An Old Man in the Village

1. An old man lived in the village. He was one of the most unfortunate people in the world. The
whole village was tired of him; he was always gloomy, he constantly complained and was
always in a bad mood. The longer he lived, the more bile he was becoming and the more
poisonous were his words.

2. People avoided him because his misfortune became contagious. It was even unnatural and
insulting to be happy next to him. He created the feeling of unhappiness in others. But one
day, when he turned eighty years old, an incredible thing happened. Instantly everyone
started hearing the rumour that the Old Man had become happy.

3. He doesn’t complain about anything anymore, always smiles, and even his face is freshened
up. The whole village gathered together. The villagers asked the old man about what
happened. He answers, “Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness, and it
was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m
happy now.”

The Wise Man

4. People have been coming to the wise man, complaining about the same problems every time.
One day he told them a joke and everyone roared in laughter. After a couple of minutes, he
told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled. When he told the same joke for the
third time no one laughed anymore. The wise man smiled and said, “You can’t laugh at the
same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?”

Two Best Friends

5. A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the
journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who
got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand; Today my best friend
slapped me in the face.

6. They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one
who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone; Today my best friend saved
my life.The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him;

7. “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other
friend replied; “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of
forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must
engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

The True Love of Mother

8. Once upon a time, there were a mother and her child who lived near the forest. They were so
poor so that they lived in an ugly cottage and wore worn-out dresses. One day, there was a
plague in the village. The child was infected by the plague. The mother would like to bring
her child to the doctor. However, they didn’t have money to pay for the doctor. The mother
asked the people about the medicine. She went to the forest and looked for some herbal roots.
9. She made the medicine and treated her child carefully. The children’s condition was getting
better. After that, the child recovered from the disease. Unfortunately, the mother was getting
infected. And, since her body was so weak and didn’t get enough sleep, she passed away after
several days. Her child was crying and realizing that her mother gave her true love till the
end.

Legend of Banyuwangi

10. Once upon a time, there was a local ruler named King Sulahkromo. The king had a Prime
Minister named Raden Sidopekso. The Prime Minister had a wife named Sri Tanjung. She
was so beautiful that the king wanted her to be his wife. One day, the King sent his Prime
Minister to a long mission. While the Prime Minister was away, the King tried to get Sri
Tanjung. However he failed.

11. He was very angry. Thus, when Sidopekso went back, the King told him that his wife was
unfaithful to him. The Prime Minister was very angry with his wife. Sri Tanjung said that it
was not true. However, Sidopekso said that he would kill her. He brought her to the river
bank. Before he kill her and threw her into the river, she said that her innocence would be
proven.

12. After Sidopekso killed her, he threw her dead body into the dirty river. The river immediately
became clean and began to spread a wonderful fragrance. Sidopekso said, “Banyu…Wangi…
Banyuwangi”. This means “fragrant water”. Banyuwangi was born from the proof of noble
and sacred love.

The Ant and The Elephant

13. Once upon a time, there lived a huge elephant in a jungle. He was arrogant and always
underestimated animals smaller than him. In the same jungle, there lived a family of ants.
Every morning, they would go in search of food and on their way back, they would always
see the elephant troubling other animals. One day, when the ant family was coming back
collecting their food, the elephant sprayed a trunk full of water on them. “You shouldn’t hurt
others like this”

14.Cried one of the ants. “Shut up you, tiny ant! Keep quiet or I will crush you to death,” said
the elephant angrily. The poor ant kept quiet and went on its way. But she decided to teach
the proud elephant a lesson. Next day, when the elephant was sleeping, the tiny ant slowly
crept into the elephant’s trunk and started biting him. The elephant woke up and tried
everything to get the ant out his trunk but could not.

15. Such a big animal but he could not do anything to get the tiny ant out. The elephant started to
cry and begged sorry to the ant. “I hope now you understand how others feel when you hurt
them” said the ant. “Yes, I do. Yes, I do,” cried the elephant and pleaded the ant to come out.
The ant took pity on the elephant and came out of his trunk. From that day onward, the
elephant never troubled any animals.

Family
16. I really love my family. I used to hate it, but now not anymore because of 1 incident. One
day, I was angry with my mother for not letting me participate in an art show at school.
Finally, I ran away from home but instead got lost. My mother looked here and there while
confused.

17. Even the neighbors said, my mother cried while looking for me. When my mother found me
lost on a deserted road, she hugged me until she cried. She said the mother could not imagine
if she lost her child. Since then I have felt the love of my family is very big. That’s why I’ve
always loved them.

The Promise

18. It had been a little over six months since Karen moved away. It was hard at first to keep in
touch with her best friend via email and phone calls. But eventually, the contact dwindled,
and the old friends faded into the background of each other’s lives. One day, out of the blue,
Karen called her old friend, and they picked up right where they left off, as though no time
had passed.

19. Cheerful and excited to chat again, the old friends made a new pact to never let so much time
go by without talking. They wanted to stay friends forever, no matter what happened. And so
far, they’ve managed to keep that promise. No matter how busy life gets, the old friends
always find time for a quick catch-up chat. They always pick up right where they left off.

The Christmas Miracle

20. The family had been through a lot lately. The father had lost his job, and the mother was
working two jobs to make ends meet. They were behind on their mortgage, and the kids were
missing out on Christmas presents. It was tough for them, but they still tried to remain
positive. On Christmas Eve, the family went to bed early, hoping that Santa would bring them
some miracles.

21.In the morning, they woke up to find that their Christmas tree was surrounded by presents.
There were gifts for everyone in the family, even the dog! They were all so surprised and
happy. It was a Christmas miracle that brought cheer and happiness to the family. It was a
reminder that no matter how tough times may be, there is always hope, love, and faith.

One Sided Love

22. There was a young man who had been in love with the same girl since they were kids. He
loved her so much and could not bear the thought of losing her. He dedicated his life to
making her happy and sacrificing whatever he had to make sure that she was always smiling.
But even though he loved her so much, she did not feel the same way about him. She kept
hurting him with her words and actions, but he still stayed by her side.

23.He kept thinking that one day she would realize his love and reciprocate it, but that never
happened. He kept trying for years until finally, he realized that he was only hurting himself
by clinging on to a person who did not care about him. He accepted the situation and moved
on with his life, even though it was hard to let go of someone he loved so much.
 Bawang Merah Bawang Putih

24. A long time ago, in a nice quiet village, there lived a wealthy merchant with his daughter--
Bawang Putih who was obedient and kind-hearted. The merchant’s wife had long since
passed away. One day, he brought a woman whom he was about to get married. The woman
also has a daughter--Bawang Merah. They now became Bawang Putih’s stepmother and
stepsister. When Bawang Putih’s father went to trade, the stepmother and Bawang Merah
always treated her like a servant.
25. Bawang Putih did all the work such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing clothes and
looking for firewood that was ordered by her stepmother. Whenever her work went wrong,
the stepmother would punish her by not feeding her. Every morning, her stepmother and
Bawang Merah took turns shouting at Bawang Putih to wash their clothes, yet they did not
give her enough time to finish, and would even get mad because of their starvation.
26. It made Bawang Putih’s body became thinner until her father fell ill, she was very sad
because of it. She never left her father alone, but then God decided differently, her father
died. She said in tears “Father, don’t leave Bawang Putih!”. All her life was more miserable,
yet her stepmother and Bawang Merah were excited because the property and house of
Bawang Putih’s father now belonged to them. They further tortured her, sometimes she
would cry at night.
27. One day, Bawang Putih went to the river to wash clothes, she was sleepy and hungry. She did
not realise that her stepmother’s favourite shawl had washed away, it was drifting down the
river. She said, “Oh no! Mother’s favourite red scarf is gone. I daren’t go home, she will
scold me”. Bawang Putih met a farmer who was washing his cow and asked about the red
scarf. He saw that the red scarf was taken by an old grandmother who also was washing her
clothes.
28.Bawang Putih immediately headed up the mountain, and there she found a wooden house and
met the grandmother. There was one condition that the grandmother would give the red scarf
back to her. Bawang Putih must help the grandmother first to cook, look for firewood, clean
the house, and wash clothes. It was so easy for her because she used to doing it. Finally, she
finished it all.
29. And the grandmother gave her the shawl and asked her to choose a gift between a small
pumpkin and a large pumpkin. Bawang Putih chose the small pumpkin and not the large one
because she also carried a basket full of clothes. The grandmother gave her advice to not
open the pumpkin until she arrived home. She was being scolded by her stepmother and
Bawang Merah at home, but they stopped and asked her to cook the pumpkin instead.
30.Surprisingly, when she split the pumpkin, there was full of sparkling and expensive jewellery
inside. Her stepmother and Bawang Merah asked her how did she find it out. Bawang Merah
wanted to choose the large one so that she would get more jewellery than Bawang Putih’s. It
gave the stepmother an idea to wash away the red scarf again in the river. The stepmother and
Bawang Merah followed the red scarf down the river that was taken by the grandmother to
the mountain.
31. Bawang Merah felt tired because it was so far, but finally, they arrived at the grandmother’s
house. They were asked to help the grandmother doing the same work as Bawang Putih and
chose the large pumpkin afterwards, but did not obey the grandmother’s advice. They opened
 it before arriving home, they were impatient to see the jewellery inside. On the other hand,
they were in for quite a surprise.
32. Because they found venomous animals such as snakes, scorpions, and spiders inside the
pumpkin. They were bitten by the snakes and died in the middle of the forest. Their greed
brought them to disaster. Meanwhile, Bawang Putih became wealthy because of the jewellery
she had and continued her father’s business---She enjoyed the fruits of her obedience and
kindness.

Eternity
33. I looked up at the twilight sky in mid-February. It felt like the reddish clouds and mega-
smiling greeted me, bidding farewell to a love that had never been apart before. Does he not
recognize me anymore? Am I still the same person he loved so much? I don’t know, I always
wanted to say how are you today? Do I look like someone who pretends to be happy?
34.I have spent more than a thousand twilights without Fahri, but it feels like just yesterday he
was sitting here, smiling and saying “your eyes are like the sunset we see on Blora hill,
beautiful and makes me always want to look at it.” To this day, the word goodbye still hasn’t
come out of my mouth. Do I love you too much? Until the time you have turned to dust, I
will remain only in the same heart.
Alana and Gery
35. A pair of friends live on the coast of Purwa Beach. Alana and Gery are names. The close
proximity of the house and the not-too-long age gap made their friendship even closer. They
always play near the pier, welcoming the fishermen to come while running in the middle of
the sea of clean sand. One day Gery’s father was transferred to a place on the island of
Sulawesi.
36.Alana feels sad, but the two promise to continue to be friends no matter what. “Alana, I
promise, one day I will come here again.” Gery said while holding out a bracelet with
Alana’s name on it. The days went by, moving swiftly, like a machine that devoured the
objects inside in just a fraction of a second. Every holiday arrived, they exchanged messages
by letter, it continued for the next 5 years.
37.Until one morning Gery woke up and opened the mailbox in front of his house. But all he
encountered was mere emptiness. Gery wonders why Alana hasn’t replied to his letter, it’s
been more than a week since Alana has heard anything. Where is she going? Where’s Alana?
Not only Gery, the postman was looking for Alana. Where’s Alana? Is she stuck in the
letters? Or in realizing that everything was in vain, Gery was just a name he would never
meet again?

The Golden Touch

38. Once there lived a greedy man in a small town. He was very rich, and he loved gold and all
things fancy. But he loved his daughter more than anything. One day, he chanced upon a
fairy. The fairy’s hair was caught in a few tree branches. He helped her out, but as his
greediness took over, he realized that he had an opportunity to become richer by asking for a
wish in return for his help. The fairy granted him a wish. He said, “All that I touch should
turn to gold.”
39. And his wish was granted by the grateful fairy. The greedy man rushed home to tell his wife
and daughter about his wish, all the while touching stones and pebbles and watching them
convert into gold. Once he got home, his daughter rushed to greet him. As soon as he bent
down to scoop her up in his arms, she turned into a gold statue. He was devastated and started
crying and trying to bring his daughter back to life. He realized his folly and spent the rest of
his days searching for the fairy to take away his wish.