The fortune teller

In the great city of Taipei, there lived a man called Lin and his wife. They had no
children. Because of this, they were very unhappy. One day, they found a baby boy outside
their door. He was wrapped in a blanket and crying. They took the baby into their house and
called him Sau Ling, they loved him very much.
When Sau Ling was a young man, a fortune-teller came to the house. “You must send
your son away,” he said. “One day he will become a thief and cause you a lot of trouble.” Mr.
and Mrs. Ling were very sad to hear this. They believed what the fortune-teller said. They
gave Sau Ling some clothes and money and sent him away.
Several years later, Sau Ling was having a meal in an inn several miles from Taipei.
He  put his bag on the floor near his table. After finishing his meal, he picked up his bag.
“That’s strange!” he thought, “It feels so heavy.” He looked inside. It was full of small gold
bars. Then he realized that someone had taken his bag by mistake and left another bag in its
place.
That evening, a young man came to the inn “has anyone seen my bag?” he asked .Sau
Ling was very honest. He returned the bag him. The young man thanked him. “You are really
very honest,” he said .“ I shall ask my father to give you a job.”
The young man’s father was a rich merchant. He gave Sau Ling a good job. “But go
home first,” he said, “and take a holiday.”
Sau Ling returned to Taipei. Mr. and Mrs. Lin were delighted to see him again. The
fortune-teller was also present. Sau ling told them what had happened. The fortune-teller did
not know what to say. He left the house without saying a word. Mr. and Mrs. Lin never
believed in Fortune-teller after that. Sau Ling took them to live with him and they were very
happy and contented until the end of their lives.
 The story of lake Toba

Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north Sumatra. He lived in a
simple hut in a farming field. They did some gardening and fishing for his daily life.
One day, while the man was do fishing, he caught a big golden fish in his trap. It was the
biggest catch which he ever had in his life. Surprisingly, this fish turned into a beautiful
princess.

He felt in love with her and proposed her to be his wife. She said; "Yes, but you have
to promise not to tell anyone about the secret that I was once a fish, otherwise there will be a
huge disaster". The man made the deal and they got married, lived happily and had a
daughter.

Few years later, this daughter would help bringing lunch to her father out in the fields.
One day, his daughter was so hungry and she ate his father’s lunch. Unfortunately, he found
out and got furious, and shouted; “You damned daughter of a fish”. The daughter ran home
and asked her mother. The mother started crying, felt sad that her husband had broke his
promise.

Then she told her daughter to run up the hills because a huge disaster was about to
come. When her daughter left, she prayed. Soon there was a big earthquake followed by non-
stop pouring rain. The whole area got flooded and became Toba Lake. She turned into a fish
again and the man became the island of Samosir.
 CINDERELLA

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Cinderella. She lived with her step
mother and two step sisters. The step mother and sisters were conceited and bad tempered.
They treated Cinderella very badly. Her step mother made Cinderella do the hardest works in
the house; such as scrubbing the floor, cleaning the pot and pan and preparing the food for the
family. The two step sisters, on the other hand, did not work about the house. Their mother
gave them many handsome dresses to wear.

One day, the two step sister received an invitation to the ball that the king’s son was
going to give at the palace. They were excited about this and spent so much time choosing the
dresses they would wear. At last, the day of the ball came, and away went the sisters to it.
Cinderella could not help crying after they had left.

“Why are crying, Cinderella?” a voice asked. She looked up and saw her fairy
godmother standing beside her, “because I want so much to go to the ball” said Cinderella.
“Well” said the godmother,”you’ve been such a cheerful, hardworking, uncomplaining girl
that I am going to see that you do go to the ball”.

Magically, the fairy godmother changed a pumpkin into a fine coach and mice into a
coachman and two footmen. Her godmother tapped Cinderella’s raged dress with her wand,
and it became a beautiful ball gown. Then she gave her a pair of pretty glass slippers. “Now,
Cinderella”, she said; “You must leave before midnight”. Then away she drove in her
beautiful coach.

Cinderella was having a wonderfully good time. She danced again and again with the
king’s son. Suddenly the clock began to strike twelve, she ran toward the door as quickly as
she could. In her hurry, one of her glass slipper was left behind.

A few days later, the king’ son proclaimed that he would marry the girl whose feet
fitted the glass slipper. Her step sisters tried on the slipper but it was too small for them, no
matter how hard they squeezed their toes into it. In the end, the king’s page let Cinderella try
on the slipper. She stuck out her foot and the page slipped the slipper on. It fitted perfectly.

Finally, she was driven to the palace. The king’s son was overjoyed to see her again.
They were married and live happily ever after.
 Lutung Kasarung

Prabu Tapa Agung was an old king. He had two daughters, Purbararang and
Purbasari. Prabu Tapa Agung planned to retire as a king. He wanted Purbasari to replace him
as the leader of the kingdom.

Hearing this, Purbararang was angry. "You cannot ask her to be the queen, Father. I'm
older than she is. It's supposed to be me, not her!" said Purbararang. But the king still chose
Purbasari to be the next queen. Purbararang then set a bad plan with her fiance, Indrajaya.
Together they went to a witch and asked her to put a spell on Purbasari. Later, Purbasari had
bad skin. There were black dots all over her body. "You are not as beautiful as I am. You
cannot be the queen. Instead, you have to leave this palace and stay in a jungle," said
Purbararang. Purbasari was very sad. Now she had to stay in the jungle. Everyday she spent
her time playing with some animals there.

There was one monkey that always tried to cheer her up. It was not just an ordinary
monkey, he had magical power. And he also could talk with humans. The monkey's name
was Lutung Kasarung. He was actually a god. His name was Sanghyang Gurumina.

Lutung Kasarung planned to help Purbasari. He made a small lake and asked her to
take a bath there. Amazingly, her bad skin was cured. Now she got her beautiful skin back.
After that, she asked Lutung Kasarung to accompany her to go back to the palace.

Purbararang was very shocked. She knew she had to come up with another bad idea.
She then said, "Those who have longer hair will be the queen." The king then measured his
daughters' hair. Purbasari had longer hair. But Purbararang did not give up. "A queen must
have a handsome husband. If my fiance is more handsome than yours, then I will be the
queen," said Purbararang.

Purbasari was sad. She knew Purbararang's fiance, Indrajaya, was handsome. And she
did not have a fiance yet. "Here is my fiancé, Indrajaya. Where is yours?" asked Purbararang.
Lutung Kasarung came forward. Purbararang was laughing very hard. "Your fiance is a
monkey, ha ha ha." Suddenly, Lutung Kasarung changed into a very a handsome man. He
was even more handsome than Indrajaya. Purbasari then became the queen. She forgave
Purbararang and her fiance and let them stay in the palace.
 Story Of Sangkuriang

Long Time ago, there was a kingdom in Priangan Land. Lived a happy family. They
were a father in form of dog,his name is Tumang, a mother which was called is Dayang
Sumbi, and a child which was called Sangkuriang.

One day, Dayang Sumbi asked her son to go hunting with his lovely dog, Tumang.
After hunting all day, Sangkuriang began desperate and worried because he hunted no deer.
Then he thought to shot his own dog. Then he took the dog liver and carried home.

Soon Dayang Sumbi found out that it was not deer lever but Tumang's, his own dog.
So, She was very angry and hit Sangkuriang's head. In that incident, Sangkuriang got
wounded and scar then cast away from their home.

Years go bye, Sangkuriang had travel many places and finally arrived at a village. He
met a beautiful woman and felt in love with her. When they were discussing their wedding
plans, The woman looked at the wound in Sangkuriang's head. It matched to her son's wound
who had left severall years earlier. Soon she realized that she felt in love with her own son.

She couldn't marry him but how to say it. Then, she found the way. She needed a lake
and a boat for celebrating their wedding day. Sangkuriang had to make them in one night. He
built a lake. With a dawn just moment away and the boat was almost complete. Dayang
Sumbi had to stop it. Then, she lit up the eastern horizon with flashes of light. It made the
cock crowed for a new day.

Sangkuriang failed to marry her. She was very angry and kicked the boat. It felt over
and became the mountain of Tangkuban Perahu Bandung.
 Situ Bagendit

Once upon a time in Pasundan land, Garut, West Java, there lived a young rich
widow. She lived in a very beautiful large house in a village near Mount Situ Patenggang.
This young widow lived alone. Although her wealth was plentiful, she didn't have any friends
at all. You know why? Because she was a miser. She never helped other poor people in her
village, so people in the village named her Bagendit. It means a wealthy miser. And you
know what she did? She mocked and scorned other people who came to her house for a help.
What happened then?

One day, an old man came to her house. He wanted to get some water from Bagendit's
well. When he was trying to get a pail of water, Bagendit came out of the house and hit the
old man with a pounder. She beat up the man cruelly many times. Then, something amazing
happened. The old man got up steadily. He walked closer to Bagendit and pointed his cane to
her face. "Let God curse you, woman! For you are evil and ruthless!" rebuked the man
sharply.

Do you know what happened after that? Suddenly the water from the well gushed out
violently and in a sudden the water flooded over the village. Bagendit and her beautiful house
were drowned in the water. The village disappeared and nothing was left. There was only a
wide and deep lake and people called it Situ Bagendit. It means the Lake of Bagendit. Well,
that's the story.
 Snow White

Once upon a time there lived a little, named Snow White. She lived with her aunt and
uncle because her parents were died.

One day she heard her aunt and uncle talking about leaving Snow White in the castle
because they wanted to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow
White with them.

Snow White didn’t want her uncle and aunt to do this. So she decided to run away.
The next morning she run away from home when her aunt and uncle were having breakfast,
she run away into the wood.

In the wood she felt very tired and hungry. Then she saw this cottage. She knocked
but no one answered so she went inside and felt asleep.

Meanwhile seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There,
they found Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said; “What is your
name?”. Snow White said; “My name is Snow White”. One of the dwarfs said; “If you wish,
you may live here with us”. Snow White told the whole story about her. Then Snow white ad
the seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.
 The Story of Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih

Bawang Putih lived with her step mother and her step sister, Bawang Merah. Bawang
Putih's mother died when she was a baby. Her father remarried another woman and later her
step sister was born. Unfortunately, not long after that her father died. Since then, Bawang
Putih's life was sad. Her step mother and her step sister treated Bawang Putih badly and
always asked her to do all the household chores.

One morning, Bawang Putih was washing some clothes in a river. Accidentally, her
mother's clothes were washed away by the river. She was really worried so she walked along
the river side to find the clothes. Finally she met an old woman. She said that she kept the
clothes and would give them back to Bawang Putih if she helped the old woman do the
household chores. Bawang Putih helped her happily. After everything was finished, the old
woman returned the clothes. She also gave Bawang Putih a gift. The old woman had two
pumpkins, one pumpkin was small and the other one was big. Bawang Putih had to choose
one.

Bawang Putih was not a greedy girl. So she took the small one. After thanking the old
woman, Bawang Putih then went home. When she arrived home, her step mother and
Bawang Merah were angry. They had been waiting for her all day long. Bawang Putih then
told about the clothes, the old woman, and the pumpkin. Her mother was really angry so she
grabbed the pumpkin and smashed it to the floor. Suddenly they all were surprised. Inside the
pumpkin they found jewelries. "Bawang Merah, hurry up. Go to the river and throw my
clothes into the water. After that, find the old woman. Remember, you have to take the big
pumpkin," the step mother asked Bawang Merah to do exactly the same as Bawang Putih's
experience.

Bawang Merah immediately went to the river. She threw the clothes and pretended to
search them. Not long after that, she met the old woman. Again she asked Bawang Merah to
do household chores. She refused and asked the old woman to give her a big pumpkin. The
old woman then gave her the big one. Bawang Merah was so happy. She ran very fast. When
she arrived home, her mother was impatient. She directly smashed the pumpkin to the floor.
They were screaming. There were a lot of snakes inside the pumpkin! They were really
scared. They were afraid the snakes would bite them. "Mom, I think God just punished us.
We had done bad things to Bawang Putih. And God didn't like that. We have to apologize to
Bawang Putih," said Bawang Merah.

Finally both of them realized their mistakes. They apologized and Bawang Putih
forgave them. Now the family is not poor anymore. Bawang Putih decided to sell all the
jewelries and used the money for their daily lives.
 Malin Kundang

A long time ago, in a small village near the beach in West Sumatra, a woman and her
son lived. They were Malin Kundang and her mother. Her mother was a single parent
because Malin Kundang's father had passed away when he was a baby. Malin Kundang had
to live hard with his mother.

Malin Kundang was a healthy, dilligent, and strong boy. He usually went to sea to
catch fish. After getting fish he would bring it to his mother, or sold the caught fish in the
town. One day, when Malin Kundang was sailing, he saw a merchant's ship which was being
raided by a small band of pirates. He helped the merchant. With his brave and power, Malin
Kundang defeated the pirates. The merchant was so happy and thanked to him. In return the
merchant asked Malin Kundang to sail with him. To get a better life, Malin Kundang agreed.
He left his mother alone.

Many years later, Malin Kundang became wealthy. He had a huge ship and was
helped by many ship crews loading trading goods. Perfectly he had a beautiful wife too.
When he was sailing his trading journey, his ship landed on a beach near a small village. The
villagers recognized him. The news ran fast in the town; “Malin Kundang has become rich
and now he is here”.

An old woman ran to the beach to meet the new rich merchant. She was Malin
Kundang’s mother. She wanted to hug him, released her sadness of being lonely after so long
time. Unfortunately, when the mother came, Malin Kundang who was in front of his well
dressed wife and his ship crews denied meeting that old lonely woman. For three times her
mother begged Malin Kundang and for three times he yelled at her. At last Malin Kundang
said to her "Enough, old woman! I have never had a mother like you, a dirty and ugly
woman!" After that he ordered his crews to set sail. He would leave the old mother again but
in that time she was full of both sadness and angriness.

Finally, enraged, she cursed Malin Kundang that he would turn into a stone if he
didn't apologize. Malin Kundang just laughed and really set sail. In the quiet sea, suddenly a
thunderstorm came. His huge ship was wrecked and it was too late for Malin Kundang to
apologize. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship. He fell on a small island. It was really
too late for him to avoid his curse. Suddenly, he turned into a stone.
 Jonah

Once upon a time there was a village in North Israel. All the people lived peacefully
there. One of them was Jonah. Jonah lived with his parents. They loved him very much. In
the north of Israel was Syria. It had powerful knights. They were very cruel and liked to
invade other countries.
One night when the people of Jonah’s village were sleeping, the Syrian knights
attacked his village. They burned down the houses. One of them threw a torch into Jonah’s
house. Jonah’s house was on fire.
Jonah and his parents avoided the fire burning their house. They saved themselves by
climbing a ladder to the upstairs. It was too high for them to jump down to the ground from
the upstairs. Jonah’s father took a rope to get down from the stairs to the ground. They
escaped to another village. Jonah and his parents lived in a fishermen village. They became
fishermen.
One day, when they were fishing in the sea, Jonah fell into the sea. Jonah was drawn
into the sea. A whale came closer to him. He tried to swim avoiding the whale as fast as
possible but he failed and at last the whale swallowed him. Jonah was still alive in the
stomach of the whale. He prayed to God to be released from the stomach of the whale.
Fortunately God granted his prayer. The whale came closer to an island. It opened its
mouth and Jonah came out from its stomach.
 PINOCCHIO

In the past, there was a puppeteer whose name is Geppetto. He eager to have a son
very much but his wife passed away several years ago. One day, he got an idea to make a
puppet in order not to be lonely again. He made a puppet all day long. Finally, in the morning
he had finished his work and he named the puppet Pinocchio. Soon he felt lonely again since
Pinocchio couldn’t walk or talk by itself. One night, Geppetto prayed to the God to become a
real boy. He always thought it on his mind in his dream.

In the next morning, he was surprised that Pinocchio was alive. He taught Pinocchio
how to walk, how to read, how to speak and to do other things as human. He then studied at
an elementary school. One day, Pinocchio felt bored and it made him go home late. When
Pinocchio finally came home, Geppetto asked him. He said that he was on school but he
wasn’t. Instantly, Pinocchio’s nose grew longer and longer and it meant that Pinocchio has
lied.

The next morning, Pinocchio was kidnaped by the owner of circus. Pinocchio soon
became a slave for the circus. He was so famous because he was a puppet which can talk.
Geppetto worried about him because Pinocchio had not been going home for almost two
days. He tried to find Pinocchio everywhere but he found nothing. When he searched him on
the sea, big wave smashed him. He was then in whale’s stomach when he awoke. He couldn’t
find the way to go out.

In the other side, Pinocchio finally could escape out from the circus. He came home
but nobody was there. Latter on, he searched Geppetto in the sea. He got the same accident
like Geppetto and he met Geppetto in whale’s stomach. Both of them got out from its
stomach by making a fire. In the end of the story, they went home together and lived happily
ever after.