KUMPULAN CERITA RAKYAT/DONGENG BAHASA INGGRIS

Malin Kundang

Once upon a time, lived a very poor family in West Sumatra and this was a family of Malin Kundang. To provide a living for his family, his father went to sea but never returned home. People talked about his father’s death and made his mother so anxious in each day. Furthermore, he was still very young and had not been able to help his mother.

However, life must go on. His mother did not want continuing to grieve and doing nothing. His mother chose to work hard and did a lot of jobs every day. However, his family financial had not improved since the money was only to meet their daily needs without being able to be saved.

Seeing his mother continued to work in each time, he did not have the heart and intended to help his mother. He asked his mother to sail and made money as much as possible. At first, his mother was not banned because of fear that Malin did not come back like his father. Nevertheless, he kept pressing until his mother allowed him to go. He immediately set to sail because it has been allowed by his mother, and his departure was accompanied by his mother’s sobs. On board, he continued to learn and began to know the ins and outs of the ships and commerce.

Many years after the initial voyage, he had not had the opportunity to visit his mother in the hometown. Indeed, he was eager to go home but there were so many jobs to be done. In one time, he asked for permission to skipper of the vessel and allowed to go home. Malin was very excited and with the whole of crew, he returned to his hometown.

But, fate has not given him permission to go home. In the ocean, his ship was intercepted by pirates and all crew were massacred. He was very lucky because could hide and survived from the massacre. He ended up stranded on an island and worked hard to be a wealthy merchant. Fortunately, he was success. His wealth is so abundant because of hard working to build a wealth. He also married a girl who was very pretty and rich so that they could live happily.

With wealth and a prosperous life, he forgot to return home in order to meet his mother. However, inadvertently Malin had to go to his hometown for commercial affairs. He set off with his wife and children to come back home.

Arrived at his hometown, Malin Kundang met his mother and his mother hugged him very close. However, he even scolded his mother and pushed up a heap. He actually recognized his mother’s face, but there is a huge shame because there are crews as well as his wife. In front of them, he did not acknowledge that a woman who fell down was his mother. He even told her that her mother was so despicable and he did not recognize it.

After completing his business, he got out of his hometown. His heart had hardened into stone. With his wife and his children, he went sailing back. His mother was her sad and inwardly, he prayed that Malin changed into stone.

Instantly, the sky became overcast, lightning, and rain was falling. His ship hit rocks and was crashing. Malin bodies swayed to the opposite shore and the magic happened. He slowly turned to stone and it was known as Malin Kundang stone.

RORO JONGGRANG

Long time ago, there was a kingdom named Prambanan. All the people of Prambanan lived peacefully. But then, Prambanan kingdom was attacked and occupied by the Pengging kingdom. Prambanan then was ruled by Bandung Bondowoso of Pengging kingdom. He was a mean king. He also had great supernatural power. His soldiers were not only humans, but also genies.

      The king of Prambanan had a beautiful daughter named Loro Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. “You’re very beautiful. Would you be my queen?” asked Bandung Bondowoso. Loro Jonggrang was shocked. She didn’t like Bandung Bondowoso because he was a mean person. She wanted to refuse, but she afraid that Bandung Bondowoso would be angry and endangered the people of Prambanan. Then, she came up with a plan. “If you want to marry me, you have to build a thousand temples for me in just one night," said Loro Jonggrang. “What? That’s impossible!” said Bandung Bondowoso. But he did not give up. He consulted with his advisor. “Your Majesty can asked the genies to help built the temples,” said the advisor.

     So, Bandung Bondowoso summoned his entire genies soldier and commanded them to help him built a thousand temples. The genies worked in unbelievable speed. Meanwhile, Loro Jonggrang heard from her servant that the building of a thousand temples was almost finished. She was so worried. But again, she came up with a great idea. She asked all of her servants to help her. "Please prepare a lot of straw and mortar. Please hurry up!" said Loro Jonggrang. “Burn the straw and make some noise pounding the mortar, quickly.” All those servants did what Loro Jonggrang ordered them; burning straw and pounding the mortar, making the genies think that the sun is going to rise.

“It’s already dawn. We have to go,” said the leader of the genies to Bandung Bondowoso. All the genies immediately stopped their work and ran for cover from the sun, which they afraid of. They didn’t know that the light was from the fire that burning the straw, not from the sun.
Bandung Bondowoso can’t stop the genies from leaving. He was angry. He knew Loro Jonggrang had just tricked him. “You cannot fool me, Loro Jonggrang. I already have 999 temples. I just need one more temple. Now, I will make you the one-thousandth temple.” He pointed his finger to Loro Jonggrang and said some mantras. Magically, Loro Jonggrang’s body turned into stone. Until now, the temple is still standing in Prambanan area, Central Java. And the temple is called Loro Jonggrang temple.*

Timun Mas

 Long time ago, lived an old women named Mbok Sirni. She lived by herself because her husband had long passed away and she had no children. Every day, she prayed so God would give her a child. One night, when she was praying, a giant passed her house and heard her pray. “I can give you a child on one condition,” the giant said to Mbok Sirni, “You must give the child back to me when it is six years old.” Mbok Sirni was so happy; she did not think about the risk of losing the child later and agreed to take the giant’s offer. The giant then gave her a bunch of cucumber seeds. “Plant it around your house.” The giant then left without saying anything else. In the morning, Mbok Sirni planted the seeds. The seeds grew within mere days, and blossomed plentifully.Not longer after that, a big golden cucumber grew from plants. Carefully, Mbok Sirni plucked the golden cucumber and carried it home. With caution and care, she sliced the cucumber. She was very surprised to see a beautiful baby girl inside the cucumber. She then named the baby Timun Emas (it means Golden Cucumber).

Years passed by and Timun Emas has grew to become a lovely and beautiful little girl. She was also smart and kind. Mbok Sirni loved her very much. But she kept thinking about the time the giant would take Timun Emas away from her. One night, Mbok Sirni had a dream. In order to save Timun Emas from the giant, she had to meet the holy man who lived in Mount Gundul. The next morning, Mbok Sirni took leave of Timun Emas to go to Mount Gundul. The holy man then gave her four little bags, each one containing cucumber seeds, needles, salt, and shrimp paste. “Timun Emas can use these to protect herself,” said the holy man to Mbok Sirni.

A few days later, the giant came to see Mbok Sirni about her promise. “Mbok Sirni! Where is Timun Emas?” shouted the giant. “My daughter, take these bag with you. It can save you from the giant. Now, run through the back door,” said Mbok Sirni. But the giant saw Timun Emas running to the woods. The giant was angry. Starved and enraged, he rushed toward Timun Emas. Mbok Sirni tried to stop him, but the giant was unstoppable.

The giant was getting closer and closer, so Timun Emas opened the first bag she got from Mbok Sirni. Inside the bag were cucumber seeds. She threw the seeds, and instantly they grew into large cucumber field. But the giant ate them all, giving him more strength. As the giant was getting close, Timun Emas took the second bag with needles inside and spilled the content behind her. The needles turned into bamboo trees, sharp and thorny. The giant’s body was scratched and bled. “Aaargh, I’ll get you, Timun Emas!” shouted the giant as he tried to get himself out from the bamboo field. He made it and still chasing Timun Emas.

Timun Emas then reached the third bag and spilled the salt inside. The ground which the salt touched turned into a deep sea. The giant almost drown and had to swim to cross the sea. After some time, he managed to get out from the water. Timun Emas saw the giant coming, so she reached for the last bag. She took the shrimp paste and threw it. The shrimp paste became a big swamp of boiling mud. The giant was trapped in the middle of the swamp. The mud slowly but surely drowned him. Helpless, he roared out, “Help! Heeeeelp…!” Then the giant drown and died. Timun Mas then immediately went home. Since then, Timun Emas and Mbok Sirni live happily ever after.

  

KANCIL and CROCODILE

One day, Mouse Deer went down to the river to take a drink. But he knew that the crocodile might be waiting underwater to eat him, so he said out loud. “I wonder if the water’s warm. I’ll put in my leg and find out.” Of course Mouse Deer didn’t put in his leg. He picked up a stick instead and put one end into the water. Chomp…! Crocodile grabbed the stick and pulled it underwater. Mouse Deer laughed. “Ha… ha…ha… Stupid crocodile! Cant you tell the difference between a stick and a leg?” Then Mouse Deer ran off to drink somewhere else.

In the next day, Mouse Deer wanted to cross the river. He wanted to eat the fruits on the other side of the river. He saw a floating log in the river. He knew that Crocodile looked like a log when he floated. Mouse Deer didn’t want to be eaten by Crocodile when he crosses the river. He had an idea. He called out loud, “Crocodile!” Crocodile rose from the water, “Hello, Mouse Deer. Have you come to be my lunch?” Mouse Deer smiled. “Sorry, not today, Crocodile. I have orders from the King. He wants to invite all the crocodiles in this river to a party. He wants me to count all the crocodiles so he could prepare enough meal for you.”

“Really…? Tell us what to do,” said Crocodile. “You must line up from this side of the river to the other side,” said Mouse Deer. Crocodile then got all his friends and family. They lined up across the river. Mouse Deer then jumped onto Crocodile’s back. “One,” he counted. He jumped onto the next crocodile, “Two.” And the next crocodile, “Three.” Mouse Deer kept jumping until he arrived on the other side of the river. “How many are there?” asked Crocodile. “Just enough,” said Mouse Deer. He laughed as he ran to the forest.

Lutung Kasarung

 

 Prabu Tapa Agung had led a kingdom in West Java for a long time. He was getting old and therefore wanted to choose a successor. But unfortunately, he had no son. He thought of choosing one of his daughters, Purbararang and Purbasari. But it wasn’t an easy choice. They were both very pretty and smart. The only difference was their temperament. Purbararang was rude and dishonest, while Purbasari was kind and caring. With those considerations, Prabu Tapa Agung finally chose Purbasari to be his successor.

Purbararang didn’t agree with her father’s decision. “It’s supposed to be me, Father. I’m the eldest daughter!” Purbararang said. Prabu Tapa Agung smiled. “Purbararang, to be a queen takes more than age. There are many other qualities that one must possess,” explained Prabu Tapa Agung wisely. “What does Purbasari have that I don’t?” Purbararang pouted. “You’ll find out when Purbasari has replaced me,” Prabu Tapa Agung answered.

After the discussion, Purbararang went back to her room. “Is there something wrong?” asked Indrajaya. Indrajaya is Purbararang’s future husband. “I’m upset! Father chose Purbasari as his successor and not me! I have to do something!” Purbararang said. Driven mad by her anger, she came to a witch and asked her to send rash all over Purbasari’s body. Before going to bed, Purbasari started to feel itch all over her body. She tried applying powder to her body, but it’s no use. Instead, the itching grew even worse. She didn’t want to scratch it, but she just couldn’t help it. In the next morning, there were scratch mark all over Purbasari’s body. “What happened to you?” asked Purbararang, pretending to be concerned. “I don’t know, sis. Last night, my body suddenly felt very itchy. I scratched and scratched, and this is what happened,” Purbasari answered. Purbararang shook her head. “You must have done something really awful. You’ve been punished by the gods!”

That day, the whole kingdom was scandalized. “What have you done, Purbasari?” demanded Prabu Tapa Agung. Purbasari shook her head. “I didn’t do anything that would upset the gods, Father,” she answered. “Then how can you explain what happened to your body?” Prabu Tapa Agung asked again. “If you don’t confess, I’ll banish you to the woods.” Purbasari took a deep breath. “Like I said before, I didn’t do anything wrong. And I’d rather be thrown into the woods than to confess to a deed I didn’t commit.”

After a short discussion with his advisor, Prabu Tapa Agung ordered Purbasari to be moved to the woods. Purbasari was very sad, but she couldn’t do anything to defy her father’s order. She was accompanied to the woods by a messenger. He built a simple hut for Purbasari. After the messenger left, suddenly a black monkey came to Purbasari’s hut. He carried a bunch of bananas. From behind him, some animals looked on. “Are the bananas for me?’ Purbasari asked. The black monkey nodded, as if he understood what Purbasari said. Purbasari took the bananas with pleasure. She also said thanks. The other animals that were looking on also seemed to smile. “Are you willing to be my friend?” Purbasari asked them. All the animals nodded happily. Although she was living by herself in the woods, Purbasari never lacked of supplies. Everyday, there were always animals bringing her fruits and fish to eat.

A long time had passed since Purbasari was banished to the woods, but her body still itched. At some places, her skin was even ulcerating. What am I supposed to do?” Purbasari sighed. The monkey who was sitting next to her stayed still, there were tears in his eyes. He hoped Purbasari would remain patient and strong.

One night, on a full moon, the monkey took Purbasari to a valley. There is a pond with hot spring water. The monkey suddenly spoke, “The water of this pond will heal your skin,” he said. Purbasari was surprised, ”You can talk? Who are you?” she asked. “You’ll find out, in time,” the monkey said. Purbasari didn’t want to force the monkey. She then walked to the pond. She bathed there. After a few hours, Purbasari walked out of the pond. She was shocked to see her face reflected on the clear pond water. Her face was beautiful again, with smooth and clean skin. Purbasari observed her entire body. There were no traces of any skin ailments. “I’m cured! I’m cured!” Purbasari shouted in joy. She quickly offered thanks to the gods and also to the monkey.

The news of Purbasari’s condition quickly spread to the kingdom, irritating Purbararang. She then accompanied by Indrajaya go to the woods to see Purbasari. Purbasari asked if she would be allowed to go home. Purbararang said she would let Purbasari return to the palace if Purbasari’s hair were longer than hers. Purbararang then let her hair down. It was so long, it almost touched the ground. But it turned out that Purbasari’s hair was twice longer than Purbararang’s hair.

“Fine, so your hair is longer than mine.” Purbararang admitted. “But there is one more condition you must fulfill, do you have a future husband who is handsomer than mine?” said Purbararang as she walked toward Indrajaya. Purbasari felt miserable. She didn’t have a future husband yet. So, without much thought, she pulled the black monkey beside her.

Purbararang and Indrajaya burst out, but their laughter didn’t last long. The monkey meditates and suddenly transformed into a very handsome young man, a lot more handsome than Indrajaya. “I’m a prince from a kingdom far away. I was cursed to be a monkey because of a mistake I committed. I could regain my true form only if there’s a girl who would be willing to be my wife,” said the young man.

Finally, Purbararang gave up. She accepted Purbasari as the queen, and also confessed everything she had done. “Please forgive me. Please don’t punish me,” Purbararang said, asking for forgiveness. Instead of being angry, Purbasari smiled. “I forgive you, sis,” she said. Soon after, Purbasari become queen. Beside her was the handsome prince, the former monkey known as Lutung Kasarung.

  

Cinderella

One day, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with a wicked stepmother and her two stepsisters. They treated Cinderella very bad and did not appreciate her. Near from her home, there was a king’s palace which was so beautiful and there would be held a big party. Her stepmother and her sisters were invited to attend the party. However, they did not allow her to go to the party. She was ordered to sew the party dresses that would be worn by her mother and sisters. While, she did not have time to sew her dress. Her mother and her sisters went to a party and left Cinderella alone at home.

            She felt very sad and cried. Between her tears, suddenly a fairy godmother appeared and said “do not cry, I can send you to the ball now!”, But she kept crying and looked so sad. She said, “I do not have a dress to wear in the ball”. The fairy godmother of course would not be worry and waved the wand to transform the Cinderella’s old clothes into the new dress which was very beautiful. Furthermore, that fairy godmother touched Cinderella’s foot with the ​​wand and suddenly Cinderella had beautiful glass slippers. Cinderella was shocked and said, “wow, thank you, but how I could go to the ball?”. Fairy godmother then went into the kitchen and saw four rats. She turned it into golden four horses and into a beautiful buggy. Before leaving home, the Fairy Godmother said “Cinderella, you have to go home at middle of the night, because this magic will works only until midnight!”

When Cinderella entered the palace, everyone was stunned by her beautiful face. In fact, no one recognized her because she was so different. Cinderella was so pretty with the dress and the glass slippers. A handsome prince also saw Cinderella and he fell in love. He met Cinderella and asked, “Do you want to dance?” And she said, “yes, I want to dance with you”. Prince and Cinderella danced during the night and she was so happy at that night. She forgot the fairy godmother warning that she should go home in the middle of the night. At the last moment, Cinderella remembered her promise to the fairy godmother and went home. “I must go!”, said her. She ran quickly and one of her glass slippers left but she did not come back to pick it up.

            Cinderella arrived home a few minutes later. When she arrived, the clock struck in twelve. The horses and the buggy back into the previous shape and she did not wear the glass slippers and the beautiful dress anymore. After that, her stepmother and sisters came home and talked about the beautiful women who danced with the prince. They were very curious about the identity of the woman who suddenly appeared.

            In the palace, Prince kept thinking about Cinderella and he fell in love. Prince wanted to find out the identity of the girl, but he even did not know her name. Prince has only found the glass slipper, and he said, “I will find her, and I will marry the woman whose foot fits into this glass slipper!”.

            In the next day, the prince and his bodyguards went to all the existing home. They wanted to find a woman whose foot matched with the size of the shoe. Cinderella stepsisters also tried the glass slipper but their feet do not match. When Cinderella wanted to try, her stepmother prevented and forbidden her. However, the prince said, “let her trying!”. When Cinderella wore a glass slipper, she had a perfect leg for the shoe. The prince then recognized her and he was convinced that she was a woman who danced with him at the dance. He married Cinderella and they lived happily.

Why The Sea Is Salty

 Hundreds of years ago there was a king who had a very unusual stone hand mill. It looked like any other stone hand mill but it had special powers. All one had to do was say what one wanted and turn it and out would come what had been requested. If gold was requested, gold would come out. If rice was requested, rice would come out. Whatever was requested, the small hand mill would produce it. A thief made up his mind to steal the hand mill because once he had heard of it he couldn't get it out of his mind. For days and days he thought about how to steal it but he could not come up with a plan.

Then one day he dressed like a scholar and visited a court official who had access to the royal palace. They chatted about this and that and finally the thief said, "I heard that the King buried his strange hand mill in the ground because he doesn't trust his ministers."

 "What's that? The King doesn't trust his ministers? Where did you hear such talk?"

"That's what they say in the countryside," said the thief, happy he had sparked the man's interest. "They say the King dug a deep hole and buried the hand mill because he is so afraid that someone will steal it."

"That's nonsense!" said the official. "The King's hand mill is beside the lotus pond in the inner court."

"Oh, is that so?" said the thief, trying to control his excitement.

"No one would dare try to steal the King's hand mill," said tht official. "Who would even think of trying when the thing is lying right beside the lotus pond where there is always lots of people coming and going."

The thief was so excited that all he could say was "Yes" and "That's right" until he was able to leave.

For many days the thief studied the situation. Then one very dark night, he climbed the palace wall and stole the hand mill from beside the lotus pond.

He was brimming with pride and confidence as he made his way back to the wall. But once outside the palace, he was overcome with fear of being discovered. His heart skipped a beat every time he met someone on the street. He decided to steal a boat and go to his hometown to hide because he knew that once the theft was discovered, everyone in the city and on the roads would be questioned.

Once at sea the thief lay back against the bow of the boat and laughed. Then he began to sing and dance as he thought about how rich he was going to be. Then he thought about what to request from the hand mill. He did not want to ask for something common and easy to obtain.

"Salt! Salt!" he suddenly shouted. "I'll ask for salt! Everyone needs salt. I can sell it and become a rich man. I'll be tht richest man in the country."

He fell down on his knees and began turning the hand mill, singing as he did, Salt! Salt! Make some salt! Then he began dancing and singing about being a rich man.

And the hand mill kept turning and turning. Salt spilled over the sides of the small boat but the thief just kept dancing and singing and laughing, all the time thinking about the big house he was going to have and the numerous servants who would serve him lavish meals.

Finally the boat was so full of salt that it sank to the bottom of the sea. And, since no one has ever told the hand mill to stop, it is still turning and making salt, which is why the sea is salty.

 

 

Pinokio

 

Once upon a time, Gepetto, an old woodsman, living in the great Italian pine forest, was lonely. He always dreamed about having a son.

Each day, he went cutting woods for the town’s people. One day, an idea illuminated his mind, the idea of crafting a puppet, which he will call it Pinocchio. He crafted that puppet and during the night, the puppet becomes alive!

One year of happiness and thriller passed, on a Sunday morning, Gepetto told Pinocchio:

‘’It’s my birthday soon, my little son! I hope you didn’t forget it!’’

‘’Euh, sure, I didn’t!’’

Pinocchio felt awkward. He didn’t thought about that. Gepetto’s birthday was coming in only three days, and he hadn’t even a present.

After a long night of reflecting, Pinocchio finally decided to offer a homemade chocolate cake to him as a present.

When the sun rose, Pinocchio was already ready to go outside find the ingredients. The main problem was he didn’t even known the in and the recipe.

So after school, he decided to go ask someone for the ingredients to bake a cake. During his walk, Pinocchio, the wooden puppet, met the town’s sorcerer.
‘’Hey, little boy, do you need some help for your chocolate cake?’’

‘’Hum…You can help me?’’, asked Pinocchio.

‘’Sure, I can. Follow me!’’

After walking few minutes so, Pinocchio saw a big, big, big candy house. They entered together and Pinocchio got caught by a big cage.

‘’Mouahahaha!!! I finally caught you! You’ll be mine, you’re gonna work for me!’’, said the evil sorcerer.

Pinocchio was so scared. When the guards came and took him out of the cage, he immediately ran away very fast and he succeeded to escape.

At the same time, the evil sorcerer, calling all his troops with him, ran after him and he took out his magic wand. The evil devil changed the little wooden puppet into a chocolate cake!

When he came back home, he told the entire story to his father and they went to find the god fairy.

After a long trip, they finally find the god fairy and they got the magical potion for Pinocchio.

Little Peachling

Many hundred years ago there lived an honest old woodcutter and his wife. One fine morning the old man went off to the hills with his billhook, to gather a faggot of sticks, while his wife went down to the river to wash the dirty clothes. When she came to the river, she saw a peach floating down the stream; so she picked it up, and carried it home with her, thinking to give it to her husband to eat when he should come in.

The old man soon came down from the hills, and the good wife set the peach before him, when, just as she was inviting him to eat it, the fruit split in two, and a little puling baby was born into the world. So the old couple took the babe, and brought it up as their own; and, because it had been born in a peach, they called it Momotaro, or Little Peachling.

By degrees Little Peachling grew up to be strong and brave, and at last one day he said to his old foster parents: "I am going to the ogres' island to carry off the riches that they have stored up there. Pray, then, make me some millet dumplings for my journey."

So the old folks ground the millet, and made the dumplings for him; and Little Peachling, after taking an affectionate leave of them, cheerfully set out on his travels.

As he was journeying on, he fell in with a monkey, who gibbered at him, and said: "Kia! kia! kia! where are you off to, Little Peachling?"

"I'm going to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure," answered Little Peachling.

"What are you carrying at your girdle?"

"I'm carrying the very best millet dumplings in all Japan."

"If you'll give me one, I will go with you," said the monkey.

So Little Peachling gave one of his dumplings to the monkey, who received it and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he heard a pheasant calling: "Ken! ken! ken! where are you off to, Master Peachling?"

Little Peachling answered as before; and the pheasant, having begged and obtained a millet dumpling, entered his service, and followed him.

A little while after this, they met a dog, who cried: "Bow! wow! wow! whither away, Master Peachling?"

"I'm going off to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure."

"If you will give me one of those nice millet dumplings of yours, I will go with you," said the dog.

"With all my heart," said Little Peachling. So he went on his way, with the monkey, the pheasant, and the dog following after him.

                   When they got to the ogres' island, the pheasant flew over the castle gate, and the monkey clambered over the castle wall, while Little Peachling, leading the dog, forced in the gate, and got into the castle. Then they did battle with the ogres, and put them to flight, and took their king prisoner. So all the ogres did homage to Little Peachling, and brought out the treasures which they had laid up. There were caps and coats that made their wearers invisible, jewels which governed the ebb and flow of the tide, coral, musk, emeralds, amber, and tortoise shell, besides gold and silver. All these were laid before Little Peachling by the conquered ogres.

So Little Peachling went home laden with riches, and maintained his foster parents in peace and plenty for the remainder of their lives.