Random Story To Tell

Have you heard of the terrible Tic-balan,
A tall and thin and very black man,
With terrible teeth and a horse’s head,
And covered with hair that is long and red?

He lives in the awful Balete tree,
And to pass the place you must say “Tabi”;
If you do not, the Asuang comes at night,
And throws big stones till you die of fright.

Now once there lived in Santa Cruz town
A little girl known as Juanita Calaon;
She was Continue reading

The king felt more and more interested in the boy and he decided to find out more about him. He called his favorite servant, Santo, and ordered him to follow Panjilaras to his home.

Santo himself was glad to do this. In his heart he was sure that Panjilaras was indeed the king’s son as the cock had revealed. But if his mother was Dewi Murti and she lived in the forest, who then was that woman who lived in the palace with the king? Santo had long since realized that ever since Continue reading

The queen was glad to have something to do until the king came back. She went out of the hut and joined Nikin.
“Do you like flowers?” asked the evil spirit. “I know a place where the most beautiful orchids grow.”

So the queen followed Nikin to the edge of a deep ravine, where many marvelous forest-orchids grew.

Dewi Murti thought the flowers were the most beautiful she had ever seen.

“I wish I could pick some,” she said.
Continue reading

The Tiger People
(A tale from Sumatra)

In the dark green forests of Sumatra there used to be many tigers. The villagers were frightened of these big cats which, from time to time, stole away their cattle. When they spoke about a tiger, the villagers would never call the animal by its real name. They respectfully called the tiger “Master” or “Grandfather”. They thought the tiger could understand the human language and that they would feel insulted if weak Continue reading