Cindelaras

(Folklore from East Java)

RADEN Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen. Besides
that, the king also had a beautiful concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad
personalities. She was jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave
the palace. By doing so, she could be the new queen.
The concubine asked the palace healer to help her do the bad plan. They told the king
that the queen wanted to poison him. The king was angry. He sent the queen to a
jungle. It is the punishment for her. There was one condition that the king did not
know, the queen was pregnant.
After several months lived in the jungle, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
She named him Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy, and handsome young man.
One day, while Cindelaras helped her mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle
dropped an egg. He took the egg and carefully took care of it.
The egg hatched into a chick and then it became a strong rooster. The rooster had a
magical skill. It was very powerful and skilful in fighting with other roosters. Besides
that, the rooster could also sing. The song was about Cindelaras and his father, Raden
Putra. My master is Cindelaras. He lives in the jungle. His father is a king. His
name is Raden Putra. The rooster often sang the song.
When Cindelaras first heard that song, he ignored it. However, he could not stand it
anymore. He talked to his mother about it. His mother told him the whole story.
Cindelaras was very surprised. He decided to go to the palace to meet the king, his
father. Cindelaras also brought his rooster to go to the palace.
On the way to go there, he met some people. They asked him to fight his rooster with
their roosters. Cindelaras rooster won the fight. He won again and again. Cindelaras
great rooster was heard by King Raden Putra. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace
to fight his rooster with the kings rooster.
The king made a bet. If Cindelaras rooster won the fight, he would get all kings
jewellery. However, if Cindelarass rooster lost, he would be punished in a jail. The
two roosters fought bravely. In just few minutes, Cindelaras rooster won the fight!

Then, the rooster sang the song.

The king was surprised, he asked who Cindelaras was. He then told the king about her
mother living in the jungle. Later, the palace healer admitted his mistake. He said that
the queen was innocent. She never tried to kill the king. The king was very angry. He
ordered the concubine to be sent to jail. The king immediately went to the jungle to
pick up his wife. He apologized for sending her to the jungle and made her the queen
again.