Random Story To Tell

Story from Java

The whole village knew Pa Dungu as a hard worker and an honest man, but his name was “Dungu” and “Dungu” means stupid, and unfortunately Pa Dungu was indeed what his name implied.

One day Pa Dungu’s wife told her husband she wanted to sell their kerbau. “Early tomorrow morning you take the kerbau to the market,” she orderet, “and sell it for two hundred and fifty rupiahs, not a cent less!”
Pa Dungu nodded. Ma Dungu was not a wife one disagreed with.

Pa and Ma Dungu were unaware that Pa Busuk, the village rascal, had been eavesdropping and had overhead this decision about the kerbau. As soon as he knew of Ma Dungu’s intention, an evil thought entered his mind.

Without delay he went in search of his cronies Pa Cokel and Pa Colek to ask them for help in carrying out his plans.

Ma Dungu wake her husband at daybreak the next morning. Yawning and shaking the sleep from his tired body, Pa Dungu found himself outside with his kerbau. Shivering in the chill of the early morning, Pa Dungu grumbled, “What’s the matter with her, anyway waking me go to the market so early without a bite to eat, not even a cup of coffee. Just wait, when the kerbau is sold I’ll eat and drink as much as I want.”
Mumbling away to himself, Pa Dungu started off for the market.

He had not gone very far when be met Pa Busuk. “Good morning, Pa Dungu,” said Pa Busuk. “Where are you going so early in the morning?”

“To the market,” replied Pa Dungu sourly. “To sell my kerbau.”

“Kerbau?” asked Pa Busuk, furrowing his brows. “Where’s your kerbau?”

“Here!” replied Pa Dungu. He was beginning to feel angry. “You mean to say can’t see an animal as big as this?”

Pa Busuk scrutinized the kerbau. He felt the fat gray beast from head to tail, and then touched each leg. Pa Busuk roared with laughter.

“Ho, ho, ho!” he shouted. “Of course, your name is Dungu. That explains it. This goat a kerbau? How much do you expect to get for it? You don’t really have to go to the market. Just sell it to me . I’ll give you 50 rupiahs for your goat!”

Pa Dungu refused to answer, and went on, grumbling. “Crazy, that fellow, calling my kerbau a goat. He thinks I’m stupid enough to fall in his tricks.”

A little farther along the road, Pa Dungu met Pa Cokel. Pa Cokel wished him a hearty good morning and asked, “Where are you going with that goat, Pa?”

“This is no goat! This is Kerbau,” replied Pa Dungu indignantly.

“Kerbau ?” exclaimed Pa Cokel feigning surprise.

Pa Cokel reached out and felt the animal, at the same time imitating the sound of a goad; m-be-e-e; m-be-e-e; m-be-e-e.

“How much are you asking for it?” asked Pa Cokel.

“Two hundred and fifty Rupiahs,” Pa Dungu answered.

“Two hundred and fifty? For this goat ?” exclaimed Pa Cokel. “Why such a high price for a small goat like this.”

“Goat !” The usually placid Pa Dungu could hardly suppress his anger. “How can you call an animal this size a goat? Why don’t you use your eyes before you say such a thing ?”

“Well call it what you want, then,” said Pa Cokel. “Kerbau, Goat, Elephant. The point is that this animal here will never see for more than forty rupiahs. You don’t even have to bother to go to the market. Just sell it to me for fifty.”

Pa Dungu refused to answer Pa Cokel. But he was beginning to feel uneasy. He was even beginning to wonder what his animal was, a kerbau or a goat? Why had both men said it was a goat? Pa Dungu clapped the animal on the back and looked at it very intently. “Ah, it’s a kerbau. Of course it’s a kerbau. Those two fellows just wanted to deceive me.”

Pa Dungu walked on, but the question kept coming back to plague him. Kerbau? Goat? Kerbau? Goat? While he was walking along puzzling over his predicament, he was startled by a voice. “Good morning, Pa Dungu! You’re out so early. Where are you going ?”

Pa Dungu looked around, it was Pa Colek. “To the market,” he said. Then Pa Colek asked his question. “How much do you want for this goat?”

Now Pa Dungu was really alarmed. He stared at Pa Colek. Then he looked at his kerbau. He began to doubt. “Ma Dungu said kerbau, the other says goat,” he said to himself. Then he answered that question.

“Two hundred and fifty Rupiahs.”

“What ?” cried Pa Colek. “Much too high! I’ll take it for fifty. All right?”

Pa Dungu was filled with confusion. Pa Colek starting to walk away then said, “What do you say Pa? Will you let me have it or not? If not, I’ll go on the market. I can get a goat cheaper there.”

“It must be a goat,” said Pa Dungu to himself.
“Ma Dungu was playing a joke on me. She called it kerbau.” Then he called Pa Colek.
“Pa Colek, here come here.”

“What’s the matter?” asked Pa Colek.
“Here,” said Pa Dungu, still unsure. “Just pay me for this goat.”

Pa Colek took a purse out of his pocket and carefully counted out fifty rupiahs, which he then gave to Pa Dungu in return for the Kerbau. The two men parted in silence.

Pa Dungu returned home. Ma Dungu, seing him back so soon, and without the buffalo, received him much more warmly than was her wont. “Well,” she said cheerfully. “He certainly went fast. We’re in luck this time.”

“Right you are,” Pa Dungu replied. “I sold him even before I got to the market. Here, here’s the money.”

Ma Dungu counted the notes, “Fifty ?” she said, surprised. “Where’s the rest? I said two hundred and fifty.”

“That’s right, Fifty. That’s all I could get for him.”

Ma Dungu exploted. “Fifty .” she shouted. “You sold our big kerbau for fifty rupiahs !”

“It’s not a kerbau, it’s a goat !” said Pa Dungu resolutely, defending himself.

Ma Dungu went to the door. With her left hand on her hip and an iron bar in her right hand, she shrieked at Pa Dungu in a voice full of anger and contempt: “Have you lost your sense ? You mean at your age and with your gray hair you can’t even tell the difference between a goat and a kerbau ? You go back to the market and find the man you sold our kerbau to, and get that two hundred rupiahs out of him.
And if you come near this house without the money I’ll beat your head in, with this !!”
She waved the iron bar close to his face. “Now go !”

Pa Dungu fled. On the way to the market he reproached himself a thousand times for having allowed himself be taken in by COlek. He wanted to take revenge on his deceivers. But how ?
Suddenly he had it.

With the light heart and brisk step he hurried to the market. He stopped at two warungs and a cigar shop, giving each shopkeeper a sum of money and making the same request of each : “In a short while, I’ll be coming here again with some friend. Please serve them everything they order. Then, when you see me nod my head and shake this rattle, just say, “The bill’s been paid.”

It was not long before Pa Dungu met Pa Colek, Pa Busuk and Pa Cokel. They were in high spirits because of their profit of two hundred rupiahs after selling Pa Dungu’s kerbau for two hundred and fifty. Pa Dungu greeted them as though nothing had happened and invited them to have something to eat with him in a nearby warung. “My

treat,” he said.” “I’m out to spend the money I just received from the sale of my goat.”

Without the slightest suspicion the three companions followed Pa Dungu into the warung. They ordered, and ate and drank their fill. Pa Dungu called the warung keeper and asked how much he owed him. “Fifteen rupiahs,” said the warung keeper.

Pa Dungu nodded his head and shook a small rattle that he took out of his pocket, whereupon the warung keeper said, “The bill’s already been paid, Sir.”

Pa Dungu left the warung, followed by the three swindlers, all of whom were looking back over their shoulders in wonderment. Pa Dungu let them on until he came out to a cigar stand. He bought four packets of cigarettes and gave each man a packet. Then, just as before, he nodded his head and shook his rattle, and the shopkeeper said, “It’s already been paid, Sir.” again to the great surprise of Pa Dungu’s three unsuspecting companions.

They went on, and again they stop at warung, Pa Dungu ordering food and drink for them, then again after a nod of Pa Dungu’s head and a shaking of his rattle, which the three were beginning to believe had supernatural powers, the shopkeeper shook his head and said, “The bill’s been paid already, Sir !”

Pa Busuk could contain his curiosity no longer. “Pa Dungu ,” he asked, “Why don’t you have to pay for what we buy ?”

“Well, that’s a secret ,” replied Pa Dungu slowly. “Of course, if you won’t tell anybody else, I’ll let you in on it.” The three swore secrecy.

“It’s this way,” said Pa Dungu very confidentially. “Inherited this magic rattle from my father. It’s a pusaka.” It’s a wonderful thing, because you never have to pay for anything you buy. As soon as they hear the sound of the rattle, people think they’ve already been paid.”

Pa Busuk couldn’t conceal his wonder, nor his desire to possess the magic rattle.
“I’ll give you two hundreds Rupiahs for that rattle.”

“No, I would never sell it. In the first place, it’s an heirloom and in the second place, if I did sell it, think what a loss in money it would mean to me !”

“Listen, Pa Dungu,” Pa Busuk persuaded. “If you sell it to me, I’ll always think of you. I’ll send you something every single day.”

“Well, if you’d really do that, but if I do sell it to you, promise me you won’t tell a soul, especially not my wife. And give me two hundred and fifty rupiahs for it.”

Without another thought, Pa Busuk gave Pa Dungu the money he and his friend had received from the sale of the kerbau. Pa Dungu accepted the money happily, as he handed the rattle to Pa Busuk.

As soon as Pa Dungu had left them, Pa Colek, Pa Cokel and Pa Busuk examined the rattle. It looked like an ordinary baby rattle and there was not a thing about it would indicate magic powers. They decided to try it out.

Then the three entered a restaurant and ordered a complete meal steaming white rice, with the tastiest side dishes, twelve of them. They ate with a great enjoyment, and sat back in their chair with satisfaction.

“May I have the bill please ?” asked Pa Busuk, “Twenty Rupiahs,” said the waiter. Pa Busuk nodded his head, just as he had seen Pa Dungu do, then shook the magic rattle.

The waiter said not a word.

Pa Busuk and his companion stood up and walked to the door. The waiter called the owner.

“Just a moment,” called the owner. “Where’s my money ?”

Pa Busuk replied with a nod of his head and a shake of the magic rattle.

“Money !” called the owner, becoming irritated now by his costumer’s strange behavior.
“You haven’t paid your bill!”

Pa Busuk shook the rattle harder, to make sure the man would hear.

The harder he shook the rattle, the angrier the restaurant owner became.
“You fools,” he said, running after his three costumers. With an iron bar he beat Pa Busuk as well as the other two swindlers.

“Fools !” he shouted.
“Do you think you can pay for my food with a rattle? Get out !” And he beat them black and blue

Then Pa Dungu came home happily to met Ma Dungu, with two hundreds and fifty Rupiahs in his hand.

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