Rato Islam Onggu’ is a legend about the introduction of Islam to western Madura. After Prince Pratanu has a dream, the patih (chief minister), Empu Bageno is sent to Java to learn about this new religion. He returns a convert, and he and the prince spread Islam throughout the region. However, the king, Ki Pragolbo does not convert but only nods his assent.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Pangpang sè Kamantan is the legend of the construction of the Great Mosque in Bangkalan. The king’s men find three great columns for the mosque but can only find a fourth that is a little short and slightly crooked. A wise man with sakti (supernatural powers) counsels the king to parade the defective column around the city while praying, which results in a fourth perfect column.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Kè’ Lèsap tells of the origin of the names of the four major principalities of Madura. The son a the King of Bangkalan and a village woman, he decides as an adult that he wants to rule all of Madura and uses hi sakti (supernatural powers) to easily conquer Sumenep, Pamekasan, and Sampang, all of which take their names from descriptions of the battles. However, he is outwitted when he attempts to conquer his father’s kingdom, which takes its name from Kè’ Lèsap’s death (Bangka).
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Bâto Tètèanna Bhuju' Napo is the tale of a kyai who befriends the exiled Cakraningrat II, a selfish king who mistreats his people. Kyai Napo counsels the king on good behavior and is rewarded with land in the Sampang area after Cakraningrat’s return to power. Kyai Napo spreads the teachings of Islam to the surrounding area.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Perrèng Sojjhinna Kè Rabâ is the story of the origin of a stand of special bamboo which grows after Kè Rabâ sticks the bamboo he used as a cooking skewer in the ground. The people of Pamekasan are besieged by drought until the king builds the mystical kyai a house to shelter him from the rain. The kyai plants his skewer after returning to Pamekasan from a trip to see his teacher in Sampang
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Tolang Lengngen sè Èghâbây Tatengnger is the story of the how Pangeran Cakraningrat IV is double-crossed by the King of Mataram and his Dutch allies and exiled to Madagascar. Years later his son, Pangeran Cakraningrat V, is given permission to retrieve the body and bring it to Bangkalan. The skeleton is identified by a unique feature of the king’s arm.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Makamma Sayyid Maulana Yusuf is the story of the origin of a shrine to a sayyid by the king of Sumenep, Sultan Abdurahman Paku Nata Ningrat. The king receives a sign from the Lord and vows to build the grave site on the nearly deserted island of Puteran if he and his men return safe from battle again the King of Bali.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Bhindhârâ Sa’ot is the story of a kyai’s son who eventually becomes a king in Sumenep, despite not having royal blood. He is blessed from the start, responding to his father from his mother’s womb, thus being named Muhammad Sa’ot (sa’ot ‘answer’). He is sent to study with a famous kyai and gains much sakti. In the end, he is selected by Dhin Ajuh Rato Tumenggung Tirto Negoro, the Queen of Sumenep, to be her husband after she dreams of him on several consecutive nights.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Gheddhâng Aghung tells of the ‘royal banana’ which grows near the royal cemetery in Arosbaya, north of Bangkalan. The banana plants lack any roots and appear sporadically without being cultivated. The appearance of the banana is believed to be the harbinger of important events, such as the overthrow of both Sukarno and Suharto.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Kè Moko is the story of a kyai who runs a pondok (Islamic boarding school) with a large number of students. Through the power of God he is able to feed the people of the surrounding area and help a shipwrecked trader from Makassar and his crew. After leaving Kè Moko and resuming his voyage, the trader comes upon a kingdom on Sumatra suffering from a plague. He helps heal the people through the power of faith that he learned from Kè Moko.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Orèng Bâlândhâ sè Ojhup is the story of how one Dutchman learns at the hands of a prince that his pistol and arrogance are no match for the power of God, who ultimately decides who lives and who dies.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Ko’ol bân Kancèl is a fable of how a snail (ko’ol) outwits a kancèl (a trickster deer-like animal), defeating him in a race and sending him off in shame.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
Asal Molana Ghunong Pèkol is the tale of the origin of two great mountains, which are the result of a failed attempt by a suitor named Lamdaur to win the hand of the beautiful Pottre Jenang, who is in no hurry to be married.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
Sunan Cendhâna is the story of Empu Bageno’s spreading of Islam to the area south of Bangkalan. After his service as chief minister to the king, Kyai Bageno is granted land in Kobanyar and teaches the people there the ways of Islam. He comes to be known as Sunan Cendhâna because of the fragrant smell of cendhâna, sandalwood, that surrounded him.
as told by Pak Abdurrahman
Kè’ Tajhi tells the story of how the kyai who makes powerful krises has a specially made kris rejected by the King of Bangkalan. After crops start failing and livestock start dying, the king realizes his mistake, apologizes to Kè’ Tajhi, and rewards him with three bags of dinars and land in Kobanyar.
as told by Pak Abdurrahman
After the princess Raga Padmi is cured of a disfiguring skin disease by the mother of the beloved courtier Bangsa Cara, the two fall in love. However, his evil rival Bangsa Pate wishes to steal the beautiful Raga Padmi and tricks Bangsa Cara into going to a distant island to hunt for deer for the king’s planned celebration. Bangsa Pate murders Bangsa Cara, and when Raga Padmi discovers Bangsa Cara with a knife in his chest, she is overcome with grief and accidentally cuts herself on the poisoned blade, and she dies as well.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
After dreaming that she swallows the moon and becoming pregnant, the unmarried Princess Doro Gung is condemned to death by her furious father. After failing in his attempt to execute her, the minister Ke Poleng realizes her innocence and sets her adrift on the sea. The princess comes ashore on a deserted island (later to become Madura) and gives birth to the hero Radin Sagara. With Ke Poleng’s guidance, Radin Sagara grows to be a well-known and powerful warrior. However, when he learns that he has no father, his shame is so great that he and his mother disappear from the Earth.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Dempo Abang and Joko Tole, two formidable warriors with magical powers (sakti), wage an epic battle in the skies over Madura. Joko Tole is victorious, but Dempo Abang’s goose, equipped with its own magic, survives and dives into the Sea of Madura. Legend tells that as a result Madurese maidens must guard their virtue when crossing Madura Strait to Java.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
Tanda Serap, a skilled fighter but a greedy man, is feared by almost all who meet him. He decides he wants to marry his cousin Sare Bate and so challenges her finance, Tanda Anggre’ (to whom he is also related), to a cock fight–with Sare Bate as the prize for the winner. Tanda Serap kills Tanda Anggre’ and his cock after they win the duel. Filled with remorse at his rash and selfish behavior, Tanda Serap confesses his crime to the police and is banished from Madura.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
The legendary hero Pa’ Sakera rises in the ranks of a Dutch-owned company and becomes a champion of oppressed workers, later murdering his boss over ill-treatment. After escaping from prison, Sakera becomes a fugitive and folk hero, killing many Dutch pursuers along the way. He is finally captured but warns of the vengeance of future generations of Madurese.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
The parents of two young lovers seek a genie’s beautiful music for their children’s wedding ceremony. When the request is denied, the two young lovers cry uncontrollably, creating two famous springs near Air Mata Cemetery.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
All the fairest maidens of Nagasare have been summoned so that the prince, Dhin Mantre, can select a wife. Through her resourcefulness, the village girl Malate is able to outwit a lecherous monkey (and treacherous sisters). This so impresses the prince that he asks Malate to be his wife.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
The curved knife, the arè’, is emblematic of the Madurese. According to legend, two famous and formidable knights, Adi Poday and Adi Roso, introduce the arè’ to Madura when they defeat two powerful enemies of the Majapahit kingdom in the area around Sumenep.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
A clever thief has been terrorizing the area around Bangkalan. After going to the famous and powerful Kyai Haji Muhammad Holil bin Abdul Latif, a police official is able to capture the thief singlehandedly under a most unusual set of circumstances.
as told by Pak Moh. Hasan Sasra
A devious and hungry crane tricks a crab and the fish living in a river into believing that the river is going to dry up and they will all die. When the crab discovers that the crane has not moved the fish to another river as he claimed but has left them on a mountain to die so that he can eat them all later, the crab exacts revenge by breaking the crane’s neck.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
A well-known kyai in Sumenep severely reprimands a prince in his school and is challenged by the king to prove his methods work by teaching a monkey to speak. The kyai eventually meets the challenge and wins over the king, who again entrusts the prince’s education to the kyai.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
A goat magically gives birth to four human daughters. After a long separation, she sets out to find them, only to be rejected by the first three. The fourth daughter, Malate, takes her mother in. The goat soon dies, but Malate is rewarded for her love and respect with a bush that sprouts jewels, which makes her a wealthy woman.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
A starving turtle stranded in a barren land is rescued by a crane. As the crane and a companion fly the turtle to a lush new home, the turtle ignores a warning not to talk and loses its grip on the stick used to carry it. It plummets to its death.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
As a boy, Kyai Siddik is forgotten by a kyai who has sent him off to the mountains to tend goats. Because of his pure heart and kindness to all living creatures, Kyai Siddik eventually becomes a famous kyai despite having only studied with the kyai for a week.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
At the end of his life, the great hero Joko Tole becomes weak and dies. Because his funeral transport breaks down, he must be buried away from the palace at Sumenep. As bhâthang means ‘corpse’, the village comes to be known as Thang-Bhâthang.
as told by Pak Zawawi Imron
This digital collection features folk tales of the Madurese people, the third largest ethnic population in Indonesia. Collected by Professor William Davies of The University of Iowa’s Department of Linguistics, these videos of native storytellers performing traditional and historical narratives are accompanied by four different kinds of written texts: the original Madurese, English and Indonesian translations, and an interlinear format which includes morpheme-by-morpheme glosses, the common format for linguistic analysis.
The fieldwork in Indonesia, including recording and initial transcription, was funded by a grant from the Toyota Foundation.
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