Back when the world was young, and the animals could speak to each other, lived a crab and his friends, the fish in a peaceful pond behind the mountain. They lived happily, playing together and taking care of each other. However, it was unfortunate for them, a long dry season happened that year, and the water in their pond was getting less and less. The fish were getting worried for they knew very well that they would die without water, unlike their firend, the crab, who could still survive without water (even though for not a very long time).
Then came the Crane, who accidentally visited the pond. He could sense that the fish were troubled, and asked them, "Why are you worried, my dear fish?"
"We are," answered the fish, "Don't you see the water in this pond is getting less, soon it'll dry and we all will die..."
The Crane looked at them and smiled, "Well, you shouldn't be troubled, you can always find a new place to live."
"Easy for you to say, my friend," answered the fish, "But we're fish, we can only travel by swimming. Unlike you who can fly anywhere you like. We don't know how to find a new pond for us to live."
"Oh, that's your problem. If that so, I can help you. When I was flying here, I see a big pond behind the mountain, and I think it's bigger than this pond. It's more beautiful and surely you can live there."
"But, how are we supposed to go there?" asked the fish.
"That should be no problem at all. I can carry you in my mouth, and fly there." the Crane suggested.
For a while, the fish had discussion among them. They were really in need to have someone to help them, and the Crane looked sincere enough to help them. However, the Crab did not feel the same.
"I don't trust him. Why don't we just stay here for a little longer. We'll think of some way soon," said the Crab.
"We wish we can stay longer, but we're afraid the water will be finished soon, and unlike you, my friend Crab, we cannot survive at all if we don't have water. We will take the Crane's offer." said the fish.
At the end, the fish agreed to follow the Crane, and the Crane carried them one by one in his mouth to the new pond. After all the fish had been carried away by the Crane, it was the Crab's turn. However, the Crab refused to enter the Crane's beak.
"My shell is hard. I'm afraid I can hurt your beak. Can you carry me with your feet, please?" asked the Crab.
The Crane agreed. Then in no time, both of them were flying to the sky. The Crab had never flown before, and he was amazed to see their pond, the river, and the mountain from above. When he was sightseeing all the stuff, suddenly he saw an unexpected thing on the ground. He could see many fish bones on the ground. Then he found out what had happened. The Crane did not take his friends to the new pond just like he promised, the Crane ate them instead.
This made the Crab got very mad, and with his claws, he pinched the Crane's neck. The Crane cried in pain.
"Let me down or I'll break your neck!" cried the Crab angrily.
The Crane had no choice, but to fly down and let go of the Crab. Soonest the Crab touched the ground, the Crab let go of his claws and ran as fast as he could from the Crane.
Good moral: Stranger is Danger. Don't believe in someone you don't really know.
Note:
Well, actually the story didn't end that way. The end was the Crab pinched the Crane to death. But, I found this to harsh for the young children that I teach, so I changed the story a bit. :)
The Crab and the CraneBack when the world was young, and the animals could speak to each other, lived a crab and his friends, the fish in a peaceful p
Everyone knows that a turtle cannot fly, however there was this little turtle who had a dream, and only one dream in his whole life that he was able to fly high in the sky. The little turtle never stopped trying, as every morning he would climb a tree and tried to jump from the branches and flapped his hands. But as we all can guess, he was always falling down right to the ground.
Poor little turtle... but though it was quite hurt, he never gave up. One day, he realized that his effort was not working, he thought he needed a teacher to teach him how to fly. He need to find someone that was excellent in flying, and that 'one' was no other than the Great Eagle. Every time when he was laying on his back, he could see how great the Eagle could soar in th sky. So that day, he decided to go to beg the Eagle to teach him to fly.
The little turtle finally met the Eagle in his nest. "Great Eagle, please help me!" begged him with his teary eyes, "I need you to teach me to fly just like you can."
The Eagle looked at him deeply and was amused. If he did not consider the turtle's sincerity, he had to be laughing at him now. He knew a turtle could not fly, but he did not want to disappoint the turtle, so he refused him gently. "I'm sorry, I'm quite busy that I don't have time to teach you."
"Oh, please, Great Eagle, please teach me. I'll do anything for you..." the Turtle begged him again.
"You see, little Turtle. Don't be angry, but I don't think you can fly. God made turtles to swim, not fly like us the birds."
The turtle was discouraged. He went home thinking what the eagle had told him. He thought it was not fair for only the birds that had wings. But wait - that's it! The turtle suddenly got an idea. He finally knew the reason he could not fly. It was because he did not have any wing or feather on his body. If only he had feathers, he might be able to fly just like the eagle. But how to get the eagle's feather?
The next day, the turtle came to see the Eagle again. When the Eagle saw him, the Eagle called, "Well, my dear turtle, I thought I've told you that I cannot teach you how to fly."
The turtle smiled and said, "Yes, my Great Eagle, this time I won't ask you to teach me, but I want you to take me with you flying high to the sky." He added, "You see, it has been my dream to able to fly to the sky and see how blue it is, but since like you said, I don't have any wing, please take me with you just for once."
The Eagle shook his head. Still, he refused the turtle's wish.
"Oh, please, great Eagle, take me with you and I'll give you these presents." He put out beautiful jewelleries, and said "They're all yours, I take them from the treasure box deep inside the sea, - but that if you are willing to take with you."
Seeing all the precious gems, the Eagle finally agreed. "But just this once, I'll carry in my feet to fly up there."
"Oh, yes, sure. I promise I'll be good."
So, off they went. The Eagle carried the turtle in his feet. When they reached the clouds, the Turtle was very happy. Never in his life, he saw so many white clouds, and it felt like he swam in the clouds.
The Eagle asked, "Is it high enough?"
"No," the Turtle answered. "Higher!"
Again, the Eagle flew higher, passing the clouds. "Is it high enough?"
"No," the Turtle answered. "Higher!"
Again, the Eagle flew higher, passing the stars. "Is it high enough?"
"No," the Turlte answered, "Higher, please!"
The Eagle flew higher until he almost reachd the sun. It was so bright that it almost blinded him. "I can't go any further. This is the highest I can take you."
"Yes, it's enough!" said the Turtle. Knowing the Eagle couldn't see him because of the bright light, the Turtle turned his body a bit and quickly he pulled two feathers out of the Eagle's tail. The turtle stole the Eagle's feathers.
When the Turtle pulled his feathers, instantly the Eagle was surprised and "Ouch!" - instantly, he let go of his grasp of the Turtle, and he dropped the Turtle.
On the way down, the Turtle tried to use the feathers he got by flapping it up and down. But not matter how hard and how fast he flapped it, the feathers could not make him fly. With a loud thud, he fell on the ground.
Well - we know what happen to him after he fell from a very high place. But then, it'll be a lesson for us all to always appreciate what God's given us and be thankful for it.
After the dog managed to get out of the river and dry himself, he continued running after the Mousedeer, and again the Mousedeer was easily found by the sharpness of the dog's nose.
The Mousedeer was tired running around the jungle that he forced himself to think up an idea to stop the dog forever. When he was hiding behind the bushes, he was startled to find a sleeping snake just right behind him. But then, it gave him another idea to escape from the dog.
He quickly got out from the bushes and sat. Soon, the dog found him and was ready to bite him. But when the dog saw that the Mousedeer was calm and not panic at all, he knew that the Mousedeer had something in mind.
"You, Mousedeer, what are you doing here? Why aren't you running away when you see me?"
"I'm not going anywhere." said the Mousedeer calmly.
"Don't try anything funny now. Follow me home or I'll bite your legs off and drag ou all the way there!"
"I can't. I'm sorry, my friend, I have to stay here otherwise the Gods will kill me for sure!"
"You can't trick me twice!" The dog was getting mad.
"Sorry, I've tricked you before, but I had no choice, or you will catch me and take me with you, and I cannot stay here and do my job."
"What is your job actually?" asked the Dog curiously.
"You see, actually I was asked to guard this beautiful belt f the Gods. That's why I lied to you because I cannot tell anyone about this." The Mousedeer pointed at the snake and called it the belt.
The dog had never seen a snake before, so he just believed in whatever the Mousedeer told him. He looked at the 'belt' carefully and was amazed of its beautiful skin.
"Yes, indeed it's a beautiful belt. What happen if anyone wear it?" asked the Dog.
"Well, anyone who wear it will be the strongest in the jungle since the belt can give you enormous strength just like the Gods." answered the Mousedeer.
"Wow! Can I wear it too?" asked the Dog.
"Why? You are strong enough, you don't need it."
"But I need to be stronger so I don't have to work for the farmer anymore. So, please let me wear it."
"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that. The Gods will surey kill me!"
"No, they don't. Just tell them, you asked me to guard it for you, because you know that I'm stronger than you. They'll appreciate you instead."
After a while, the Mousedeer agreed. "Okay, I'll let you wear it, but please wait until you cannot see me again!"
"Why?"
"Because I don't trust, later you'll get strong and want to take revenge on me for lying to you before." explained the Mousedeer.
"No, I won't do that."
"Just to make sure, you have to promise me to wait until I'm gone!"
Finally, the Dog promised to wait till he couldn't see the Mousedeer anymore. The Mousedeer did not want to waste any time that he quickly ran away leaving the Dog with the snake. When he was sure the Mousedeer had completely disappeared, the Dog lifted the 'belt' carefully and put it around his waist. How shocked he was when he saw that the 'belt' had a head and a pair of sharp eyes. The snake instantly woke up and was mad. Fortunately, the dog managed to escape himself from the snake who was about to bite him.
The dog got very scared and ran as fast as he could out of the jungle and returned home safely.
Well - that's the end of the story how the Mousedeer can save himself from troubles cleverly.
Good moral: Never underestimate those who are small in size cause they can think big also.
Even though the mousedeer was able to run away from the farmer, but he was not able to escape from the dog for the dog had an excellent smelling sense. No matter where he went or where he hid himself, the dog would surely find him. So having no where else to run, the mousedeer had to find a way to make the dog stop chasing him everywhere.
Near by, he saw a bee hive hanging high on the branch of an oak tree. Seeing the hive gave him an idea of how to escape from the dog. He cam closer to the tree and sat right under the bee hive, pretending to be very relaxing, waiting for the dog to come and get him.
Not far away, the dog could see him, and angrily he rushed toward the mousedeer, but when he realized that the mousedeer did not try to escape or even move, he rose his curiosity.
"There you are, you naughty Mousedeer," called the dog, "Come and follow me to see my master! How dare you trick me to let you go!"
The mousedeer just looked at him and answered, "I'm sorry, my dear friend, but I'm afraid I can't follow you now."
"What?" said the dog, "that's not a request, that's an order!"
"Well, you see, my dear friend," the mousedeer apologized, "I can't leave th place where I'm sitting now, I have to stay here, because I have an important task to do and no one else besides me can take over my task."
"What task?" asked the dog curiously.
"I have to guard the bell of the Gods there," said the Mousedeer while pointing at the bee hive, "I must make sure that no one touch it."
"Why is it so important? What's so special with that bell?" The dog looked at the 'bell' carefully. He had never seen a bee hive before, that was why he believed the Mousedeer in the first place.
"Well, whoever can sound the bell, he will be the most famous animal in this jungle," the Mousedeer answered. "If I can guard it, God has allowed me to sound it once."
It was quite attempting fro the dog to try to sound the bell, so he told the Mousedeer, "oh, may I try to sound it too?"
"What for? You're famous already! You don't need this bell anymore!"
"Yes, I know I'm quite famous," said the Dog fluttered, "But I also want to be more famous." The dog begged him. "Please, please, please. Let me try! Just this once!"
"But I'm scared the Gods will know, and they will be mad at me!"
The dog kept on pleading.
After thinking it for a while - the Mousedeer pretended - the Mousedeer finally allowed him to do so with one condition. "Since you have been kind to me, I think I canl let you to try. I will let you take my position guarding this bell, so even if the Gods know, they will not be mad at you, since you have helped them gurading their bell."
"Yes! That's a good idea, I will replace you and guard this bell for the Gods!"
"But, you must know, you can only sound this bell by the time the sun sets. You must wait until the sun sets, then you can sound it. When you do it, the sound will reach everyone in the jungle whereever they are and you will be famous."
"Fine, I understand." answered the Dog.
Then the Mousedeer quickly ran away and left the Dog sitting under the tree, looking after the bee hive. The Dog waited patiently, hoping the sun would set soon and he could sound the bell.
Finally, the time had arrived. The dog was thrilled to see the sun set. He stood up on his feet and backed away for some distance preparing himself to take a great leap to hit the bell. When he found it was far enough for him to run and he started running! He jumped as high as he could to touch the bell. And when he did, I think all of us know what will happen next.
The 'bell' was actually a bee hive. And when the dog hit it, all the bes inside hurriedly flew out of their hive and attacked the dog. The poor dog ran as fast as he could, and fortunately he could find a river nearby where he jumped into and was saved from the bees' attack.
The dog got even angrier at the Mousedeer and promised to catch him.
To be continued - :)
The farmer was happy to take the mousedeer home with him. It was not easy to catch the clever mousedeer, and since this time, he was able to do so, he surely would call a party, and asked his wife to cook the mousedeer and prepared it as a main dish.
The mousedeer knew that he would end up as a dish in the farmer's house, so he kept on thinking how to escape from the farmer's house. When the farmer was near to his house, the farmer's pet, the dog, who had been loyal to the farmer, quickly ran and greeted the farmer. The dog was happy as well to see his master could catch the cunning mousedeer.
The farmer put the mousedeer inside a cage in front of his house, and asked the dog to guard the mousedeer.
"No matter what you do, don't let him free!" told the farmer to the dog.
The dog promised to keep his eyes on the mousedeer and never let him go.
After the farmer left them both, the mousedeer whispered to the dog. "Hey, dog! Here! I want to talk to you!" said the mousedeer.
The dog glared at the mousedeer and replied, "I don't want to talk to you."
"Please don't be so mean to me..." said the mousedeer, "do you know why the farmer taking me here, to his house?"
"Of course," answered the dog, "my master caught you, and soon my master's wife will make you as a dish."
"Well, my friend, just as I thought! You git it all wrong!"
"What do you mean?" asked the dog suspiciously, "What do you mean I am wrong?"
"Do you know what your master's wife is doing now?"
"Yes, she is preparing stuffs to cook you..."
"No," answered the mousedeer, "She is not going to cook me, she is cooking for me..."
"WHAT?" the dog laughed. "That's impossible! I am sure my lady is going to cook you!"
"You see..." replied the mousedeer, "Your master invite me here in the first place to have a party for me. He was so proud to have me, the cleverest animal in this jungle, to visit his house today."
"No way!" said the dog, "If it is true, how come he put you inside the cage?"
"Huh? This cage? This cage is to protect me from anyone who wants to harm me and you, my friend, is asked to guard me." smiled the mousedeer to the dog.
The dog was upset. He believed what the mousedeer had told him. He felt jealous to the mousedeer. "It's not fair! After so many years, I worked for my master, never once he made a party for me." he growled. "But you! You're just a mousedeer, and sometimes you steal in my master's farm, and yet he still makes a party for you!"
"Yeah..." said the mousedeer, "After I think about it, it is not fair at all... You're the one who deserve more to be in this special place, instead of me. You're much more better than I am."
The mousedeer showed his 'sympathy'.
"I got an idea!" The mousedeer added, "why don't we change place? You can take my place and let me go home quietly so the farmer won't find out. I will let you sit and wait here in the cage, when the farmer comes here, he will see you, and not me, and when he can't find me, he won't want to have the party wasted, right? So he has no choice than to let you become the star of his party!"
The dog smiled. "Yeah, that's an excellent idea! Let's do that!"
And so the exchanged place. The dog opened the cage and let the mousedeer out. Afterward, the dog entered cage replacing the mousedeer. The mousedeer left the dog and ran hurriedly back to the jungle.
So, I think you already know what will happen next. Yup! When the farmer came back to see his mousedeer, he couldn't find any, instead he found his pet dog sitting in the cage. The farmer got so mad that he chased away the dog and did not allow the dog to return home before the poor dog could find the mousedeer.
The story will be continued with how the mousedeer escaped himself from the dog... See you! Hope you enjoy this wonderful fable.
The mousedeer is a famous character in Indonesian fables. It has so many series of the adventures of the mousedeer. Nowadays, the mousedeer is one of the endangered animals in Indonesia. It is called a mousedeer, because it looks like a deer, but it is the same size as a dog.
So this is the story...
Long ago in Java island, lived a famous animal, the mousedeer. The mousedeer was famous of his cleverness, that he could always escape from troubles with his bright minds. The mousedeer's favourite food was the cucumber. He loved to eat juicy cucumbers a lot, but the bad thing was he did not want to grow it himself, he liked to steal them from the farmers.
The farmers disliked the mousedeer very much, since every time he wanted to harvest his cucumbers, the mousedeer had eaten them that the farmer could not get as many as he wanted. So that morning, before the farmer set out to his farm, he made a plan to catch the mousedeer with his wife.
That night, the farmer and his wife made a scarecrow. When they had completed the scarecrow, the farmer put a lot of glue on the scarecrow's shirt and took it to the middle of the farm and put him there. This time, the farmer was sure, he was able to catch the naughty mousedeer.
Very early in the next morning, the mousedeer had already arrived in the farm. He was very surprised to see the farmer was already there. He did not know that it was only a scarecrow. So he was hiding behind the trees, and waited for the farmer to go away first from the farm before he came and took all the cucumbers he wanted. He waited for a long time, until he grew impatient. It was like the juicy cucumbers in th farm were calling his name to take them away with him. So he decided to come closer to the farm.
The more he looked at the 'farmer', the more he realized that it was not the farmer who stood there all along. It was just a scarecrow and did not move at all. The mousedeer was very angry for he was cheated. He approached the scarecrow and kicked the scarecrow. Remember, the farmer had already added some glue on the scarecrow's body that made it very sticky.
When the mousedeer kicked the scarecrow, he could not let his feet of the scarecrow's body. The mousedeer was panic. The harder he kicked, the stickier it got to his legs. Finally, the mousedeer was strapped to the scarecrow's body. He couldn't free himself. He cried and cried for help, but no one was there to help. When the farmer heard his cry, he quickly went to his farm and caught the mousedeer. No matter how the mousedeer begged for mercy and to let him go, the farmer refused to set him free.
So, that was how the farmer caught the mousedeer who was famous for his brain.
The story will be continued on how the mousedeer finally escaped.... :)
There was a poor fisherman lived nearby the river in North Kalimantan. He went fishing early every morning and always returned to his home at night time. One day, he set up his net and caught a big golden fish. He fell in love with the beauty of the fish that he decided not to kill the fish, and made it as a pet instead. So, he took the fish home, cleaned a fish tank and put it in his humble kitchen.
Starting that day, things changed slowly. Every morning the fisherman went out for fishing, no matter how he left his home in a mess, when he returned home, the house would be tidy again. Furthermore, there was always delicious food served on his dining table. The fisherman never knew how it happened, and where the food came from, and who prepared them for him. It brought enormous curiosity to him that he decided to search for the truth.
That morning, he went out as usual, but right when he set out his feet outside, quickly and quietly, he made a turn back to his house. Hiding behind his own window, he took a peep of what happen in the house soon after he left it. Suddenly from inside the kitchen, he could see a bright light shining, and soon after the light disappeared, he could see the fish tank was empty, and a beautiful lady was standing inside his kitchen. The lady quickly got some vegetables and did some cooking. She even cleaned the whole house, sweeping and washing the fisherman's clothes. The fisherman fell in love at the first sight. Before the lady could runaway, the fisherman grabbed her hand and proposed to marry her.
At first, the lady refused for she was just a fish rescued by him. Her deed was a grateful act to repay the fisherman's kindness for not killing her. But since the fisherman time and again persuaded her to marry him, the lady could not refuse him. She agreed to become the fisherman's wife with one condition, that the fisherman promised not to tell anyone - not even his own family - that she was just a fish. The fisherman promised her.
Years went by, the fisherman lived happily with his wife, and changed his work and became a farmer. His wife soon became pregnant and delivered a baby girl that they named "Samosir". Samosir grew up into a pretty girl and obedient as well. She loved to help her parents working in the house or in the farm. One morning, her mother asked her to send lunch to her father in the farm. Samosir was glad to help her mother that she immediately got the basket and headed to the farm.
It was such a long way to got to the farm, that Samosir who had not had any breakfast before, grew tired and hungry. So she stopped to eat a little food from her father's lunch to ease her hunger. Afterward, she continued her journey, however, she became hungry again and had to eat a little food again. This happened again and again till finally her father's lunch was finished. When Samosir gave the basket to her father, how angry her father was to get an empty basket.
"I'm tired working the whole day and expect you to bring some food from your mother, but you finish them all without even thinking of me. How could you? You! A daughter of a fish!" shouted her father in anger.
Samosir ran home crying and telling her mother what had happened. She even asked her mother why her father told her that she was a daughter of a fish. When the mother knew that her husband had eventually broken his promise, she was terribly sad. In tears, she packed all her daughter's clothes and asked her to runaway to the mountain, never look back, and stay there. Samosir did not understand, but she promised to obey her mother.
When the mother was sure that her daughter was safe, she whispered something and slowly she turned herself into a giant fish. The water from river was flooding her house and it came more and more and more that the whole village was flooded and finally disappeared from the earth.
From the top of the mountain, Samosir could only cry to see her village was drowned and the flood surrounded her hiding place. Since then, the place turned into a lake and we called it Lake Toba, and the island in the middle was named after the girl's name, 'Samosir Island'. We can still visit the lake now, and one of the most beautiful lakes in Sumatra island, Indonesia.
