Friday, June 24, 2022
A FAIRY TALE OF THE GREEDY POOR MAN
Once upon a time in Negeri Rantau Baru, Pelalawan, Riau, there lived a husband and wife. They are very poor. Their clothes are the clothes they wear everyday. They can't eat every day. One day they eat, the next they don't eat. The wife always asks the husband to work hard. But he is lazy. He just sleeps and sleeps every day. He does not want to help his wife earn a living. The wife is helpless, she often prays to God to help her husband.
One night the husband had a dream. In his dream, an old man came to him. She told her husband to take his sampan and go to the Sepunjung River.
“Go to the middle of the river and wait for a rope to emerge from the river. Take the rope slowly, then you will find a gold chain on the next rope connection. Cut the gold chain, but don't take the gold chain too long," said the old man.
The poor husband then woke up from his dream. He thought about his dream and wanted to follow the old man's advice. So he took his sampan and went to the Sepunjung River.
"Where are you going?" asked the wife.
She was very surprised to see her husband busy preparing the canoe.
“I want to go fishing. See you again!"
The husband did not want to tell about his dream.
He knew his wife would think he was crazy by following dreams.
After arriving at the river, he slowly rowed his sampan. He wanted to make sure he was right in the middle of the river. Then he remained patiently waiting. Suddenly, a rope appeared from the river.
"The old man is right!" said the husband.
Read : The Story of Malin Kundang
He then pulled on the rope. Slowly he pulled out and then at the end of the rope, he saw a golden chain. The chain sparkles and shines and is made of real gold.
"Hura!" said the husband.
He kept pulling the chain without stopping. He forgot the old man's advice to take enough gold chains. The poor man became a greedy person. He wanted to take the gold chain as best he could. He wanted to sell the gold chain and had a lot of money.
While he was busy pulling out the gold chain, a bird came up to him and spoke,
“Hey poor fellow, remember that old man's advice. Take only a short gold chain. ”
But the poor man ignored the bird's words and continued to pull on the chain. Slowly but surely, until the boat was full of gold chains. It was so full that finally the boat could no longer hold the weight and finally sank. The gold chain sank and sank into the bottom of the river until it created huge waves which nearly swallowed the poor man. He was very panicked and swam quickly to the river bank.
When he arrived at the riverside, he felt sorry for himself. He blamed himself for being greedy. But it was too late and there was no use feeling sorry. But then he realized that it was a lesson for him to work hard if he wanted to have a lot of money.
Read : A Fairy Tale of Pak Belalang