A Fishy Tale

Once upon a time lived two brothers named I Tiing and I Glagah. They were orphan children. Their parents died when they were very young. They lived in a plain hut. They had to collect the rice left on the ground at the place where people stamped rice to eat. If they wanted to eat fish, they had to catch them in the river near their hut.

One day they were so lucky. The big brother, I Glagah, caught a big fish. I Glagah, impressed with the size of the fish, wanted to keep it, but his brother, I Tiing, persuaded him to roast the fish for their meal. After being advised, I Tiing agreed to follow his idea of keeping the fish.
Since then they fed the fish everyday by turns, the fish became bigger and bigger. They were so happy until one day, when the the two brothers went to help their neighbors working at the rice-field, a thief entered their hut. Since there was nobody, the thief could take everything available in the hut, including stealing the fish. He roasted the fish and ate it right away.
When I Glagah and I Tiing returned they were shocked seeing the bones of their beloved fish on the ground. I Glagah was so sad that he couldn’t help himself crying out loud. “Oh, God. Who could kill our beloved fish,” the tears ran down his cheeks.
To forget their sadness they decided to leave the hut and took the bones away with them. Then they built a new hut near a forest and buried the fish bones there.
Then something strange happened. On the ground where they buried the bones grew a tree with golden leaves. The two brothers were surprised and thanked God. They sold the leaves and used the money to start a new better life. At last they could live in moderate style.
One day, a king passed the hut on his hunting journey. He saw the golden tree and wanted to take it to his palace. He promised to make the two brothers his close assistants. They agreed, and since then they lived peacefully in the palace while working for the sake of the king and their country. Retold by Astra

Balinese Life
Amulet of Dry Banana Leaf

 Various sources of the Hindu’s Holy Book clarify a woman’s existence, which at the core suggests paying high respect to them. The Holy Book Manawa Dharmasastra implies that women not just respected, but loved by the father, husband’s sister/brother, and her brother (sister) in law. According to this book, the deity will be joyful if the woman is respected. Written also is, the one who wants to live in prosperity should respect the woman and give her gifts in form of jewelry, clothes, and food on certain days.

t’s November, and the rainy season has not yet arrived. Theoretically, October-April is the rainy season in Indonesia. Many plants in the garden have turned pale and dry. The heat of the sun seems to sting their skin deeply. Tragically, hectares of rice fields lack water. Farmers are sad, as their plants need water. No rain stoppers are willing to change their profession to ‘rain- makers.’
His problems are due to drought and he must spend the night in his rice field. Since there is little water flowing in the gutter, everyone is fighting for it. So, the night in the field is crowded. Suja must control his water against stealing by others. Sometimes it can lead them to quarrel. One thing that makes him fearful is the appearance of animals like monkeys or three-wheel carts over the paddy leaves. It is believed that some of his friends also “fight” for the water applying black magic.
Made Suja is a young farmer who experiences the same problem. When he dreams in his small hut in the rice field, he recalls his friend who taught religion in senior high school. He told him about a jimat that can generate inner power. Soon he will plan to visit his friend’s house.
By sunset, he prepares himself to go to the house of Made Mangku, his former teacher. As his teacher is an amateur shaman, he doesn’t forget to bring some light offerings for begging spiritual advice. It seems to be the right time for Made Suja as Pak Mangku is relaxed on the front verandah after taking a bath.
“Pak Mangku, do you still remember me?” he asked.
“Hmm.” Made Mangku looks down while scratches his head. He seems to be retrieving his ‘name in his brain’.
“Of course, I remember. You must be Made Suja. You were my naughty student.”
“It makes me ashamed. Don’t say so.”
“Take a seat.”
“Thank you, Pak Mangku.”
“What seems to be your problem, Made?” asked Pak Mangku.
“I need your help on how I can take control of my water with full confidence. I’d also like to protect myself against influences of black magic.”
“Made, Made, actually that is beyond my ability. I am just a common teacher. I really do not have the experience to do something like that. But if you force me to try, I’ll try and find a way out.”
For a while, Pak Mangku keeps silent. He thinks hard to find a solution for this. It is difficult for him to refuse as Made Suja has already come with offerings.
“Okay, Made. Just wait here for a moment. I’ll prepare something for you.”
Pak Mangku leaves Made Suja on the verandah for his sacred room. As he promised, it comes to his mind to create an amulet. He takes a small piece of dry banana leaf, then folds the leaf and wraps it in white shroud. Afterwards, it is tied with a three-colored thread, black, white and red.
In the meantime, Made Suja keeps on praying on the verandah in order that Pak Mangku can help him as he requested. No matter how much the price, he will pay, provided it gives him inner power for his ‘night life’ in the rice field.
When Pak Mangku approached him, Made Suja feels relieved, more so, he saw Pak Mangku’s small package. He guessed it must be what he needs.
“Made, here you are. You can take this when you are doing your duty. Tell nobody about this. If you do, it will loose its inner power,” said Pak Mangku convincingly.
“Thank you. Thank you Pak Mangku. This will be very useful for me.” Having fulfilled his intention, he askes permission to go home.
“Keep your promise, Made, and make sure that you will not disturb others with this amulet,” Pak Mangku giving his last message to him.
Made Suja goes home gladly. He now thinks that he can get what he needs. On arriving home, he tells his wife. Immediately, he makes the preparations for his night in the rice field. Sarong, flashlight and stick are always ready with him, and the most important thing, the amulet, is put in his pocket.
As he walks to his rice field, about 2 kilometers from his house, he encounters nobody on the way, as it is already dark. The wind blows rather coolly. Night creatures like crickets, frogs, fruit bats and others seem to welcome him with their voices along the small lane among the rice fields.
One by one, he sees flashlights in the distance. He rushes to check his temuku (water canal intersection) to see if somebody has already closed it. Thank God, nothing has happened. This always makes him worry, you know that his seedling plants have only been in for a week, they need water to refresh.
Seeing the condition seems to be under control, he leaves the temuku (intersection of the water canal) for his small hut to take a rest. Even though he does not like the hut, he tries to make it feel like home.
“Aahh… I’d better take a coffee and have a cigarette. I don’t want to fall asleep before midnight,” he says to himself. This is usually the critical time; others will close his water canal or other magic-related creatures.
He is absorbed in smoking while leaning on the pillar of the hut. He does not realize that he is falling asleep for a while. In a few seconds, he wakes up. Perhaps subconsciously, he sees a figure passing in front of him.
“Who’s that? Who? …
“Are you Pak Man?” he askes again if he is Pak Mandra, his neighbor. He feels something different.
Having realized that there is no response, he concludes that this must be a magical creature. He soon prepares prayers and his amulet. After that, he takes all accessories. Hunting is begun.
Hooos… he suddenly sees a monkey in front of him, he chases it far from the field. His friends follow him. This experience makes him more self-confident. It seems that the amulet worked effectively driven by superstition. In fact, the dry banana leaf has worked for him. After that, he never feels fear to enter his rice field at night. (BTN/Punia)