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Folktales
is a stories or tales that people shared through a mouth-to-mouth method rather
than in a written form. It is amazing that we can found similarities of many
folktales in different countries across the globe. Nonetheless, after i joined
a Korea Culture Day from King Sejong Institute Center Indonesia which was held
under the theme ‘Folktales and Legend Creature in Korean Drama’, i learned that
there are some similarities between Korea and Indonesia folktales or fairy
tales.
Folktales
are tend to have many version, but in this article i wrote the version that is
popular among people surrounding me and from the story i heard when i was a
child. Here are 3 similar folktales in Korea and Indonesia.
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“The
Fairy and The Woodcutter” & “Jaka Tarub and Nawangwulan”
“The
Fairy and The Woodcutter” is a story about a poor woodcutter who met and helped
a deer in the woods, and as a ‘thank you’, the deer showed the woodcutter the
pond where fairies came down to take a bath. Thus, the deer told the woodcutter
about the fairy’s winged clothing which if he took it, the fairy won’t go back
to heaven, so the woodcutter could marry her. After he married the fairy and
have two children, the woodcutter want to come clean in front of his wife and
show the fairy’s winged clothing he stole. In the end, the fairy and her
children go back to heaven and left the woodcutter.
The
story of ‘The Fairy and The Woodcutter’ directly reminds me of a popular
folktales of Indonesia called “Jaka Tarub and Nawangwulan”. The story of Jaka
Tarub have many versions, but the version that is the most popular is that this
story is about a strong man named Jaka Tarub.
Jaka
Tarub was going back and forth in the woods around the Sacred Mountain to hunt
animals, but one day, he found a pond and accidentally found 7 fairy angels who
were taking a bath in the pond. He then fallen in love with one of those
beautiful fairy and took the fairy’s winged clothing called ‘Selendang’ (슬렌당) . Thus, it made one of the fairy couldn’t go back to
heaven and left alone by her friends. Jaka Tarub then came out and pretended to
help the fairy whose name is Nawangwulan. Long story short, Jaka Tarub and
Nawangwulan got married and have a daughter named Nawangsih.
Before
married, Nawangwulan warned Jaka Tarub to not ask the secret of her cooking
habits. But, he didn’t listen and then sneaked into the kitchen to find that
Nawangwulan cooked one grain of rice but then it turned into a basket of rice.
Because
Jaka didn’t heed Nawangwulan’s warning, Nawangwulan lost her power, so it made
the rice supply in the hut was running out quickly. Not long after that,
Nawangwulan found her Selendang that was hidden by Jaka in the hut. She’s mad
to Jaka Tarub and then she go back to heaven, but the story also said that
Nawangwulan sometimes was still come to take care of her daughter, Nawangsih.
The
moral of both story that i could understand was ‘lying will get us nothing’.
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“The
Snail-Bride” & “Keong Emas”
In
Korea, there’s a folktales named “The Snail-Bride” which tell a story about a
poor farmer who was one day found a giant snail shell in his workplace. After
he brought the shell home, he experienced strange things such as the appearance
of mysterious lunch at his home. He then found out that the giant shell can
change into a beautiful woman who can magically summons a feast of food just
with a snap of her finger. The farmer who was smitten by her beauty leaped out
from his hiding place and confess his love to the beautiful woman. The woman
told the farmer that he has to wait few more days, and if she stay now, their
ending will be a tragedy. But the farmer didn’t want to let her go. Thus, they
live a momentarily happy life. Then, one day, a magistrate carriage passed by
the farmer’s farm and saw the wife alone. Smitten by her beauty, the magistrate
took the wife away to make her his wife. The farmer who came home late couldn’t
find his wife, and after he found out about what happened he asked the
magistrate to give back his wife, instead of getting the wife back, the farmer
was beaten so hard. The story ends with the farmer died while trying to save
his wife, and the wife died because of illness.
The
story above reminds me of Indonesian folktales called “Keong Emas” or “Golden
Snail”. It is a story about a princess named Candra Kirana that was cursed to
be a golden snail by a witch and thrown out to the sea because her sister, Dewi
Galuh, was jealous of her because Candra Kirana was supposed to be married with
Raden Inu Kertapati, a man who Dewi Galuh loves. To break the curse, the golden
snail should meet her fiance or groom-to-be or the love of her life.
One
day, a kind grandmother who was fishing near the sea found the golden snail and
bring it home. The next day, the grandmother didn’t catch any fish, but
surprisingly she found that many delicious foods prepared in her house. She
then wondering who prepare the foods, and out of curiosity, the next morning
the grandma pretended to go to the sea, but actually she peeked at what was
happening inside the house. Then, she found out the golden snail can turn into
a beautiful woman who is actually a cursed princess.
Long
story short, Raden Inu Kertapati couldn’t stay still knowing that his
bride-to-be is missing. After a long search, Raden Inu Kertapati found his
fiance were cooking in an old-hut, then he found out the truth. He then bring
back his fiance and the kind grandmother to the kingdom. Meanwhile, it is said
that Dewi Galuh who did bad things was punished and run into the woods where she
stumbled and fell into the abyss.
There
are some morals from both story that i could conclude. It is how the
snail-bride and Keong Emas was repaying the kindness of a person who found
them. Even though not both of the stories end with a happily ever after, but it
is show how faithful the snail-bride is.
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“Kongjwi
and Patjwi” & “Bawang Merah & Bawang Putih”
‘Kongjwi
and Patjwi’ is a Korean folktales which is also known as the Korean version of
Cinderella story. It is a story about a girl named Kongjwi who lives with her
mean and evil stepmother and stepsister, Patjwi. The evil stepmom and
stepsister was prevent Kongjwi to come to the dance party held by a magistrate
to find him a wife. And just like how the Cinderella story was going on,
Kongjwi and the magistrate were then married. But, in this Korean folktale,
Patjwi’s jealousy led her to drowned Kongjwi in a river, and the ghost of
Kongjwi haunted the river. Patjwi was then take Kongjwi’s place as magistrate’s
wife. Not long after that, a man who was talked to the ghost of Kongjwi in the
river were telling the truth to the magistrate. The magistrate then came to the
river to meet Kongjwi, but the only things he found was a lotus flower. He
kissed the lotus flower, and Kongjwi was ressurected as a human again.
In
Indonesia, there’s a folktale called “Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih” or “Shallots
and Garlic” in literal English translation. It’s very similar to Kongjwi and
Patjwi that it is a story about Bawang Putih who lived with her mean and evil
stepmother and stepsister named Bawang Merah. But it is different to Cinderella
because there’s no party and there’s no shoes.
Bawang
Putih who lived in suffer because of her stepmom and stepsister had only one
friend, a talking gold-fish that lived in the river. The Goldfish has a magical
powers that always help Putih’s works. But one day, Bawang Merah saw Putih and
the Goldfish, and then without Putih’s knowing, she killed the Goldfish and
cooked it and feed it to Putih. Putih cried after knowing that the fish she ate
was her friend. She then buried the goldfish well in the ground. On the land
where the Goldfish was buried, a magical golden plant grows.
Elsewhere,
a prince is looking for a magical plant that can heal the ailing King. He then
found magical plant near Putih’s house. He asked the guards to uproot the
plant, but no one can take the plant out of the ground. Merah who was nearby
was asked if the plant was hers, and over-confidently she said it was hers.
Then the prince said to everyone there that “if a girl can uproot the plant, i
would marry her. And if a man can uproot the plant, i would make him my brother
(a.k.a prince)”. After hearing that, Merah tried her best to uproot the plant,
but she couldn’t.
Then,
Putih came and asked for permission to try to uproot the plant, and without any
big effort, she could uproot the plant, and as what the Prince promise, he then
marry Putih and bring her to live in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the stepmom and
stepsister lived together in their old house without the help of Putih.
The
moral of both folktales is that the good prevailing the evil. Patience is the
key. Both Kongjwi and Putih was patiently wait for the time of happiness come
to their lives.
That’s
all the similarity of 3 Korean and Indonesian folktales that i found. Do you
think these folktales are similar?
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