TRICKY MONKEY AND FIERCE TIGER

This is a story from a land called Tropic. There the sun always shines brightly all year long. There are only two seasons – dry season and rainy season. In dry season there is no rain at all. The days are always sunny. The sun rises at six in the morning and sets at six in the afternoon. While in rainy season the weather is always cloudy and rainy. However, the temperature is warmer in rainy season. The land is very fertile and productive. There are so many fruits and vegetables there. That’s why most people work on agriculture. Some of them grow rice while the others grow vegetables and fruits. They were prosperous and happy.


There were many animals in Tropic land. There were tigers, monkeys, leopard, panthers, black panthers, elephants and many more. Monkey liked to live there because fruits and vegetables were abundant. Tigers like to live there because there were many buffaloes, goats, sheep, goose chicken etc. They did not have to hunt in forest. They often stole in villages. So they also lived prosperous life. But their numbers grew rapidly. Consequently their need was also rising. Then members of monkey community discussed their problems. Three leaders then appeared in monkey community. White monkey, red monkey and blue monkey. They were the smartest ones in their community. They discussed to find a solution. Finally they decided to improve their efforts of stealing in people’s farm.


The red monkey said: ‘We must improve our efforts of stealing. It must be more frequent and more organized. From now on we must steal five times a day. And we must do it in groups. Let’s say in group of five. Three of you will steal and the others will watch for safety. In case any human being appears, the guards should warn them so the whole group can run’ ‘That’s a good idea, I will inform the whole community about it’, Said the white monkey and blue monkey.

 The next day they implemented the decision. The plan ran well. In a short period their result were doubled. The monkey community enjoyed prosperity from their acts of stealing in human’s farm and rice field. Then the three colorful monkeys became heroes. They were highly respected in the monkey community. At first human being did not notice anything. But then they realized that their harvest diminished significantly. They were suspicious that animals stole their crop. So they decided to improve their security. They patrolled and guarded their farm and rice field night and day.


Some of them spotted groups of monkey tried to steal in their farm. They could repel some of them but still the monkey could steal from them. The problem made them to discuss it. They decided to set various kinds of traps. The plan worked. Several days later many monkeys were trapped. Their feet and hands were caught so they could not move. Human being arrested and punished them. Some of the monkeys were even killed. The monkeys were very worried with the problem. They realized that they were in danger.


The three leaders of monkey met again. They decided to find support from a powerful ally. The next day they met tigers. There were three tigers that they talked to. The striped tiger is the biggest and the strongest one. He was the king of the forest in Tropic land.

 The red monkey said: ‘O, great king of forest, glorious king of forest. Please accept respect and greetings from our community’
 ‘What do you want from me?’
‘We come here to build mutual benefit cooperation between our two communities’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I see a great opportunity for us to make tremendous profit. Near my village there is a village where human beings live. It is very prosperous. We can cooperate to exploit it’.
 ‘How can we do?’
 ‘We will take their crops and cattle’
 ‘Do you mean stealing?’ No, tigers don’t steal! And we don’t eat their crops’
 ‘You don’t have to do it. Let us take it from them. All you have to do is just protect us from human being. They always attacked us lately’.
 ‘What do I get in return?’ asked the tiger. ‘You can eat their buffaloes, goat and chicken’.
 ‘I told you tigers don’t steal’
 ‘I will do it for you if you protect us’
 ‘OK from now on bring us buffaloes, goats, sheep, and chicken everyday. I don’t care how you get them. As long as you can provide us, we will protect you. If human attack you, just tell us. We will see to it’.
‘Thank you very much, great king for your cooperation and protection. I promise I’ll do my best’. 

The next day monkey stole again but they were trapped and arrested by human. So the three monkey leaders immediately came to see the tiger.
‘O great king! We need you help. My people are arrested by human when they were working on a farm. We told them that we were your humble citizen. But they are very arrogant. They said they don’t care who we are. They said you are just a cat’.

 The tiger, the leopard and the Black Panther were very angry to hear that. They immediately came to the village. They talked to chief of village.

‘I am the king of the forest. I demand that the all monkey in your custody be released immediately. They are innocent. They were working when you arrested them. Your men who are responsible must be punished. And from now on monkey must be free to work anywhere in Tropic land. Furthermore you must pay tribute to us. Provide meat for us everyday’.

 Nobody dare to fight the tiger, leopard and black panther so human being had no choice but to accept the tiger’s demand. Since then on monkey were free to take whatever they want from human’s farm. Their farm and rice field were very fertile and productive but animals took the most part of it. So tiger, leopard, black panther and monkey lived prosperous life while human being lived poor life. People in Tropic land are still poor today although they live in a rich land.

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. *