have you heard about the Mount Jaka Tarub tale? This folktale was very famous in Java. A lot of books were written about Jaka Tarub. But who is he? Is he real or just a myth? ... real or myth I think it’s not a problem cause this legend has had a hereditary tale from era to era... and it has had one of a big folktale of Javanesse.
Here is the tale:
Once upon a time there was a handsome young man, his name was Jaka Tarub. Jaka Tarub was walking in the woods. Suddenly he hears sounds of women near a waterfall. He slowly came close to the direction of sounds, he hid behind the trees and saw 7 beautiful women taking a bath. A lot of women in the village liked him, but he stayed single because he wanted to have a very beautiful wife. Those women were so beautiful, Jaka Tarub thought they must be angels. He stole one of the shawl of the angel and he waited, behind the dark shadow of trees. It was time for those angels to come home to Kahyangan (Almost similar to heaven) . One of the Angels immediately realised she lost her shawl. She said to her sisters, “I lost my shawl, I can’t go back yet. But I will find it and I will come back. You girls go ahead.” The Bidadari who lost her shawl is Nawang Wulan. She tried to find the shawl but she couldn’t find it. She got so depressed and felt alone and she cried. That was the time Jaka Tarub came to her. Comfort her and promise he will help her find the shawl so that she could come back to Kahyangan. Then, Jaka Tarub married her. They have a child, named Nawangsih. But for all that time, Jaka Tarub hid Nawang Wulan’s shawl in the barn where he kept the rice. They had a happy life. They always had enough rice to eat. They did not have to work hard like their neighbors. It was because Nawang Wulan used her magic in cooking. One day, Jaka Tarub asked her about the magic. Nawang Wulan did not tell him the secret and asked him not to open the cooking pan's lid. She said that if Jaka Tarub opened the lid, they had to work hard to get a lot of rice to cook. One day, Jaka Tarub was really curious. He then opened the cooking pan's lid. He saw there was only a small portion of rice to cook. When she got home, Nawang Wulan knew that Jaka Tarub had opened the lid. She was angry because she already lost the magic in cooking. Now she had to take a big portion of rice to cook. Slowly there was not enough rice in the barn. And when Nawang Wulan wanted to take the last portion of rice, she found her shawl in the barn. Nawang Wulan was really happy to find it. She then said to Jaka Tarub, "I will go home now. Take care of our daughter. "When there is full moon, take her out of the house and I'll come to get her." said Nawang Wulan and then flew to the sky. Jaka Tarub was extremely sad. And to keep the promise, Jaka Tarub always went out of the house with his daughter when there was a full moon. But Nawang Wulan never came back. Moral value : We should admit after telling our lies to gain good things in the future.
