cerita rakyat

Toba Lake
Once upon a time there was a prosperous village in a far away island called Sumatra. In northern part of the island, lived a farmer whose name was Toba. He lived alone in a hut by a small forest. He worked on his farmland to grow rice and vegetables that he sells to local market. Once day he wanted to catch some fish so he went to a river and fished there. He was very surprised when he got a big fish. The fish was as big as human being. Soon he went home and put the fish in his kitchen. He planned to cook the fish for his dinner that night. When he got to his house that afternoon he took a bath. Then as he walked into his bedroom after taking a bath Toba was very shocked. Do you want to know what happened?
There stood in his living room a very beautiful girl. The girl greeted him nicely. For a moment Toba was speechless. When he could control his emotion he asked her.
‘Who are you? What’s your name? Why suddenly you are here in my house?’
‘Pardon me if I surprised you Mr. Toba, but you took me here. I was the fish that you caught in the river. Now that I become a human being again, I would like to thank you and I will be your servant to express my thankfulness’
‘Were you the fish?’
‘Yes, I was the fish. Look at your kitchen’.
Toba immediately rushed to his kitchen and the fish was nowhere to be seen. He saw some gold coins instead.
‘Whose coins are these? Why there are some coins here?’
‘Those coins are mine. As I changed into human being my scales changed into gold coins’
‘Ok you can live here and work for me. Your room is over there’
‘Thank you very much Mr. Toba’
Since that day the beautiful girl lived in Toba’s house. Since she was very beautiful Toba fell in love with her and not long after that they got married. The girl married to Toba on one condition that he would never tell anybody about her past. Toba agreed to the condition. Several months later Toba’s wife delivered to a baby boy. Their son was healthy. Soon he grew up into a handsome boy. Toba named him Samosir. Unfortunately Samosir was a lazy boy. He did not want to work at all. When his father worked hard in his rice field and farm, Samosir just slept. When he was awake he talked a lot and he ate a lot. Toba was very disappointed with his son’s nature. He hoped that one day Samosir would change into a diligent boy. Day in and day out but Samosir never changed.
Toba used to go to his farm and rice field early in the morning. Then at midday his wife would bring him food. They used to eat lunch at their farm. As he was a teenager Toba and his wife tried to change his behavior. They ordered Samosir to bring food for his father for lunch while her mother stayed at home to do household chores. But Samosir never did his duty well. He always woke up very late. He woke up after midday. Then one day his mother forced him to bring the food.
‘Sam, wake up. Go to the farm and bring the food for your father. He must be very tired and hungry now’.
But Mom, I am tired and hungry too’
‘What makes you tired? You just wake up. Go now. You father needs the food’
Toba reluctantly went to the farm. But he did not go to the farm immediately. He stopped somewhere in the street and ate the food. It was already late afternoon when he got to the farm. His father was disappointed. Then he was angry as he realized that his son had eaten his food. He said sarcastically.
‘O, you are stupid lazy boy. You are son of a fish!’
Samosir was hurt. He went home right away and as he got home he told his mother about his father’s words. Samosir’s mother was shocked. She was also deeply hurt.
‘O Toba. You break your promise so I cannot live with you here anymore. Now you have to accept to consequence of what you did. Samosir, now go to the hill, find the tallest tree and climb it’
‘Why mom? What will happen?’
‘Just do it, never ask any question. Good bye’
As soon as she finished saying that suddenly the weather changed. Sunny day suddenly turned into cloudy day. Not long after that the rain poured heavily. The rain last for several days. Consequently the area was flooded. The whole area became a big lake. Then it was called Lake Toba and in the middle of the lake there is an island called Samosir Island. Meanwhile Toba’s wife disappeared

Onion and Garlic

In the ancient time, lived a little family. The family consists of father, mother, and a beautiful girl named Garlic. They are a harmonious and happy family despite his father worked as an ordinary merchant. One day, the happiness in this family was lost because the mother died. Garlic was very sad because she was very fond of her mother. Her father was also so sad because he loved his wife so much.

After Garlic’s mother died, her house was visited frequently by a widow who had a daughter named Onion. The widow often came with Onion to the Garlic’s home by bringing food, helping to clean the house, and chatting with Garlic’s father. Finally, the father thinks that he should marry the widow and made the widow as a new mother for Garlic.

He asked for consideration of the proposal to Garlic. After being allowed to get married by Garlic, then her father immediately carried out the marriage. They become a new family and lived in a house. At first, the mother and Onions behaved Garlic very well. However, the good behavior did not to be last long. Soon, the Onion and her mother began to show their bad attitude. Garlic was often scolded and given heavy works when the father went to trade. She had to do a lot of housework while the Onions just sit and did not work at all. However, the situation was never told by her to his father, so the Garlic continued to be treated badly by Onions and her mother.

One day, his father was sick and passed away. Since then, Garlic was treated worse than before. Garlic almost never had a break every day. In the morning, she had to get up in order to prepare breakfast and the water for Onion and her mother. Later, she also gave eating to the livestock, washing clothes, and even watering the entire garden. Although she should do so many works, she always did it happily. She hoped, with such sincerity, her mother would love her sincerely someday.

On the morning, Garlic went to the river to wash the clothes. She was so excited and washed vigorously. Because of getting too excited, she was not aware that there was a shirt that washed away. She realized that the shirt had been washed away when the flow carried it far enough. Later, she pursued but did not get the shirt. She felt hopeless and immediately went home.

The shirt was her mother’s favorite. Of course, the mother was angry and told her to look for the shirt until she could found it. Garlic came back to the river and walked to the west to seek her mother’s favorite shirt. She walked along the river up to tens of kilometers. After that, Garlic suddenly saw someone who was bathing the buffalo in the river. She asked the man about the clothes were washed away. Later, she was informed that the shirt drifting and it was not far from where she was standing. At that moment, Garlic immediately ran down the river to find the shirt.

It was getting dark and the Garlic found a home. Because of completely exhausted, she decided to take a break in the house. Apparently, it housed an old lady who had previously found the shirt. The old lady wanted to return the shirt to her, but she should accompany the old lady during a week. She agreed to stay with the lady for a week. Within a week, she made the old lady to be so happy because she was diligent and never complained even though felt so tired.

After accompanying for a week, she was given a pumpkin as the gift. When opening it, she was very surprised because there were so much gold and gems. She immediately went home and told the happening to her mother and also Onion. However, the gold and jewels that she got immediately seized and she was forced to tell where the jewelry could be obtained. Garlic immediately said that she got it from an old lady who lived near the river.

In the next day, Onion came to that house and stayed for a week like what Garlic did. However, because Onion was a lazy girl, the old lady gave a different pumpkin from Garlic. Onion did not care and Onion immediately went home to open the pumpkin with her mother. Apparently, the content was not gems or gold, but the venomous snake that bit of Onion and the mother. Both of them died because of their greed.

After the happening, Garlic was living alone, but she was more calm and lived happily with its gold and gems.