Keong Emas (The Golden Snail)

Folklore From Central Java

PRINCE Raden Putra and Dewi Limaran were husband and wife. They lived in a
palace. Prince Raden Putra's father was the king of the kingdom.

One day, Dewi Limaran was walking around in the palace garden. Suddenly she saw
a snail. It was ugly and disgusting.

"Yuck!" said Dewi Limaran and then she threw it away into a river.

She did not know that the snail was actually an old and powerful witch. She could
transform herself into anything. The witch was angry to Dewi Limaran. The witch
put a spell on her and changed her into a golden snail. The witch then threw it
away into the river.

The golden snail was drifting away in the river and got caught into a net. An old
woman was fishing and used her net to catch some fish. She was surprised to see
a golden snail in her net. She took it and brought it home. When the old woman
woke up in the morning, she was surprised that the house was in the good
condition. The floor was mopped. And she also had food on the table. She was
thinking very hard.

"Who did this to me? The person is very kind." It happened again and again every
morning.

The old woman was very curious. One night she decided to stay up late. She was
peeping from her room to know who cooked for her. Then, she could not believe
what she saw. The golden snail she caught in the river turned into a beautiful
woman. The old woman approached her.

"Who are you, young girl?"

"I am Dewi Limaran, Ma'am. A witch cursed me. I can change back as a human only
at night," explained Dewi Limaran.

"The spell can be broken if I hear the melody from the holy gamelan," continued
Dewi Limaran.
The old woman then rushed to the palace. She talked to Prince Raden Putra about
her wife.

Prince Raden Putra was so happy. He had been looking for his wife everywhere.
He then prayed and meditated. He asked the gods to give him the holy gamelan.
He wanted to break the witch's spell. After several days praying and meditating,
finally gods granted his wish. He immediately brought the holy gamelan to the old
woman's house. He played it beautifully. And then amazingly the golden snail
turned into the beautiful Dewi Limaran.

The couple was so happy that they could be together again. They also thanked the
old woman for her kindness. As a return, they asked her to stay in the palace
 Sleeping Beauty

Assalamualaikum Wr.Wb.

Honourable audience. I would like to tell you the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Once upon a time there was a Queen who had a beautiful baby daughter. She
asked all the fairies in the kingdom to the christening, but unfortunately forgot
to invite one of them. She came anyway, but as she passed the baby's cradle, she
said:

"When you are sixteen, you will injure yourself with a spindle and die!"
"Oh, no!" screamed the Queen in horror. A good fairy quickly chanted a magic
spell to change the curse. When she hurt herself, the girl would fall into a very
deep sleep instead of dying.
The years went by, the little Princess grew and became the most beautiful girl in
the whole kingdom. Her mother was always very careful to keep her away from
spindles, but the Princess, on her sixteenth birthday, as she wandered through
the castle, came into a room where an old servant was spinning.
"What are you doing?" she asked the servant.
"I'm spinning. Haven't you seen a spindle before?"
"No. Let me see it!" The servant handed the girl the spindle ... and she pricked
herself with it and….. with a sigh, dropped to the floor.
The terrified old woman hurried to tell the Queen. The Queen did her best to
awaken her daughter but in vain. The girl could not be wakened from her deep
sleep. The good fairy came too, and the Queen said to her,
"When will my daughter waken?"
"I don't know," the fairy admitted sadly.
"In a year's time, ten years or twenty?" the Queen went on.
"Maybe in a hundred years' time. Who knows?" said the fairy.
"Oh! What would make her waken?" asked the Queen weeplng.
"Love," replied the fairy. "If a man of pure heart were to fall in love with her,
that would bring her back to life!"
"How can a man fall in love with a sleeping girl?" sobbed the Queen, and so heart-
broken was she that, a few days later, she died. The sleeping Princess was taken
to her room and laid on the bed surrounded by garlands of flowers. She was so
beautiful, with a sweet face, not like those of the dead.
The good fairy said to herself,
"When she wakens, who is she going to see around her? Strange faces and people
she doesn't know? I can never let that happen. It would be too painful for this
unfortunate girl."
So the fairy cast a spell; and everyone that lived in the castle - soldiers,
ministers, guards, servants, ladies, pages, cooks, maids and knights - all fell into a
deep sleep, wherever they were at that very moment.
Honourable oudience,
The years sped past.
Now, it so happened that a Prince arrived in these parts. He was the son of a king
in a country close by. Young, handsome and melancholy. Wandering on his trusty
steed he arrived, one day, at the dark forest. He pushed back the branches . . .
Wonder of wonders! There in front of him stood a castle with high towers. The
young man stood stock still in amazement,
"I wonder who this castle belongs to?" he thought.
"Good heavens! They're dead!" But in a moment, he realised that they were sound
asleep. "Wake up! Wake up!" he shouted, but nobody moved.
The Prince finally reached the room where the beautiful Princess lay fast asleep.
For a long time he stood gazing at her face, so peaceful, lovely and pure.
Overcome by emotion, he went close, lifted the girl's little white hand and gently
kissed it . . .
At that kiss, the princess quickly opened her eyes, and wakening from her long
long sleep, seeing the Prince beside her, murmured:
"Oh, you have come at last! I was waiting for you in my dream. I've waited so
long!"
Just then, the spell was broken.
A few days later, the Prince and Princess were getting married. They lived happily
ever after.
Honourable audience,
From the story above,we can conclude that :
1. We have to be carefull to speak.
2. Preseverence makes success.
That’ s all. Thank you for your kind attention.
Wassalamualaikum Wr.Wb.
 The Story of Penyalahan Village

A Folklore from West Java

LONG time ago in Tasikmalaya, West Java, lived a young couple. They were
farmers. They lived happily with their baby. The couple also had some animals.
One of them was a tiger. When the couple went to work on the paddy field, the
tiger looked after their baby. As usual, the couple went to the paddy field. Before
they left, they asked the tiger to look after their baby.

“We will go to the field now. Look after our baby, okay?” The tiger nodded.
So, the couple went to the field. They worked from morning until afternoon. When
the couple arrived home, the tiger welcomed them. The tiger acted differently.
He wagged his tail and rubbed his body to the couple’s legs. He looked very happy.
The husband became suspicious.

“Why does this tiger behave strangely? He does not act as usual?” he thought.

The husband looked at the tiger carefully. He was shocked. The tiger’s mouth was
full of blood. Then he remembered his baby. He thought the tiger had eaten the
baby.

“Why is your mouth full of blood?” he asked the tiger.

“You must have done something bad to my baby! Have you killed him? Why did you
do that?” he was very panicked.

The husband took his knife and killed the tiger in anger. Then they both entered
the house. They were shocked. They looked at each other. Their baby was
sleeping peacefully in his cradle. He was not eaten by the tiger.

Quickly, the wife took the baby and kissed him. The baby woke up. He opened his
eyes and smiled. The couple found a very large snake under the cradle. The snake
was dead and full of blood.

“Oh, my wife,” the husband said.

“We have done a terrible thing. The tiger is not guilty! Look at the dead snake.
The tiger must have killed him. He had saved our baby, but I killed him. Oh, my
God! What have I done? I am so sorry. Forgive me, my dear tiger. Forgive me,
please?”

The couple felt very guilty. They have killed their faithful tiger. It all happened
because they did not check the baby first before they killed the tiger.

Since then, the couple’s village was called Panyalahan. The word Panyalahan derives
from the word “nyalahan”, which means “wrong guess”.