A Lesson for the Tiger

Folklore from Central Java

A Long time ago, all animals had a king. Their king was the tiger. All animals were afraid of him. The tiger was the
strongest among them. He was also very mean. He would hit any animals when they disobeyed him. They wanted to
give the tiger a lesson.
"Listen friends, we need to find a way. The tiger is also ruel es!eially to weak animals like me," said the rabbit.
"" have an idea," said the mouse deer. "He is not lever as he looks. " think " an trik him," said the mouse deer.
"How will you trik him#" asked the rabbit.
""t$s easy. %ou meet the tiger and tell him that " hallenge him to fight."
"&hat# Are you kidding# %ou annot win'" said the rabbit.
"(on$t worry. "$m not really hallenging him to fight. "t$s all !art of the !lan."
The mouse deer ontinued. "%ou )ust tell him that " hallenge him to fight under that big tree," the mouse deer !ointed
to a big tree near them.
Later the rabbit met the tiger and he told the tiger about the hallenge.
&hat'# "s it true#' *+, tell the mouse deer " ae!t his hallenge. " will beat him so easily," said the tiger. He was so
arrogant.
The tiger went to the big tree. He saw the mouse deer staring at the branhes of the tree.
"Hey mouse deer' " heard you hallenge me to fight. Come, fight now' sreamed the tiger.
However, the mouse deer did not move at all. He ke!t on staring on the branhes of the tree.
",ouse deer' Are you deaf#" the tiger was really angry.
"-hh... .e /uiet," said the mouse deer.
"&hat# %ou asked me to be /uiet." The tiger really don$t understand.
"%es. (o you see that big round thing in that branh# last night " had a dream. An owl told me that the big round thing
above us an give me !ower."
He ontinued. "The !roblem is " annot )um! or limb to grab that thing."
"0eally# Are you sure#" asked the tiger. "&ell, " am the king and " deserve that !ower. -o " want you to get out of
here otherwise " will hit you," said the tiger.
The mouse deer !retended to be sared. He immediately ran away. ,eanwhile, the tiger limbed the tree. He was
trying to grab the round thing in the branh of the tree.
The tiger did not know that the round thing was atually the beehive' And when he was finally able to grab the
beehive, he fell down to the ground.
All the bees were angry. They all attaked and stung the tiger. The bees were angry beause the tiger had already
destroyed their home.
The tiger was in a great !ain. He ould not fight the bees. he asked for hel!, unfortunately, the animals did not want
to hel! him.
The tiger finally went to the river. He swam and he survived. He reali1ed the mistake. -ine then he hanged, he
beame a wise king.222
.awang ,erah and .awang 3utih
Folklore from Central Java
BAWANG Putih lived with her step mother and her step sister, Bawang Merah. Bawang Putih's
mother died when she was a baby. Her ather remarried another woman and later her step sister
was born.
!nortunately, not long ater that her ather died. "in#e then, Bawang Putih's lie was sad. Her
step mother and her step sister treated Bawang Putih badly and always as$ed her to do all the
household #hores. %ne morning, Bawang Putih was washing some #lothes in a river.
A##identally, her mother's #lothes were washed away by the river. "he was really worried so she
wal$ed along the river side to ind the #lothes. &inally she met an old woman. "he said that she
$ept the #lothes and would give them ba#$ to Bawang Putih i she helped the old woman do the
household #hores.
Bawang Putih helped her happily. Ater everything was inished, the old woman returned the
#lothes. "he also gave Bawang Putih a git. 'he old woman had two pump$ins, one pump$in
was small and the other one was big. Bawang Putih had to #hoose one.
Bawang Putih was not a greedy girl. "o she too$ the small one. Ater than$ing the old woman,
Bawang Putih then went home. When she arrived home, her step mother and Bawang Merah
were angry. 'hey had been waiting or her all day long. Bawang Putih then told about the
#lothes, the old woman, and the pump$in. Her mother was really angry so she grabbed the
pump$in and smashed it to the loor. "uddenly they all were surprised. (nside the pump$in they
ound )ewelries.
*Bawang Merah, hurry up. Go to the river and throw my #lothes into the water. Ater that, ind
the old woman. +emember, you have to ta$e the big pump$in,* the step mother as$ed Bawang
Merah to do e,a#tly the same as Bawang Putih's e,perien#e.
Bawang Merah immediately went to the river. "he threw the #lothes and pretended to sear#h
them. Not long ater that, she met the old woman. Again she as$ed Bawang Merah to do
household #hores. "he reused and as$ed the old woman to give her a big pump$in.
'he old woman then gave her the big one. Bawang Merah was so happy. "he ran very ast. When
she arrived home, her mother was impatient. "he dire#tly smashed the pump$in to the loor.
'hey were s#reaming. 'here were a lot o sna$es inside the pump$in- 'hey were really s#ared.
'hey were araid the sna$es would bite them.
*Mom, ( thin$ God )ust punished us. We had done bad things to Bawang Putih. And God didn't
li$e that. We have to apologi.e to Bawang Putih,* said Bawang Merah.
&inally both o them reali.ed their mista$es. 'hey apologi.ed and Bawang Putih orgave them.
Now the amily is not poor anymore. Bawang Putih de#ided to sell all the )ewelries and used the
money or their daily lives.///
Bawang Putih means white onion 0garli#1, Bawang merah means red onion 0shallot1.
30"4C5 0aden 3utra and (ewi Limaran were husband and wife. They lived in a !alae. 3rine 0aden 3utra$s father
was the king of the kingdom.
*ne day, (ewi Limaran was walking around in the !alae garden. -uddenly she saw a snail. "t was ugly and
disgusting.
"%uk'" said (ewi Limaran and then she threw it away into a river.
-he did not know that the snail was atually an old and !owerful with. -he ould transform herself into anything. The
with was angry to (ewi Limaran. The with !ut a s!ell on her and hanged her into a golden snail. The with then
threw it away into the river.
The golden snail was drifting away in the river and got aught into a net. An old woman was fishing and used her net
to ath some fish. -he was sur!rised to see a golden snail in her net. -he took it and brought it home. &hen the old
woman woke u! in the morning, she was sur!rised that the house was in the good ondition. The floor was mo!!ed.
And she also had food on the table. -he was thinking very hard.
"&ho did this to me# The !erson is very kind." "t ha!!ened again and again every morning.
The old woman was very urious. *ne night she deided to stay u! late. -he was !ee!ing from her room to know
who ooked for her. Then, she ould not believe what she saw. The golden snail she aught in the river turned into a
beautiful woman. The old woman a!!roahed her.
"&ho are you, young girl#"
"" am (ewi Limaran, ,a$am. A with ursed me. " an hange bak as a human only at night," e6!lained (ewi
Limaran.
"The s!ell an be broken if " hear the melody from the holy gamelan," ontinued (ewi Limaran.
The old woman then rushed to the !alae. -he talked to 3rine 0aden 3utra about her wife.
3rine 0aden 3utra was so ha!!y. He had been looking for his wife everywhere.
He then !rayed and meditated. He asked the gods to give him the holy gamelan. He wanted to break the with$s
s!ell. After several days !raying and meditating, finally gods granted his wish. He immediately brought the holy
gamelan to the old woman$s house. He !layed it beautifully. And then ama1ingly the golden snail turned into the
beautiful (ewi Limaran.
The ou!le was so ha!!y that they ould be together again. They also thanked the old woman for her kindness. As a
return, they asked her to stay in the !alae. 222
The Legend of -urabaya
Folklore from 5ast Java
A long time ago in 5ast Java there were two strong
animals, -ura and .aya. -ura was a shark and .aya was a roodile. They lived in a sea. Atually, they were friends.
.ut when they were hungry, they were very greedy. They did not want to share their food. They would fight for it and
never sto! fighting until one of them gave u!.
"t was a very hot day. -ura and .aya were looking for some food. -uddenly, .aya saw a goat.
7%ummy, this is my lunh,8 said .aya.
74o way' This is my lunh. %ou are greedy' " had not eaten for two days'8 said -ura.
Then -ura and .aya fought again. After several hours, they were very tired. -ura had a !lan to sto! their bad
behavior.
7"9m tired of fighting, .aya,8 said -ura.
7,e too. &hat should we do to sto! fighting# (o you have any idea#8 asked .aya.
7%es, " do. Let9s share our territory. " live in the water, so " look for food in the sea. And you live on the land, right# -o,
you look for the food also on the land. The border is the beah, so we will never meet again. (o you agree#8 asked
-ura.
7Hmm... let me think about it. *+, " agree. From today, " will never go to the sea again. ,y !lae is on the land,8 said
.aya.
Then they both lived in the different !laes. .ut one day, -ura went to the land and looked for some food in the river.
He was very hungry and there was not muh food in the sea. .aya was very angry when he knew that -ura broke the
!romise.
7Hey, what are you doing here# This is my !lae. %our !lae is in the sea'8
7.ut, there is water in the river, right# -o, this is also my !lae'8 said -ura.
Then -ura and .aya fought again. They both hit eah other. -ura bit .aya$s tail. .aya did the same thing to -ura. He
bit very hard until -ura finally gave u!. He went bak to the sea. .aya was very ha!!y. He had his !lae again.
The !lae where they were fighting was a mess. .lood was everywhere. 3eo!le then always talked about the fight
between -ura and .aya. They then named the !lae of the fight as -urabaya, it9s from -ura the shark and .aya the
roodile. 3eo!le also !ut their fight as the symbol of -urabaya ity. 222
+ebo "wa
Folklore from .ali
*4C5 u!on a time in .ali, a man and his wife were !raying. They have been married for a long time but did not have
any hildren. They asked :od to give them a hild. They !rayed and !rayed.
:od finally answered their !ray. The wife, then, got !regnant and they had a baby boy. They were very ha!!y.
The baby was e6traordinary. He was very muh different from other babies. He ate and drank a lot. (ay after day he
ate more and more. His body was getting bigger and bigger. And by the time he was a teenager, his body was as big
as a buffalo. 3eo!le then started to all him +ebo "wa.
.eause of his eating habit, +ebo "wa9s !arents s!ent a lot of money to buy his food in large amount. They finally
went bankru!t. They gave u! and asked the villagers to hel! them !rovide the food.
The villagers then worked together to ook and build a big house for +ebo "wa. He was like a giant. He ould not stay
in his !arents9 house anymore beause of his big body. -adly, after a few months, the villagers also ould not afford
to ook him the food. They then asked +ebo "wa to ook his own food. The villagers )ust !re!ared the raw materials.
+ebo "wa agreed and as an e6!ression of his gratitude to the villagers, he built a dam, dug wells, and he also
!roteted the villagers from animals and !eo!le who wanted to attak their village. He did those things by himself.
,eanwhile, the troo!s of ,a)a!ahit were !lanning to attak .ali. They knew about +ebo "wa. And they also knew that
they ould not on/uer .ali with +ebo "wa there. +ebo "wa was more !owerful than they were.
:a)ah ,ada, the ,aha 3atih ;Chief ,inister< of ,a)a!ahit then !lanned something. They were !retending to invite
+ebo "wa to ,a)a!ahit to hel! them dig some wells. They said that ,a)a!ahit was suffering from a long dry season
and needed muh water. +ebo "wa did not know the !lan, so he went to ,a)a!ahit.
&hen +ebo "wa was busy digging a very big well, the troo!s overed the well. +ebo "wa had diffiulty in breathing
and buried alive. He died inside the well.
After the death of +ebo "wa, .ali was on/uered by ,a)a!ahit. =ntil now, !eo!le still remember +ebo "wa beause he
had done a lot for ,a)a!ahit and .ali. The stone head of legendary +ebo "wa an be found in 3ura :aduh tem!le in
.lahbatuh. 222