A Folktale from Central Java : The Crocodile and the Bull

Baya lan Bantheng
retold by Miss Siska


Once upon a time near the river in Central Java, there lived a crocodile. A big tree fell onto it. It couldn’t move even just a bit. Neither could breathe freely. It panted at times. Luckily, it could cry for help still.

Then, there came a bull walking by the river. Afar, it saw a crocodile asking for help. The bull ran so quickly and helped the crocodile. With its horns, it pushed the big tree which fell onto the crocodile. The bull could finally save it.

The crocodile felt so weak afterwards. It didn’t think it could go back into the river by its own. The crocodile asked the bull for a companion. So the bull carried the crocodile on its back even though it’s heavy. The crocodile was definitely heavier than the bull.

As the crocodile was carried by the bull, suddenly the crocodile had a bad intention. The crocodile was starving. It wanted to bite the bull’s back. The bull didn’t allow it happened but the crocodile insisted. That was how the fight began.

Out of nowhere, a mousedeer passed by the river. It noticed them fighting. The mousedeer asked,”What’s going on? Stop!”

Then the bull began to tell what was going on.

Such a cunning mousedeer that the crocodile and the bull were asked to replay what had been going on. The bull got the crocodile down. And the bull dropped the big tree onto the crocodile’s body. The crocodile couldn’t move ahead and backwards. It cried for help. Thus, as the crocodile wasn’t thankful, the bull left it all alone. The bull thanked the mousedeer for giving a good idea.

Moral value :

We must thank to those who helped us. We have to be grateful to do good deeds in return. Don’t be so greedy in many ways that everything will echo back to us.

A folktale from Sambas, West Kalimantan : A Story of Golden Watermelon

We Reap What We Sow
retold by Miss Siska

Once upon a time in a village called Sambas, lived a wealthy merchant. He’s well known and respected by all the villagers. He lived with his two sons, Muzakir and Dermawan. They lived in such a wealthy family.

One day, the rich merchant was ill. No physicians neither doctors could heal him. So, he called his two sons. He began to talk about legacy he had made before. He left Muzakir and Dermawan a fair and a lot of legacy. Now the time had come, their father passed away.

The next day, Muzakir immediately bought a chest for storing all the treasures. He was afraid of his treasure being stolen. He’s not a helpful type of person. He was very scared of being the poor. He never ever lent his money to anyone who really needed it.



In contrary, Dermawan was a very generous type of person. He’s so helpful to anyone. Everytime people came visiting his house for asking some food, he welcomed them. Thus, all of the villagers love him. 


But then, he had nothing left. Everything was spent on helping others. He turned into poor. Somehow, he never regretted it. He was happy to do such good deeds.

As Muzakir heard his brother Dermawan had been poor,  he visited his brother’s house. Muzakir laughed at all sorts of things happened to Dermawan.

“How stupid you are ! ! !” Muzakir mocked him for fun.

“How could you help those useless poors? Soon you see, you become one of them!”

But as time went by, everything changed. It all began from one fine day Dermawan found a little bird that fell off from twigs and hurt.

“Oh dear little birdie! Such a pity birdie. What happened to one of your feet?”

“Chirrrp…chirrrp…” sure the little bird could only reply with chirps.

Lovingly, Dermawan brought the hurt bird home until one day it could finally get cured and fly again.

“Aahhh… Finally you can fly. So long, my little birdie!”

Not long after the little bird flew away, it came back and gave Dermawan a seed.

“Ohhh, is this the way you thank me?” he smiled at the bird warmly. It nodded yes. Soon it left after giving him a seed.

He planted that seed behind his house. Few months later, it grew. It turned out a  a watermelon plant. It kept on growing. The flowers started to bloom a lot. But this unusual plant only grew one watermelon.

“Well, this is so weird”, he got confused. 

The watermelon was getting large and ripe. He harvested it. He immediately split it into two pieces. And then…

“What a magical watermelon! My Goodness, is this fine gold sand???????”

“Oh, Lord! I can’t believe it.  Is this gold coming from this watermelon?” he was shocked.

Then he sold the gold. So that he bought a luxurious house and large garden. He spent the money to make them happen. Somehow, he still helped others, too. His life had changed. But he stay low key with others. That’s his character.

This news came to Muzakir’s ears. So he visited his brother, Dermawan. He was surprised as he saw how big and luxurious house Dermawan had. Muzakir asked him curiously how he got rich so easily.  He envied that he was up to do the same thing and the same way.

“Hey, Dermawan! Tell me honestly what makes you THIS RICH? Where does it all come from?” he asked forcefully. So Dermawan told his brother honestly what was going on.

Then Muzakir asked all his servants to find broken-footed small birds as many as possible. But, it turned out so hard to find one. He was desperate until finally he got a tricky idea.

“Aha! I’d better hurt the bird’s feet then I pretend to take care of it”, he said. Soon he did it all as if he was doing right like what Dermawan did.

The small bird then was healed and it rewarded Muzakir a seed. How pleased Muzakir was. He immediately planted the seed her best in the garden. Apparently, it grew larger than Dermawan’s.  Muzakir was pleased even more.

“Hmm… Well, my fruit is larger than his. This must have more gold. Hahahahah!” he laughed.

The watermelon was ripe. Muzakir quickly harvested it and brought him into his house. He prohibited all of his servants to touch it. He was only afraid if gold would be stolen by them. He cut it impatiently. But then…

“Aarghhh ...nooooo… please ... please ! Help !” he cried for helps.

He got out of his house with the face full of stinky grime and mud. It wasn’t gold came out from the watermelon but stinky grime and mud. Villagers laughed at him.

Since that incident happened, he realized that ‘We reap what we sow’.

A Folktale from West Kalimantan : The Golden Watermelon

The Golden Watermelon
retold by Miss Siska

In Sambas, West Kalimantan, lived brothers named Muzakir & Dermawan who were inherited wealth from their parents. But they turned out having different personalities and characters. The firstborn Muzakir was very greedy and selfish. He didn’t want to do charity. That’s why people didn’t like him either.

Meanwhile, the youngest son Dermawan was generous and down to earth. He was also helpful. He loved to share food to the poor. He did it all sincerely without hoping for any rewards from them.

Muzakir wondered to Dermawan’s generosity, “How can you love to squander your money to the poor? There’s no profit on that.”

“Look! You have squandered half of your wealth to the poor. Soon you’ll be the poor, too. I won’t help you at all you it is so,” he added. Dermawan just smiled at his brother.

Apparently, what Muzakir said was right. Shortly, Dermawan’s wealth was all spent nothing left. But he didn’t repent on doing good things and still lived happily. He also tried to help others as he could.

One day, Dermawan found a small fallen bird with hurt on his tiny feet.

“Oh dear! Poor birdie,” said Dermawan.

“…with broken wings?” he felt touched.

Then he brought home the birdie and took care of it until recovered. He let the birdie fly away when it could fly again.

The next day, the birdie returned with a grain of seed in between its beaks. Dermawan gladly accepted the bird’s gift. He soon planted it. It turned out to be watermelon plant growing. But it only grew with one watermelon. A huge sized watermelon. It was getting large and large unlike its normal size.

A few days later Dermawan harvested the huge watermelon because it smelled so good. He split it.

“Wow! What is this?” he was surprised. It was as yellow gold. It contained pure sand gold. He was extremely glad and praised to God for what he just got.

Dermawan changed his life. He bought a large house and garden. This time his money wouldn’t quickly run out because his garden was well managed by his employees. The workers were the people which once he ever helped. Who had become rich.

Recognising it all, Muzakir envied. Then he searched for a broken winged bird. Just because he didn’t find it, so he hit a bird using a catapult.

“Shoooooot!” a birdie fell.

“Tweet..tweet..tweet,” shouted the bird in pain. Then he took care of the birdie like Dermawan did before. Muzakir were also given a seeds by the bird . Then he planted it. He thought he would be far richer than Dermawan.

The day had come. Muzakir harvested watermelon that giant and soon he split it. Suddenly, “Aaaaaarrrgghhh ....noooo... heeeeelp!” he threw the knife. Apparently, the giant watermelon didn’t contain gold but what came out from it was large snakes, mud and black rotten smelled carrion. Those who saw Muzakir were ranting and running away instead of helping him. Some laughed at him.

Since that incident, Muzakir realised and turned into a better person.

THE END

Moral value :

"Covetousness, arrogance and enviousness are bad characters.

Helpfulness is a good attitude.

Do not envy of the others’ success.

Do not do anything fraudulently to gain your end."

A Folktale from Jambi : Si Kelingking (English version)

The Brave Kelingking
retold by Miss Siska

Once there lived a tiny finger sized young man named Kelingking. Though he's as tiny as finger, but he's smart and brave, not even scared of The Giant Grannie Gergasi. Grannie Gergasi was a vicious giant who loved eating humans. She had eaten hundreds of the King's warriors.


One day, as all the villagers were moving and hiding, the Giant Gergasi walked through the village. She was starving. Her step shook the earth. 

She turned up and shouted, "Hey, humans! Get out! Don't hide! I can't wait to eat you!"

"Ha.. Ha... Ha... Finally you appeared, you ugly Grannie!"

She wondered where that voice came from. "Hey ugly Grannie, the villagers are all I've eaten. And now, my time has come to eat you alive!"

Though she's a Giant, that voice successfully scared her. She thought he'd be even more gigantic than her. She ran away. But as she was running, she kept on looking backwards fearfully. Until she fell into a cliff. 
"Arrrrrggggh.. Nooooo! Heeeelp!" she cried for helps. She died.
Kelingking got out from his hide. He's the young tiny man with a threatening voice that Giant Gergasi thought he was a giant, too. The villagers thanked Kelingking all the way for the winning. 
This news came to the King's ears. He invited Kelingking to get to the palace. "You're so brave to finally murder that monster. From now on, I appointed you to be a kingdom's commander."


As years went by, Kelingking fell in love with the princess and wanted to marry her. His mother wasn't sure. "How dare you marrying my daughter! Look at you! You're just as tiny as a finger," the King refused. But he never gave up on it.


Surprisingly, the princess agreed to marry him. The King was shocked. But the princess believed he's a good man. The day had come, the King finally held a big wedding party at the palace.

One night, Kelingking went to the forest. He took a night bath in a small river in the middle of it. Secretly, she followed him. What she saw wasn't a tiny man. Apparently, he turned into normal sized human, a tall and handsome man like a prince!
Finally, they got what they wished for. Now they lived happily ever after. 

The End

Moral value : Judge a person not on what they look like, but on who they really are.

A Folktale from Kalimantan : The Curse of King Mintin

Dragon and Crocodile

retold by Miss Siska

Once, there lived a King and Queen in a palace in Kalimantan. He's a wise king. They were both sincerely loved and honored by their people. Their people lived in prosperity and happiness. The King and Queen had twin sons, Naga and Buaya. Naga means 'dragon' while buaya means 'crocodile'.

One day, the Queen  suffered from a strange illness until she took her last breath. The kingdom and its people were in the deepest grief. The King was too in grief that he lost his interest in ruling the kingdom. Thus, he decided to sail away to ease the pain.

"My Majesty, who is going to rule this kingdom as you are away?" asked his advisor.

"I put my whole trust in my twin sons,  Naga and Buaya," he replied.

"..and please give them your hand if it's getting tough." he added.

The King's advisor nodded.

The next day, the King sat and talked to his sons, "My dearest sons, I'm going to sail away for a while. Your mother has gone away. I need time and space for my own. Please rule this kingdom wisely." 

Though Naga and Buaya were identically twins, but they both had different personalities. Buaya who's generously kind, replied, "Sail safely, my father. All I want is to be home again."

In contrary, Naga treated this command as a burden. But deep inside his head said something else, "Well.. I can spend my father's wealth and the kingdom's authority for having fun."

Show and Tell : Jonathan's Fave Storybook

Meet Jonathan, a 3rd grader! He's Indonesian. He also performed his show and tell in his English class at school. Actually he's got a very good sense of humour. 😄

But when it comes to speak English in front of the class, he's kind of nervous I think. Somehow, he did his performance very well. Great job, Nathan! 

Show and Tell : Evelyn's Favourite Storybook

Meet Evelyn! She's from Indonesia. She's a 3rd grader now. Her school English teacher gave a chance to show and tell in her class. So she picked out one fave storybook since the topic was about book. I assisted her to make some lines and practice them. Here we go!