Bujang Katak
Folklore from Bangka
There was an old woman. She lived alone in her hut. She was a poor farmer. She was getting older and getting weaker. She did not have husband but she prayed to god to give her a son. She hoped her son could help her work in the rice field.
“God, please give me a son. I really want to have a son although he looks like a frog”, prayed the old woman.
God answered her pray. She was pregnant. Later the baby was born. Surprisingly the baby looked like a frog. His head and his skin were like frog’s head and skin. At first, the old woman was sad. However, later on she was grateful to god. She raised her son with great love. The baby grew as a kind man. He was very strong and obedient to his mother. People called him Bujang Katak. Bujang means a young man and Katak means a frog.
Later Bujang Katak was adult. He wanted to get married. However he did not want to marry the girl in his village. He wanted to marry one of the king’s seven daughters’!
He told his plan to his mother. She was sad. She knew that the king would reject his married proposal. But she did not want to see her son sad. And later they arrived at the palace. Bujang Katak told the king about the married proposal.
“I really appreciate your courage young man. But I can not make any decision. I will ask my seven daughters to give their opinions and decisions”, said the king.
One by one all the seven daughters talked. The first daughter didn’t say good things about Bujang Katak. She insulted him. “You are so ugly. No wonder people call you Bujang Katak. You really look like a frog. I don’t want to have a husband who looks like a frog”, said the first daughter.
The second daughter also said bad things to him. “You are very poor. I don’t want to have a poor husband”. So the other daughters talked bad things about him.
Finally the youngest daughter had her turn to talk. She was the most beautiful and kindest daughter. She didn’t say bad things about him. She accepted Bujang Katak’s married proposal! “I will marry him, Father” said the youngest daughter to the king.
Everybody was surprised. All the elders’ sisters were laughing at her. The king was shocked! He never thought that one of his daughters would marry Bujang Katak. He wanted to cancel the married. So he asked Bujang Katak to do something very difficult.
“I will let you marry my daughter but you have to build a golden bridge from your house to this palace”, said the king.
Bujang Katak and his mother went home. His mother was very sad and confused.
“How can you build a golden bridge, Son?” she asked Bujang Katak. “Don’t worry, Mother. I will pray to God to help me”, said Bujang Katak.
Then Bujang Katak prayed days and nights. One night, amazing things happened. His frog’s skin removed from his body. His head also changed. He became a very handsome man. His mother burned the removed skin. Amazingly the skin changed into gold. They had a lot of gold. Slowly they built a bridge using the gold.
Finally the bridge was built from they house to the king’s palace. The youngest daughter was very happy. Her husband was very handsome and also very rich. He had a lot of gold. All her sisters were jealous. They were even more jealous when the king asked Bujang Katak to be the new king.***
Kelingking
A long time ago in Bangka Belitung lived a husband and a wife. They were poor and they did not have any children yet. Days and nights they prayed to God. They really wanted to have a child.
“God, please give us a child, even though he is only as big as a little finger,” prayed the husband.
Their dream came true! The wife was pregnant.
However they were surprised when they saw the baby. He was so small. He was as big as a little finger.
“You prayed to God to give us a child, although he is as big as a little finger right? Be thankful to God. Let’s love him. How will you name him then?” asked the wife.
“You are right.
We have to be grateful. Well, I will name him Kelingking,” said the husband. Kelingking means little finger.
Time passed by and Kelingking did not grow much. His body was still physically small compared to other kids.
Though he was so small, Kelingking ate like adults. He ate much food. And that made his parents really worried. They were poor and sometimes they could not eat because they had to give their food to Kelingking.
“I cannot hold it anymore. I want to put Kelingking in the jungle. Let him live there. I think he can survive,” said the father.
In the morning, Kelingking and his father went to the jungle. When they arrived, the father asked Kelingking to cut down a very big tree.
When Kelingking was busy cutting down the tree, his father silently went home.
The father thought that Kelingking could not cut down the big tree. The father was sure that
Kelingking would be lost in the jungle. But he was wrong! In the morning Kelingking suddenly showed up in front of the house. And he brought the big tree also!
“Father, where do you want me to put this big tree?” asked Kelingking.
The father was surprised. He asked Kelingking to put the tree in the backyard.
Kelingking then went inside the house. As always he ate all the food and that made his father got angry. He then had another idea.
“Kelingking, let’s go to the mountain. I need a big stone from there.”
Kelingking was an obedient kid. He followed his father to go to the mountain. When they arrived, his father pointed a big stone.
The stone was as big as their house!
“I want you to bring that big stone to our house,” asked the father.
When Kelingking was trying to bring the stone, the father immediately ran home.
At night, when the father was sleeping , suddenly he heard Kelingking’s voice.
“Father, I’m home. Where do you want me to put this big stone?”
This time Kelingking’s father realized his mistake. It was true that Kelingking’s body was small and he ate much food. But he was a nice kid and he had great power. With that power, they could get a job and had a lot of money. The father then apologized to Kelingking. Since then they always worked together. ***
Umpit and the Wild Hogs
A long time ago in Bangka, lived a hunter. His name was Umpit.
He was called Umpit because he always went hunting using his blowpipe. The villagers liked him very much. Umpit often hunted the wild hogs. Those animals often destroyed the villagers’ plantation. After Umpit killed the wild hogs, the villagers gave him some money.
Pak Raje was the richest man in the village. Nobody liked him. He was very stingy. He did not like to donate his money. One day he asked Umpit to hunt the wild hogs. Umpit agreed. At night he was prepared and waited at the Pak Raje’s plantation.
While he was waiting, suddenly seven wild hogs entered the plantation. Umpit prepared his blowpipe.
Then, whoosssh! One of the hogs was shot.
Amazingly, the hog disappeared.
Umpit could not find the hog anywhere.
However he found blood shed on the ground. He followed the blood trail. It went to the jungle. Finally the blood trail stopped in a big cave. Slowly he entered the cave. Then he heard a voice.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Umpit.
I’m looking for a wounded hog. I shot it using my blowpipe.”
“So, it’s you! You are the man who hurt my daughter!”
Slowly a woman appeared in front of him.
“Come, follow me,” said the woman.
She then pointed a girl. She was wounded. Her leg was bleeding.
“She was not a real hog. We are the goddess of the jungle. I will forgive you, but you have to cure my daughter.”
Umpit was so scared. He did not know that it was not the real hog. He then took some leaves. He knew some medication because his parents taught him before.
He put the leaves on the wound. After a while, the girl was cured. The woman then gave Umpit a present. Umpit immediately went home. He ran very fast.
At home, Umpit immediately opened the present. Wow! He got jewelries, gold and diamond. Umpit sold the jewelries and now he became a rich man.
Pak Raje heard that Umpit had become a rich man. He asked Umpit how he became rich. After he knew all about it, he borrowed Umpit’s blowpipe.
He waited at his plantation, and he shot a wild hog.
He followed the blood trail and arrived at the cave. He met the woman and the injured girl. Pak Raje was asked to cure the girl. But he could not do that, and that made the woman angry. She asked all the wild hogs to attack Pak Raje.
Pak Raje ran very fast. He went to Umpit’s house. He asked Umpit to help him from the wild hogs. He agreed to help if only Pak Raje donated some of his money. Pak Raje said yes and he also promised he would be helpful to the villagers. ***
Putri Pinang Gading
A long time ago in
Pak Inda always went fishing in the morning. And in one morning as always he went to the sea. On the way there, he stumbled on a stick of bamboo.
This is dangerous. Someone may get hurt with it, said Pak Inda. He threw the bamboo to the sea. Then he continued walking. Again, he stumbled on a bamboo. “Why are there a lot of bamboos here?” asked Pak Inda to himself. He wanted to throw the bamboo to the sea. Before he did that, he looked at the bamboo carefully. I think this is the same bamboo I threw awhile ago. How can it be here again? Pak Inda was confused. He then threw the bamboo to the sea. Amazingly the bamboo kept on coming back to him. He knew that this bamboo was different from other bamboos so he brought it home. At home, Pak Inda told his wife about the bamboo. Bu Tumina suggested him to put the bamboo in a box. They put the box in their bed room. In the morning, they heard a baby crying. Pak Inda and Bu Tumina looked everywhere to find the baby. Finally they found a baby girl inside the box where they put the bamboo. However the bamboo was gone.
Pak Inda and Bu Tumina were very happy. They named the baby girl Putri Pinang Gading. Pak Inda and Bu Tumina took care of her with great love. Even though Putri Pinang Gading was their only child, they did not spoil her.
They taught her to be independent. They also taught her how to protect herself from wild animals. That was why Putri Pinang Gading grew as a great girl. One day, a giant bird attacked their village. The bird was wild. It hurt many people. Nobody dared to kill the giant bird. Putri Pinang Gading knew she had to do something. She wanted to kill the bird.
Be careful my daughter. We love you very much and we don’t want anything bad happen to you. Here, take this arrow with you. The arrow has poison and it can kill the bird. Just aim it at the bird’s heart, said Pak Inda. He knew his daughter could do that.
She was skillful with arrows. Putri Pinang Gading then went to the village. She was waiting for the bird. The villagers were scared. They asked her to be careful. Suddenly, the giant bird was flying right above her. The bird tried to attack her. Putri Pinang Gading then prepared her arrow. She aimed at the bird’s heart.
Wooosshhh! The arrow hit the bird’s heart! The bird fell on the ground and died instantly. The villagers were very happy. They thanked Putri Pinang Gading for her great action. On the ground where the giant bird fell, bamboo plants grew. The bamboos were poisonous. Later the villagers named the area as Membalong. It means poisonous bamboos. Membalong is now a district in Bangka Belitung. ***
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