Maninjau Lake

Folklore from West Sumatra

THERE was a village in the foot of Tinjau Mountain. The villagers lived happily. Among the villagers there lived bujang Sembilan or nine young men. People called them bujang sembilan because they were nine brothers. Kukuban was the oldest. Their parents died a long time ago. Bujang sembilan had a youngest sister. Her name was Sani.
The head of the village was Datuk Lambatang. He was a kind and wise leader. He always took care of the villagers, especially bujang sembilan and their sister. He often visited them with his wife and his son, Giran.
Giran never missed joining his father to visit bujang sembilan's house. he wanted to meet Sani. He fell in love with her. Fortunately, Sani also loved him.
Giran told his parents. He said that he wanted to marry Sani. Datuk Limbang agreed. He would talk to bujang semnbilan about the marriage after the harvest.
Meanwhile, Sani also talked to her brothers about Giran. They all agreed. And they also knew Datuk Limbatang would propose her after the harvest.
Later, harvest was coming. All the villagers were happy. They had a habit. The celebrated harvest by having pencak silat competition. It is traditional martial art. Each family sent a young man to join the competition. Kukuban was the representative from his family and Giran represented his family.
Kukuban first had a match with a young man. Kukuban won the match. He then had a match with another man. Again he won. He always won. And it was time for Giran.
Later, the two of them had an amazing match. Both of them were very skillful. At the first Kukuban underestimated Giran. He was much younger than Kukuban. But he was wrong. Giran could beat him. Kukuban lost the match!
Kukuban was very upset. He though that Giran would give up. Especially that Giran would marry his sister. He felt that Giran humiliated him. He was waiting for the right time to revenge!
As agreed, Datuk Limbatang and his family came to bujang sebilan's house. He wanted to to propose Sani to be Giran's wife.
Surprisingly, Kukuban rejected the proposal. "No, I will not let Giran marry my sister. He was not a good man. I have a proof. In the pencak silat match, he attacked me brutally", said Kukuban.
"But it was only a game. I don't think he attacked you brutally. Many people watch the match and I'm sure they all agreed with me," said Dauk Limbatang.
Unfortunately, Kukuban had made up his mind. He rejected the proposal. Sani and Giran were very sad.
However both of them still met secretly.
Kukuban finally found out. He and his brothers send them to the traditional court. He accused them having a sinful relationship. And they were punished. They would be thrown to the crater of Tinjau Mountain.
"We are innocent. We never do anything wrong," said Giran. Then he prayed.
"God, when we are wrong, please destroy our body in the crater. But if we are innocent, make this mountain erupt and change bujang sembilan as fish."
Then they were thrown into crater.
Not long after that, the mountain erupted. People saved their lives. Amazingly, bujang sembilan slowly turned into fish. And the crater was getting bigger. It finally became a lake. People named it as Maninjau Lake. ***

Jangga Hatuen Bulan

Folklore from Central Kalimantan

A long time ago, a man lived on the moon. his name was Jangga. He lived with his mother. Jangga loved hunting. Everyday he went hunting with his dog. His mother often told him not to go hunting too long. But Jangga often ignored her.
One day Jangga and his dog went hunting as usual. He was looking for the animals. However, he could not find any of them. Sadly, he was lost. He could not find a way to his home. While he was walking, suddenly he saw an old woman.
Jangga followed the old woman. She arrived at her house. jangga wanted to stay the night at her house. He knocked the door. an old man opened the door. Jangga told him that he wanted to stay. The old man gave him the permission.
Apparently, it was a family. The old man and the old woman had a beautiful daughter. Jangga told them that he was lost. He said that he lived on the moon. The old man said that Jangga was really far from home. They were on the earth.
Jangga was so sad. He could not go back to his home and meet his mother.
The old man offered Jangga to stay at his home. Jangga agreed.
Day passed by ans soon Jangga fell in love with the old man's daughter. Then they got married.
Jangga still enjoyed hunting. With his dog, he often went hunting in the jungle. His wife often told him not to go hunting too long. However, Jangga ignored her.
Jangga's wife was pregnant. She often asked Jangga to stay at home and not to go hunting. Again, Jangga ignored her. Her wife was often angry with him.
In the morning, Jangga wanted to go hunting. This time his wife was really angry.
"Please stay. Don't go! I feel like I'm going to deliver the baby today."
"Don't worry. If the baby is a boy, name him Jangga Batuen Bulan. It means Jangga, a man from the moon. And if the baby is a girl, name her Hendan Bawi Bulan. It means Hendan, a woman from the moon," said Jangga.
Then he left his wife. Not long after that Jangga's wife delivered a baby boy. She was so angry that her husband was not next to her. She did not want her husband to see the baby.
Later Jnagga came home. He heard a baby was crying. He was so happy.
"Where is the baby? I want to see my baby," said Jangga.
"No, you can't! I don't want you to see the baby!" said Jangga's wife.
Jangga was so sad. Ans he was also very angry! He went outside of his home. His dog followed him. After that he prayed. He called out his mother.
Suddenly thunder attacked the place. Dark cloud covered him and his dog. Surprisingly, Jangga and his dog disappeared. Not long after that the baby was dead. Jangga brough the baby spirit to the moon.
Jangga's wife was so sad. She called out Jangga's name. But it was to late. Jangga and the baby now lived on the moon. Jangga's wife was crying. She never stop crying.
The Gods heard how she cried and they didn't like it. The were upset with her and changed her into a bird. People named the bird as pungguk bird.
Until now, during full moon we still can hear the sound of pungguk bird. And we can also see the image of a dog in the moon. From the legend, people make a proverb. It says, "Just like a pungguk waiting for the moon". It means that it's just waiting in vain.***