Folklore from East Java
ONCE upon a time in SindurejaKingdom, King Sidareja was talking to his vice regent, his name was Patih Sidapaksa. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him the flesh of a young deer.
Patih Sidapaksa took the mission.
When he arrived at the jungle, he saw a young deer. He pointed his arrow to the deer. Unfortunately, he missed the target. He ran after the deer. He was running and running until he arrived at a hut. Patih Sidapaksaknocked the door.
A young and beautiful girl opened the door. She was very beautiful. Patih Sidapaksa fell in love at the first sight.“How can I help you Sir?” asked the girl.
"I...I...am looking for a young deer", Patih Sidapaksa was speechless.
"You can find a lot of deer in the jungle. But it s already late and it will be dark soon. You can continue hunting tomorrow morning. You can come and spend the night here. Both my father and I are happy to welcome you", said the girl.
Patih Sidapaksa accepted the offer.
He introduced himself. The girl's name was Sri Tanjung and her father's name was Ki Buyut.
In the morning, Patih Sidapaksa continued his hunting and after he got a young deer he returned to the hut.
He came back because he wanted to marry Sri Tanjung.
Luckily, Sri Tanjung also loved him.
Later Patih Sidapaksa asked them to join him to the palace.
The King was very happy Patih Sidapaksa brought him a young deer.
However he was also amazed by the beauty of Sri Tanjung.
The King also fell in love with her. The King had a bad plan. He wanted to marry Sri Tanjung. So he gave Patih Sidapaksa a very difficult mission. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him three golden rings from Indran Kingdom. Patih Sidapaksa knew the mission was more difficult than hunting a young deer. Indran Kingdom was not an ordinary kingdom. It was a kingdom of criminals! No one ever came back after going there. However he still accepted the mission. And before he left, he asked Sri Tanjung to wait for him.
After Patih Sidapaksa left, the King approached Sri Tanjung. He proposed Sri Tanjung to marry him. He promised Sri Tanjung to be a queen. She did not accept the proposal. She loved PatihSidapaksa and she already promised to wait for him. The King was angry and put her in the jail.
Luckily, Patih Sidapaksa could do the mission and came back to the palace. Sadly he could not meet Sri Tanjung. The King lied. He said Sri Tanjung was in jail because she asked the King to marry her. The King said Sri Tanjung wanted to be a queen.
At first Patih Sidapaksa believed the King. But Sri Tanjung then said.
"Throw me to the river. If the river smells good, it means I'm innocent. However if the river smells bad, then the King is lying", said Sri Tanjung.
Patih Sidapaksa then threw her into the river.
Amazingly, the river smelled good.
Patih Sidapaksa was very sorry. Sri Tanjung died. He regretted not to believe her.
When the river smelled good, people instantly said Banyuwangi. Banyu means water and Wangimeans good smell. Since then the place is named Banyuwangi. ***
UNGRATEFUL SON
A Folktale from East Java
JATUR and Menur are twins. Jantur is a boy and Menur is a girl. Jantur and Menur are very different. Jantur is lazy and gets angry easily. When Jantur is angry, he always says bad things. On the other hand, Menur is kind, diligent, and patient girl.
When their parents are working in a paddy field, Jantur as Menur to cook. He is hungry. Menur then cooks for her brother. After the food is served, Jantur eats. Suddenly he throws the food on the floor. “What food is this? Yuck! It’s not delicious!”
Menur cries. She is very sad. But she is not angry to her brother. Slowly she collects the food on the floor and put it in the trash bin.
When their parents return home, Menur tells about the food. The father advises Jantur, “Why did you do that to your sister? She already helped you.”
Jantur is angry, “I don’t care! Her food is not delicious! I hate her.”
“Lease don’t say that. She is your sister, “ father tries to calm him down.
“Why did you defend her? Why didn’t you support me? I f you don’t love me anymore, go away! I hate you all!”
Jantur is very angry. He cannot control himself. Menur and her parents then leave the house. They now stay in a mountain. Everyday they pray to God to make Jantur becomes a good person.
Not long after that, Jantur suffers a disease. His body is full of umors. It’s very bad. Nobody wants to see him. He looks very ugly. Jantur realizes that God punishes him. He regrets. Then he leaves his house to look for his parents and his sister.
Finally he finds them. He asks for their forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I’m sorry Menur. I have done bad things to you all. Now please forgive me,” Jantur says.
“We all already forgave you, Son. Everyday we pray for you. Now God hears our pray. Come here…” Mom then hugs Jantur.
Suddenly all the tumors in Jantur’s body are gone! Jantur is very happy. “Thank you, God! Thank you, Mom, Dad, and Menur. I promise I will be a good person.***
PUTRI KEMUNING
A folktale from East Java
Putri Kemuning and her mother live in a jungle. They are poor. Putri Kemuning always helps her mother collect woods in the jungle and sell them in the market.
In the jungle, Putri Kemuning has animal friends. One day, Putri Kemuning's mother is ill. Putri Kemuning is very sad because she does not have enough money to buy medicine. She then collects many woods and plans to sell them. She wants to spend the money to buy medicine.
While She collects the woods, Putri Kemuning meets her animal friend, the rabbit. He is worried because Putri Kemuning looks very sad.
Putri Kemuning tells the problem to the rabbit.
"I can help you. Take this ring and then sell it," says the rabbit.
"Is this your ring?" asks Putri Kemuning.
"No. This is the King Ngarancang Kencono's ring. I fell when he washunting here."
Putri Kemuning hesitates. She really needs the money but it is not her ring. Finally she says, "No, I have to return this ring to the king."
Putri Kemuning then goes to see the king at his palace.
"What is your name and what is your purpose here?" says the king.
"My name is Putri Kemuning. I want to return your ring," says Putri Kemuning.
"Thank you very much. Now, I want to give you something. What do you want?"
"I don't anything. I just want to go home. My mother is very ill," says Putri Kemuning.
"You are a very kind girl. Now, take this gift,"
Putri Kemuning goes home. When she arrives, Putri Kemuning tells her mother about the king's ring. Her mother is very proud of her. When they open the gift, they see a bag full of gold coins. They are very happy because they can buy medicine. ***
CINDELARAS
RADEN Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen. Besides that, the king also had a beautiful concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. By doing so, she could be the new queen.
The concubine asked the palace healer to help her do the bad plan. They told the king that the queen wanted to poison him. The king was angry. He sent the queen to a jungle. It is the punishment for her. There was one condition that the king did not know, the queen waspregnant.
After several months lived in the jungle, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy, and handsome young man. One day, while Cindelaras helped her mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle dropped an egg. He took the egg and carefully took care of it.
The egg hatched into a chick and then it became a strong rooster. The rooster had a magical skill. It was very powerful and skilful in fighting with other roosters. Besides that, the rooster could also sing. The song was about Cindelaras and his father, Raden Putra. “My master is Cindelaras. He lives in the jungle. His father is a king. His name is Raden Putra.” The rooster often sang the song.
When Cindelaras first heard that song, he ignored it. However, he could not stand it anymore. He talked to his mother about it. His mother told him the whole story. Cindelaras was very surprised. He decided to go to the palace to meet the king, his father. Cindelaras also brought his rooster to go to the palace.
On the way to go there, he met some people. They asked him to fight his rooster with their roosters. Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight. He won again and again. Cindelaras great rooster was heard by King Raden Putra. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace to fight his rooster with the king’s rooster.
The king made a bet. If Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight, he would get all king’s jewellery. However, if Cindelaras’s rooster lost, he would be punished in a jail. The two roosters fought bravely. In just few minutes, Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight! Then, the rooster sang the song.
The king was surprised, he asked who Cindelaras was. He then told the king about her mother living in the jungle. Later, the palace healer admitted his mistake. He said that the queen was innocent. She never tried to kill the king. The king was very angry. He ordered the concubine to be sent to jail. The king immediately went to the jungle to pick up his wife. He apologized for sending her to the jungle and made her the queen again. ***