Indonesian Fairy tales : Belumbak Island

Folklore from West Kalimantan. Let's take a look at the full story.

Belumbak Island Folklore from West Kalimantan

There was an old Lady lived near the Kapuas River, West Kalimantan. Her husband had died a long time ago. The girl took care of her sons by herself. She taught them to be independent. Both sons were teenagers. They desired to have a much better life. Every day they saw big ships sailing along the Kapuas River. They found rich merchants with lovely ships. They also wished to become wealthy merchants. They really wanted to have big and beautiful boats.

Belumbak Island
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The 2 sons told their plans to their own mother. The girl was very sad. She did not want to lose her children. However, they insisted that they would come back soon. And they also promised to return home with a great deal of money.

The woman could not hold them any longer. She eventually let them go. And before the sons left, they handed their mother their chicks. They stated that they'd come home when the chicks grew as cocks.

Read to : The Legend of Malin Kundang

The 2 brothers joined a big ship. The owner of the boat was a rich merchant. He gave them a project in his ship. They were very happy. Their dream began to come true.

After working for the wealthy retailer for a while, the two brothers purchased their own boats. Each of them bought a small ship. They worked really hard and slowly they became very wealthy.

The two brothers were famous. Lots of people were amazed with their prosperity and their beautiful and big ships. Many young girls fell in love together. And finally the two brothers got married. Their wives were really amazing.

It had been a very long time because the two brothers left their house. They desired to stop by their hometown. The two brothers told their wives and their team that they'd sail to Kapuas Rivet, their own hometown.

The ships sailed side by side. And each time the ships passed by at a harbor, people were constantly talking about them. They were talking about the wealthy brothers who would return home. The information about the two brothers was spreading very fast. Their mother also heard the news and she was really happy.

The woman had been waiting for their kids. She was older and quite weak. Each day she was constantly thinking about her sons.

And when her sons' ships finally arrived, she brought the cocks.

First she came to the oldest son.

"My Son, it is me. I'm your mother. Look! I brought your cock."

The oldest son was shocked to see his mother. The oldest son was ashamed to see his own mother.

"No! I really don't know you! You aren't my mother. Go away!"

Then she went to the second ship. He also denied the woman as his mother.

Her sons ignored her and did not want to admit her as their mother. She prayed to God. She asked God to punish her children.

God heard the prayer. Suddenly a heavy storm attacked the river. The rain fell down heavily. The two brothers wanted to save their lives. Their ships sailed very fast. But they could not save their lives. The storm made their ships sink.

Read to : Indonesian Fairy tales Keong Mas

And after the storm was over, people saw two islands in the middle of Kapuas River. The islands looked like two ships sailing in the, race competition. People then named the islands as Belumbak Island. Belumbak is from the word 'berlomba' or 'race contest'.