The Tortoise adn The Hare

One day, there was the Hare. “I have never been beaten if i run with my full speed,” he said arrogantly, “Now, I challenge everyone here to against me in a racing” said the Hare.

            The Tortoise replied quietly, “I will accept your challenge.”

            “is that a  joke?” said the Hare again. “I could dance round you all the way from the start to the finish spot.”

            “Keep your boasting till you win,” the Tortoise answered. “Are you afraid Hare?” the bear said, “Oh, afraid? That’s not” said here “Shall we start?” the bear said.

“1, 2, 3 go” the bear said. At once The Hare darted almost out of sight, but soon he stopped to show his contempt for the Tortoise, he  lay down to have a nap soundly. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on as the time going, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he was shocked to see the Tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.

     Then the Tortoise said: “Slow but steady process will win the race.”

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Telaga Warna

Long time ago there was a kingdom in West Java. The kingdom was ruled by a king called Prabu. He was a kind and wise king. Under Prabu’s leadership, the kingdom grew into a prosperous kingdom. There’s no hunger in the kingdom. Everybody in the kingdom loved their king. But, there’s one problem. The king and his queen hadn’t got any children. It made the couple very sad. That was why Prabu decided to go to the jungle. There, he meditated and prayed to God. Everyday he begged for a child. His dream finally came true. A few months later, the queen got pregnant. All people in the kingdom felt very happy. They sent many presents to the palace to express their happiness. Nine months later a baby girl was born. The baby grew as a beautiful teenager then.

Prabu and his queen loved their daughter so much. They gave what ever she wanted. It made the princess grew into a spoiled girl. When her wish couldn’t be fulfilled, she would be very angry. She even said bad things often. Even though the princess behaved badly, her parents still loved her, and so did the people in the kingdom.

Time passed and the princess grew more beautiful. In a few days, the princess would be seventeen years old. That’s why people of that kingdom brought many presents for her. They bring gold and beautiful jewelries. Prabu collected the presents. Then Prabu stored them in a special room. Some times he would take them to give to his people who needed it. Prabu only took a few gold and jewels. Then he brought them to a goldsmith. “Please make a necklace for my daughter,” said Prabu. “My pleasure, Your Majesty,” the goldsmith replied. The goldsmith worked with all his heart and his ability. He wanted to create the most beautiful necklace for the princess.

The birthday came. People gathered in the palace field. Then Prabu and the queen appeared. They waved to their beloved people. Cheers were loud and louder when the princess appeared. Everybody admired her beauty. Prabu got up from his chair and took a small pillow. A beautiful necklace was on the pillow. Prabu took that necklace. “My beloved daughter, today I give this necklace to you. This necklace is a gift from people in this country. They love you so much. They presented it for you to express their happiness, because you have growing to a woman,” said Prabu. The princess accepted the necklace. She looked at the necklace in a glance. “I don’t want this necklace! It’s ugly!” shouted the princess as she threw the necklace away. The necklace hit the floor and was broken. The gold and jewels were spread out on the floor.

No body dared to speak. They never thought that their beloved princess would do such a cruel thing. In their silence, people heard the queen crying. Every woman felt sad and began crying too. Then everybody was crying. Suddenly, from the middle of the field, a spring emerged. It quickly became a pool. The palace was getting flooded. Soon the place became a big lake.

Nowadays the water on that lake is not as full as before. There is only a small lake now. People called the lake Telaga Warna (it means lake of colour). On a bright day, the lake is full of colour. These colors come from the reflections of forest, plants, flowers, and sky around the lake. But some people said that the colours are from the princess’ necklace, which spreads at the bottom of the lake.

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Mouse Deer and Tiger

One upon a time, there was a mouse deer living in a forest. Although he was small, he wasn’t afraid of the other bigger animals who wanted to eat him. He was so smart; he always managed to ditch them. One day, a tiger was wandering around for food. He hadn't been eating for days. He was really hungry. While he was walking in the forest, he saw Mouse Deer. The tiger wanted to eat him.

Tiger slowly ducked, crawled, approaching Mouse Deer, then..."Gotcha!" said Tiger. He caught Mouse Deer. “Hello, Mouse Deer! I’m really hungry right now. You’ll be my lunch!” said Tiger. Mouse Deer didn’t want to be his lunch. He tried to be calm. He looked around and saw some buffalo’s dung. He had an idea. “I’m sorry, Tiger. I can’t be your lunch now. The King has ordered me to guard his cake,” said Mouse Deer calmly. “His cake?” said Tiger curiously. “Yes, there it is. It’s very delicious. The King doesn’t want anyone else to eat it, so he ordered me to guard it,” Mouse Deer pointed the buffalo’s dung. “Can I taste it?” Tiger asked. “Of course you can’t. The King would be very angry,” said Mouse Deer refused. “Just one little bite, Mouse Deer! The King will never know,” said Tiger. “Well, okay, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so the King won’t blame me,” said Mouse Deer. “All right, Mouse deer. You can go now.” Mouse Deer ran quickly out of sight. Tiger then took a big mouthful of the ‘cake’. “Phoooey!” He spit it out. “Yuck, that’s not cake. That’s buffalo’s dung.”

Tiger ran through the forest. He caught up with Mouse Deer. “Mouse Deer, you tricked me. But now you will be my lunch.” Mouse Deer looked around and saw a wasp nest in a tree. “I’m sorry, Tiger. I can’t be your lunch now. The King has ordered me to guard his drum,” said Mouse Deer calmly. “His drum?” said Tiger curiously. “Yes, there it is. It has the best sound in the world. The King doesn’t want anyone else to hit it,” Mouse Deer pointed the wasp nest. “Can I hit the King’s drum?” Tiger asked. “Of course you can’t. The King would be very angry,” said Mouse Deer refused. “Just one little hit, Mouse Deer! The King will never know,” said Tiger. ”Well, all right, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so the King won’t blame me,” said Mouse Deer. “All right, Mouse Deer. You can go now.” Mouse Deer ran quickly out of sight. Tiger then reached up and hit the wasp nest. Bzzzzzzz…! “Ouch…ouch! That’s not a drum. That a wasp nests!”

Tiger ran away. But the wasps keep following him. He came to the river. He jumped in and stayed underwater as long as he could. At last the wasps went away. Then he jumped out. He ran through the forest till he found Mouse Deer. “Mouse Deer, you tricked me again. But now you will be my lunch.” Mouse Deer looked around and saw a cobra. The snake was coiled asleep on the ground. “I’m sorry, Tiger. I can’t be your lunch now. The King has ordered me to guard his belt,” said Mouse Deer calmly. “His belt?” said Tiger curiously. “Yes. There it is. It’s the best belt in the world. The King doesn’t want anyone else to wear it,” Mouse Deer pointed the cobra. “Can I wear it?” Tiger asked. “Of course you can’t. The King would be very angry,” said Mouse Deer refused. “Just for one moment, Mouse Deer! The King will never know,” said Tiger. ”Well, all right, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so the King won’t blame me,” said Mouse Deer. “All right, Mouse Deer. You can go now.” Mouse Deer ran quickly out of sight. Tiger then took the snake and started to warp it around himself. The cobra woke up. It squeezed Tiger and bit him. SSssssstt! “Oouch! Ow! Ooow! That’s not a belt! That’s a cobra! Help! Mouse Deer! Help!” But Mouse Deer was already far away. He laughed aloud. Mouse Deer was safe from Tiger now.

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