Once upon a time, in a village in Sabah, there lived a couple who had two daughters. Sura, the elder daughter, helped their mother with the housework. The younger daughter, Suri, helped their father in the vegetable patch.
One day Suri found a large green ketola ular (snake gourd) in the vegetable patch. She was very pleased and put the ketola ular in her basket to take home.
That evening, Suri’s mother cooked the ketola ular for dinner. The family were just beginning to eat when a loud voice called, “Who stole my ketola ular?”
In the doorway was a large snake! It was the largest snake Suri had ever seen. In fact, not even their father had ever seen a larger snake.
“Who stole my ketola ular” asked the snake again. No one said a word.
“If you don’t tell me, I shall destroy the village,” said the snake.
Suri, who was a very brave girl, walked towards the snake. “Please don’t destroy our village,” she said. “I took your ketola ular.”
The snake looked at Suri. She was a very beautiful girl. “Well,” it said, “if you marry me, I won’t destroy your village.”
Suri did not want the village destroyed, so she agreed to marry the snake.
The next day the villagers built an atap hut for Suri and the snake near the river in the jungle. Suri’s parents and her sister took her to the hut and she became the snake’s wife.
Several weeks passed. At least once a week Suri’s father and mother came to visit her. They wanted to be sure she was all right. Luckily Suri was happy, for the snake treated her kindly.
Then, one night when the moon was full, Suri looked out of the hut and saw the snake near the river. To her surprise she saw it slip snake skin off. Out stepped a handsome young man. The young man left the skin on the river bank and began to swim. Suri could not believe her eyes.
She ran to the river and picked up the snakeskin. It immediately changed into a fine silk robe. Then the handsome young man stepped out of the river.
“Who are you?” Suri asked.
“I am a prince,” said the young man. “And you are my wife, so you are a princess.”
They walked back to their hut together, but the hut had become a palace!
When Suri’s parents next came to see her, they were amazed and delighted. Suri’s mother thought about the good luck Suri had. On the way back to the village, she thought about her other daughter, Sura. She knew of a cave in the jungle where a large snake lived. If that snake were a prince too, then both daughters could be happily married.
The next day, she took Sura to the cave in the jungle. Sura was afraid of the snake, but her mother told her not to worry and left her there alone.
In the morning Sura’s mother returned to the cave. There she found the snake, which now looked even larger than before, but Sura was nowhere to be seen. In fright, Sura’s mother ran to the palace to find Suri and the prince.
“I introduced Sura to a snake,” she cried. “But I don’t think he is a prince. And Sura has disappeared!”
The prince ran to the cave where he found the snake. He drew his knife and carefully cut open the snake’s belly. Luckily, Sura was inside and still alive. The prince carried her back to the palace so his doctors could take care of her. He then invited the whole family to live in the palace where he could protectthem.
When Sura was well again, the prince found her another prince to marry, and he, too, came to live in the palace. They all lived happily in the palace of the snake prince to the end of their days.
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