The Smartest Parrot

Once upon a time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other parrot like it. The parrot could say every word, except one word. The parrot would not say the name of the place where it was born. The name of the place was Catano.

The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not understand why the parrot would not say Catano. The man tried to teach the bird to say Catano, however the bird did not say the word.

At first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry. "You're stupid bird!" pointed the man to the parrot. "Why can't you say the word? Say Catano! Or I will kill you" the man said angrily. Although he tried hard to teach, the parrot would not say it. Then the man so angry and shouted to the bird over and over; "Say Catano or I'll kill you". The bird kept not to say the word of Catano.

One day, after he had been trying so many times to make the bird say Catano, the man really got very angry. He could not bear it. He picked the parrot and threw it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for the next dinner "You are as stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them" Said the man angrily. then he continued to humble; "you know, I will cut the chicken for my meal. Next it will be your turn, I will eat you too, stupid parrot". After that he left the chicken house.

The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened the door and was very surprised. He could not believe what he saw at the chicken house. There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the parrot was standing proudly and screaming at the last old chickens; "Say Catano or I'll kill you.

How Lake Toba came into existence ( Folklores )

Long time ago lived in the neighbourhood of a small lake in North Sumatra a foor farmer. He earned his living by working in the fields. He also went into the forest to gather wood.

Every morning he left his hut, but one day he had a strange mood. His store of wood for the kitchen was almost finished. Still he did not feel like going to the forest as he used to do.

At last he took his fishing-rod and left for the lake. Coming to the lake, he threw his hook into the water, then sat on the big stone. A lot of things filled his mind. He thought about his friends whom he envied, as they lived in better conditions and were luckier than he was.

While he was day-dreaming, his hook went up and down all of sudden. Something was pulling at it. A fish? how could it be! But look! There! The farmer was astonished. Could he believe his eyes? Were there any big fish in the lake? He rubbed his eyes many times to make sure whether he was dreaming. Shaking his head, he said: "I am not dreaming. No, I am not."

Without thinking any longer, he pulled at the rod. Indeed, it was a fish! The farmer was very happy, that being the first time he had caught a fish in the lake. But it was strange fish, for its body was white and glittered in the sunshine like a diamond. The farmer was surprised when he tried to touch it. The fish spoke: "Dear farmer, don't take me to your home. Put me in a rice-field containing water and come to see me every day before noon. If you haven't time just come the next day!"

It happened to be the dry season so it was difficult for the farmer to find a rice-field filled with water. At last he saw a rice-field in which there was a small spot of water.

" Can the fish live if I put it down here?" he wondered, but the fish was speaking again: "Dear farmer, I know what you are thinking; just put me in it and again I remind you not to forget to come and see me every day."

"I promise,"the man replied. After having put the fish into the water, the farmer went home. On the way home, he thought about the strange behaviour of the fish and the promise he had to keep.

"Strange,"he said, "it can speak."

The next morning the farmer got up early and went to the rice-field. He was very anxious to see what had happened to the fish.

When he came to the rice-field he was very surprised. There, at the edge of the rice-field he saw a beautiful woman sitting alone. Becoming afraid, the farmer attempted to run away but could not move his legs.

"Poor farmer!" she suddenly said, "don't be afraid. I am the fish that you caught yesterday and left in this place. Now I am showing myself in the guise of human being. Take me home and make me your wife."

The farmer was shocked. But then he agreed. The woman asked him one condition that he won't tell anybody about her origin. He promised. Then they went to the farmer's hut. All the neighbours were astonished at seeing such a beautiful woman, but none asked who she was and where she came from.

The farmer and his wife lived happily together and after two years she bore him a son who was as goodlooking as his mother, with curly hair and eyes as round as fish-eyes.

As usual, when the farmers was working in the field, his wife prepared his meal. She usually took the meal to him by herself. One day, however, she had it done by her son. She said: "Son, hurry! It is already late. Your father will be hungry." The son took the food. But on his way to the rice-field, he met his playmates. They were playing together, running and laughing. The farmer's son stopped walking. He joined the group and forgot the time. For hours he played, then he realized he had to bring food to his father. But he was hungry and ate the rice prepared for his father. Afterwards he ran to him while he was still working in the field, only to tell him that he had eaten up the rice.

The father fell into a rage. He boxed his son's ears and shouted: "You naughty boy, son of fish! Go home! It's no use crying here!" Sobbing he went home. His mother asked him why he was crying. He told her what his father said to him. She said that it was true. She was very disappointed of her husband. Then she told her son to go to a hill.

Within a few minutes the woman beat a drum as hard as she could, in order to be heard far and wide. And what happened? The wind blew tremendously hard from west to east. Trees tumbled down and houses were destroyed. Heavy rain fell as if pouring out from the sky. Lightning flashed, splitting the earth into pieces. In a short time the Toba area was filled up with water, one meter deep. People ran in panic, looking for shelter.

Fortunately, this catastrophe which befell the Toba area did not last long. The flood withdrew after some days and only the spot where the farmer's hut had stood was covered with water. This water did not withdraw but rose gradually higher and higher till it became a lake. And this was later called Lake Toba.   

Borobudur

       Borobudur is Hindu - Budhist temple. It was built in the nineth century under Sailendra dynasty of ancient Mataram Kingdom. Borobudur is located in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.

    Borobudur is well-known all over the world. its construction is influenced by the Gupta architecture of India. The temple is constructed om a hill 46 m high and consist of eight step like stone terrace. The first five terrace are square and surrounded by walls adorned with Budhist sculpture in bas-relief. The upper three are circular. Each of them is with a circle of bell shape stupa. The entire adifice is crowned by a large stupa at the center of the top circle. The way to the summit extends through some 4.8 km of passage and starways. The design of borobudur which symbolizes the structure of universe influences temples at Angkor, Cambodia. 

      Borobudur Temple which is rededicated as an Indonesia monument in 1983 is a valuable treasure for Indonesia people.

Buggy Races

      

       Once upon a time there lived two best friends, the hare and the tortoise. They liked to race against each other, but the hare always won.

          One day, the hare asked the tortoise to race down to the beach. The tortoise refused, he said that he will loose anyway. The hare replied in a kind voice that he felt sorry about it.

         But the next day, the hare found a way to race the tortoise that would be fair and lots of fun too. He asked the tortoise to come with him. The tortoise was slowly plodding over the sandhill towards the beach. Now the two friends can race against each other all day and something tells me that the tortoise might win this time.

Taken from English In Focus

The Legend of Loro Jonggrang

Once upon a time in Java Island, especially in Prambanan, there were two Hindu kingdoms, Pengging and Kraton Boko. Pengging Kingdom was a prosperous and welfare kingdom that was lead by a wise king named Prabu Damar Moyo who had a son named Raden Bandung Bondowoso.

Kraton Boko is a part of Pengging Kingdom jurisdiction who was lead by a cruel and fully anger king that is not a man but a giant who was a man eater, named Prabu Boko. However, Prabu Boko had a very beautiful daughter named Princess Loro Jonggrang. Prabu Boko also had a minister named Patih Gupalo and he was a giant too. Prabu Boko had a desire to revolt and has control over Pengging Kingdom. Therefore, together with Patih Gupalo, they gathered the power by training men to become soldiers and collect goods from civil people as provisions.

After they had enough with all preparation, Prabu Boko and all soldiers went to Pengging Kingdom to revolt. Then the war between Pengging and Boko Soldier happened in Pengging kingdom. A lot of soldiers died from both side. People of Pengging became suffer, hunger and poor.Knew that his people were suffering and there were lots of soldiers died, Prabu Damar Moyo sent his son, Raden Bandung Bondowoso to had a battle with Prabu Boko. The fighting between Raden Bandung Bondowoso and Prabu Boko was very furious. Because of the power of Raden Bandung Bondowoso, Prabu Boko can be defeated and died. When Patih Gupalo found out that his king has died, he ran away from the battle.

Raden Bandung Bondowoso chased him to Kraton Boko.When Patih Gupalo arrived at Kraton Boko, he reported about Prabu Boko to Princess Loro Jonggrang, that he was killed in the battle by a Pengging knight named Raden Bandung Bondowoso. Then the princess cried, she was very sad because of the death of her father. Raden Bandung Bondowoso finally arrived at Kraton Boko. He was surprised when he saw Princess Loro Jonggrang that she was very beautiful, so he could not help himself to not proposed her to become his wife.

However, Princess Loro Jonggrang did not want to marry Raden Bandung Bondowoso because he just killed her father. To refuse his propose, Princess Loro Jonggrang had a strategy. She had 2 requests should be fulfilled by Raden Bandung Bondowoso, then she would agree to marry him. The first request was that she asked him to make a well named Jalatunda. The second one was to make 1000 temples in one night. Raden Bandung Bondowoso accepted both requests. Immediately he started to make Jalatunda Well and he asked Princess Loro Jonggrang to see it when it finished.

Then, Princess Loro Jonggrang asked Raden Bandung Bondowoso to go into the well, and after that she ordered Patih Gupolo to pile up the well with stone. Both Princess Loro Jonggrang and Patih Gupolo thought that Raden Bandung Bondowoso had already died in the well, however Raden Bandung Bondowoso was still alive. He meditated and finally he could got out from the well safely.Raden Bandung Bondowoso was very angry with her action and he looked after her but because of her beauty, his anger became calm down.

After that, Princess Loro Jonggrang was asking Raden Bandung Bondowoso to do the second request which was to make 1000 temples in one night. Therefore Raden Bandung Bondowoso commanded genie to make the temples immediately. However Princess Loro Jonggrang intended to foil his effort to make the temples. She ordered the girls to pound and burn stubbles, so that it looked like the bright of sunrise which mean the morning had come and the light plus the noise made the cocks crowed loudly.Heard the cock crowd and people pounded rice and also saw the brightness in the east, therefore the genies were stop making temples.

The genies reported it to Raden Bandung Bondowoso that they could not continue built the temple because morning had come. Raden Bandung Bondowoso got the feeling that the morning had not come yet. He asked Princess Loro Jonggrang to count the amount of the temples and she came out that the total was only 999 temples, there was still 1 temple left. Therefore Princess Loro Jonggrang refused to marry Raden Bandung Bondowoso. Raden Bandung Bondowoso felt deceived then he became very angry and he cursed her "Loro Jonggrang, there is only 1 temple left, let you be the one to make it complete". It was a miracle, suddenly Princess Loro Jonggrang transformed to a stone statue. Raden Bandung Bondowoso also cursed the girls who lived around Prambanan that there would be no man want to marry those girls because they helped Princess Loro Jonggrang.

Until today, the stone statue of Princess Loro Jonggrang is still in Candi Prambanan. Based on what is believed by old people, the couple who are dating in Prambanan temple will be broke up.