The Hole in the water

A young man who was alone in the world decided to get married. He was handsome and rich, but it seemed that in the whole land there was not the right wife for him: either they were too young, or too old. There remained just one lovely young maiden, whom he had met at the well, but she seemed to be a bit mad. Not only did she say that her stepmother was a fairy, but she also insisted that her stepmother would only allow her to marry a man who could perform a certain very difficult task. “What is that?” asked the young man.

“He has to make a hole in the water.”

“That’s impossible,” exclaimed the young man. “You will never find a husband.”

“Yes, I will find one,” replied the young girl. “My stepmother says that when someone is truly in love, they can even work miracles.”

The young man was truly in love, but he had no idea how to solve the problem. He sighed and suffered for a long time but he did not give up. Then one day he found that the well had frozen over. Suddenly he understood. Seizing a stout stick, he made a hole in the frozen surface ….. and so he was able to marry the beautiful maiden. 

The greedy Heron

A heron was on its way home carrying a fish it just caught from a river. It decided to take a walk to the other side of the river before eating the fish. As it was crossing the bridge over the river, it looked over the rail to the river below. It was surprised to see another heron just like itself staring back.

It was that the other heron was carrying that interested it. Its mouth watered at the sight of an enormous, fresh squirming fish. This other fish looked so much tastier than its own that, without a thought, it flew down from the bridge into the water. It tried to snatch the fish from the other heron, but it disappeared. It dropped its own fish into the rushing river. The fish, which was still alive, enjoyed its freedom, then swam deeper into the river.

Why Pak Diro Remained Poor

Pak Diro was an ordinary farmer living in an ordinary village in an ordinary part of Java. But he dreamed of becoming rich and having a large house surrounded by beautiful flowers, withlovely girls to wait on him. In his dream world, he would have everything he wanted without lifting a finger.

His wife used to tell him, "Pak Diro, why don't you stop dreaming? You will get nothing without working for it."

"You know nothing about men's affairs."

Finally, Pak Diro asked his wife to accompany him to a mountain top where they could pray, eat vegetables, and live simply. "In this way," Pak Diro told his wife, "God will help us."

One day, while they were praying, an old man with a long white beard appeared in front of them.

"Pak Diro," said the holy man. "I know what you want. I shall grant you two wishes only."

'Yes, yes, Your Lordship," said Pak Diro. He was so excited that he could hardly speak. "Er…..er… I want...."

"Wait," ordered the holy man. "Think well before you say anything. You'd better talk it over with your wife."

"Everyone wants health, wealth, happiness and long life," Pak Diro told his wife. "Which two shall we choose?"

"I would like health and happiness," his wife replied.

"But the most important thing in all the world is riches! Even the clever serve the rich."

"What can you do with money if you are unhappy and sick?" asked his wife.

Pak' Diro became very angry with his wife. "I wish you would turn into a goat," he cried.

There was a blinding flash and a cloud of smoke. Pak Diro was knocked tothe ground. When he got up, he found that his wish had been granted. His wife had been turned into a goat.

"Oh, what shall I do now?" he sobbed. 'I don't want to be married to a goat. Please return my wife to me."

The old man with a long white beard appeared again in front of him. 'This is your second wish, Pak Diro," he said. "I can bring your wife back to you but I cannot grant you another wish. You must besatisfied with what you have got. Workhard. Do your duty. Don't always think of money. You will then be happy and content."

The old man waved the stick he was carrying. The goat changed back into Pak Diro's wife. Pak Diro turned to thank the old man but he had disappeared.

Pak Diro never became rich but he followed the old man's advice, and he and his wife lived together happily ever after.

The Young Man and The Golden Mountain

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Looking for Employment, a young man was hired by another man, who took him abroad a ship, which then called off to a distant island. There stood a high mountain made of gold.

“Go to the top mountain,” his employer ordered, “and dig out as much gold as you can, then throw it to the bottom where I can collect it.”

“How do I reach the top?” he asked.

“Drink this magic potion,” came the reply, “and you will be like a feather.” But it was really a sleeping potion, and as soon as the young man was asleep, his master wrapped him in a cow skin and left him on the beach. Along came some seagulls which took the cow skin and carried it to the top of the mountain, and dropped it.  When the young man awakened, he scramble out of the skin, and chased the seagulls away. Then he set about digging, throwing the gold down to his master. “How do I get down?” the young man shouted. The master replied, “You don’t. You can just stay up there.” But the golden mountain dislike being dug up and robbed, so it began to shake and rumble, as it was really a volcano. Then it blew its top, and the young man was hurled up into the air. He eventually landed safe and sound back in his own country, but the master was caught in the flow of lava and turned into a golden statue.

The Mouse Princess

The Mouse Princess

Narrative text - The Mouse Princess

A daughter was born to the king and a great feast was prepared for the baptism. Unfortunately, through a terrible oversight, the witch was not invited. To avenge herself for this insult, the witch put an evil spell on the baby girl and turned her into a mouse,  “She will only become herself again on the day my sister laughs!”

All the clowns and comedians in the kingdom were called, but they did not succeed in getting even a smile from the sister of the witch. The king had no alternative in the end but to banish all cats from his kingdom so that the royal mouse would not be eaten.

One day, a prince in the next kingdom held a ball at his castle. The other three daughters of the king all attended, dressed magnificently, of course. The little mouse, on the other hand, was left at home as usual, but  she decided to go to the ball.

She jumped on the back of a cockerel, and tied some red ribbon through its beak as reins, and set off. When she got to the bail, the sight of the ribboned cockerel, with a white mouse on its beak, was so comical, that the witch’s sister at last burst out laughing. Then, the little white mouse was changed back into a young lady, so beautiful that the prince fell in love with her at once, and asked for her hand in marriage.