The legend of shuteye island

The legend of shuteye island story
(Favourite Story From Borneo)

Once upon a time, and old blind man lived on Pulau Timbun Mata (Shut-Eye Island)

He often sat in the sun outside his house looking after padi which his son had placed there to dry.

Whenever chickens came to eat the padi, he used to bang on the ground with a long stick to chase them away.

One day, his grandson played a trick on him. He caught a couple of crabs on the beach and placed them on the padi. They made a noise just like chickens eating the padi. “Tick, tick, tick!”

“What’s that?” asked the old man.

“Don’t you know?” his grandson replied. “Some chickens are eating the padi.”

The old man banged on the ground with his stick. But the crabs were not frightened. They continued to eat the padi.

“Ha, ha, Ha!” laughed the boy.

Suddenly, there was a terrible roar like the firing of cannon. An old man with a long white beard appeared in a cloud of smoke. He pointed a wand at the boy. “You should never laugh at your grandfather,” he said, “especially as he is blind.”

Before the boy could answer, a strong wind started to blow and the sky became black. A cloud of red smoke shot out of the top of a hill in the centre of the island. Tons of rock and boiling mud were thrown high into the air. All the houses on the island were destroyed and everyone living on the island was turned into stone.

Even today, if you visit the island, all you can see are some strange-looking rocks which resemble people.

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