Cerita rakyat from Nusa Tenggara Barat

 

Princess Mandalika

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in Lombok Island that was ruled by a king named Raja Tonjang Beru. He was a wise king. He had a queen named Dewi Seranting. He also had a beautiful daughter named Princess Mandalika. It is said that princess Mandalika was the prettiest girl in the whole island. Everybody knew about Princess Mandalika’s beauty and kindness, even the people from other kingdom around the island.

Princes from all over the place wanted to marry her. One by one, they came to propose her. Princess Mandalika was a kind girl. She hated to make people sad. So, when those princes came to propose her, she was very confused. She could not decide, and she didn’t want to make them sad. She also didn’t want to cause a war to happen because of her.

To solve the problem, Raja Tonjang Beru then held a competition in Seger Kuta beach. He asked all the princes to take part in archery competition. The rule was simple; whoever shot the target perfectly will be accepted as Princess Mandalika’s future husband. One by one, all participants tried their best. After some time, there was no winner. All the participants were great in archery.

Because there was no a winner, all the participants started to argue. They claimed to be the best. The argument was getting hotter. Finally, they all were fighting. Soon, the fighting got bigger. It was like a war, because all the princes brought their soldiers in the archery competition. Princess Mandalika was really worried. She did not want the war to get bigger and hurt many people. Finally, she had an idea. "Everybody, listen up! I know you all love me and want me to be your wife. But I don't want you to fight because of me. And I don't want you to be sad either. I want you all to have me, but not as your wife. I want to be someone that everybody can have," said Princess Mandalika.

Raja Tonjang Beru and all other people in the beach did not understand what she meant. The king then came to her. But suddenly, Princess Mandalika jumped to the sea. She disappeared in the big waves. Everybody was surprised. It was chaos on the beach. All the princes tried to swim to find the princess, but they found nothing.

After several hours trying to search the princess, suddenly they found a lot of colorful sea worms on the beach. Raja Tonjang Beru then realized that his daughter had returned as sea worms. The worms were then called nyale. Until now, people in Lombok always try to catch nyale. Nyale is very delicious and that is why a lot of people come to Lombok to catch it. However, they can only find it once a year, in February or March. The tradition to catch the sea worms is called Bau Nyale.***

  

Cerita rakyat from Papua

 

Biwar and the Dragon

One day, the people from the village of Mimika were very busy. They prepared twelve boats and set off on a journey to find sago (traditional food of the people in the island of Papua). After three days, their boats were filled with sago. But on their way back to the village, they were attacked by a dragon. The dragon’s tail caused a big wave in the river. Most of the villagers were drown, but there’s a woman who managed to save herself. She was hanging to a tree log and finally arrives in a land. 
The woman was the only survivor from the incident. She was pregnant. Her boat was broken so she couldn’t go back to the village. The woman then lived in the forest near the river. Later she gave birth to a son. She named her son Biwar. He grew up as a skillful hunter. He can make various weapons, set traps to catch animals, and provided sufficient food for both of them. 
One day he brought some fish for their food. When his mother saw him bringing fish, she asked where Biwar got them. He said it was from the river. The mother was still afraid of the dragon, so she forbade Biwar to go near the river again. She also told him about his father and the villagers that were killed by the dragon, "Your father was killed by the dragon. I'm the only one survived from the incident. That's why we live alone here, Son." 
Biwar then decided to hunt the dragon so that he and his mother could go back to the village. He set traps near the river. Then he made some noise by playing the tifa (traditional drums). Attracted by the noise, the dragon came to Biwar. When the dragon started to attack, Biwar pulled the rope that linked to his traps, releasing spears that hit the dragon’s head directly. The dragon died instantly. 
Biwar then came to his mother and told her about the death of the dragon. The next day, he built a boat and set sail to return to the village. When they arrived in the village, all the people were so happy to hear the news about the dragon’s death. Thanks to Biwar, they are not afraid to sail in the river anymore.***

Cerita rakyat from Bangka-Belitung

The Blowpiper 

Long time ago in a small village in Bangka Island, lived a young man who was an expert in using blowpipe, especially for hunting. That why people in the village called him the blowpiper. He also had excellent medical skill that was passed down from his late father. One day, the village chief Pak Raje came to the blowpiper’s house, asking him to chase away the fold of wild boars that entered and ruined his paddies. Pak Raje told the blowpiper that his father once owed him some money. Thus, the blowpiper should work for him voluntarily. The blowpiper took the job, though he would not be paid.

In the next day, the blowpiper went to Pak Raje‘s field. He watched the field and did some patrols to every side of the fields. He watched the field everyday, but he still not found any suspicious movements. Entering the seventh day of his work, the blowpiper noticed a suspicious movement from the far distance. He walked slowly to the source of voice where he saw a fold of boars trying to enter the field. The blowpiper then hid behind a big tree with a blowpipe in his hand. When the fold of boars ruined the paddies, the blowpiper pointed his blowpipe toward one of the boars that was closest to him. He blew his blowpipe. The dart hit the boar, but it didn’t paralyze the boar as the blowpiper expected. The fold of boars then runs outside the field and disappeared from the blowpiper‘s view. “Hmm... My dart had hit one of them, it must hurt it,” said the blowpiper curiously.

In the morning, the blowpiper went to follow the blood trail of the boar he shot last night. The trail led him to the forest and finally it ended in front of a big cave. Cautiously, the blowpiper entered the cave. He was surprised to found a beautiful lady bleeding on a soft bed, surrounded by some other beautiful ladies. One of them was an old lady, the mother of the fainted lady. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” asked the old lady. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m looking for my lost dart, it was stuck to a wild boar,” the blowpiper explained to the old lady. “The stuff you are looking for is on my daughter,” said the old lady angrily. “How come it is on your daughter?” asked the blowpiper surprised. “That’s because... the boar that you shot with your blowpipe last night is in fact my daughter‘s manifestation,” explained the old woman sadly.

The old woman‘s explanation surprised the blowpiper. “So..., all of you were the boars that I saw last night?” asked the young man. “What you have said is right young man,” answered the old woman softly. “I did not mean to…. I am so sorry to hear that. I would not do that if I knew that the boars were you,” the blowpiper apologized. “Never mind,” said the old woman. “Forget all about that. The most important thing right now is how to release the dart from my daughter‘s body,” added the old woman sadly. “I can help you with that,” said the blowiper. He came closer to the beautiful lady and uncovered the blanket. He then took out the dart from her body and with his medical skill he immediately stopped the bleeding.

In a short time, the wound recovered, leaving no traces. “Now, she has recovered. Let me go home now. May be we can meet again someday,” said the blowpiper politely. “Yes young man... But before you leave, I have something to give to you as my gratitude,” said the old lady while giving the blowpiper a wooden box. “Do not open the box until you’re in home,” added the old lady. “Thank you for your kindness,” said the blowpiper. He then left the cave and returned home. At his home, the blowpiper opened the wooden box. Surprisingly, the young man found jewelry, gold and diamonds inside the box. “Wow...! I’m rich,” murmured the young man happily.

In the next morning, the blowpiper sold all the precious stuff and used the money he got to purchase a field, garden, house, and paid all debt his father had owed to Pak Raje. The news about the blowpiper fortune quickly spread throughout the village. Everyone knew including Pak Raje. He intended to be like the blowpiper, so he went to borrow the blowpipe from the blowpiper to hunt a boar in his own field. On the way, he met with a boar, and shot it with the blowpipe. Then he followed the blood trail left by the boar until he entered the cave. It was like what happened with the blowpiper. Pak Raje was asked to cure the bleeding woman, but he could do that as he had no such skill. Suddenly, tens of boars attacked him, making him bleeding and seriously wounded. With all his strength, he escaped from the cave. He fainted when he finally arrived in front of his own house.

Pak Raje’s daughter informed what happened to her father to the blowpiper. Hearing the bad news, the blowpiper rushed to Pak Raje‘s house to help him. With his medical skill, he tried to cure Pak Raje’s injuries. Finally, Pak Raje could make it and recovered from his serious wounds. After thinking about what he had been through, Pak Raje realized his own bad intention. He felt sorry for being greedy. “Thank you, young man. You’ve help me once again. As my gratitude, I would like to appoint you as the next village chief. Would you accept?” asked Pak Raje. “Of course, Pak Raje. Thank you,” answered the blowpiper happily.

After a week, the blowpiper asked Pak Raje’s daughter to be his wife. They live happily as a couple. The blowpiper was a polite and kind person, and Pak Raje’s daughter was a beautiful woman. Under the leadership of the blowpiper, all the villagers lived in prosperous and harmony.***