Welcome back to my blog. In today’s post, I want to write about one of Indonesia’s folktales. Indonesia has many folktales due to its various traditional cultures; one of them is Malin Kundang. It is a folktale about retribution of an ungrateful son. It is also one of my favourite folktales because of its moral story.
Now, let me start the story. Once upon a time, in the Air Manis Beach fishing village in Padang, West Sumatra, there lived a widow named Mande Rubayah along with her son, Malin Kundang. She dearly loved her son and eventually spoiled him. Malin was a diligent and obedient son. Because Mande Rubayah was already old, she was only capable of working as a cake seller to meet the needs of her family.
One day, Malin was terribly sick, almost losing his life. However, due to Mande’s hard effort of making him healthy again, he became well. After he survived his sickness, Malin is more deeply loved by his mother. They were a happy family, who loved each other.
After several years, Malin grew up and became an adult man. At that time, there was a huge ship docked at the Beach and Malin was attracted by it. He wanted to go with the ship and go abroad to the city. He then asked for permission of his mother; told her that he will go abroad in order to change their family’s fate. With a heavy heart, Mande Rubayah let his only son go and provided him with food.
Day by day, Mande Rubayah went through her day alone. Every morning and afternoon, she would go to the beach and asked herself, when will her son be coming back. She also prayed that Malin will always be safe and come back home soon. During his years abroad, Malin never sent letters nor any kind of messages to his mother. Until one day, Mande got news from a captain, that took Malin with him that day. He told Mande that Malin is safe and already married to a beautiful and rich noblewoman. Mande was so happy and was certain that her son will come to her soon.
A couple of days later, the villagers gathered at the beach because they saw a beautiful large ship and thought that it must belong to a noble person. Mande was so happy and thought that it must be her son. The ship slowly began to move closer to the port and on the deck, people could see a young couple standing on it. When Mande saw the young man on the deck, she was certain that it is her son. Before the village elders had welcomed them, she approached Malin first. She immediately hugged him tightly, she was afraid of losing her child again.
Malin was surprised because he was hugged by an old woman in tattered clothes. He could not believe that the woman was his mother. Before he could even think of speaking, his beautiful wife spat while saying, “This ugly woman is your mother? Why did you lie to me before!” Hearing his wife’s words, Malin threw his mother off of him and said that he did not know her. Mande was shocked and began to cry heavily. Again, Malin was ashamed and did not want to claim her as his mother.
Mande cried heavily and passed out on the beach. When she woke up, she realized that the villagers are already gone and she could see Malin’s ship farther away. Knowing her son already changed, her heart ached and hurt. She then prayed to God asking for his righteousness, if Malin is indeed her son. Suddenly a big storm came, hitting Malin Kundang’s ship, then a thunderous bolt of lightning came. At that moment, the ship was smashed to pieces. Then the waves carried it to the beach.
The next day when the morning sun appeared on the eastern horizon, the storm had stopped. At the beach, visible pieces of ships that have become stone were seen. That’s the ship of Malin Kundang! A rock that resembles a human body appears. That is the body of Malin Kundang, who was a son of disobedience, who was cursed by his mother and became a stone. Between the stones, small fishes swim, such as mackerel. That said, the fish came from the fragments of the body of his wife who kept looking for Malin Kundang.
The moral of this folktale is to never forget our parents, who already raised us ever since we were a child and to not be blinded by the richness and the luxury. Today, it is possible to see the stone in Air Manis Beach, Padang, West Sumatra. It became, in fact, one of the tourist attractions in Padang.
That is all for today’s post; I hope you enjoyed reading this kind of story and see you in my next one.
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