The King, The Witch and The Priest

Title: The King, The Witch and The Priest Author: Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 2002. This time Pramoedya wrote a famous folk tale from east Java, Indonesia. This story is widely known in Java, Bali, and Madura. The setting of the story is East Java in the 12th century. It is a story about political conflict in a kingdom named Kediri. The people lived prosperous life under king Erlangga. In the village of Girah there was a widow named Calon Arang. She was a well known and powerful witch so everybody was afraid of her. People believed that she had many victims. She had a beautiful daughter, Ratna Manggali. When Ratna Manggali reached the age of marriage nobody dared to marry her. This fact made Calon Arang angry to the community. So she decided to take revenge by killing as many people as possible. One day she prayed to goddess Batari Durga. She wanted to be granted ability to spread plague to the whole country. Batari Durga agreed on one condition that she might not reach the capital. Before long plague spread all over the country and killed many people. Soon people heard the rumors that the plague was created by the witch. The situation got worse and worse. More and more people died. Finally the news about the plague reached king Erlangga. The king held a meeting with his advisors to discuss the situation and then decided to halt and to punish Calon Arang. Soon a troop was sent to the village of Girah to arrest Calon Arang. Unfortunately the troop was easily defeated, even the commander was killed by her. Meanwhile the plague got more ferocious. One more time the king held a meeting to find a way to defeat the witch. Then King Erlangga assigned a well known priest. His name was Empu Baradah, a kind hearted priest. Empu Baradah was contacted and he agreed to help. Empu Barada suggested Empu Bahula, his student, to marry Ratna Manggali. Empu Bahula then proposed her. Because Calon Arang was a rich witch the wedding ceremony was held extravagantly. Empu Bahula then spied on his mother in law. Ratna Manggali who loved him wholeheartedly did not have any suspicion at all so she revealed to her husband that her mother had a secret book of witchcraft. Empu Bahula asked Ratna to take the book for him and she agreed. One day when Calon Arang slept Ratna took the book. Empu Bahula then gave it to Empu Barada. Empu Barada learned the secret of Calon Arang's witchcraft. Then he went to infected areas and he cured the people with his spell. Eventually Empu Barada met with Calon Arang. They fought with spell and finally Calon Arang died. The people of Kediri were saved from the plague. Literature has power because it can shape public opinion. The Javanese rulers realized it and used it for their advantages. I believe this story is an instrument to shape public opinion. The rebel has been described as evil and the ruler has been described as the good side. Consequently the general public was convinced that the ruling elite has privileged to rule. *