THE LEGEND OF TANGKUBAN PERAHU

Once upon a time in West Java Indonesia lived a princess named Dayang Sumbi. She was
very beautiful and kind-hearted. Her hobby was weaving clothes. One night, her weaving tool
fell but she was too lazy to get herself, she shouted out.

"Oh no! My needle fell on the ground. Hello… can anybody take the needle for me? If you're
female I will take you as my sister. If you're a male I will marry you"

Surprisingly, there came a male dog named Tumang, which brought Dayang Sumbi's needle.
Tumang was a man who had been cursed by a witch to become a dog. Finally, to fulfill her
promise, Dayang Sumbi married Tumang. Then she gave birth to a baby named
Sangkuriang. But Sangkuriang didn't know that Tumang was his father. He only knew that
Tumang was a loyal dog. One day Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to go hunting,

"Sangkuriang my son, will you go to the jungle and bring me a deer's heart?"

"Okay Mom, I'll bring it for you soon"

"Take care of yourself and bring Tumang with you"

Sangkuriang and Tumang went to the forest. Unfortunately, when the day changed, he still
had not found any deer. Then he had an idea. He killed Tumang. He brought his heart and
gave it to Dayang Sumbi.

After she cooked and ate the heart, Dayang Sumbi did not see Tumang.

"My Son, do you see Tumang? I have been looking everywhere but he is nowhere to be seen"

“Hmmm... I...I have killed him, and the heart I gave to you... it was his heart..."

"What? Why did you do Sangkuriang......go away from here"

Dayang Sumbi was very angry and she hit Sangkuriang's forehead and threw him out of the
house.

Years later, Sangkuriang had grown up to be a handsome and powerful man. One day he met
a beautiful young woman, it was Dayang Sumbi. She always looked like a young girl because
God gave her long-lasting beauty. But Sangkuriang did not know that she was his mother.
Sumbi also did not recognize him. Then they fell in love each other and Sangkuriang didn't
take long to propose Dayang Sumbi.
"Dayang Sumbi will you marry me?"

"Yes I will"

While sitting under a tree, Sangkuriang took off his headband. Then Dayang Sumbi was
surprised when she saw the wound on his forehead.

"Oh no!! You are my son, Sangkuriang. It is impossible for us to marry!!"

" Me? Your son? If you were my mom, you would be older than me"

"You are my son, Sangkuriang. I am your mom,Dayang sumbi.”

“no. You are not my mother and i’m not your son!”

“Okay if you don't believe me, fine. I will marry you...but build me a big boat in one night!"

"Okay, if I can finish it in one night, you must marry me"

With the help of spirits, Sangkuriang almost succeeded in doing the task before dawn.
However, Dayang sumbi did not remain silent. She pounded the mortar and made it look like
the dawn had come. The spirits fled, so Sangkuriang failed to finish the boat.Sangkuriang
realised that dayang sumbi had cheated him. This made Sangkuriang furious and kicked the
boat upside down. The overturned boat is now known as Mount Tangkuban Perahu.

The moral value of this story is, Mind your words as they might hurt you.

THE END