The Legend of Landak River

The Legend of Landak River

Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. It was a very hot day, the farmer was working on his field. He was very tired after working there for several hours.

“I feel hurt because I work everyday, I always work work work work, very tired coz work work work, I want to get some rest. Yes, there. I can lay down here. What is that? Something shiny.”

He came to the shiny object and took it. It was a hedgehog statue. He was amazed.

“Wow, shine bright like a diamond, shine bright like a diamond”

It’s real diamond for the eyes of the hedgehog statue.

The farmer then brought the statue home. He wanted to show it to his wife. His wife was so happy. 

“Wow, it’s so good, I really like it, you give it to me, don’t you?

“Thank you, muahhh muaaaah.

But they were so poor and planned to sell the statue.

When the night came, it’s so silent night, just the voice of owls. The farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him and said

 “Please let me stay in your home. As a return, I will give you everything you want. Just caress the statue’s head and say the prayer. There are two kinds of prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop your wish. Now memorize the prayers.”

The next day, the farmer told his wife about his dream. The wife said

“If it is so, let’s prove it, my dear handsome husband”.

The farmer slowly caressed the statue's head. He said,” hongwilahengbah We want rice”

Suddenly, a magical thing happened. Rice came out of the mouth of the statue. The rice kept on coming out from the statue's mouth. The wife was excited saying, "Wow, so much rice, my dear husband "

" We have enough rice now", said her husband.

The farmer immediately said the prayer,” cinggocang gacir stop it. And you know audience, it worked! The rice then stopped coming out from the statue's mouth. Now the farmer mentioned other things, they were jewelry and other stuffs they needed. In just a moment, the farmer and his wife became very rich.

They then shared their materials with the neighbors, but there was one neighbor who was very jealous. He was actually a thief! He wanted to know how the poor farmers became rich.

“How, how, how can they be rich... Oh I see? After the thief found out, he stole the magic hedgehog statue.

“ssssstt,........ look the right side, the left side, get this. He ran away. He was very tired from running and was very thirsty. He wanted to get some water from the statue. He said the prayer…….. Water, I want water.  Yes … water… His wish came true. Water came out of the statue’s mouth.

The thief was so happy. He drank and drank the water……….. He wanted to stop drinking but he did not know how to stop the water.

“ Enough, how to stop it, ……. Oh No I forgot how to stop it, …….. stop … stop…., cannot stop,

Audience, He really forgot how to stop the prayer request. Water kept on coming out. He did not know what to do. He was really panicking.

“Help, help, Please help me. ……..People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water. More and more water surrounded him………….

Slowly, it became a small pond. Water flowed on the ground. It became a river. People then named the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak.

Answer the following questions based on the text above. 

1. What is the purpose/ social function of the text? 

2. Where did he first find the statue?

3. Why do they plan to sell the statue?

4. Who stole the statue? 

5. What is the moral value?