Timun Mas
herself. Mbok Srini nodded her head as a
A long time ago, there was a widow named
Mbok Srini. Her husband had passed away
a while ago, so she lived alone. She had no
children and she prayed to God to get a
child. One night when she prayed, a giant
passed her house and heard her pray.
The giant said, “I can give you a child, but
you should give the child back to me when
she is seventeen years old”. Mbok Srini was
so happy and didn’t think the risk of losing
the child later.
She agreed to the offer. Then, the giant
gave her the cucumber seeds and asked
Mbok Srini to plant them around her house.
The next day, she planted the seeds just
like what the giant said.
Shortly after the seeds grew up after some
days and there was only one that grew into
a huge golden cucumber. Mbok Srini
plucked the golden cucumber carefully and
carried it home. With care, she sliced it and
she was so surprised that a cute baby girl
was inside.
Then she named the baby with Timun Mas
which means ‘Golden Cucumber”. She
loved the baby very much.
Years passed and Timun Mas has grown to
be a beautiful and lovely young woman. She
was really smart and kind as well. That is
why Mbok Srini kept thinking about her
promise to the giant.
One night, Mbok Srini had a dream. She
must meet a holy man who lived in a place
called mount Gundul. That holy man could
help to save her daughter.
The next morning, Mbok Srini went to mount
Gundul. She met the holy man and he gave
a pouch to Mbok Srini. “This pouch is for
her. Tell her to open and use the items one
by one”, said the holy man. The pouch
contained cucumber seeds, needles, salt,
and shrimp paste. The holy man said that
Timun Mas could use them to protect
sign that she understood the command.
Then she came back home. At home, Mbok
Srini then said about her promise with the
giant to her daughter and about the bag
given by the holy man.
A few days later, the giant came to Mbok
Srini’s house and asked for her daughter.
Mbok Srini told her daughter to run from the
back door and took the pouch from a holy
man with her. The giant was so angry and
rushed toward Timun Mas. He was getting
closer and closer. She then opened the
pouch and grab the cucumber seeds.
She threw those seeds and instantly they
grew into the huge cucumber fields. The
vines wrapped around the giant and made
him slower, but the green giant managed to
escape and continued his pursue for Timun
Mas.
Timun Mas threw the second item and the
needles magically turned into the lush
bamboo trees which were thorny. The giant
was bleeding and scratched. Unfortunately,
he made it and chased her again.
Timun Mas threw the salt that was inside
the pouch. That made the soil which the salt
touched turned into the very deep sea.
The giant almost drowned there, but he
swam across it. From a far place, Timun
Mas saw it. She then grab the last thing in
the pouch and threw it. It was the shrimp
paste and made the soil became a large
swamp of boiling mud.
Finally, the giant was trapped there and the
mud drowned him. Everything has ended.
Timun Mas came back to her home and
lived happily ever after with Mbok Srini.
From the story we learned that bad
intentions like those of the giants’ can bring
harm. We can also learn that with effort,
hard work, and self-confidence, we can face
any obstacle.
(MIKAELA RATRI KHALEEFA)