to go. Cinderella didn't even dare ask if she could go too. She

knew very well what the answer would be: “You? You're staying at home to wash the dishes,

scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters.” They will come home tired and

very sleepy. Cinderella sighed, “Oh dear, I'm so unhappy!” and the cat murmured “Miaow.”

Suddenly something amazing happened. As Cinderella was sitting all alone, there was a burst

of light and a fairy appeared. “Don't be alarmed, Cinderella,” said the fairy. “I know you would

love to go to the ball. And so you shall!” “How can I, dressed in rags?” Cinderella replied. “The

servants will turn me away!”

The fairy smiled. With a flick of her magic wand Cinderella found herself wearing the most

beautiful dress she had ever seen. “Now for your coach,” said the fairy; "A real lady would never

go to a ball on foot! Quick! Get me a pumpkin!” “Oh of course,” said Cinderella, rushing away.

Then the fairy turned to the cat. “You, bring me seven mice, and, remember they must be alive!”

Cinderella soon returned with the pumpkin and the cat with seven mice he had caught in the

cellar. With a flick of the magic wand the pumpkin turned into a sparkling coach and the mice

became six white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman in a smart uniform

and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe her eyes.

“You shall go to the ball Cinderella. But remember! You must leave at midnight. That is when

my spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin and the horses will become mice again.

You will be dressed in rags and wearing clogs instead of these glass slippers! Do you

understand?” Cinderella smiled and said, “Yes, I understand!”

Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball until she heard the first stroke of midnight! She

remembered what the fairy had said, and without a word of goodbye she slipped from the

Prince’s arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a

moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound...

oh... what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night.

The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked up the slipper and said to his ministers,

“Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I

find her!” So the ministers tried the slipper on the foot of every girl in the land until only

Cinderella was left.

“That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball,” snapped the stepmother. “Tell the

Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can't you see how ugly Cinderella is?”

But, to everyone’s amazement, the shoe fitted perfectly.

Suddenly the fairy appeared and waved her magic wand. In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a

splendid dress, shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters gaped at her in

amazement, and the ministers said, “Come with us Cinderella! The Prince is waiting for you.“

So Cinderella married the Prince and lived happily ever. As for the cat, he just said “Miaow!”

The Legend of Sangkuriang

One day, when he was hunting, Sangkuriang accidentally killed his beautiful black dog (Si TUMANG). This dog is actually Sangkuriang's father who had been condemned to live the life of a dog by his GURU. However, Sangkuriang never knew it.Sangkuriang had been separated by his mother since childhood. Yet, he was destined to meet his mother again. When on his way home, he stopped at a small village and met and fell in love with a beautiful girl. He didn't realised that the village was his homeland nor that the beautiful girl was his own sacred mother (remain young & pretty).Their love grew naturally and one day, when they were discussing their wedding plans, Dayang Sumbi suddenly realised that the profile of Sangkuriang's head matched that of her only son's who had left twenty years earlier. How could shee marry her own son? But she did not wish to dissapoint him by cancelling the wedding. So, although she agreed to marry Sangkuriang, she would do so only on the condition that he provide her with a lake and a boat with which they could sail on the dawn of their wedding day.Sangkuriang accepted this condition and built a lake by damming the Citarum river. Wiath a dawn just moment away and the boat almost complete, Dayang Sumbi realised that Sangkuriang would fulfill the condition she had set. With a wave of her supernatural shawl, she lit up the eastern horizon with flashes of light. Deceived by false dawn, the cock crowed and farmers rose for the new day.With his work not yet complete, Sangkurinag realised that his endeavour were lost. With all his anger, he kicked the boat that he himself had built. The boat fell over and, in so doing become the mountain TANGKUBAN PARAHU (in Sundanese, TANGKUBAN means upturned or upside down, and PARAHU means boat). With the dam torn assunder, the water drained from the lake becoming a wide plain and nowaday became a city called BANDUNG (from the word BENDUNG, which means Dam).

The Story of Sangkuriang and Tangkuban Perahu Mountain

Once, there was a kingdom in Priangan Land. Lived a happy family. They were a father in form of dog,his name is Tumang, a mother which was called is Dayang Sumbi, and a child which was called Sangkuriang.One day, Dayang Sumbi asked her son to go hunting with his lovely dog, Tumang. After hunting all day, Sangkuriang began desperate and worried because he hunted no deer. Then he thought to shot his own dog. Then he took the dog liver and carried home.Soon Dayang Sumbi found out that it was not deer lever but Tumang's, his own dog. So, She was very angry and hit Sangkuriang's head. In that incident, Sangkuriang got wounded and scar then cast away from their home.Years go bye, Sangkuriang had travel many places and finally arrived at a village. He met a beautiful woman and felt in love with her. When they were discussing their wedding plans, The woman looked at the wound in Sangkuriang's head. It matched to her son's wound who had left severall years earlier. Soon she realized that she felt in love with her own son.She couldn't marry him but how to say it. Then, she found the way. She needed a lake and a boat for celebrating their wedding day. Sangkuriang had to make them in one night. He built a lake. With a dawn just moment away and the boat was almost complete. Dayang Sumbi had to stop it. Then, she lit up the eastern horizon with flashes of light. It made the cock crowed for a new day.Sangkuriang failed to marry her. She was very angry and kicked the boat. It felt over and became the mountain of Tangkuban Perahu Bandung.

The FirebirdPrince Ivan and his sister Katooshka lived with their father, the Tsar, in a castle in Russia. Of the two children, the Tsar preferred the daughter as she seemed to be more hard working than the son, but really it was the other way around, only Katooshka was very sneaky.

The children had to care for the Tsar’s greatest treasure, a tree with apples made out of gold. But one day it was discovered that a golden apple was missing from the tree. The next night another one was stolen. The next night the Tsar told Ivan and Katooshka to stay awake in the garden and find out who was stealing the golden apples.

Katooshka didn’t even try and stay awake, she just left it up to Ivan to do everything again. After a while Ivan saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was the Firebird. He ran after the Firebird, but got there just too late, although he did catch the Firebird’s tail, and one of the beautiful feathers came out in his hand.

In the morning, Katooshka shouted at Ivan for letting the robber get away. When the Tsar came to speak to them, she also said that Ivan has been very lazy and hadn’t done anything, so it was his fault that the Firebird had got away! The Tsar was very angry but he was amazed at the beauty of the feather. He sent his son away to catch the Firebird. He was not to return until he had caught the splendid bird. A long journey began.

First Ivan reached a creepy forest where he had to decide whether to go forward and be eaten by a wolf or go back and be a failure. Ivan was determined to find the Firebird and prove to his father that he wasn’t useless. So he entered the forest and there he encountered a toothless wolf. But how could a wolf be dangerous if he did not have any teeth? A pedlar had given Ivan a wolf’s tooth in his father’s city. The tooth was useful for polishing the golden apples to make them extra clean and shiny. Ivan took pity in the wolf and gave him the tooth. The wolf was very grateful and decided to accompany Ivan to the castle of Koschei the Deathless. (This was where they knew the Firebird was imprisoned)

But the evil wizard, Koschei the Deathless had another prisoner: Princess Vasilisa, princess of incomparable beauty. The wolf knew some facts about the princess and he issued Ivan with this warning.

“Do not look at her! She has been bewitched by Koschei the Deathless. He has turned her heart into wood, and hidden it so she could have no feelings. You will fall hopelessly in love with her, and she will never be able to return the feelings.”The wolf was not the bravest of animals; he left Ivan to go into the castle on his own. Without the wolf there to remind him, Ivan forgot all the warnings and fell deeply in love with Vasilisa.

Now the prince had to master two difficult tasks: he had to rescue the Firebird and his princess. Before he had the chance to take the princess away, Koschei the Deathless appeared. He said that Baba Yaga, a terrible witch, had stolen the Firebird. Koschei the Deathless told Ivan that if he got the Firebird back from Baba Yaga, he would give Ivan the opportunity to choose between the princess and the Firebird. The wizard told Ivan how to find Baba Yaga, and how the Firebird was tied with a golden cord to Baba Yaga’s crow, Vanka.

Ivan set off to find the Firebird, riding on the wolf’s back. When they found the witch’s house, they saw that both Baba Yaga and the crow were fast asleep. Once again the wolf issued a warning to prince Ivan.

“Before you go, a word of warning. The Firebird will be fastened by a golden cord. Bring the Firebird, but leave the cord.”

Of course Ivan forgot this warning, he went to get the Firebird, he was about to leave with the Firebird with the golden cord still tied to the it, when Vanka the crow wakes up and squawks and squawks. Baba Yaga also wakes up and now Ivan was captured.

The wolf heard all this and went and fetched princess Vasilisa. Vasilisa pretended to be a pedlar woman and tricked Baba Yaga in to letting her into the house. When Baba Yaga and the crow were once again asleep, Ivan, the Firebird and princess Vasilisa ran away.

They all went back to Koschei’s castle. Ivan was then stuck. He had to choose between the Firebird and the princess. He would not be allowed back in his father’s house if he didn’t bring back the bird, but how could he leave his beloved princess behind. Koschei (as he was truly evil) then tried to turn Ivan’s heart into wood. Vasilisa saw this and suddenly burst into tears.

“Stop!….. Stop that I tell you! Stop your crying!” shouted Koschei the Deathless.

In an instance, Vasilisa realised where he had hidden her heart …… in her tears. Koschei the Deathless died and Vasilisa’s heart was no longer wooden. Ivan then told the Firebird that he was free, but the Firebird chose to come to the Tsar’s castle with him.

When they arrived, Ivan’s horrible sister – princess Katooshka tried to prevent them showing the Firebird to the Tsar. She gave Ivan and Vasilisa two apples from the golden tree (she had poisoned them to try and catch the thief). Ivan and Vasilisa both died!

Now only the Firebird, who had promised to return a favour to Ivan, knew a solution. She flew to the fountain of life and therefore could return and revive the children with the magic water.

The Tsar now noticed how he had mistreated Ivan and that Katooshka should be punished forever. He banished her to lead a pedlar’s life. However, Ivan and Vasilisa also took pleasure in the thought of being free and jolly pedlars. Finally they all decided to become pedlars and lived happily ever after!

BYNEIL DUFFIELD

A group of Nomads arrive and set up their camp for the night. To amuse themselves they tell stories and act out plays. They tell a story about two brothers Shahzaman and Shahryar and they start to act out the story.

Shahryar is about to be married. His brother, angry at having been betrayed by his own wife says that he must not marry one girl but take a new bride every night. Shahryar does as his brother tells him and executes his new brides on the morning after each wedding. It is the job of the Grand Vizier to find new brides, but he soon runs out of young women and finds that he must offer his own daughters. Sheherazad, the older of the two, volunteers to be the first. She is a clever young woman and delays the wedding by starting to tell a story…………..

The story is about two brothers Kasim and Ali. Kasim is a rich merchant, Ali, a poor woodcutter. Ali is at the market when he sees a slave, Marjiana who is about to be sold. Marjiana consents to the sale even though Ali does not have enough money. Miraculously, he finds that some gold coins have appeared in his woodpile (Marjiana has hidden them there). Ali’s brother, Kasim, who hoped to buy Marjiana is furious, as is Jawan The Terrible, a robber who also wanted the slave.

Ali’s life with Marjiana prospers. One day he is cutting wood in the forest and he sees Jawan The Terrible ride up to a huge rock. Jawan says the words “open sesame” the rock opens into a doorway. Ali realises that this is where Jawan hides the loot from people he has robbed. Ali tries the magic words and finds himself in a cave full of treasure. He takes some home to Marjiana, who feels that taking the treasure was wrong. Ali wants to weigh his treasure so he dashes off to his brothers house . Kasim is suspicious and greedy and tricks Ali into telling him about the cave.

Kasim rushes off to find the cave and see the treasure for himself. He lets himself in using the magic words, but when he tries to get out he forgets how to. Kasim has a terrible night in the cave trying to remember the words to open the rock. He suddenly remembers and is about to say it when Jawan enters from outside. He is furious that his treasure has been found and leaves Kasim unconscious entombed in the cave to rot.

When Ali gets home she makes him go back to the cave to rescue Kasim. Ali is terrified, so Marjiana goes with him. They enter the cave but when Kasim wakes he is again only interested in taking as much of the treasure as he can. Kasim steals a large jar which he drags back to Ali’s house

Eventually Kasim is successful and opens the jar, except that instead of treasure, from the jar appears a huge Genie! The genie is so angry at being imprisoned in the jar for thousands of years that he says he will kill whoever releases him. Luckily Marjiana appears and tricks the genie back into his jar. Kasim, realising that again he has no treasure makes off with Ali’s gold.

Jawan, meanwhile is bent on revenge. He finds out from a healer woman that Kasim is at Ali’s house. She tells Jawan how to get there – but he gets lost, as does Kasim, staggering around the back streets with Ali’s treasure. When they bump into each other, Kasim, to save his own skin, says that the treasure belongs to Ali and that Ali knows the secret of the cave. Jawan, still threatening, forces Kasim to get them an invite to Ali’s house

Back at the house Kasim arrives and introduces Jawan as a visiting oil merchant who enters dragging a pretend jar of samples. In the jar is hidden one of Jawan’s band of robbers. Marjiana is suspicious and she hides in his room and during the night overhears the two plotting. She uncovers the jar with the genie in it, so that Jawan releases the genie thinking that he is letting out one of his men. He is swept off in a

mighty wind. The genie is impressed with Marjiana’s resourcefulness and offers her a wish. Because she wants Ali safe from the temptation of riches, she asks that the cave and its treasure to be hidden under the sea. Ali sadly realises that Kasim has betrayed him.

Through this story Shahryar, who has been playing Ali realises that his brother Shahzaman, has been an evil influence. He has forced him to be cruel to his wives and Shahryar decides he has had enough. He stands up for himself, telling his brother to leave, Shahzaman has learned his lesson and asks for forgiveness. The two brothers are reconciled and Sheherazad and Shahryar can at last marry happily. With the end of the story the nomads story has come to an end.

Rumpelstiltskin - The Story

Once there was a miller who was very poor and very boastful. He had a beautiful daughter

whom he loved very much and whom he tried to keep protected from the world.

One day she was playing in her garden when she met Boy. They became friends and he told

the miller’s daughter all about the selfish king. Boy worked in the palace for the king. The Miller

was not happy about his daughter talking to Boy.

One day the miller happened to be talking to the king. The miller was so vain and proud of his

daughter that he stupidly said to the king, “My daughter can spin straw into gold.”

Now the king was very greedy and he loved money and gold. When he heard the miller’s boast,

he said, “How fascinating! If your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to the palace, and

we will see what she can do.”

When the daughter was brought to the king he took her to a room that was full of straw, and

gave her a spinning wheel. He then left her after saying, “Off you go then. All this straw must be

spun into gold by tomorrow morning. If you don’t manage this, I will have you killed.”

She sat down in one corner and started to cry. She didn’t know what to do. How on earth could

she spin straw into gold? All of a sudden, the door opened and in hobbled a little funny looking

man. He said, “Good evening. What are you crying for?”

“Oh,” she said, “I must spin this straw in to gold by tomorrow morning and I don’t know how.”

“What will you give me,” said the little man, “if I do it for you?”

“My necklace,” replied the miller’s daughter.

The little funny looking man took the necklace and sat himself down at the spinning wheel.

Whirr, Whirr, Whirr, three times the wheel went round and the first reel was full. Whirr, Whirr,

Whirr, three times the wheel went round and the second reel was full. He worked well into the

night, happy in his work, until all the work was done and all the straw was spun into gold.

When the king unlocked the door and came into the room he was amazed and astonished. He

was delighted with the reels of gold. But the king was a greedy man and his heart swelled with

greed. This was not enough for him. Now he wanted more. So he took the miller’s daughter

into a larger room that was also full of straw, and again told her to spin all the straw into gold or

he would have her killed.

Again, the king locked the door and she started to weep. But all of a sudden the little funny

looking man came in again and said, “ What will you give me this time to do your task?”

“This ring on my finger,” she replied. So the little man took her ring and started work. Whirr,

Whirr, Whirr, three times the wheel went round and the first reel was full. Whirr, Whirr, Whirr,

three times the wheel went round and the second reel was full. He worked well into the night,

happy in his work, until all the work was done and all the straw was spun into gold.

In the morning the king cam in again and was even more astonished to see that all the straw

had been spun into gold once again. However his greed meant that he was still not satisfied,

and he took the miller’s daughter to an even bigger room, also full of straw and said, “All this

must be spun into gold by the morning. If you succeed, I shall have you killed.” (He thought to

himself, “She could be my queen. She may only be a miller’s daughter, but I couldn’t find a

richer wife in the whole world”)

As soon as she was left alone and started to cry, the funny looking little man came in again and

said, “What will you give me this time for doing your task?”

“I have nothing left to give you,” sobbed the miller’s daughter.

“Then promise me,” he said, “if you ever become queen, to give me your first child.”

The miller’s daughter thought to herself, “That will never happen. The king will never marry a

poor miller’s daughter!” So she promised the little man to give her what he wanted.

The little man sat down to work. Whirr, Whirr, Whirr, three times the wheel went round and the

first reel was full. Whirr, Whirr, Whirr, three times the wheel went round and the second reel

was full. He worked well into the night, happy in his work, until all the work was done and all the

straw was spun into gold.

The king came into the room in the morning and found all that he had wished for, so he married

the miller’s daughter the very next day, and she really did become queen.

A year later, she had her first child, and they were both very happy. She had forgotten all about

her promise to the funny looking little man, until one day he suddenly appeared in her room and

reminded her of it. The queen was horrified. She offered him all the riches in the kingdom if

only he could forget her promise to him. She cried and cried and cried. In fact she cried so

much that the little man took pity on her. “I will give you three days grace” he said. “If, in that

time, you can find out what my name is, you can keep your baby.” Boy heard of the queen’s

pain and went to speak to her. He saw how distressed she was so he went out into the world to

try and seek out the funny looking little man and find out his name.

That night the Queen tossed and turned all night trying to think of all the odd names that she

had ever heard. She sent out messengers around the kingdom, and across the land to ask

what other names there may be. The next day, the little man came and she began to reel off

some names. “Timothy, Benjamin, Casper, Melchior, Jerome” and all the other names she

knew, but to all of them he said, “That’s not my name!”

On the second day she sent the messengers back out to found out more new names, and when

the little man came back she tried all the funny, comical names she knew. “Scar-face, Bandy-

legs, Sparerib, Turnip-head”, but he answered “No!” to all of them.

On the third day, after having many adventures and meeting many different creatures, Boy

came back. He told the queen, “As I walked through a thick forest yesterday, where the fox and

the hare said goodnight to each other, I saw a little hut, and before the hut there burnt a fire, and

round the fire danced a little funny looking man. As he was dancing, he sang:

Today I brew, tomorrow I bake,

And after that the child I I’ll take.

I’m the winner of the game,

Rumpelstiltskin is my name”.

When the queen heard this, she jumped for joy as she knew that this was surely the little man’s

name. As soon as her little visitor came into her room that night, she joked.

“Is it Tom?”

“No” laughed the little man.

“Is it Jas?”

“No.”

“Is it Sloppy Joe?”

“No.”

“Could it be………… Rumpelstiltskin?”

“Some witch must have told you that!” cried the little man and he stamped his foot so hard into

the ground that his whole leg went in. He then was so angry that he pulled so hard to get his leg

out and he split himself in two then disappeared!

So the queen kept her baby, and loved it all the more because she had so nearly lost it.

And her and her king, and the miller and Boy lived happily for a long time and never heard from

the funny little man again.

The Origin of Landak River

Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. They lived simply and they like to help other people, especially one who in afflictions. One night, the farmer and his wife were resting in their house. The farmer was sitting beside his sleeping wife. Suddenly, a white centipede came out from the wife’s head. The farmer was amazed. He then followed the centipede until they reach a small pond not far from their house. Then the centipede suddenly disappeared. The farmer went home and found his wife still soundly asleep.

In the morning, the wife told his husband about the dream she had last night. “I was walking through a vast field, and I came to a lake. I saw a giant hedgehog in the lake. It was glaring at me, so I ran away.” After he heard his wife’s dream, the farmer went back to the small pond. In the pond, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a golden hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. The farmer then brought the statue home.

At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him, “Please let me stay in your home. As return, I will give you everything you want. Just caress the statue’s head and say the prayer. There are two kinds of prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop your wish. Now memorize the prayers.”

In the next day, the farmer told his wife about his dream. They really wanted to prove it. The farmer slowly caressed the statue's head. He said the prayer and asked for rice. Suddenly, rice came out of the mouth of the statue. The rice kept on coming out from the statue's mouth. The farmer immediately said the prayer to stop it. The rice then stopped coming out from the statue.

The farmer and his wife then asked for other things, jewelry and other stuff they needed. They became very rich. But they still like to help other people. A lot of poor came to them for help. Unfortunately, a thief found out about the secret of the golden hedgehog statue. Pretending to be a poor asking for help, he stole the statue from the farmer’s house.

The thief blurred to the district area of Ngabang. There was a drought in the area. The thief wanted sympathy from the people, so he said to them that he would provide them with water. The thief then caressed the hedgehog statue and said the prayer. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. All the people were so happy. But the water kept on coming out. The thief didn’t know the prayer to stop the wish. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water as it was started to flood the area. The thief also wanted to run away, but he cannot move his legs. In his vision, there was a giant hedgehog holding both his legs. Water kept coming from the statue and slowly it became a river. The thief was drowned in the river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.***

The Crying Stone

One upon a time, lived a poor old widow in a small village. She lived with her daughter. Her daughter was very beautiful but also very lazy and arrogant. She never helped her mother and didn’t want to know what problem her mother had. Everyday, she put make up and wears her best clothes. She always wanted to look rich and beautiful.

One day, the mother and her daughter went to the market to buy some food. At first, the daughter refused to accompany her mother, but finally she agreed. “I’ll go with you, but you must walk behind me,” said the daughter. She didn't want to walk side by side with her mother. Although her mother was very sad, she agreed to walk behind her daughter.

On the way to the market, everybody admired the girl's beauty. But they were also curious. Behind the beautiful girl, there was an old woman with a simple dress. The girl and her mother looked very different. “Hello, beautiful girl. Who is the old woman behind you? Is she your mother?" they asked. “No, she is not my mother. She is my servant,” the girl answered. Her mother was very sad to hear that, but she didn't say anything. She could understand that her daughter was ashamed.

The girl and the mother met other people. Again they asked who the woman behind the beautiful girl. And again the girl answered that her mother is her servant. She always said that her mother is her servant every time people asked.

At last, the mother cannot hold the pain anymore. She prayed to God to punish her daughter. Suddenly, the girl's leg turns into stone. Slowly, the process continues to the upper part of the girl's body. The girl was in panic. "Mother, please forgive me! Mother!" she cried and asked her mother to forgive her. But it's already too late. Her whole body finally becomes a big stone. Until now, people can still see tears falling down from the stone. People then call it batu menangis (it mean the crying stone).***

The Wise King

Long time ago, there was a kingdom named Sanggau in the Borneo Island. It was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom under the leadership of their wise king. There was a market in the kingdom of Sanggau. Pak Razak was a famous cook there. He owned his own restaurant in the market. One day, Pak Razak was cooking in his restaurant when a farmer passed by. But the farmer stopped in front of Pak Razak’s restaurant. He smells the aroma of the delicious food Pak Razak was cooking. “Hmmm… delicious… yummy,” said the farmer. "Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to come to my restaurant or not?” Pak Razak asked. "No, I don't. Smelling the aroma of your delicious food makes me full," said the farmer. “So you’re full by smelling my food?” asked Pak Razak again. “Yes, I am,” the farmer answered. “If that’s the case, you have to pay me for the smell of my delicious food,” said Pak Razak. “Ridiculous, I don’t want to pay. I didn’t eat anything,” the farmer refused to pay. But Pak Razak kept persisting that the farmer must pay for the aroma of his food. Both of them started to quarrel. People came and asked them to calm down. They suggested that Pak Razak and the farmer go to the King to solve the problem.

In the following day, Pak Razak and the farmer went to the palace. "Please tell me what happened,” asked the King. Pak Razak and the farmer told the King about the problem. "Hmm...I have the solution,” said the King after he heard the story from both Pak Razak and the farmer. The King then asked the farmer to bring out his money. The farmer took a gold coin from his pocket. “Now put your coins into this bottle.” The farmer then put his coin into a bottle prepared by the King’s servant. ”Do you hear the sound of the coins?" asked the King to Pak Razak. "Yes, I do," answered Pak Razak. "Then, the farmer has just paid you. He pays your delicious aroma with the sound of his money," explained the King. Pak Razak was silent. He knew the King was right. The King just gave him a lesson. He then apologize to the farmer.***

The Golden Watermelon

Long time ago, at the north area of West Kalimantan, lived a wealthy merchant. He had two sons. The older one is named Muzakir and the younger one is named Dermawan. The two brothers were so different in their attitudes. Muzakir had a very mean and greedy character. On the contradictory, Dermawan was a caring and kind person. He was not greedy and always tried to help those in needs.

Before he passed away, the merchant divided all of his money equally to both of his sons. He did it so that both of his sons will not envious at each other. Muzakir then bought a big cash-box. He put his entire share inside the cash-box and locked it. When a poor came to Muzakir’s house, he laughs at them instead of giving them something. If the poor don’t want to leave, Muzakir would summon his servants to chase them away.

Many of the poor in that area had heard about Muzakir’s rude attitude, therefore they preferred to come to Dermawan. When Dermawan saw those peoples coming, he sincerely welcome them to his house and shared money with those who needed it. It was almost every day a poor came for his help that f inally he ran out of money. Dermawan then moved to a smaller house. He also worked as a foreman. His salary was not much, only enough to buy his own daily meals. But Dermawan was happy with his simple life.

His elder brother laughed when he heard the news about Dermawan. He always thought that Dermawan was a fool to share his money with other people. He himself has just bought a large new house. “There is no one who as stupid as my younger brother,” he said.

One day, when Dermawan was sitting and relaxing in his house yard, a sparrow suddenly fell off in front of him. The sparrow twittered in pain. “Poor bird, did you broke your wing?” He took the bird and examines its wings. He’s right. One of the sparrow’s wings is broken. “Let me take care of you,” he said. Dermawan bandaged the sparrow’s wing and then he took some rice to feed the poor bird. After some time, the bird gradually tamed and was no longer afraid to Dermawan. Few days later, its wings were completely healed. After a while, it flew to the sky. The following day, the sparrow came to visit Dermawan. It held a seed with its beak, and then it put the seed in front of Dermawan. It was an ordinary seed, but Dermawan accepted it with a big smile on his face. He then planted the seed in the back yard of his house.

Three days later, the seed started to grow. It was a watermelon tree. Dermawan took good care of the tree. He thought the tree would bear many fruits since it was so blossomy. But, from all the flowers, only one turned to fruit. Day by day, the fruit grows bigger, bigger than any watermelon Dermawan ever see. Harvesting time finally came and he decided to take the watermelon. “Oh my God, it is so heavy”, he uttered while trying hardly to carry it into the house to put on the table. He took a knife and started to cut the watermelon. Dermawan was shocked. Inside the watermelon is some kind of yellow sand. “What could this be?” Dermawan wondered. Then he realized that the strange yellow sand was actually a pile of pure golden sand. “Holy God, it’s gold. I’m rich,” he danced happily. He heard bird twittered and he looked outside. He saw the sparrow on a tree. “Thank you”, he shouted. “Thank you”, he shouted again, and then the sparrow flew away.

Dermawan then bought a big house with a very big garden the next day. All of the poor came to his house and were welcomed for meals. This time, Dermawan would not run out of money. He had so much money, and his fields produced plants with good fruits as well.

The news about Dermawan’s fortune was heard by Muzakir and made him envy. He went to Dermawan house, and Dermawan honestly told his brother about the sparrow. Muzakir immediately commanded his servants to find a bird with broken wings as he heard the story from his brother. A week passed, but Muzakir’s servants still couldn’t find such bird. He was so angry and even couldn‘t sleep during the nights. The next day, he asked one of his servants to catch a bird using chopsticks. Of course, the chopsticks hurt the bird and broke its wings. Muzakir then pretended to pity the bird and took care of it. Days passed and the bird was completely healed and let to fly. The following day, the bird came back to Muzakir and brought a seed for him. He was very happy. ”I will be very rich soon, even richer than Dermawan,” he said to himself.

Muzakir planted the seed at the back yard of his house and it grew to a fine watermelon tree after several days. It also bore only one fruit, which was much bigger than that once owned by Dermawan. As the harvesting time approached, Muzakir asked his servants to take the fruit into his house. He couldn‘t wait to find a pile of golden sand inside. He cut the watermelon himself and was very shocked when black mud mixed with dirt flushed out to his face. It smelled very bad. Muzakir‘s clothes and also

the room were terribly dirty because of it. He ran to the street because he couldn‘t stand the rotten smell from the watermelon. All the people on the street laughed at him for what they saw.***