The Story of a Disobedient Child Who Was Cursed to Stone

Every child has an obligation to serve his parents. There is no reason to be ashamed to admit the condition of your parents, whatever it may be. Prayers of parents are always answered by God. Do not let parents pray badly to their children.

Through this Indonesian folklore article, The Jombang Taste invites you to listen to the tale of the origin of Batu Menangis. Once upon a time on a hill far from the village, in the area of ??West Kalimantan, there lived a poor widow and her daughter. The widow’s daughter is very beautiful. But unfortunately, He has very bad behavior. The girl is very lazy, never helps her mother with housework. It only works to groom every day.

Besides being lazy, that girl is also very spoiled. All requests must be obeyed. Every time he asked for something, his mother had to grant it. She did not care about her mother’s poor condition. Every day his mother had to work hard to find a bite of rice.

This West Kalimantan folklore begins one day, when the girl’s mother takes her down to the village to shop. The location of the village market was very far away, so they had to walk and it was quite tiring. The girl walks around wearing nice clothes.

She preened her so that people on the street who saw her would later admire her beauty. While his mother walked behind carrying a basket with very dirty clothes. Because they live in a remote place, no one knows that the two women walking are mother and child.

When they started to enter the village, the village people looked at them. They were so fascinated by the beauty of the girl. Especially the village youths who were not content looking at his face. But things were completely different when he saw the person walking behind the girl.

It makes people wonder. Among the people who saw, a young woman approached and asked the girl. “Hi, pretty girl, is that walking behind your mother?”

However, what was the girl’s answer? “No,” he said arrogantly. “She is my maid”.

The two mothers and children then continued on their way. Not far away, a young man approached again and asked the girl. “Hi, sweet. Is that walking behind you your mother?”

“No, no,” replied the girl, tilting her head back. “She is my slave”

That’s how every girl meets someone along the way, who asks about her mother, always the answer. His mother was treated as his servant or slave. Thus the people of Kalimantan tell the story of the origin of the weeping stone.

At first, every time she heard her son’s rebellious answer when asked by someone, the mother could still hold back. But after repeatedly hearing the same answer, and it was very painful, finally the poor mother could not help herself.

The mother prayed. “Yes, God, I can’t stand this insult. My biological son treats myself so strongly. Yes, God punish this disobedient child! Punish him.”

By the power of God, slowly the rebellious girl’s body turned to stone. change starts from feet. When the change had reached half the body, the girl cried begging her mother for forgiveness.

“Oh, Mother … Mother … forgive me. Please forgive your son’s iniquity all this time. Mother, forgive your child.”

The girl continued to lament and cry pleading with her mother. However, it was too late. The girl’s entire body finally turned to stone. Even though it was turned into stone, one could see that his eyes were still shedding tears, like he was crying. Therefore, the stone that came from the girl who got her mother’s curse was called the Crying Stone.

That is the story of the origin of the Crying Stone in Kalimantan. The mandate of this Kalimantan folklore is that we always respect and be devoted to our parents. The moral message of the Crying Stone legend is that every child makes their parents happy before it’s too late. Hopefully this article The Jombang Taste can add to your insight. See you in the next folklore.

References:

Sumardiyanto, Anwar and Eka Katminingsih. 2011. Folk Story. Sidoarjo: World of Science.