Legend of Gunung Batu Bangkai

Many years ago, in Loksado, lived a young man with his mother. He was called Andung Kuswara. He was a smart young man. He had medical skill that he learned from his late father. Andung Kuswara worked hard everyday to fulfill their daily needs. One day, Andung Kuswara went to the forest alone, searching for fruits and vegetables. On his way home, he found an old man squeezed badly between two big trees. Andung Kuswara immediately helped him. He then healed his wound perfectly. “Dear young man, I thank you for your help,” the old man said and took something hanging on his neck. “As my gratitude, I give you this necklace. Hopefully it would bring good fortune for you,” said the old man. Andung Kuswara took the gift and went home.
Both Andung Kuswara and his mother passed their times happily. But Andung Kuswara wanted a better life for him and his mother. “Maybe it is better to leave my home to another country and practice my medical skill,” he thought. However, he had not enough courage to tell his intention to his mother. He knew his mother would be alone if he left. After a month passed, finally Andung Kuswara told his mother about his intention. “Mother, I want to make our life better. I want to go to other country and find a better job,” he said to his mother. “Andung… my son. If it is your final decision, I won’t stop you. All I can do is pray for you to find what you’re searching for,” his mother said wisely. “Thank you, Mother,” Andung Kuswara smiled happily.
The next morning, Andung Kuswara left his homeland to pursue his dream. He went overseas. He walked for weeks until he reached the kingdom of Basiang. On his way, he met a farmer whose body was full of ulcers and scabies. Andung Kuswara tried to help him. He cured the farmer with his medical skill.
The farmer was so happy. He offered Andung Kuswara to stay at his home. He also told Andung Kuswara that almost all inhabitants of the country were suffering from the same diseases. The news about Andung Kuswara’s medical skill quickly spread throughout the whole country. All sick people come to him to be cured from their sickness.
The king of Basiang also heard the news about Andung Kuswara’s excellent medical skill. The king then ordered his guard to brought Andung Kuswara to cure the princess who was also been sick. “My daughter has been on her bed for two weeks. She can not do anything. Many healers had attempted to recover her, but they failed. Will you cure her?” asked the king to Andung Kuswara. “My Majesty, I am just a poor wanderer and I have minimal medical skill. So, please forgive me if I also fail in recovering the princess”, Andung Kuswara replied.
Andung Kuswara was then allowed to enter the princess‘s room. The princess was very pale and weak. However, her beauty clearly seemed through her wonderful face. Andung Kuswara was amazed looking at her, “Ah, the princess is so beautiful,” he said to himself. He then tried to cure the princess with all his skill, but the princess did not move at all. Andung Kuswara then thought of another way. He took the necklace hanging on his neck. The necklace was soaked in the cup of water for a moment. After reading some prayers upon the water, Andung Kuswara spattered it on the princess‘s face for several times. Suddenly, the princess could move her body. Her eyes and lips opened, and her face turned bright. The princess was eventually able to sit on her bed.
The king was very grateful for Andung Kuswara‘s help to his only daughter. To express his gratefulness, he allowed Andung Kuswara to marry his daughter. The princess was happy to welcome Andung as her husband. The same was felt by Andung who fell in love with the princess.
A year passed, and the princess was pregnant. She told her husband that she desired to eat kasturi fruit that only grew in Kalimantan Island. Andung Kuswara‘s accompanied by several kingdom troops went to search the fruit. After arriving at the Kalimantan Island, Andung Kuswara headed to Loksado to find the kasturi tree which, according to local people, was bearing fruit. Andung Kuswara stood surprisingly after knowing that the tree grew exactly in front of his mother‘s small hut. Andung Kuswara immediately commanded the troops to return to the kingdom without taking the fruit to avoid meeting his own mother.
But suddenly Andung Kuswara’s mother went out from the hut. She saw her son among the troops in front of her home. “Andung…Andung…my son,” she tried to call her son. Andung Kuswara and the troops continuously walked to keep away from the old woman. However, she ran after them and kept calling for his son. Feeling ashamed in front of the troops, Andung Kuswara said angrily to his own mother, “Stop calling me as your son, old woman. I am a nobility of the Basiang Kingdom. I never know an old woman like you.” After that, Andung kuswara continued walking.
Andung Kuswara’s mother was shocked to hear those words from her beloved son. She cried and prayed with trembling lips, “Oh my God, show your power and justice.” Her tears had not been drying when the sky suddenly turned dark and thunder stroke repeatedly. After that, a sudden storm smashed and heavy rain fell dementedly. Suddenly Andung Kuswara‘s body slowly turned into stone.
Since the time, the locals called the mountain as Gunung Batu Bangkai (mountain of decease stone), because the stone that lays on it resembles human body. The mountain located in the sub district of Loksado, South Kalimantan .

The Wise King

Long time ago, there was a kingdom named Sanggau in the Borneo Island. It was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom under the leadership of their wise king. There was a market in the kingdom of Sanggau. Pak Razak was a famous cook there. He owned his own restaurant in the market. One day, Pak Razak was cooking in his restaurant when a farmer passed by. But the farmer stopped in front of Pak Razak’s restaurant. He smells the aroma of the delicious food Pak Razak was cooking. “Hmmm… delicious… yummy,” said the farmer. "Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to come to my restaurant or not?” Pak Razak asked. "No, I don't. Smelling the aroma of your delicious food makes me full," said the farmer. “So you’re full by smelling my food?” asked Pak Razak again. “Yes, I am,” the farmer answered. “If that’s the case, you have to pay me for the smell of my delicious food,” said Pak Razak. “Ridiculous, I don’t want to pay. I didn’t eat anything,” the farmer refused to pay. But Pak Razak kept persisting that the farmer must pay for the aroma of his food. Both of them started to quarrel. People came and asked them to calm down. They suggested that Pak Razak and the farmer go to the King to solve the problem.

In the following day, Pak Razak and the farmer went to the palace. "Please tell me what happened,” asked the King. Pak Razak and the farmer told the King about the problem. "Hmm...I have the solution,” said the King after he heard the story from both Pak Razak and the farmer. The King then asked the farmer to bring out his money. The farmer took a gold coin from his pocket. “Now put your coins into this bottle.” The farmer then put his coin into a bottle prepared by the King’s servant. ”Do you hear the sound of the coins?" asked the King to Pak Razak. "Yes, I do," answered Pak Razak. "Then, the farmer has just paid you. He pays your delicious aroma with the sound of his money," explained the King. Pak Razak was silent. He knew the King was right. The King just gave him a lesson. He then apologize to the farmer.

The Origin of Landak River

Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. They lived simply and they like to help other people, especially one who in afflictions. One night, the farmer and his wife were resting in their house. The farmer was sitting beside his sleeping wife. Suddenly, a white centipede came out from the wife’s head. The farmer was amazed. He then followed the centipede until they reach a small pond not far from their house. Then the centipede suddenly disappeared. The farmer went home and found his wife still soundly asleep.

In the morning, the wife told his husband about the dream she had last night. “I was walking through a vast field, and I came to a lake. I saw a giant hedgehog in the lake. It was glaring at me, so I ran away.” After he heard his wife’s dream, the farmer went back to the small pond. In the pond, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a golden hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond. The farmer then brought the statue home.

At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him, “Please let me stay in your home. As return, I will give you everything you want. Just caress the statue’s head and say the prayer. There are two kinds of prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop your wish. Now memorize the prayers.”

In the next day, the farmer told his wife about his dream. They really wanted to prove it. The farmer slowly caressed the statue's head. He said the prayer and asked for rice. Suddenly, rice came out of the mouth of the statue. The rice kept on coming out from the statue's mouth. The farmer immediately said the prayer to stop it. The rice then stopped coming out from the statue.

The farmer and his wife then asked for other things, jewelry and other stuff they needed. They became very rich. But they still like to help other people. A lot of poor came to them for help. Unfortunately, a thief found out about the secret of the golden hedgehog statue. Pretending to be a poor asking for help, he stole the statue from the farmer’s house.

The thief blurred to the district area of Ngabang. There was a drought in the area. The thief wanted sympathy from the people, so he said to them that he would provide them with water. The thief then caressed the hedgehog statue and said the prayer. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. All the people were so happy. But the water kept on coming out. The thief didn’t know the prayer to stop the wish. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water as it was started to flood the area. The thief also wanted to run away, but he cannot move his legs. In his vision, there was a giant hedgehog holding both his legs. Water kept coming from the statue and slowly it became a river. The thief was drowned in the river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.

The Golden Watermelon

Long time ago, at the north area of West Kalimantan, lived a wealthy merchant. He had two sons. The older one is named Muzakir and the younger one is named Dermawan. The two brothers were so different in their attitudes. Muzakir had a very mean and greedy character. On the contradictory, Dermawan was a caring and kind person. He was not greedy and always tried to help those in needs.

Before he passed away, the merchant divided all of his money equally to both of his sons. He did it so that both of his sons will not envious at each other. Muzakir then bought a big cash-box. He put his entire share inside the cash-box and locked it. When a poor came to Muzakir’s house, he laughs at them instead of giving them something. If the poor don’t want to leave, Muzakir would summon his servants to chase them away.

Many of the poor in that area had heard about Muzakir’s rude attitude, therefore they preferred to come to Dermawan. When Dermawan saw those peoples coming, he sincerely welcome them to his house and shared money with those who needed it. It was almost every day a poor came for his help that f inally he ran out of money. Dermawan then moved to a smaller house. He also worked as a foreman. His salary was not much, only enough to buy his own daily meals. But Dermawan was happy with his simple life.

His elder brother laughed when he heard the news about Dermawan. He always thought that Dermawan was a fool to share his money with other people. He himself has just bought a large new house. “There is no one who as stupid as my younger brother,” he said. 

One day, when Dermawan was sitting and relaxing in his house yard, a sparrow suddenly fell off in front of him. The sparrow twittered in pain. “Poor bird, did you broke your wing?” He took the bird and examines its wings. He’s right. One of the sparrow’s wings is broken. “Let me take care of you,” he said. Dermawan bandaged the sparrow’s wing and then he took some rice to feed the poor bird. After some time, the bird gradually tamed and was no longer afraid to Dermawan. Few days later, its wings were completely healed. After a while, it flew to the sky. The following day, the sparrow came to visit Dermawan. It held a seed with its beak, and then it put the seed in front of Dermawan. It was an ordinary seed, but Dermawan accepted it with a big smile on his face. He then planted the seed in the back yard of his house.

Three days later, the seed started to grow. It was a watermelon tree. Dermawan took good care of the tree. He thought the tree would bear many fruits since it was so blossomy. But, from all the flowers, only one turned to fruit. Day by day, the fruit grows bigger, bigger than any watermelon Dermawan ever see. Harvesting time finally came and he decided to take the watermelon. “Oh my God, it is so heavy”, he uttered while trying hardly to carry it into the house to put on the table. He took a knife and started to cut the watermelon. Dermawan was shocked. Inside the watermelon is some kind of yellow sand. “What could this be?” Dermawan wondered. Then he realized that the strange yellow sand was actually a pile of pure golden sand. “Holy God, it’s gold. I’m rich,” he danced happily. He heard bird twittered and he looked outside. He saw the sparrow on a tree. “Thank you”, he shouted. “Thank you”, he shouted again, and then the sparrow flew away.

Dermawan then bought a big house with a very big garden the next day. All of the poor came to his house and were welcomed for meals. This time, Dermawan would not run out of money. He had so much money, and his fields produced plants with good fruits as well.

The news about Dermawan’s fortune was heard by Muzakir and made him envy. He went to Dermawan house, and Dermawan honestly told his brother about the sparrow. Muzakir immediately commanded his servants to find a bird with broken wings as he heard the story from his brother. A week passed, but Muzakir’s servants still couldn’t find such bird. He was so angry and even couldn‘t sleep during the nights. The next day, he asked one of his servants to catch a bird using chopsticks. Of course, the chopsticks hurt the bird and broke its wings. Muzakir then pretended to pity the bird and took care of it. Days passed and the bird was completely healed and let to fly. The following day, the bird came back to Muzakir and brought a seed for him. He was very happy. ”I will be very rich soon, even richer than Dermawan,” he said to himself.

Muzakir planted the seed at the back yard of his house and it grew to a fine watermelon tree after several days. It also bore only one fruit, which was much bigger than that once owned by Dermawan. As the harvesting time approached, Muzakir asked his servants to take the fruit into his house. He couldn‘t wait to find a pile of golden sand inside. He cut the watermelon himself and was very shocked when black mud mixed with dirt flushed out to his face. It smelled very bad. Muzakir‘s clothes and also the room were terribly dirty because of it. He ran to the street because he couldn‘t stand the rotten smell from the watermelon. All the people on the street laughed at him for what they saw.

The Crying Stone

One upon a time, lived a poor old widow in a small village. She lived with her daughter. Her daughter was very beautiful but also very lazy and arrogant. She never helped her mother and didn’t want to know what problem her mother had. Everyday, she put make up and wears her best clothes. She always wanted to look rich and beautiful.

One day, the mother and her daughter went to the market to buy some food. At first, the daughter refused to accompany her mother, but finally she agreed. “I’ll go with you, but you must walk behind me,” said the daughter. She didn't want to walk side by side with her mother. Although her mother was very sad, she agreed to walk behind her daughter.

On the way to the market, everybody admired the girl's beauty. But they were also curious. Behind the beautiful girl, there was an old woman with a simple dress. The girl and her mother looked very different. “Hello, beautiful girl. Who is the old woman behind you? Is she your mother?" they asked. “No, she is not my mother. She is my servant,” the girl answered. Her mother was very sad to hear that, but she didn't say anything. She could understand that her daughter was ashamed.

The girl and the mother met other people. Again they asked who the woman behind the beautiful girl. And again the girl answered that her mother is her servant. She always said that her mother is her servant every time people asked.

At last, the mother cannot hold the pain anymore. She prayed to God to punish her daughter. Suddenly, the girl's leg turns into stone. Slowly, the process continues to the upper part of the girl's body. The girl was in panic. "Mother, please forgive me! Mother!" she cried and asked her mother to forgive her. But it's already too late. Her whole body finally becomes a big stone. Until now, people can still see tears falling down from the stone. People then call it batu menangis (it mean the crying stone)