Six girls and a witch story
Many years ago in Serawak, there were six girls who were good friends. The most beautiful was Gayah. She was the cleverest too.
One day they went to the jungle to collect some wild fruit. They lost their way. “Don’t be afraid”, said Gayah. “I shall be able to
find the way back.” When night came, they saw a bright fire not far away. They walked towards it. There was a little old woman sitting in front of it.“I know you have lost your way,” the old man said. “You must be hungry, although you certainly look quite fat and well fed. Ha, ha, ha! It is lucky that you found me. Have some of these cakes, my dears.”
“Don’t take any!” whispered Gayah. “Let me talk to her. She’s a witch.”
“I’m sorry we can’t eat without first having something to drink,” she said to the old woman. “How far is the nearest river from here?”
“I can’t tell you,” replied the old woman. “If I tell you, you’ll run away. No my dears, I’ll fetch some water for you.”
“Thank you , madam,” Gayah answered. She thought that the old woman was stupid to leave them alone while she went to fetch some water. However, the old woman was not as stupid as Gayah thought. She waved a magic wand. All the girls felt weak and they had to sit down. In a flash, the old woman tied them up with a long rope. I’ll carry one end of the rope with me. If I pull it, I can easily find out whether you’re still tied to the other end.” She said.
Then she went to fetch some water. After a while, she tugged the rope, “Ha, ha, ha my little ones, don’t try to run away! You can’t escape from auntie!”
A little while later, she pulled the rope again, “Good, you’re still there! Don’t think you can trick me!”
But Gayah had untied the rope and had fastened it to a tree. So when the witch pulled the rope the next time, she thought that the girls were still there.
The girls ran back into the jungle as fast as they could.
When the witch returned, the girls were nowhere to be seen. She waved her magic wand and cried, “Let there be a wide river with a big crocodile in it to stop the girls running away.”
In a second, the witch flew high above the tree tops and landed on the back of a wide river.
She saw the girls talking to crocodile, “Stop! Stop!” she cried.
Gayah spoke quickly to the crocodile. “Please take us across the river one by one,” she begged.
“How much will you pay me?” asked the crocodile.
“Mr. crocodile, you know we don’t have any money. But you may eat the sixth one.”
The crocodile agreed. He took the first girl on his back and swam across the river. Then he went back and carried the second girl across. And the third and fourth and the fifth. “now I shall eat the sixth,” he thought.
The witch ran down to the edge of the river. “Ha, this must be the sixth,” the crocodile laughed. The witch sat on the crocodile’s back and he took her to the middle of the river. Suddenly, he threw her high into the air and caught her in his mouth. “Ugh, ugh, she’s a bit hard and bony! Not at all like the other five,” he said.
Actually, Gayah had crossed the river at the same time as the fifth girl by hanging on to the crocodile’s tail.
All the girls agreed that they would never go alone into the jungle again.
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