Tangkuban
Perahu
Once
upon a time in west Java, Indonesia lived a wise king who had a beautiful
daughter. Her name was Dayang Sumbi. She liked weaving very
much. Once she was weaving a cloth when one of her tool fell to the
ground. She was very tired at the time so she was too lazy to take
it. Then she just shouted outloud.
‘Anybody
there? Bring me my tool. I will give you special present. If
you are female, I will consider you as my sister. If you are male,
I will marry you
Suddenly
a male dog, its name was Tumang, came. He brought her the falling
tool. Dayang Sumbi was very surprised. She regretted her words but
she could not deny it. So she had to marry Tumang and leave her
father. Then they lived in a small village. Several months later
they had a son. His name was Sangkuriang. He was a handsome and
healthy boy.
Sangkuriang
liked hunting very much. He often went hunting to the wood using his
arrow. When he went hunting Tumang always with him. In the past
there were many deer in Java so Sangkuriang often hunted for deer.
One
day Dayang Sumbi wanted to have deer’s heart so she asked Sangkuriang to
hunt for a deer. Then Sangkuriang went to the wood with his arrow
and his faithful dog Tumang. But after several days in the wood Sangkuriang
could not find any deer. They were all disappeared. Sangkuriang was
exhausted and desperate. He did not want to disappoint her mother so he
killed Tumang. He did not know that Tumang was his father. At home
he gave Tumang’s heart to her mother.
But
Dayang Sumbi knew that it was Tumang’s heart. She was so angry that she
could not control her emotion. She hit Sangkuriang at his head.
Sangkuriang was wounded. There was a scar in his
head. She also repelled her son. Sangkuriang left
her mother in sadness.
Many
years passed and Sangkuriang became a strong young man. He wandered
everywhere. One day he arrived at his own village but
he did not realized it. There he met Dayang Sumbi. At the time
Dayang Sumbi was given an eternal beauty by God so she stayed young
forever. Both of them did not know each other. So they fell in love
and then they decided to marry.
But
then Dayang Sumbi recognized a scar on his Sangkuriang’s head. She knew
that Sangkuriang was his son. It was impossible for them to marry.
She told him but he did not believe her. He wished that they marry
soon. So Dayang Sumbi gave a very difficult condition. She wanted
Sangkuriang to build a lake and a boat in one night! She said she needed
that for honeymoon.
Sangkuriang
agreed. With the help of genie and spirits Sangkuriang tried to build
them. By midnight he had finished the lake by building a dam in
Citarum river. Then he started building the boat. It was almost
dawn when he nearly finished it. Meanwhile Dayang Sumbi kept watching on
them. She was very worried when she knew this. So she made lights
in the east. Then the spirits thought that it was already dawn. It
was time for them to leave. They left Sangkuriang alone. Without
their help he could not finish the boat.
Sangkuriang
was very angry. He kicked the boat. Then the boat turned out to be
Mount Tangkuban Perahu. It means boat upside down. From a distant
it looks like a boat upside down.
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