Crying Stone

The province of West Kalimantan is one Indonesian province bordered directly to the
eastern Malaysia. There are so many rivers here; thus the province is called “the province of the
thousands river.” Amongst the local inhabitants of West Kalimantan, a girl was cursed with a
stone just because of her disobedient to her mother. Here is the story!

*** Once upon a time, there was a family of a widow, and her only daughter living in a
hinterland of West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The widow was just an old woman; while
her daughter was a charming girl, whose name was Darmi. Both lived in a decrepit hut. They
lived poor since the widow`s husband passed away. He was gone leaving no inheritance to the
family. Consequently, to fulfil their needs, they were forced willy-nilly to work much harder.
However, Darmi was not a hard-worker, totally differed from her mother. She was a lazy girl
who spent almost of her times dressing up and adoring her reflection on the mirror. One of her
bad habits was showing off her beauty to the local people living in the surroundings. She never
wanted to help her mother working at the field. If her mother asked her for help, Darmi refused.
“Girl, will you help at the field, now?” the mother asked. “No, I won`t! I don`t want to go there.
I`m afraid my skin turns dark,” Darmi answered to her mother without looking at her. “You let
me to work there alone, don`t you?” “Mom, everyone knows that you are an old woman while I
am a pretty young girl. So, people will get attracted to me and not you. That is why I prefer
staying at home to working outside in the field because I…! am…! waiting for a rich boy
propose me to get married with.” Darmi`s mother was speechless to hear that. It was as if she
was stricken by a light realizing that her daughter did no respect to her at all. Then, she went to
the field alone and Darmi stayed at home. Worse, Darmi used to beg money from her mother,
soon after she went back from work. In fact, she earned too little to meet their daily need. “Mom,
where is the money?!” Darmi asked. “No! I won`t give this to you. We need this to buy some
foods,” the mother said. “But I`m running out of face powder. I don`t have it anymore, Mom! I
need to buy a new one,” The mother got angry to her daughter but she repressed it. She
surrendered and gave her the money. Darmi “bad-habit” towards her mother occurred almost
everyday. The mother worked too hard in the field; while Darmi stayed at home. The mother
went back home; then, Darmi begged for the money. One day, Darmi`s mother was going to a
nearest market from her home. Darmi knew this, and she got her mother to buy some cosmetics.
However, Darmi`s mother did not know anything about cosmetics. She asked Darmi to
accompany her to the market. “Go with me to the market so you can choose which one that you
want,” the mother said. “I don`t want to go with you!” Darmi answered. “But I don`t know
which one!” Then, Darmi gave up. She followed her mother to go to the market. “Ok, Mom! I
will go with you, but please, you have to walk behind me!” said Darmi, who got her mother to
act as if the old woman was her maid. “Why, girl?” the mother wondered. “I feel ashamed to
walk along with an old woman like you. Look at me! I`m a graceful girl so I won`t people leave
me because they know you`re my mother!” Darmi explained. Both then looked for goods in the
market. Darmi`s mother walked behind her daughter. She brought a plastic bag containing the
things they got from there. Actually, they were between a girl and her mother. But somehow they
looked contrast. Darmi wore elegant clothes and walked gracefully; while her mother wore a
worn out clothes with rumbling face. Along the way in the market, many greeted Darmi, and
some of them asked who the old woman was. In a moment, Darmi met her friends. “Hi, Darmi!
Where`re you goin`? “Just looking around here. I wish I could find something good here,” she
said. “Then, who`s that one? Is that your Mom?” one of her friends asked Darmi while pointing
at the mother. “No, of course! She is a maid at my house, gals!” Darmi`s mother was totally
shocked to hear that. She couldn`t believe those words came out from her daughter. No matter
what, she tried hard to calm herself down. She ease off her anger and went ahead accompanying
her daughter. In another moment, an unknown man greeted Darmi. It appears that the man would
try to attract Darmi`s attention. But sure, she did not want to such a common man. “Hi, girl!
Where are you going?” asked the man while smilling. “As you can see by yourself, I`m here
looking for cosmetics,” she answered. “Cosmetics to beautify you? And who`s the old woman
behind you?” “She`s my maid,” Darmi said. What an attacking answer! Darmi`s mother could no
longer restrain her anger. Soon after Darmi said that words, the mother stopped, and took a sit on
a swing on the sidewalk. “Why do you stop?” Darmi questioned her mother but she did not call
her “Mom.” “Hey! Are you listening to me?!” she shouted once more because the mother was
just silent. The mother kept silent, ignoring the call of her daughter who had hurt her. Since then,
Darmi`s mother mumbled with her hands looked up to the sky. She was reciting prayers to God
so that her daughter was cursed to be a stone. “Hey, old woman! What… are… you doing?!!”
Darmi kept stubborn, admitting the old woman was not her mother. Darmi`s mother intended not
to answer. She kept praying to God upon a curse towards her daughter. All of sudden, the sky
turned dark. The loud thunder roared back and forth. The rain fell heavily. At that time, Darmi
could move her foots anymore. Gradually, her foots turned into black stone that later on covered
her entire body. “Mom…! Mom…! What`s happening to me?” finally she called her mother
“Mom.” “I`m sorry, Mom! I`m so sorry…,” she cried loudly. Everything went on. The curse
upon Darmi`s disobedience had happened. The stone covered almost all her body. When the
stone almost reached her head, Darmi shed tears. All the people passing by the market saw this.
Likewise, they watched the girl crying. The weather returned as normal. Now, the stone had
covered Darmi`s entire body, the disobedient girl. What a miracle, the stone, due the present,
keeps spouting water as if a crying girl. Some people took the stone, and put it on a corner of the
market. Since that time, people called the stone the “crying stone.” ***

Here is the story about the origins of the “crying stone,” which is originally from the province of
West Kalimantan, Indonesia. There is a worth lesson can be taken from the story. The figure
Darmi strongly refused to admit that the old woman was actually her mother. She was a lazy
while her mother was a hard-worker. Consequently, she was cursed to be a stone upon her
disobedience towards her mother. In the Tunjuk Ajar Melayu (Effendy: 2006), it is said: Kalau
hidup mendurhaka Kemana pergi akan celaka Kalau suka berbuat durhaka Orang benci Tuhan
pun murka The above pantun suggests that we should obey all our parents` good orders. Two
logic consequences of disobedience, as what the pantun says, are luring both rage from God and
surrounding people.