Narrative Text

Adib Yusril Wafi

9C
 The Legend of Toba Lake

Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north Sumatra. He
lived in a simple hut in a farming field. The did some gardening and
fishing for his daily life.

One day, while the man was do fishing, he caught a big golden fish in
his trap. It was the biggest catch which he ever had in his life.
Surprisingly, this fish turned into a beautiful princess. He felt in love
with her and proposed her to be his wife. She said; "Yes, but you have
to promise not to tell anyone about the secret that I was once a fish,
otherwise there will be a huge disaster". The man made the deal and
they got married, lived happily and had a son.

Few years later, this son would help bringing lunch to his father out in
the fields. One day, his son was so hungry and he ate his father’s lunch.
Unfortunately, he found out and got furious, and shouted; “You damned
son of a fish”. The son ran home and asked his mother. The mother
started crying, felt sad that her husband had broke his promise.

Then she told her son to run up the hills because a huge disaster was
about to come. When her son left, she prayed. Soon there was a big
earthquake followed by non-stop pouring rain. The whole area got
flooded and became Toba Lake. She turned into a fish again. Finally it
became a lake. People then call it LAKE TOBA
 Tikki Tikki Tembo

a chain tale from China

recalled by

D. L. Ashliman

Once upon a time in faraway China there lived two brothers, one named Sam, and
one named Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai
Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako.

Now one day the two brothers were playing near the well in their garden when Sam
fell into the well, and Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem
Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako ran to his mother, shouting,
"Quick, Sam has fallen into the well. What shall we do?"

"What?" cried the mother, "Sam has fallen into the well? Run and tell father!"

Together they ran to the father and cried, "Quick, Sam has fallen into the well.
What shall we do?"

"Sam has fallen into the well?" cried the father. "Run and tell the gardner!"

Then they all ran to the gardner and shouted, "Quick, Sam has fallen into the well.
What shall we do?"

"Sam has fallen into the well?" cried the gardner, and then he quickly fetched a
ladder and pulled the poor boy from the well, who was wet and cold and frightened,
and ever so happy to still be alive.

Some time afterward the two brothers were again playing near the well, and this
time Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom
Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako fell into the well, and Sam ran to his mother,
shouting, "Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do
Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well. What shall
we do?"
"What?" cried the mother, "Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry
Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well? Run
and tell father!"

Together they ran to the father and cried, "Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo
Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has
fallen into the well. What shall we do?"

"Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom
Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well?" cried the father. "Run and
tell the gardner!"

Then they all ran to the gardner and shouted, "Quick, Tikki Tikki Tembo No
Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom
Barako has fallen into the well. What shall we do?"

"Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom
Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako has fallen into the well?" cried the gardner, and then
he quickly fetched a ladder and pulled Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarimbo Hari Kari
Bushkie Perry Pem Do Hai Kai Pom Pom Nikki No Meeno Dom Barako from the well,
but the poor boy had been in the water so long that he had drowned.

And from that time forth, the Chinese have given their children short names.
 The Bunyip
Author: Andrew Lang [More Titles by Lang]

Long, long ago, far, far away on the other side of the world, some young men left
the camp where they lived to get some food for their wives and children. The sun
was hot, but they liked heat, and as they went they ran races and tried who could
hurl his spear the farthest, or was cleverest in throwing a strange weapon called a
boomerang, which always returns to the thrower. They did not get on very fast at
this rate, but presently they reached a flat place that in time of flood was full of
water, but was now, in the height of summer, only a set of pools, each surrounded
with a fringe of plants, with bulrushes standing in the inside of all. In that country
the people are fond of the roots of bulrushes, which they think as good as onions,
and one of the young men said that they had better collect some of the roots and
carry them back to the camp. It did not take them long to weave the tops of the
willows into a basket, and they were just going to wade into the water and pull up
the bulrush roots when a youth suddenly called out: 'After all, why should we waste
our time in doing work that is only fit for women and children? Let them come and
get the roots for themselves; but we will fish for eels and anything else we can
get.'

This delighted the rest of the party, and they all began to arrange their fishing
lines, made from the bark of the yellow mimosa, and to search for bait for their
hooks. Most of them used worms, but one, who had put a piece of raw meat for
dinner into his skin wallet, cut off a little bit and baited his line with it, unseen by
his companions.

For a long time they cast patiently, without receiving a single bite; the sun had
grown low in the sky, and it seemed as if they would have to go home empty-
handed, not even with a basket of roots to show; when the youth, who had baited
his hook with raw meat, suddenly saw his line disappear under the water.
Something, a very heavy fish he supposed, was pulling so hard that he could hardly
keep his feet, and for a few minutes it seemed either as if he must let go or be
dragged into the pool. He cried to his friends to help him, and at last, trembling
with fright at what they were going to see, they managed between them to land on
the bank a creature that was neither a calf nor a seal, but something of both, with
a long, broad tail. They looked at each other with horror, cold shivers running down
their spines; for though they had never beheld it, there was not a man amongst
them who did not know what it was-- the cub of the awful Bunyip!
All of a sudden the silence was broken by a low wail, answered by another from the
other side of the pool, as the mother rose up from her den and came towards
them, rage flashing from her horrible yellow eyes. 'Let it go! let it go!' whispered
the young men to each other; but the captor declared that he had caught it, and
was going to keep it. 'He had promised his sweetheart,' he said, 'that he would
bring back enough meat for her father's house to feast on for three days, and
though they could not eat the little Bunyip, her brothers and sisters should have it
to play with.' So, flinging his spear at the mother to keep her back, he threw the
little Bunyip on to his shoulders, and set out for the camp, never heeding the poor
mother's cries of distress.

By this time it was getting near sunset, and the plain was in shadow, though the
tops of the mountains were still quite bright. The youths had all ceased to be
afraid, when they were startled by a low rushing sound behind them, and, looking
round, saw that the pool was slowly rising, and the spot where they had landed the
Bunyip was quite covered. 'What could it be?' they asked one of another; ' there
was not a cloud in the sky, yet the water had risen higher already than they had
ever known it do before.' For an instant they stood watching as if they were
frozen, then they turned and ran with all their might, the man with the Bunyip run-
ning faster than all. When he reached a high peak over- looking all the plain he
stopped to take breath, and turned to see if he was safe yet. Safe! why only the
tops of the trees remained above that sea of water, and these were fast
disappearing. They must run fast indeed if they were to escape. So on they flew,
scarcely feeling the ground as they went, till they flung themselves on the ground
before the holes scooped out of the earth where they had all been born. The old
men were sitting in front, the children were playing, and the women chattering
together, when the little Bunyip fell into their midst, and there was scarcely a
child among them who did not know that something terrible was upon them. 'The
water! the water!' gasped one of the young men; and there it was, slowly but
steadily mounting the ridge itself. Parents and children clung together, as if by
that means they could drive back the advancing flood; and the youth who had
caused all this terrible catastrophe, seized his sweetheart, and cried: 'I will climb
with you to the top of that tree, and there no waters can reach us.' But, as he
spoke, something cold touched him, and quickly he glanced down at his feet. Then
with a shudder he saw that they were feet no longer, but bird's claws. He looked
at the girl he was clasping, and beheld a great black bird standing at his side; he
turned to his friends, but a flock of great awkward flapping creatures stood in
their place He put up his hands to cover his face, but they were no more hands,
only the ends of wings; and when he tried to speak, a noise such as he had never
heard before seemed to come from his throat, which had suddenly become narrow
and slender. Already the water had risen to his waist, and he found himself sitting
easily upon it, while its surface reflected back the image of a black swan, one of
many.

Never again did the swans become men; but they are still different from other
swans, for in the night-time those who listen can hear them talk in a language that
is certainly not swan's language; and there are even sounds of laughing and talking,
unlike any noise made by the swans whom we know.

The little Bunyip was carried home by its mother, and after that the waters sank
back to their own channels. The side of the pool where she lives is always shunned
by everyone, as nobody knows when she may suddenly put out her head and draw
him into her mighty jaws. But people say that underneath the black waters of the
pool she has a house filled with beautiful things, such as mortals who dwell on the
earth have no idea of. Though how they know I cannot tell you, as nobody has ever
seen it.

[From Journal of Anthropological-Institute.]

[The end]
Andrew Lang's short story: [Brown Fairy Book] The Bunyip
 Chan Hing Was A Taxi Driver

Chan Hing was a hard working taxi driver. One day, a passenger dropped his wallet
in the taxi. He left the taxi without knowing that his wallet was dropped there.
When Chan Hing cleaned his taxi, he saw the wallet and looked in it. He saw that
there was much money inside. In the wallet, he also found an identity card of the
owner. He could read the name and address.
Chan Hing was a humble and honest person. He decided to return the wallet
and the things inside to the owner. He tried to find the address but the owner
wasn’t there. He met the son of the owner and gave the wallet to him.
In the night, Chan Hing told his wife what happened. She was very angry
with Chan Hing for being honest and said that he should have taken the money.
Because she was very disappointed, she left him. She didn’t like living in honesty
but poor. Then, Chan Hing became very sad.
Some days later, a man came to see him. He was the man who dropped his
wallet in the taxi. The man offered Chan Hing a job in his company. The job was a
driver of the top manager’s car.
Chan Hing was happy. He worked hard and honestly. Years later, he became
the transportation supervisor of the company who got a good salary. When his wife
heard about this, she felt guilty. She thought that she was wrong. She was sorry
for what she had done.
One day, the rich Chan Hing came to his wife. He said that he forgave her
and begged her to go home with him. Finally, she agreed, and they got married
again. They lived in contentment. They kept the honesty in the rest of their life.

(Adapted from More Favourite Stories from Chinese by Ho Man

Yee)
 Sand and Stone!

A story tells of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some
point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in
the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, she wrote
in the sand:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE"

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.
The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but her
friend saved her. After she recovered from the near drowning, she wrote on a
stone:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE"

The friend, who had slapped and saved her best friend, asked her, "After I hurt
you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand,
where the winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something
good for us, we must engrave it in stone, so no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR

BLESSINGS IN STONE.
 Old Man and Old Woman

A Blackfoot Legend

Many years ago, there were only two people in the world; Old Man and Old Woman.
One time while they were traveling around the Earth, Old Woman said to Old Man,
"Let's come to an agreement of some kind. Let's decide how the people should live
when they come to this Earth."

"Well," said Old Man, "I should have the first say in everything."

"I agree with you," said Old Woman. "That is, of course, if I may have the second
say in everything."

Then Old Man began to make his plans. "The women will have the job of tanning
hides. They will rub the brains of the animals on the hides to make them soft, and
scrape them with the scraping tools. And they should do all of this very quickly, for
it won't be hard work."

"No," said Old Woman, "I won't agree to this. They have to tan hides like you say,
but it has to be hard work, so that the good workers can be found out and
honored."

"Well," said Old Man, "we will let the people have eyes and mouths, set straight up
and down in their faces in a nice, neat line."

"No," replied Old Woman. "Let's not do that that way. Let's put the eyes and
mouths in the face like you said, but let's put them crosswise."

"Well," said Old Man, "the people will have ten fingers on each hand."

"No, no, no!" Old Woman cried. "That's way too many. They'd just get in the way.
They should have four fingers and one thumb on each hand."

And so the two went on like this until they'd decided everything for how the people
would live when they came to the Earth.

"What should we do about life and death?" asked Old Woman. "Should the people
live forever, or are they going to die sometime?"
Old Woman and Old Man had difficulty agreeing about this one. But finally, Old
Man said, "I'll tell you what. I'll throw a buffalo chip in the water. If it floats, the
people will die for four days and then come back to life again; if it sinks, they'll die
and stay dead."

So, he threw a buffalo chip into the water, and it floated.

"No," said Old Woman, "We won't decide it that way, since the buffalo chips
always float. I'll throw this rock into the water. If it floats, the people will die for
four days and come back, and if it sinks, they will die forever."

So, she threw the rock in the water, and it sank quickly. "There," said she. "It is
better for the people to die forever. If they didn't, they wouldn't feel sorry for
each other, and there'd be no sympathy in the world."

"Well," answered Old Man, "let it be that way, then."

After a while, Old Woman had a daughter, who soon became sick and then died. Old
Woman was then very sorry that they'd agreed that people should die forever.
"Let's talk this over again!" she pleaded.

"No." answered Old Man. "We're not changing what we agreed upon."

And so, to this day, when people die, they stay dead.
 Papa Cloud Family

Once upon a time, there lived a Clouds family. Papa Cloud, Mama Cloud, and
Cloud children lived quietly in the sky.

Every morning, the cloud children went to the sky playground tp play with
the slide. But since there was only one slide, they had to take turns on the slide.
Lody, the youngest cloud child, looked impatient. He could not wait for his turns to
come. His brother, Tody, didn’t like is attitude. Suddenly, they were quarrelling.
Their white bodies became grey. It meant they were very angry. When the clouds
wereangry, water usually came out of their bodies. It meant rain for the people on
Earth.

“Stop it, children! Stop Fighting!” Papa Cloud said.

“You can play with the slide in turns. Now, shake hands. Both of you!”
ordered Papa Cloud.

Lody and Tody shaked hands and slowly their colours changed. Their bodies
became fair white again. The rain stopped and people on Earth could go on their
activities again.