(pi: Sheranee)

The Oak Tree

One day a woodcutter took his grandson into the forest for his first experience in selecting
and cutting oak trees. These they would later sell to the boat builders. As they walked along,
the woodcutter explained that the purpose of each tree is contained in its natural shape: some
are straight for planks, some have the proper curves for the ribs of a boat, and some are tall
for masts. The woodcutter told his grandson that by paying attention to the details of each
tree, and with experience in recognizing these characteristics, someday he too might become
the woodcutter of the forest.

A little way into the forest, the grandson saw an old oak tree that had never been cut. The boy
asked his grandfather if he could cut it down because it was useless for boat building – there
were no straight limbs, the trunk was, short and gnarled, and the curves were going the wrong
way. “We could cut it down for firewood,” the grandson said. “At least then it will be of
some use to us.” The woodcutter replied that for now they should be about their work cutting
the proper trees for the boat builders; maybe later they could return to the old oak tree.

After a few hours of cutting the huge trees, the grandson grew tired and asked if they could
stop for a rest in some cool shade.

The woodcutter took his grandson over to the old oak tree, where they rested against its trunk
in the cool shade beneath its twisted limbs. After they had rested a while, the woodcutter
explained to his grandson the necessity of attentive awareness and recognition of everything
in the forest and in the world. Some things are readily apparent, like the tall, straight trees;
other things are less apparent, requiring closer attention, like recognition of the proper curves
in the limbs. And some things might initially appear to have no purpose at all, like the
gnarled old oak tree.

The woodcutter stated, “You must learn to pay careful attention every day so you can
recognize and discover the purpose God has for everything in creation. For it is this old oak
tree, which you so quickly deemed useless except for firewood, that now allows us to rest
against its trunk amidst the coolness of its shade.

“Remember, grandson, not everything is as it first appears. Be patient, pay attention,

recognize, and discover.”
(pa: Ainur)

The Legend of Surabaya

Surabaya is one of the most crowded in Indonesia after Jakarta has a legend that
should be known. The legend is as follows.
A long time ago in the sea of East Java there were two strong animals. They were Sura
(the Javanese of a shark) and Baya (the Javanese of a crocodile).
They were actually friends. However, when they were hungry, they were very greedy.
They did not want to share their food. They would fight just because of scrambling for prey.
Both of them were strong, skillful, and clever. They had fought many times and never stop
fighting until one of them gave up.
Once upon a time it was a very hot day. Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly
on the way Baya saw a goat. He was very happy.
“Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya.
“No way! This is my midday meal. You are greedy! I had not eaten for two days!” said
Sura in high tempered.
Then they fought again for a goat. After fighting several hours, they were very tired.
Feeling tired of fighting Sura had a plan to stop their bad behavior.

“I’m tired of fighting, Baya,” said Sura.

“Me too. So what should we do to stop fighting? Do you have any idea?” asked Baya.

“Yes, I do. Let’s share our territory. I live in the water, so I look for food in the water. And
you live on the land, right? So, you look for the food also on the land. The border is the sandy
shore, so we will never meet again. Do you agree of my idea?” asked Sura.

“Hmm… let me think about it. OK, I agree. From today, I will never go to the sea again.
My place is on the land, and you will never go to the land. Your place is in the water.” said
Baya.

“Okay, I agree.” Replied Sura.

Then they both lived in the different places. Sura dwelled in the sea and Baya dwelled on
the land. They wished they would never meet again.
However, one day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was
very hungry and there was not much food in the sea. When Baya looked at him, he was very
angry because he thought that Sura broke the promise.
“Hey, what are you doing here? This is my place. Your place is in the sea!”
“But, there is water in the river, right? So, this is also my place!” argued Sura.

Then Sura and Baya fought again. They both hit each other. Sura bite Baya’s tail. Baya did
the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up. He went back to the sea.
Baya was very happy. He had his place again.

The place where they were fighting was a mess. There was blood everywhere. People
then always talked about the fight between Sura and Baya. They then named the place of the
fight as Surabaya, it’s the combination from “Sura” the shark and “Baya” the crocodile.
People also put their war as the symbol of Surabaya city.
(pi: Sheranee)

The Legend of Rawa Pening

Once upon a time, in the Central Java there was a village. It was Pening. Pening was
a prosperous village. The land was very good for farming and its land was very fertile, also
the weather was always good all over the years. It was on the slope of Mount Merbabu so the
climate at the area was really cool. People made their living by cultivating rice, vegetables
and fruits. The harvest was always satisfying them. So all of them lived happily. That’s
why once a year they held a ceremony called ‘Berseh desa’. It was a kind of thanks giving
day. It was a day when they expressed their thankfulness to God for the successful harvest.
They would clean their village and then they would pray together. At night they would have
a dinner together and held theater performances.
That night, when the time of having dinner together with all of the villagers, the
people of Pening were preparing a big dinner. Just as they were preparing dinner, a young
boy came to the village, he looked very poor, dirty and smelly. He was very hungry and
weak. He asked for some food to some people there, but no body would like to give the meal
fo him.
Someone said :‘We are preparing dinner. You may come to our dinner tonight, not now’.
‘But I am very hungry, please give me food’.
‘listen! please come again tonight’. One by one of the village wouldn’t help him, finally there
was an old woman who took care of him. She was just a poor woman. She gave him simple
food and shelter for him.
‘You may take a rest here. Join us tonight for dinner, but as you see now that I don’t have
delicious meal for you, only this food I have’. Is it okay?
‘Yes, no problem. Thank you very much, I think that this food is delicious enough for me to
eat.’
When the boy wanted to leave, the old woman gave him a “lesung”, a big wooden mortar for
pounding rice.

She reminded him, “Please remember, if there is a flood you must save yourself. Use this
“lesung” as a boat”.

The little boy was happy and thanked the old woman. The little boy continued his journey.
While he was passing through the village, where he had asked for food, he saw many people
gathering on the field. The boy came closer and saw a stick stuck in the ground. People
challenged each other to pull out that stick. Everybody tried, but nobody succeeded.
“Can I try?” asked the little boy.
The crowd laughed mockingly. The boy wanted to try his luck so he stepped forward and
pulled out the stick. He could do it very easily. Everybody was dumbfounded. Suddenly,
from the hole left by stick, water spouted out. It did not stop until it flooded the village. And
no one was saved from the water except the little boy and the generous old woman who gave
him shelter and meal. As she told him, he used the “lesung” as a boat and picked up the old
woman. The whole village became a huge lake.
Since then, the lake is called Rawa Pening. Rawa (means lake in Javanese and
Indonesian language) and Pening was the name of the village. Nowadays, Rawa Pening has
some advantages, for example for irrigating and fishing.
(pa: Ainur)

A Lesson From Nature

One day, a boy was playing in a garden. He was running after butterflies and trying to
catch them. He was very happy to see the colourful flowers.Then he saw a frog skipping and
jumping. As he ran behind the frog, it jumped into the pond. A cow was also grazing in the
garden. He saw how the cow was chewing grass.

A fly then came there and buzzed over the cow. The cow swung her tail to make the fly move
away. The child clapped and laughed. The boy was enjoying the beauty of nature. "Nature is
wonderful. Its beauty attracts everyone."

When he saw a squirrel, he ran after it and reached near the bed of roses. He tried to pluck
some of the roses, but a thorn pierced his finger. It was very painful. The boy started crying
and ran to his house. His father asked him...

"What is the matter? Why are you crying”

"The thorn of the rose pierced my finger while I was plucking it and now I feel severe pain."

"It is your mistake. You should not have tried to pluck the flower. The flowers are meant to
be seen and not to be plucked. Besides, natural beauty should never be harmed. One should
not interfere with the natural processes. Instead, we should help to maintain the natur

"I will always follow what you have just told, Dad"

"Let me know what you have learnt today."

Her son explained.

"We should protect all living beings, whether animals or plants. We should never harm them.
Unnecessary interference with nature is harmful. It may harm the human beings in the long
run."