The Legend of Tanjung Lesung

Folklore from Banten

THERE was a handsome traveler, his name was Raden Budog. He was resting under a big tree and soon he fell asleep. He had a dream. In his dream, he met a very beautiful woman. The woman was standing in front him. Raden Budog tried to touch her. Suddenly, a twig of the tree fell down and hit him. And that made him wake up from his sleep. He was upset!

Raden Budog could not forget that woman, he wanted to meet her. He traveled days and nights and never stopped to rest. And finally he arrived in a village. All of the villagers were farmers. Some girls were pounding rice in a mortar. The people called the mortar as lesung. They were busy pounding and the sound they made was like a harmony. The girls pounded the rice everyday, except Friday. Friday was a holy day for them, because it was time to pray to God.

Raden Budog enjoyed the sound. He was looking at all the girls one by one.

And suddenly, Aha! He saw the girl he met in his dream.

Raden Budog was very happy. He came closer to the girls. All the girls were afraid and they all went home. Raden Budog followed the beautiful girl.

And when the beautiful girl arrived home, Raden Budog knocked the door. An old woman opened the door.

“Who are you, young man,” asked the woman.

“My name is Raden Budog. May I spend the night in your house? I’m a traveler and I don’t have a place to stay,” said Raden Budog. He was trying to find an excuse to stay in the house.

“My name is Nyi Siti and I live with my daughter. Her name is Sri Poh Haci. My husband passed away. If you want to spend the night here, you can sleep in the terrace. I’m so sorry, I don’t allow men to stay in my house,” said Nyi Siti.

In the morning, Sri Poh Haci woke him up.

She also gave him a glass of coffee. Raden Budog was extremely happy. He then tried to find a way how he could stay in the village and got married with her. Later, he told Nyi Siti that he would help her in the rice field. Nyi Siti agreed.

Days passed by and later Sri Poh Haci also fell in love with him. Then they got married.

Raden Budog still worked in the rice field and Sri Poh Haci also continued to pound the rice in the lesung. One day Raden Budog wanted to pound the rice. He also wanted to make the good sound. However it was Friday, and he forgot that pounding rice in the lesung was not allowed on Fridays. And when he was busy making the sound, the villagers screamed.

“Hey, look! A monkey is pounding the rice!”

Slowly the villagers came closer to Raden Budog. He did not notice that all the villagers were looking at him, until one man yelled at him. “Hey, monkey! Stop it! It is Friday!”

Raden Budog did not understand why the villagers called him monkey. And when he looked at his body, he was surprised! His body was full of hair. He even had a tail. He had changed into a monkey! Raden Budog was so ashamed. He ran away to the jungle.

Since then people named the village as Lesung Village or Kampung Lesung.

And since the village is located in a cape, people then named the village as Lesung Cape or Tanjung Lesung.***

Nyai Anteh and the Moon

Folklore from West Java

                                                                                           

THERE were two girls lived in a palace. There were princess Endahwarni and Anteh. Princess Endahwarni was the daughter of the king and the queen while Anteh was the daughter of the lady-in-waiting. Anteh's mother died while she was a baby. The queen felt sorry to her and raised her like her own child.

Anteh was more beautiful than Princess Endahwarni. She was often jealous with Anteh. However she still loved Anteh just like her little sister. The king and the queen thought it was time for princess Endahwarni to get married. A prince from a neighboring kingdom named Anantakusuma proposed the princess to marry him. The king and the queen had accepted the proposal. And it made Endahwani became very restless. She never met Anantakusuma yet.

A week before the wedding, Prince Anantakusuma came to talk about the wedding ceremony. While he passed the palace garden, he heard a girl singing a song beautifully. He came to the garden and saw a beautiful girl singing. He thought the girl was Princess Endahwarni. But he was wrong, the girl was Anteh.

The wedding could not be cancelled. During the ceremony, Princess Endahwarni saw that her husband was always looking at Anteh. She knew that her husband fell in love with Anteh. She was trying to steal her husband. She was very angry. She asked Anteh to leave the palace.

Anteh was very sad. She never fell in love with the prince or wanted to be his wife. Anteh then went to her mother's hometown. She stayed at her uncle's house.

Years passed by and Anteh was married and have two children. She helped her husband to earn the living by working as a tailor. The dresses she made were very beautiful. She became very famous. People then called her Nyai Anteh.

Princess Endahwarni heard that Nteh became a famous tailor. She was very guilty asking Anteh leave the palace. She wanted to apologize to Nyai Anteh by asking her to stay in the palace again. She even asked Nyai Anteh to become the palace tailor.

Nyai Anteh agreed but she asked her family to stay in the palace. Princess Endahwarni did not mind with that. And since then Nyai Anteh lived in the palace.

Nyai Anteh had a pet. It was a cat. Every time Anteh was making a dress, the cat always accompanied her. Nyai Anteh was very happy that she could be back in the palace. But she did not know that prince Anantakusuma still love her. He secretly often looked at her. Although Nyai Anteh was not young anymore, she was still beautiful. And hat why the prince still loved her.

It was a beautiful evening and the moon was full. Nyai Anteh and the cat were in the garden. Nyai Anteh was weaving the dress. Suddenly the prince came to her.

"Anteh, I have to tell you something. I love you and I want to marry you."

"But that is impossible. I don't love you. You are married and I'm also married."

Nyai Anteh was very scared. The prince was forced her to run away. Nyai Anteh prayed, "God, please help me. I don't want to live here anymore."

Suddenly moonlight covered her body. Slowly the light lifted her and the cat. The light brought them to the moon.

The prince was very shocked. He regretted his behaviour. He was very sorry but it was too late. Nyai Anteh stayed in the moon and never came back to the earth.

People said that we still can see the image of Nyai Anteh and the cat during full moon. We can see that Nyai Anteh is weaving. ***

Diyah Pitaloka Citraresmi

Folklore from West Java

A Long time ago in West Java there was Sunda Kingdom. The king was King Maharaja Lingga Buana. He was a good king. He led  the kingdom peacefully, his people really love him.

Diyah Pitaloka Citraresmi was the daughter of King Maharaja Lingga Buana. The princess was very beautiful. In fact, people said that she was the most beautiful girl in ]ava.

Hayam Wuruk was the king of Majapahit. It was a very big kingdom in ]ava. King Hayam Wuruk heard about the beauty of Princess Diyah Pitatoka and he wanted to marry her. King Hayam Wuruk proposed Diyah Pitaloka as his wife.

King Maharaja Lingga Buana talked to Diyah Pitaloka about the proposal. He said that the marriage could strengthen the relationships between the two kingdoms. Diyah Pitaloka was a good daughter. She did not want to disappoint her parents. She accepted the marriage proposal.

The party would be held in Hayam Wuruk kingdom. King Maharaja Lingga Buana led the group. And according to the instruction from King Hayam Wuruk, the group would wait at Bubat field. It was in the northern part of Majapahit Kingdom.

When the group arrived at Bubat field, Patih Gadjah Mada came to them. He was the patih or the commander of Majapahit Kingdom. He had an ambition to conquer all parts of Nusantara. Sunda Kingdom had not been occupied yet. Seeing the King of Sunda Kingdom was in his I territory, Patih Gadjah Mada planned to attack them.

King Maharaja Lingga Buana told Patih Gadjah Mada that they came to Majapahit to hold a wedding party. They came not to have war. Patih Gadjah Mada ignored it. He said that King Hayam Wuruk would never marry Pitaloka. Instead Patih Gadjah Mada asked Princess Diyah Pitaloka to be King Hayam Wuruk's concubine as the symbol that Sunda kingdom surrendered to Majapahit Kingdom.

King Maharaja Lingga Buana was very angry. He felt he was being insulted. And the battle was unstoppable. Patih Gadjah Mada had more soldiers. In just a minute, his soldiers killed King Maharaja Lingga Buana's soldieis include King Maharaja Lingga Buana and Princess Diyah Pitaloka.

King Hayam Wuruk was very sad. He loved Princess Diyah Pitaloka very much. The battle at Bubat field then later was known as Perang Bubator Bubat Battle.

Later, Patih Gadjah Mada had a big problem. His reckless decision to attack King Maharaja Lingga Buana and his soldiers put him in a bad situation. King Hayam Wuruk no longer trusted him and soon some areas which were occupied by Majapahit started to rebel.

Gadjah Mada had a wound that he got from the Bubat Battle. People said that Princess Diyah Pitaloka hurt him during the battle. The wound was getting worse and finally Patih Gadjah Mada died.

In the meantime, the people of Sunda Kingdom were sad. They lost their king and their beautiful princess. They named their king as Prabu Wangi. Prabu means king and wangi means good smells. So, Prabu Wangi means the king whose name is beautiful because of his great efforts to defend his kingdom. The next kings of Sunda Kingdom were named Prabu Siliwangi and sili means successor. ***