As someone born, raised and raised in Indonesia, you are of course familiar with the stories of the saga. Many folk tales told from generation to generation are part of the saga.
Tales are a form of Malaysian literary work, which is very ancient and is in the form of prose. Tales can be in the form of laws, stories, genealogies, fictional, historical, autobiographical, or a combination of these characteristics.
The purpose of stories is to arouse enthusiasm, solace, enthusiasm in struggle, or just to entertain. In epics there are usually stories about history, life stories, etc., so it is natural that there is magic in them or they are illogical.
What is the meaning of epic?
Tales have been around since before other literary works, such as short stories and novels, became known to the public. The general definition of an epic is a prose work that contains stories, genealogies, and laws and is only fictional in nature.
In addition to being fictional, stories can also have religious, historical, or biographical value, or a combination of them all. Examples of folktales that have been known to the community for a long time are Malin Kundang, Hang Tuah, etc.
Since the epic is a literary work of Old Malay origin, most of it is written in this language. As time passed and times developed, the epic stories in Malay were translated into Indonesian, so that anyone could understand them.
Stories in epics also often tell stories about the history of kingdoms, princes, princesses, soldiers, and the like. There are also epics used to document the history of the kingdom, although these are embellished with fictional stories.
Values contained in fairy tales
Most of the epics that people have known for a long time are in the form of stories about royal princesses, nobles, the rich and the poor. These stories are not just compositions, but they are usually equipped with good values in life.
The benefits of reading stories include the ability to provide inspiration and understand more values that apply in life. Hikayat, an ancient Malay literary work, usually contains the following virtues.
1. Moral values
The story of Malin Kundang, who was cursed by his mother to become a stone, contains very important moral values in life. Malin Kundang’s story teaches us a lesson that no matter how successful a child is, he should never forget the presence of parents who took care of him.
The moral values in the epic will provide an overview of the good and bad things in life. Moral values teach you about good morals and what you will get if you have a bad character.
2. Religious values
Most of the fairy tales are indeed rich in Islamic religious values, as they originate from the Malay land. The story describes what life was like for people with good religious knowledge, characters who were very obedient to God’s commandments and so on.
It is hoped that the religious values that the epic tells can increase the faith of everyone who reads it. Through stories, people can learn how to become people who are more obedient to God’s commands.
The tales from Indonesia are very strong in Islamic religious values, while the tales from Indonesia definitely teach Hindu religious values. Examples of very famous Hindu tales are the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
3. Social value
What is meant by social value in the epic? Social values are values that are closely related to how relationships between people occur. By reading the stories in the epics and understanding the values in them, we hope we can have better social relationships.
4. Cultural values
The most prominent value in the epic is culture. If you look closely, in general, the sagas’ stories are closely related to the Malaysian cultures from which they emerged. Reading epic stories can make people more familiar with Malay culture.
Likewise, if what is read is the history of the Javanese land, what is brought up are the values of Javanese culture, such as the tales of Panji Semerang, the tales of Anlingdharma, and so on. Javanese folk tales are greatly influenced by Indian and Arabic culture, for example in puppetry.
Forms of stories
What form does the epic take? As explained at the beginning, epic is ancient Malaysian literature that contains stories, genealogies and laws, which can be fictional or contain historical value etc.
Tales are an ancient Malay literary work and are written in the following forms.
1. Folklore
The most popular form of story is folklore. For example, The Story of Malin Kundang, Hang Tuah, Tales of Ruru Jungrang, Tales of 1001 Malam and many more. In fact, it is not uncommon for parents to read fairy tales to their children at bedtime.
2. Romanian
A roman is an epic story that contains the love story of the characters in it. An example of a famous romantic epic is Siti Nurbaya. A very famous romance abroad is the story of Romeo and Juliet.
3. The epic
What is the meaning of epic? Epics are stories about the heroism of characters. A famous example of an epic tale is that of the Ramayana. Although it originated from the wayang story, the story of the Ramayana is well known to all groups.
4. Plus
Tambh in the story is a type of story whose content revolves around life guidelines. From the story of the story, the reader can take away the wisdom contained in it. An example of this type of story is the story of Tambek Tujoh Blah.
5. Chara
Autobiographical tales are also called chara. This type of epic focuses on leadership and the great qualities of the characters. After reading the chara, it is hoped that people will be able to know what good qualities they should have.
Examples of fairy tales
There are many epic stories that are inspiring and known to the public for a long time. These epic stories are often used as bedtime stories from generation to generation.
Below are some examples of stories familiar to the community.
1. The Tale of Malin Kundang
It is said that in a village in Minangkabau called Pantai Air Manis, not far from Padang, there was a poor widow living with her only son. The child’s name was Malin Kundang, who was very spoiled by his mother.
With the love provided by his mother, Malin grew up to be a very intelligent, hardworking and obedient child. To make ends meet, Malin’s mother sells cakes. Mothers and children really love each other, that’s how Malin and his mother are.
Ask for permission to immigrate
Malin Kundang, who truly loves his mother, feels like an adult and wants to make her happy. The strong desire to make his mother happy made Malin want to go abroad to find work and change his destiny.
Although her heart was heavy, his mother allowed Malin to travel abroad and leave his village. Before leaving, his mother gave Malin seven packets of rice so that he would not starve during the trip.
While she was crying, his mother hugged Malin and said: “I am waiting for you here, son. Come home quickly.” Finally, Malin began his migration journey by boarding a ship and leaving his mother alone.
Waiting for Malin’s return
Malin, who had been gone for a long time, made his mother worried because he had not received any news. Every time a ship passed and stopped next to him, his mother would always ask the captain: “Do you know my son Malin?” Unfortunately, no one did.
Until one day, a ship stopped in the village and a young couple was seen standing on the bridge. The residents believed that this beautiful ship belonged to royalty and it made them want to see it, including Malin Kundang’s mother.
After the young couple approached the ship, Mandy Rubaya was surprised, because the young man was Malin Kundang’s son. Without thinking, Mandy Rubaya immediately hugged his son and said, “Malin, how are you, my son?”
Malin, the naughty child
Unexpected by Mandy Rubaya, the young man who was hugging him did not recognize that he was Malin Kundang, the child he had been waiting for all this time. In fact, the woman who was with him arrogantly asked Malin: “Is this ugly old woman your mother?”
Malin, who had married the daughter of a wealthy nobleman, was embarrassed by the condition of his mother, who was old and had tattered clothes. Malin immediately shouted as he pushed his mother into the sand and said, “Hey, you crazy old woman, don’t pretend to be my mother, I don’t know you.”
Mandy Robaya immediately lay down on the sand, crying sadly. His heart was aching because the child he loved did not acknowledge him. In her grief, her mother prayed and suddenly the sky became dark.
Suddenly Malin Kundang’s ship was hit by a storm and after that, there were pieces of rocks that looked like Malin Kundang. The mother, whose heart ached because of her disobedient child, asked God for justice, and the curse came that turned Malin into stone.
2. The story of Ruru Jungrang
In ancient times, there was a kingdom called Prambanan and it was led by a king named Prabu Baka. The king had a beautiful daughter named Ruru Jungrang. One day, a battle took place between the Baka Kingdom and the Binging Kingdom led by Bandung Bondowoso.
In that battle, Prabowo Baka died because he was killed by Bandung Bondowoso. After killing Prabowo Baka, Bandung Bondowoso saw the beautiful Ruru Jungrang and wanted to marry her as his wife.
Ruru Jungrang, who was still sad and knew that Prabowo Baka had been killed by Bandung Bondowoso, thought about how to reject the proposal. Ruru Jungrang then asked for a condition of building 1,000 temples.
The temple must be completed within a day and a night before the rooster crows. Bandung Bondowoso, who fell in love, agreed to Ruru Jungrang’s request. Bandung Bondowoso then asked the spirits for help to build the temple.
Ruru Jungrang, who knew that the temple was about to be completed as morning approached, became frightened and looked for ways to thwart him. Finally, Ruru Jungrang rallied the village girls to hit the mortar until the atmosphere was as crowded as it had been in the morning.
“I have to abort this,” Ruru Gongrang’s heart said and succeeded. The pestle and mortar blows made the rooster crow prematurely and made the spirits stop building the temple. “You let Bandung down,” Ruru Jungrang said.
Bandung Bondowoso was very angry that he was cheated by Ruru Jungrang and then cursed him to become a statue until his numbers were complete. “I will make you the thousandth temple, Ruru Jungrang,” Bandung Bondowoso said.
From fairy tales we can learn and know many things, including important values in life. Tales, which are an ancient literary work, are written in different forms, such as stories, history, biography, and others.