The Story of Cindelaras

Raden Putra was the king of Jenggala and Raden Putra had a queen and a concubine. The Queen was very beautiful and she had a good heart. However the concubine was wicked. 

The concubine wanted to get rid of the queen. 

Along with the physician of the palace the concubine hatched a plan to get rid of the Queen. 

The concubine pretended to be sick and the healer made sure that all the suspicions for the concubine’s ill health fell on the Queen. 

Soon everyone in the palace believed that the Queen had poisoned the concubine. 

The king Raden Putra was very angry when he heard this. 

He ordered his minister to take the Queen to the forest and kill her there. 

At that time, the king did not know that the Queen was pregnant and carrying his child.

The minister whom the king sent to kill the Queen in the forest was a wise man and he did not believe that the Queen would hurt the concubine in any way. But he did as he was told and he took the Queen in the forest. 

There the minister smeared the blood of another animal on his sword and left the Queen in a hut which he had built for her.

The minister told the king that he had killed the Queen. 

Soon the Queen who was in the forest gave birth to a son. She named the sun as Cindelaras. 

Cindelaras was a very handsome and smart boy. He was friendly with all the animals in the forest. He always helped his mother in the work around the hut. 

Once as Cindelaras was gathering firewood he saw an eagle which had dropped an egg. Cindelaras picked up the egg and kept it safe. 

From the egg there came a rooster. 

The rooster was very strong and it could also sing songs.

One of the songs the rooster sang was 

“Cock a doodle do, my master is Cindelaras. His house is in the forest and his father is Raden Putra.” 

At first Cindelaras ignored the song of the rooster. 

However, curiosity got the better of him and he asked his mother about the meaning of the rooster's song. 

The Queen finally told her son everything. 

Cincelaras was determined that justice was done to his mother and he made his way to his father's kingdom. Cindelaras obviously had taken his rooster along with him. 

On the way he saw many people cockfighting. Cindelaras agreed to let the rooster fight the Cockfighting match. 

The rooster was very strong and it kept winning all the fights. 

Soon the king of the land Raden Putra heard about the rooster.

Raden putra invited Cincelaras to his palace and challenged Cindelara’s rooster to a fight. 

Naturally, Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight. 

At that time Cindelaras rooster fluttered its wings and crowed happily. 

“Cock a doodle do. My master is Cindelaras and his father is Raden Putra.”

The king was stunned when he heard this. 

It was at this time that the minister who was also in the court came forward and he told the king all that had happened. 

The king then punished the concubine and the healer and brought back the Queen to his kingdom .

After that, the Queen lived happily with Cindelaras in the palace

Folk stories from Java

Callisto and Constellation of Ursa Major

Zeus was the Olympian God and he was the king of all the Greek gods. 

Before the Olympians became the Greek Gods, the Titans were considered as the Gods of the Greeks.

It was believed that Zeus along with the other Olympians fought and defeated the Titans.

Zeus’s wife was Hera. However Zeus was frequently unfaithful to Hera and Zeus had many lovers. Hera was jealous of Zeus and frequently tried to injure or hurt Zeus’ lovers or the children born to Zeus and his other lovers.

One of Zeus’s children through other lovers was Artemis, who was the Goddess of the hunt. 

Artemis had a twin brother called Apollo. Apollo was the God of religious law and he helped humans by telling them his knowledge of the future and he also told the humans about the will of his father - Zeus.

Callisto was a nymph and she was most probably the daughter of Lycaon of Arcadia. Callisto had joined Artemis in the hunt. There were many women who joined Artemis in the hunt. All of them promised to remain unwed. 

However, Callisto was loved by Zeus.

In all the versions of the story Callisto was turned into a bear. 

In some versions Callisto was turned into a bear by Zeus himself to hide Callisto from Hera.

In some other cases Hera or Artemis changed Callisto into a bear, to teach Zeus a lesson or simply because they were angry with Callisto.

Eventually it so happened that during a hunt Artemis killed Callisto whom she mistook to be a real bear. 

It could be that this was the work of the jealous Hera who did not like any of Zeus’s lovers. 

Arkas was the child growing in the womb of Callisto when she was killed by Artemis and Arkas was the child of Callisto and Zeus. 

Zeus gave Arkas to Maia, a Titaness, to raise. 

After that Zeus placed Callisto among the stars as the constellation Ursa Major or the great Bear.

Adapted from Greek mythology

The Royal couple and the Three Snake-Leaves

There was once a very poor man who had a son. When the poor man could not afford to maintain his son, his son left home with his father's blessings to seek his fortune. 

It was at this time that the king of the kingdom was about to go to war.

The poor man's son decided to join the army and fight for his kingdom.

When the battle started however everyone in the king’s army got afraid and ran away. Even the leader of the king’s army fell. 

At this time the poor man’s son came forward and he rallied his people and encouraged them to fight back. It was thanks to this boy that the army fought and defeated the enemy.

After the battle was over the king heard what the man had done and he put the young man in a very powerful position in the army and gave him a lot of treasures and riches.

The king had a very beautiful daughter. However the daughter had a very strange condition for her marriage. She had made a vow to marry only a man who would allow himself to be buried alive with her if she died first. She was willing to do the same if her husband died before her. 

So though the princess was very beautiful the suitors were afraid of the wow that the princess had made and did not come forward to marry her. 

The young man who had fought in the army and risen in ranks found the princess very beautiful and he decided to marry her with her condition. 

The royal couple lived happily for a long time. The old king retired and the new princess and her husband were made the new king and queen.

However once the queen fell ill and no physician their kingdom could save her. 

Finally the Queen lay dead. 

The young king remembering the promise that he had made to his wife was taken to the grave of his wife and buried alive along with her dead body.

There were four candles, four loaves of bread and four bottles of wine placed before the king inside the grave. After his provisions came to an end the king knew that he would have to die. 

As the king was staring in front of him he saw a snake come towards his wife’s dead body. He pulled out his sword and cut the snake into three pieces. “As long as I am alive you will not be able to touch her body.” The king told the dead body of the snake. 

At that time a second snake came out of the corner and it saw the first snake lying dead. The snake went back out of the hole and came with three green leaves in its mouth. The second snake took the pieces of the dead snake and put one leaf on each wound. Immediately the pieces of the snake joined together and the first snake came alive. 

The two snakes escaped from the hole through which they had come. 

The leaves used by the snake were lying on the ground and the king suddenly realized that these leaves were no ordinary leaves but could bring back the dead to life. 

He picked up the three leaves and put one on the mouth of his wife and two on her eyes. He was stunned when his wife came back to life. 

Then the king and the queen went back to their palace happily.

The king had a very faithful servant. The king gave the three snake leaves to his servant and asked his servant to keep the leaves safe because it could save their lives.

However things were not the same with the queen after she had come back to life. 

All the love that she had felt for her husband just vanished. 

Once when the king and the queen wanted to go on a journey by the sea, the queen fell in love with the captain of the ship. 

She and the captain together plotted and decided to throw the young king into the sea. “We shall tell everyone that the king died on this journey.” The queen caught the hands of the captain. “I will praise you so much before my father that my father will marry me to you.” 

After throwing the king into the sea, both the queen and the captain turned back to their kingdom.

The faithful servant saw all this and he was quiet. He jumped into the sea and brought out the king out of the waters. With the help of the snake leaves he brought the king back to life. 

The servant and the king both rowed hard, and they reached the old king before the queen and the captain of the ship could reach the kingdom. There the new king told the old king everything that had happened.

The old king was disbelieving that his daughter had acted this way, but finally he agreed that the king had to be right. 

So when the wicked queen and the captain of the ship came back in their ship and lied about the death of the new king, the old king punished his ungrateful daughter and the captain of the ship by putting them in a ship and letting them sail forever in the seas where they would be drowned without any help.

Adapted from the Green Fairy Book

The River flowing through Two Kingdoms

Once there was a king who was known for his temper. 

He and his cousin ruled two countries which were across a river. 

Once as this king was studying the waters of the river he thought of the king of the other kingdom. The king of the other kingdom had been his own cousin but now the two men had become enemies.

Suddenly that made the king very angry. 

He turned to his minister. “I do not want our river flowing into our enemy's kingdom. Stop this river immediately. Our enemies should not benefit from our rivers.”

The minister knew that the king had one of his temper tantrums and did not say anything immediately. The minister just set about stopping the course of the river. 

That night the minister went to the timekeeper of the kingdom. 

The work of the timekeeper was to sound a huge bell which resounded across the kingdom every hour. 

The minister asked the time-keeper to sound the bell every half an hour for that night alone.

The king slept in his bedroom and when he heard the bell ringing through the kingdom for the sixth time, he realized that it was time for the sunrise.

He woke up but was surprised to see that it was still dark around him. 

Not knowing what to do he immediately called his minister.

The minister pretended to look alarmed. “Your majesty our kingdom is to the west of the kingdom across the river. The only reason for the sun not to rise today is that the neighbouring king has made sure that the sun does not come to our kingdom. He probably acted in retaliation after we stopped the flow of the river water. The king of the neighbouring kingdom stopped the sun in his own kingdom so that it could not come here.”

The king was furious at first. He did not want to believe the minister's words. 

But the darkness around him made him realize that that is the only thing which could have happened. 

So the king ordered the river to be opened to the other kingdom as well. 

Needless to say, the sun rose at its usual time. 

The king never knew how he had been fooled by his own minister to stop him from committing a stupid act.

Adapted From the Katha Sarith Sagara

Joko Kendil

Long ago there was a widow who had a son. In that particular place, the pot used for cooking rice was called a kendil. The widow's son's head looked like a kendil so he was named Joko Kendil.

However, the widow loved her son a lot and brought him up with a lot of love and affection. When Joko Kendil was a child he loved to pull pranks on others.

Once when there was a function in their village Joko Kendil lined up along with the pots placed near the cooks who were cooking for the function. 

The busy cook did not differentiate Joko Kendil’s head from the other pots and put some food on his head.

Joko Kendil took the food home with his mother and shared it with all his friends. 

When Joko Kendil became an adult he asked his mother to approach their king to find a good match for him. 

The king had three daughters and Joko Kendil was sure that one of them would marry him. 

Joko Kendil's mother was however a little apprehensive of approaching the king. 

Joko Kendil finally convinced his mother to go.

Having no choice, the mother went to the king about her son's wishes. 

The king then turned to his three daughters. 

The second daughter told the king that she wanted to marry only a handsome prince. The  first daughter did not want to marry a poor man from a village. 

However the third daughter happily accepted the proposal of Joko Kendil's mother.

After this the king told the widow that his third daughter had accepted Joko Kendil's proposal. 

Joko Kendil married the third princess and lived with his wife in the palace. 

The youngest princess loved the witty Joko Kendil and was very happy with him. However, her elder sisters very often made fun of the third sister and the third sister’s husband.

One day the king of the place hosted a competition where all the people could show off their skills. 

Joko Kendil however could not participate in the event because he was sick. 

At that time a young nobleman came and showed off his amazing skills. Looking at this the first two princesses mocked the third princess even more for having a husband who could not do any of this.

Back to the nobleman, he was extraordinarily handsome and rode a fierce horse and had handsome clothes. 

The first two princesses were awestruck looking at the nobleman and tried to get his attention. They were even more stunned when they saw that the noble man was extremely talented in all the competitions set there. 

However the nobleman completely ignored the first two princesses. He went and stood before the third princess who had been unhappy that her own husband could not participate in the event. 

It was at this time that the noble man told the third princess that he was Joko Kendil. Joko Kindle had been cursed to have a head like a pot and the curse could be broken only if a princess married him with her whole heart and lived happily with him. 

That was what the third princess had done after she had married Joko Kendil and lived happily with him.

Adapted from folktales of Java

Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon- Part Two

When the hunter came to the Wild Forest he found two men quarreling with each other. 

He came near them in the hope that they would tell him what the quarrel was and he could settle their dispute. 

Both the men turn to the hunter eagerly. “Our father just died and he has left us only two things. One of them is this cap. It is an invisibility cap and if you wear it no one can see you. The other is the shoes which can carry you through the air as swiftly as possible, to wherever you want to go.” The elder of the man angrily came forward. “Being the elder, I want to choose first. Whereas my younger brother says that being the younger he says that he has the right to the shoes. Can you settle this dispute?” 

The hunter was quiet for a few seconds. “I have a suggestion for the two of you. Do you see the tree there?” The hunter pointed toward a tree on the other side. 

Both the men nodded.

“If both of you race the tree and come back to me the first one shall get whatever he wishes.” 

Both the men eagerly agreed to this. 

They took the shoes and the cap and gave it to the hunter. 

The hunter took both the things and waited for the race to start. 

When the men had started running the hunter immediately put on the shoes of swiftness and the invisibility cap on his head. He wished that he was in the land East of the sun and West of the moon.

After that the hunter flew in the skies. He flew past seven Bends, seven Glens and seven mountain moors and he found himself at the crystal mountain at last. 

Then he took off his invisibility cap and the shoe of swiftness. 

He went to the king who had seven daughters who were dressed in swan feathers who could fly wherever they wished. 

The hunter bowed to the king. “I have come to seek my wife.” 

The king frowned. “Who is your wife?” 

“Your youngest daughter.” The hunter replied. After that the hunter told the king how he had won her. 

The king nodded. “These are my seven daughters. If you can tell them apart and know which is your wife you can take her. It is only then that I will believe that you are married to my youngest daughter.” 

The hunter studied the seven women who were all exactly alike. “I will take them by their hand. It is only then that I will know who my wife is.” 

The hunter said so because he remembered that his wife had sewn little dresses of her children and the forefinger of her right hand had the marks of a needle. 

As soon as he touched the youngest woman he knew that this was his wife. 

The king then gave them many gifts and sent them away from Crystal Mountain. 

They reached home and they lived happily ever after.

Adapted from European folk tales

Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon - Part One

There once was a hunter. He set traps for catching the animals. Sometimes he used to spend the whole night setting such traps.

Once he was waiting behind some bushes kverlooking a river and he heard some fluttering noise. He thought they were birds but it turned out to be seven beautiful women all clad in robes made of feathers. 

The woman landed near the river and removed their robes of feather and then went into the river where they played and had fun for the entire night. 

The hunter came forward and studied all the women and found that the youngest of the maidens was the most beautiful of them. So he picked up the robe of the youngest maiden and hid it.

Finally after having fun when the maidens came out of the river all the others had found their feathery robes. 

But the seventh maiden could not find hers. 

Her sisters tried to help her in finding the robe but to no avail.

When dawn was about to break, the other sisters with their robes flew away. 

When the hunter saw the other maidens fly away he came forward with the feather robe in his hands.

The younger sister begged the hunter to give her robes back. 

However the hunter made the maiden promise him that she would marry him because he was sure that if he gave her robe back she would fly away. 

The maiden promised to marry him.

After that the hunter took her home and hid her feather robe where she could not find it. 

The hunter and the youngest sister married and lived very happily. They had two children - a boy and a girl. 

Once when the little girl was playing hide-and-seek with her brother she found the robe made of feathers.

She took it to her mother.

The mother took the robe from her daughter and asked her daughter to tell her father to find her in the land East of the sun and West of the moon. 

After those words, the mother flew away from there. 

The hunter came back home and heard everything that his daughter had to tell him. 

He walked on and finally came up to an old man. “Do you know the land which is east of the sun and west of the moon?” 

The old man firmly shook his head. “I do not know but I can ask.” 

The old man let out a shrill whistle.

The hunter was shocked because soon the place around the old man was filled with animals from all over the world. 

The old man was the king of Beasts. The old man asked the animals whether any of them knew where the land of the East of the sun and West of the moon lay. 

However none of the beasts knew the answer. 

The old man turned to the hunter. “You should go to my brother. He is the king of Birds. He may know the answer to your question.” 

Following the directions of the old man the hunter moved on and found the king of the birds too.

The king of the birds also summoned all the birds and asked them the same question.

However none of the birds knew the answer. 

Finally the king of the birds asked the hunter to meet his brother who was the king of fishes. 

The hunter followed the direction of the king of the birds and found the king of the fishes.

This time too the king of the fishes summoned all the creatures of the sea. 

This time one of the dolphins came forward and nodded. “I have heard that at the top of the Crystal Mountain, there is land which is East of the sun and the west of the moon.” However the dolphin shook its head. “I do not know where it is other than it is near the Wild Forest. 

The hunter thanked the king of the fishes and went to the wild forest.

Adapted some European folk tales