THE LEGEND OF MOUNT TANGKUBAN PERAHU
‘Anybody there? Bring me my tool. I will give you special
present. If you are female, I will consider you as my sister.
If you are male, I will marry you’
Suddenly
a male dog, its name was Tumang, came. He brought her the falling
tool. Dayang Sumbi was very surprised. She regretted her words but
she could not deny it. So she had to marry Tumang and leave her
father. Then they lived in a small village. Several months later
they had a son. His name was Sangkuriang. He was a handsome and
healthy boy.
Sangkuriang liked hunting very much. He often went hunting to the wood
using his arrow. When he went hunting Tumang always with him. In
the past there were many deer in Java so Sangkuriang often hunted for deer.
One
day Dayang Sumbi wanted to have deer’s heart so she asked Sangkuriang to
hunt for a deer. Then Sangkuriang went to the wood with his arrow
and his faithful dog Tumang. But after several days in the wood
Sangkuriang could not find any deer. They were all disappeared.
Sangkuriang was exhausted and desperate. He did not want to disappoint
her mother so he killed Tumang. He did not know that Tumang was his
father. At home he gave Tumang’s heart to her mother.
But
Dayang Sumbi knew that it was Tumang’s heart. She was so angry that she
could not control her emotion. She hit Sangkuriang at his head.
Sangkuriang was wounded. There was a scar in his
head. She also repelled her son. Sangkuriang left
her mother in sadness.
Many
years passed and Sangkuriang became a strong young man. He wandered
everywhere. One day he arrived at his own village but
he did not realized it. There he met Dayang Sumbi. At the time
Dayang Sumbi was given an eternal beauty by God so she stayed young forever.
Both of them did not know each other. So they fell in love and then they
decided to marry.
But then
Dayang Sumbi recognized a scar on his Sangkuriang’s head. She knew that
Sangkuriang was his son. It was impossible for them to marry. She
told him but he did not believe her. He wished that they marry
soon. So Dayang Sumbi gave a very difficult condition. She wanted
Sangkuriang to build a lake and a boat in one night! She said she needed
that for honeymoon.
Sangkuriang agreed. With the help of genie and spirits Sangkuriang
tried to build them. By midnight he had finished the lake by
building a dam in Citarum river. Then he started building the boat.
It was almost dawn when he nearly finished it. Meanwhile Dayang Sumbi
kept watching on them. She was very worried when she knew this. So
she made lights in the east. Then the spirits thought that it was already
dawn. It was time for them to leave. They left Sangkuriang
alone. Without their help he could not finish the boat.
Sangkuriang was very angry. He kicked the boat. Then the boat
turned out to be Mount Tangkuban Perahu. It means boat upside down.
From a distant it looks like a boat upside down.