True Friends

Once upon a time, there were two close friends who were walking through
the forest together. They knew that anything dangerous can happen any
time in the forest. So they promised each other that they would always be
together in any case of danger.

Suddenly, they saw a large bear getting closer toward them. One of them
climbed a nearby tree at once. But unfortunately the other one did not know
how to climb up the tree. So being led by his common sense, he lay down
on the ground breathless and pretended to be a dead man.

The bear came near the one who was lying on the ground. It smelt in his
ears, and slowly left the place because the bears do not want to touch the
dead creatures. After that, the friend on the tree came down and asked his
friend that was on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear whisper into your
ears?” The other friend replied, “Just now the bear advised me not to
believe a false friend”.

Moral of the Story – A true friend in need is a friend indeed.

Fox and A Cat

One day, a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a
conceited creature, boasted how clever she was. “Why, I know at least a
hundred tricks to get away from our mutual enemies, the dogs,” she said.
“I know only one trick to get away from dogs,” said the cat. “You should
teach me some of yours!”.

“Well, maybe someday, when I have the time, I may teach you a few of the
simpler ones”, replied the fox airily.

Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The
barking grew louder and louder – the dogs were coming in their direction!
At once the cat ran to the nearest tree and climbed into its branches, well
out of reach of any dog. “This is the trick I told you about, the only one I
know”, said the cat. “Which one of your hundred tricks are you going to
use?”.

The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use.
Before she could make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the
fox and tore her to pieces.

Moral: A single plan that works is better than a hundred doubtful plans.

The Ant and the Dove

One hot day, an ant was seeking for some water. After walking around for a
moment, she came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a
blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell
unintentionally into the water.

She could have sunk if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing
that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly put off a leaf from a tree and
dropped it immediately into the water near the struggling ant. Then the ant
moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to
dry ground.
Not long after at that, there was a hunter nearby who was throwing out his
net towards the dove, hoping to trap it in this way.

Guessing what he should do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling
the pain, the hunter dropped his net and the dove flew away quickly from
this net.

The morality: One good turn deserves another.

The Legend of Surabaya

A long time ago, there were two animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was the
name of a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea.

Once Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a
goat “Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You
are greedy” said Sura. Then they fought for the goat. After several hours,
they were very tired.

Feeling tired of fighting, they lived in the different places. Sura lived in the
water and Baya lived in the land. The border was the beach, so they would
never fight again.

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. Baya was very
angry when he knew that Sura broke the promise. They fought again.
They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya’s tail. Baya did the same thing to
Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up and went back to the sea.
Baya was happy.

The Story of Toba Lake

Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north Sumatra. He
lived in a simple hut in a farming field. The 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 broken 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.

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.
 Snow White

One day, there was a queen sitting near a very beautiful window while
tailoring and seeing the snow. Accidentally, her finger was pierced by a
sewing needle so that three drops of blood dripped out. The drops of blood
fell down on the snow. The red color of the blood which was stuck in the
white of the snow looked very pretty. Suddenly the queen thought “If only i
had a child whose skin were as white as snow and whose lips were as red
as blood”.

As the time went by, finally a queen gave birth of a very pretty princess
whose skin was as white as snow and whose lips were as red as blood.
The queen grew up as a very pretty and kind-hearted girl. She was called
Snow White. However, when Snow White was about teenager, the queen
died because of an illness. After the queen’s death, the king married again.
This new queen was wicked and hated Snow white. The queen gave
orders that Snow White was to be treated as a servant.
Everyday the queen stood in front of her magic mirror while asking “Who is
the most beautiful woman in the land?” and the mirror always answered,
“You are the most beautiful one of all.” The new queen asked the same
question everyday and the mirror always answered the same thing. But one
day the mirror answered that the queen was so beautiful but Snow White
was much more beautiful than the queen. It made the queen so angry that
she gave orders to one of her Huntsmen to take Snow White into the
woods and kill her.

The Huntsman had such a kind heart that he couldn’t do the deed. He told
her to run away. In her fleeing into the woods, she found a place in which
seven dwarfs lived. Their house was small and strange. Snow White
entered the little house and found it very untidy. Then, she started to clean
up the entire house. In the upstairs she found seven little beds. She was
so exhausted that she stretched out on one of the beds. Not long after that,
she was asleep on the bed.

When the Dwarfs came home they were surprised to find Snow White and
after some argument, decided to let her stay. She promised to cook and
look after them. She lived there together happily.

Unfortunately, The Queen discovered the place where Snow White was
living and disguising herself as a witch. She then took a poisoned apple
and set out for the Dwarfs cottage. She gave Snow White the poisoned
apple to eat and as soon as she bit the apple, she sank into
unconsciousness.

Thinking she was dead, the Dwarfs built a glass coffin and put her in it. For
days she lay in the forest in her glass coffin. One day, the Prince was
riding through the forest looking for Snow White and found her. He leaned
over and kissed her. She opened her eyes and sat up with a smile.
Everyone was happy at that time. The Prince took Snow White to his
palace where they were married and lived happily ever after.

Timun Emas

Long time ago in the island of Java, Indonesia, lived a couple of farmer.
They had married for some years but they had no children. So they prayed
to a monster called Buta Ijo to give them children. Buta Ijo was a ferocious
and powerful monster. He granted their wish on one condition. When their
children had grown up, they had to sacrifice them to Buta Ijo. He liked
eating fresh meat of human being. The farmers agreed to his condition.
Several months later the wife was pregnant.

She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Timun Emas. The
farmers were happy. Timun Emas was very healthy and a very smart girl.
She was also very diligent. When she was a teenager Buta Ijo came to
their house. Timun Emas was frightened so she ran away to hide. The
farmers then told Buta Ijo that Timun Emas was still a child. They asked
him to postpone. Buta Ijo agreed. He promised to come again. The
following year Buta Ijo came again. But again and again their parents said
that Timun Emas was still a child.

When the third time Buta Ijo came their parents had prepared something
for him. They gave Timun Emas several bamboo needles, seeds of
cucumber, dressing and salt.

‘Timun, take these things’

‘What are these things?’

‘These are your weapons. Buta Ijo will chase you. He will eat you alive. So
run as fast as you can. And if he will catch you spread this to the ground.
Now go!’

Timun Emas was scared so she ran as quickly as she could. When Buta Ijo
arrived she was far from home. He was very angry when he realized that
his prey had left. So he ran to chase her. He had a sharp nose so he knew
what direction his prey ran.

Timun Emas was just a girl while Buta Ijo was a monster so he could easily
catch her up. When he was just several steps behind Timun Emas quickly
spread the seeds of cucumber. In seconds they turned into many vines of
cucumber. The exhausted Buta Ijo was very thirsty so he grabbed and ate
them. When Buta Ijo was busy eating cucumber Timun Emas could run
away.

But soon Buta Ijo realized and started running again. When he was just
several steps behind Timun Emas threw her bamboo needles. Soon they
turned into dense bamboo trees. Buta Ijo found it hard to pass. It took him
some time to break the dense bamboo forest. Meanwhile Timun Emas
could run farther.

Buta Ijo chased her again. When he almost catch her again and again
Timun Emas threw her dressing. This time it turned into a lake. Buta Ijo
was busy to save himself so Timun Emas ran way. But Buta Ijo could
overcome it and continued chasing her.
Finally when Timun Emas was almost caught she threw her salt. Soon the
land where Buta Ijo stood turned into ocean. Buta Ijo was drowned and
died instantly. Timun Emas was thankful to god and came back to her
home.

Romeo and Juliet

In the town of Verona there lived two families, the Capulets and the
Montagues. They engaged in a bitter feud. Among the Montagues was
Romeo, a hot-blooded young man with an eye for the ladies. One day,
Romeo attended the feast of the Capulets’, a costume party where he
expected to meet his love, Rosaline, a haughty beauty from a well-to-do
family. Once there, however, Romeo’s eyes felt upon Juliet, and he thought
of Rosaline no more.

The vision of Juliet had been invading his every thought. Unable to sleep,
Romeo returned late that night to the Juliet’s bedroom window. There, he
was surprised to find Juliet on the balcony, professing her love for him and
wishing that he were not a “Montague”, a name behind his own. “What’s in
a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as
sweet.” Romeo was ready to deny his name and professed his love. The
two agreed to meet at nine o-clock the next morning to be married.

Early the next morning, Romeo came to Friar Lawrence begging the friar to
marry him to Juliet. The Friar performed the ceremony, praying that the
union might someday put an end to the feud between the two families. He
advised Romeo kept the marriage a secret for a time.

On the way home, Romeo chanced upon his friend Mercutio arguing with
Tybalt, a member of the Capulet clan. That quarreling last caused Merquito
died. Romeo was reluctant no longer. He drew his sword and slew Tybalt
died. Romeo realized he had made a terrible mistake. Then Friar Lawrence
advised Romeo to travel to Mantua until things cool down. He promised to
inform Juliet.

In the other hand, Juliet’s father had decided the time for her to marry with
Paris. Juliet consulted Friar Lawrence and made a plot to take a sleeping
potion for Juliet which would simulate death for three days. The plot
proceeded according to the plan. Juliet was sleeping in death.

Unfortunately, The Friar’s letter failed to reach Romeo. Under the cover of
darkness, he broke into Juliet’s tomb. Romeo kissed the lips of his Juliet
one last time and drank the poison. Meanwhile, the effects of the sleeping
potion wear off. Juliet woke up calling for Romeo. She found her love next
to her but was lying dead, with a cup of poison in his hand. She tried to kiss
the poison from his lips, but failed. Then Juliet put out his dagger and
plunged it into her breast. She died
 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.
 The Lion and The Mouse

When he was awakened by a tiny Mouse running across his body, a mighty
Lion was sleeping in his lair. The lion then grabbed the frightened mouse
with his huge paws and opened his mouth to swallow him directly. “Please,
King,” begged the Mouse, “Spare me this time and of course I will never
forget your kindness. Someday I may be able to repay you. “The Lion
thought that it was such an amusing idea that he let the poor creature go.

Sometimes later the Lion was caught in a net laid by some hunters. Despite
his great strength, the Lion could not break free. Soon the forest echoed
with angry load roars.

The Little Mouse heard the Lion and ran to see what was wrong. As soon
as he succeeded to make the Lion free “There!” said the Mouse proudly, ”
You laughed at me when I promised to repay your kindness, but now you
know that even a tiny Mouse can help a mighty Lion.”

Moral Value:

1. Little friends may prove to be great friends.

2. Friend in need is friend indeed.

The Legend Of Prambanan Temple

Once, there was a beautiful Javanese princess whose name was Rara Jonggrang. Rara
Jonggrang whose beauty was very famous in the land was the daughter of Prabu Baka, and
evil king.

One day, a handsome young man with super natural power named Bandung Bondowoso
defeated and killed Prabu Baka. On seeing Princess Rara Jonggrang’s beauty, Bandung
Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her.

Meanwhile, Princess Rara jonggrang felt sad due to her death father. She did not want to
marry Bandung because he had killed her father. But she was also afraid of Bandung. So to
refuse politely, she made a condition. “I will marry you but you have to build one thousand
temples in one night as a wedding gift” requested Rara Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso
agreed with the condition. Helped by the spirit of the demons, Bandung Bondowoso started
building the temples. Approaching midnight, the work would nearly be done. Rara Jonggrang
knew and thought, “What shall I do? Bandung Bondowoso is smarter than I thought. I would
lose against Bandung.”

Suddenly she got an idea. She woke up all the women in the palace and ordered them to make
the noisy sounds of grinding rice so that the rooster thought that it had already been dawn.
Bandung Bondowoso got frustrated because he failed completing one, the thousandth temple.

The Princess has deceived me!” Following his anger, he cursed Roro Jonggrang, “You have
been cheated. Now, the thousandth temple is you!”

At once, the Princess turned into a statue. knowing this, Bandung Bondowoso regretted and
he went away into a farm land. From then, people called the temple, Prambanan Temple, and
the Princess statue, Rara Jonggrang statue.

Two of Everything (China)

Once upon a time, old and poor Mr. Haktak found a large brass pot in his
garden. He decided to put his purse in it. Then, he carried it home. Mrs. Haktak
was very happy with the pot.
Suddenly, her hairpin fell into the pot. Mrs. Haktak reached and pulled out two
hairpins and two purses. What a magic pot! Then they began to drop items into
it and soon had two of everything.

One day, Mr. Haktak went to a market. At home, Mrs. Haktak did house works
then rested for a while. She stooped over that pot to look inside. At that
moment, Mr. Haktak kicked the door because his hands were full of packages.
Bang! Mrs. Haktak lost her balance and fell into the pot. Mr. Haktak found that
he had two of Mrs. Haktak. This presented a problem.

Finally, Mr Haktak got an idea. He fell into that pot and soon there were two Mr.
Haktak. Two new Haktaks became husband and wife. All of them became
friends and built two identical houses with identical furniture.

The Gingerbread Man (Jerman)

A long time ago, there lived an old little couple in a cottage. One day, woman
decided to make a gingerbread man for dinner. As soon as a gingerbread man
was decorated with eyes nose mouth, he jumped out and ran away.
The gingerbread man ran as fast as he could. Old woman and her husband tried
to chase him. However, gingerbread man ran too fast for them. Soon, he
passed a hungry pig; that pig wanted to eat him. That pig also tried to catch
gingerbread man.

Gingerbread man said “Run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the
gingerbread man.” Other animals like cow, horse, dogs, cats also wanted to eat
him but they couldn’t outrun him.

Now, gingerbread man came to a river. He was afraid of water. A clever fox
came and offered help to cross the river. Fox asked gingerbread man to climb
on his head. As soon as they reached the other side, Fox tossed up the
gingerbread man in the air, opened his mouth and finally ate him.

The Magic Mirror (Spanyol)

Once, there was a king of Granada kingdom who decided to marry. To find a
worthy woman, court barber told an idea to the king. “I have a magic mirror. If
any woman who is not kind looks into that mirror, there will many spots on
mirror surface.”

Soon, the news was announced to all people in his kingdom. Almost all women
wanted to be Queen of Granada. However, there was no woman coming to have
a look into that mirror. Days and weeks went by, King was no closer to get his
Queen.

Then, barber told King that there was a brave shepherdess on a mountainside.
King asked him to invite that shepherdess to his palace. Also, the royal hall was
full of ladies as well as knights.

King told that shepherdess to look into the mirror. Shepherdess answered that
everyone made mistakes. However she wasn’t afraid to look into the mirror.
Many ladies surrounded her and found that it wasn’t a magic mirror. Those
ladies complained and felt being tricked.

Finally, King stated that there was no trick. King wanted to find a bride who was
confident about her character like that shepherdess.

The Fool and The Donkey (Iran)

One morning, a fool woke up and thought he needed a donkey. He went to a
town. There were many donkeys in a donkey stall. Then, he decided to buy one
donkey with long, floppy, silky ears.
Along way home, two boys saw him. Those boys thought that they could steal
that donkey from the fool. One boy took the rope around donkey’s neck then put
it around his neck and followed the fool. Another boy led that donkey back to a
stall and sold it. The fool didn’t even notice it.

When they arrived at home, the fool shocked. He bought a donkey but he got a
boy; he asked why. That boy told him that he had been rude to his mother. Then
Evil had turned him into a donkey. The fool asked that boy to promise not to be
rude to his mother again then let him go.

Next morning, the fool woke up and thought he needed a donkey. He went to
the town. There were many donkeys in a donkey stall. Among all donkeys he
noticed there was one donkey with long, floppy, silky ears. He knew that
donkey. He went over to it and whispered: “You foolish boy, I said never be rude
to your mother again!”

Dick Whittington and his Cat (Inggris)

There was once a poor boy named Dick Whittington who lived in a village
without parents. He had heard stories about a big city called London where
everybody was rich; London streets were paved with gold. He wanted to go
there.
One day, he met a friendly wagoner who gave him a lift to the city. He was
amazed at that big city. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any gold on the street.
He had no money and ate no food few days. He collapsed in front of a kind rich
merchant’s house.

The merchant gave him a job in his kitchen. But a cook didn’t like him; he used
to beat and pinch him. Dick Whittington had to sleep in a tiny room with many
rats and mice which bothered him every night. Then, he decided to buy a cat by
using his saving. Luckily, that clever cat was very good at catching mice and
rats.

One day, merchant would go on a long voyage and sell everything on his ship.
Dick Whittington asked merchant to help him sell his cat. After arriving in a
destination, merchant was invited by King and Queen to a feast. However,
hundreds of rats gobbled all of food there. Merchant offered the clever cat to
help King solve his problem.

King was very happy. He gave the merchant a ship full of gold in return. Finally,
merchant gave all of the gold to Dick Whittington. He spent money wisely and
helped people.

Momotaro Peach Boy (Jepang)

A long time ago, there lived an old and poor couple in a village in Japan. They
didn’t wish for gold or fine clothes. They only wished for a child.
One day, the old woman washed clothes in a river. While washing, she was also
wishing for a child. Then, a giant peach came floating down the river. She took
it home and would cut it.

There was a human voice from that peach saying not to cut it. Suddenly it split
open; a baby boy jumped out of that peach. Those old people were very happy
and named him Momotaro which means Peach Boy.

Time went by and people in that village were afraid of Oni Monsters who stole
their belongings. When Momotaro was about 15 years old, he wanted to save
his village from Oni Monsters. Momotaro’s parents were very proud of
Momotaro. His father gave him a sword; mother gave him a bag of dumplings.

On the way, Momotaro met a dog, a monkey and a hawk. He shared those
dumplings to them. Those animals joined him to fight Oni Monsters. Being a
good leader, Momotaro encouraged them to work together.

Finally, Momotaro sucessfully forced Oni leader to surrender. Then Momotaro

with his friends took treasure then shared it to all people in the village.
Momotaro’s parents were very happy that Momotaro came back safely.

The Forbidden Chamber (Mexico)

Once there was an evil wizard who dressed as a beggar. He went from house to
house asking for alms and stealing pretty girls. One day he knocked on the door
of a house. There lived a man with three beautiful daughters. The eldest
daughter opened the door then wizard hypnotized her. He took her to his house
in the midst of woods. Everything was magnificent there. First daughter had all
things she wished for.

One day, wizard had to go on a journey. He left keys of all rooms to her. She
could enter every room except one, otherwise she could die. He also gave an
egg she needed to care.

After wizard left his house, daughter looked into every room and found beautiful
things. Then she was curious to know about the forbidden room. She entered
that room and found hundreds of kidnapped girls who had fallen asleep. First
daughter frightened then ran out of the room. In a hurry, she dropped the egg; it
turned red. Wizard came back. He knew what had happened. Then, he dragged
her into that forbidden chamber.

Next day, he went back to same house and took second daughter. But same
thing happened to her. He went back and kidnapped the youngest sister, but
this girl was very wise.

Before entering forbidden chamber, she put the egg in a cupboard. Having
known that there were many girls in that room including her sisters, she had an
idea to release them. Wizard thought that third daughter did what he said. He
decided to marry her.

Before getting married, daughter asked wizard to send a full basket of gold to
her parents. In the bottom of that basket, there were her sisters covered with
gold. While wizard left his house, daughter let all girls free. She also asked
those girls as well as their parents to come to wizard’s house.

When wizard came back, those girls with their parents dragged him into that
forbidden chamber, locked the door and set fire to wizard’s house.