Welcome~
In this post, you will find a classic Indonesian Folktale called 'Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah'. I freely translated this title as 'White Onion and Red Onion', though in reality, ‘Bawang Putih’ means ‘garlic’ whilst ‘Bawang Merah’ means ‘shallot’. However, I changed it into White and Red Onion respectively as I feel they have better rhyme than their direct translation. Besides, White and Red Onion exist, so I think why not.
This story takes place in Indonesia, even though there are some debates as to its original source; some says it’s from Central Java but others said it’s from the Sumatra Area. It depicts the lives of ordinary people in an ordinary village who depend on the river as their main water source and kept their own livestock and farm. Even in this modern world, people who lives in villages in Indonesia still did this, though many has started to use machinery and electricity.
Note: This version of White Onion and Red Onion is my own freely-translated version based on the popular Indonesian folklore called ‘Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah’, so it is not an official one.
Note 2: The first one is in English, whilst the second one is the Bahasa Indonesia version. You can enjoy this simply as a story, or you can try to read aloud the one in Bahasa Indonesia to further improve your language and pronunciation skills.
Note 3: If you find any typo or bad grammar, don't hesitate to point it out~
Edit 25/8/20: The story-reading videos are up! Click here to view the English version, and here to view the Bahasa Indonesia version.
Without further ado, enjoy the story~
White Onion and Red Onion
(Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah)
Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a happy family: a father, a mother, and their teenage daughter named White Onion.
However, one day, White Onion’s mother fell ill and passed away.
White Onion and her father was broken-hearted and devastated by the mother’s death.
Since then, White Onion lived only with her father.
Since then, also, a widow with one daughter from that village often came over to White Onion’s house, bringing food or simply accompanying White Onion and her father to chat.
However, White Onion’s father was a travelling merchant and thus often went far away for a long period of time.
Concerned with his daughter’s condition who was often left alone, White Onion’s father decided to re-marry to the widow.
Thus White Onion got a step-mother and a step-sister named Red Onion.
White Onion’s father hoped that Red Onion could accompany and help White Onion so that White Onion does not feel sad or lonely.
Even though both are equally beautiful, White Onion and Red Onion had very different nature and personality.
White Onion was very diligent, kind, sincere, and humble.
Whereas Red Onion was very lazy, extravagant, haughty, and got jealous very easily.
White Onion’s step-mother and step-sister actually has a rotten nature too.
They were very kind at first, but in the end only acted kind to White Onion when her father is home.
When her father went to trade, they treat White Onion as if she was a slave and told her to do all household chores while they only sat idly without doing anything.
The step-mother also pampered Red Onion and gave her anything she wanted but never even once gave the same treatment to White Onion.
White Onion can only experience the warmth of a family when her father was home.
White Onion also did not tell her father about her step-mother and step-sister as she did not want her father to feel down again; ever since he re-married her step-mother, her father no longer transfixed on his first wife’s death.
Unfortunately, the father also fell ill not long after and also passed away.
Without the father’s presence, White Onion’s step-mother and step-sister became even more unbearable.
Everyday White Onion had to do all household chores: preparing water for a bath, cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the house, taking care of their livestock, and tending to the farm, everything she did from dawn till late at night.
White Onion also had to serve their every whim without breaks.
Until one day, her step-mother told White Onion to wash their clothes in the river.
“White Onion! Wash these dirty clothes! And make sure nothing got damaged or lost!”
“Yes, Mother,” answered White Onion.
While White Onion was washing those clothes in the river, accidentally one of Red Onion’s favourite shawl got washed away by the stream.
Even though she was scared she was going to get punished or even kicked out of the house, White Onion went home and told them the incident.
Red Onion and her step-mother instantly chewed on White Onion.
“You fool! Red Onion’s favourite shawl is very expensive! A child like you won’t be able to pay for it your whole life! Quickly search for it and do not come back until you found that shawl!”
Down-hearted, White Onion went along the river for that shawl until late at night, but she still could not find it.
In the middle of searching, White Onion found a small hut where an old grandmother lived.
The old grandmother lived alone but kindly let White Onion to come in and stay for the night.
The old grandmother also asked White Onion what she was doing out there all alone, then White Onion told her of the incident that had befall her and also about Red Onion’s lost shawl.
“Did Grandma see any washed-away shawl?” asked White Onion.
“I accidentally found a shawl while drawing water from the river, maybe it’s your sister’s?” said the old Grandmother.
It is true that the shawl found and kept by the old grandmother was Red Onion’s favourite shawl that was washed away.
“It’s a pity, I truly like this shawl,” said the old Grandmother. “Alright, I will return this shawl to you, but you have to accompany and help me here for a week. It’s been so long since I have a chat with anyone. How about it?”
“Alright Grandma, I will accompany Grandma for a week. Don’t get bored on me, now.”
With joy, White Onion accepted the terms and lived with the old Grandmother for a week.
While there, White Onion was very diligent in helping with the old Grandmother’s household chores.
Because of this, a week later, the old grandmother was very pleased with White Onion and not only gave her Red Onion’s shawl back, but also offer a gift for White Onion.
The old grandmother brought along two pumpkins of different sizes and told White Onion to pick one of them to take back home.
“White Onion, take one of these two pumpkins as a gift from me,” said the old grandmother.
At first White Onion refuses, however for politeness’ sake she chose the smaller pumpkin in the end.
White Onion reasoned that she was afraid she is not strong enough to carry the bigger pumpkin.
The old grandmother simply smiled after hearing White Onion’s explanation.
After saying her thank-you and farewell, White Onion went back home and returned Red Onion’s shawl to her.
However, her step-mother was furious because White Onion neglected her chores for a week and came back with only one small pumpkin.
She took away the pumpkin from White Onion’s hands and furiously slammed the pumpkin to the ground.
*CRACK!!*
The pumpkin cracked.
However, from that cracked pumpkin, came out shimmering gold and gems.
White Onion’s step-mother who saw it immediately snatched all those gold and forced White Onion to tell them from where did she obtained the pumpkin.
With this many gold and gems, they would become extremely rich!
After hearing White Onion’s story, the greedy Red Onion and her mother snapped and reprimanded White Onion instead for not taking the bigger pumpkin.
Then, greediness took over the materialistic heart of White Onion’s step-mother.
She told her daughter, Red Onion, to do the same exact thing as White Onion did come next morning, with the hope of getting the magic pumpkin that was bigger and surely had more in content.
“Red Onion, go to that old Grandmother and pick the biggest pumpkin. Inside it there must be even more gold and gems,” said her mother to Red Onion.
Thus Red Onion went along the river and found the old Grandmother’s hut and lived there for a week.
While there, Red Onion was very lazy and refuse to help the old Grandmother even a little bit on her household chores.
After one week passed and it was time for Red Onion to go back home, the old Grandmother who was displeased with Red Onion told her to go home without giving her any gifts.
“Hey Old Woman, aren’t you supposed to give me a pumpkin? I’ve waste a week-time just for you!” said Red Onion snobbishly.
The old Grandmother stared at Red Onion for a moment before also bringing out two pumpkins in different sizes and telling Red Onion to pick one of them to take back home.
Without thinking, Red Onion told the old Grandmother to give her the bigger pumpkin and then she immediately ran back home without so much as a thank-you or a farewell.
Once she got home, her mother saw the pumpkin brought back by Red Onion and felt immensely happy because she was sure there are a whole lot of gold in it.
To prevent her from seeing or even ask for her share, they told White Onion to go out and wash their clothes in the river.
After White Onion left, Red Onion and her mother locked themselves in their room and immediately cracked open the big pumpkin.
In their dreams, gold and gems in abundance will come out of that pumpkin.
However, in reality, it was not gold or gems that was contained within!
From that big pumpkin, came out hundreds of snakes, scorpions, centipede, and other venomous animals!
Those animals then bit the greedy Red Onion and her mother straight away.
Those mother and daughter died because of their own greediness.
While White Onion now lived alone.
However, thanks to her diligent and kind nature, White Onion was loved by the people of the village.
And White Onion lived happily ever after.
Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah
(White Onion and Red Onion)
Pada zaman dahulu kala, di sebuah desa kecil, hiduplah sebuah keluarga yang bahagia: seorang ayah, seorang ibu, serta anak remaja mereka yang bernama Bawang Putih.
Namun pada suatu hari, Ibu Bawang Putih jatuh sakit dan akhirnya meninggal dunia.
Bawang Putih dan ayahnya merasa sangat terpukul dan berduka atas kematian sang Ibu.
Sejak saat itu, Bawang Putih hidup dengan ayahnya.
Sejak saat itu pula, seorang janda beranak satu dari desa tersebut sering berkunjung ke rumah Bawang Putih, membawakan makanan dan menemani Bawang Putih dan ayahnya mengobrol.
Namun Ayah Bawang Putih adalah seorang pedagang dan sering bepergian jauh untuk waktu yang lama.
Prihatin dengan kondisi putrinya yang sering seorang diri, Ayah Bawang Putih memutuskan untuk menikah lagi dengan janda tersebut.
Bawang Putih pun mendapat seorang Ibu tiri serta Kakak tiri yang bernama Bawang Merah.
Ayah Bawang Putih berharap Bawang Merah dapat menemani dan membantu Bawang Putih agar Bawang Putih tidak merasa sedih dan kesepian.
Meski sama-sama cantik, Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah memiliki sifat dan kepribadian yang sangat berbeda.
Bawang Putih sangatlah rajin, baik hati, jujur, dan rendah hati.
Di sisi lain, Bawang Merah sangatlah malas, boros, tinggi hati, dan mudah iri.
Ibu tiri dan kakak tiri Bawang Putih ini juga sesungguhnya memiliki sifat yang jahat.
Mereka awalnya sangat baik, tetapi lama-kelamaan hanya berlaku baik pada Bawang Putih ketika sang Ayah ada di rumah.
Ketika sang Ayah pergi berdagang, mereka memperlakukan Bawang Putih layaknya pembantu dan menyuruhnya melakukan segala pekerjaan rumah sementara mereka hanya duduk-duduk tanpa melakukan apapun.
Sang ibu tiri juga memanjakan Bawang Merah dan memberinya apapun yang dia inginkan, tetapi tidak pernah sekali pun melakukan hal yang sama pada Bawang Putih.
Bawang Putih hanya bisa merasakan kehangatan sebuah keluarga saat Ayahnya ada di rumah.
Bawang Putih juga tidak mengadukan ibu tiri dan kakak tirinya pada ayahnya karena dia tidak ingin membuat ayahnya sedih lagi; sejak menikah kembali dengan Ibu tirinya, sang ayah tidak lagi terpaku pada kematian istri pertamanya.
Namun malangnya, sang Ayah pun jatuh sakit tidak lama kemudian dan akhirnya meninggal dunia pula.
Tanpa keberadaan sang Ayah, ibu dan kakak tiri Bawang Putih makin semena-mena.
Setiap hari Bawang Putih harus melakukan semua pekerjaan rumah: menyiapkan air mandi, memasak, mencuci pakaian, membersihkan rumah, mengurusi hewan ternak, hingga merawat kebun, semuanya dia lakukan seorang diri dari subuh hingga larut malam.
Bawang Putih juga harus melayani segala keinginan mereka tanpa waktu istirahat.
Hingga pada suatu hari, Ibu tirinya menyuruh Bawang Putih mencuci pakaian di sungai.
“Bawang Putih! Cuci baju-baju kotor ini! Dan jangan sampai ada yang rusak atau hanyut!”
“Baik Bu,” jawab Bawang Putih
Ketika Bawang Putih mencuci pakaian-pakaian itu di sungai, tanpa sengaja salah satu selendang kesayangan Bawang Merah hanyut terbawa arus.
Meski takut dihukum atau bahkan diusir dari rumah, Bawang Putih pulang dan menceritakan kejadian itu.
Bawang Merah dan Ibu tirinya langsung memarahi Bawang Putih.
“Dasar bodoh! Selendang kesayangan Bawang Merah itu harganya sangat mahal! Anak sepertimu tidak akan bisa menggantinya seumur hidupmu! Cepat cari dan jangan pulang sampai kamu menemukan selendang itu!”
Dengan sedih hati, Bawang Putih pun menyusuri sungai demi selendang tersebut hingga larut malam, tetapi belum dapat menemukannya.
Di tengah pencariannya, Bawang Putih menemukan sebuah gubuk yang dihuni oleh seorang nenek tua.
Nenek tua itu hidup sebatang kara tetapi dengan baik hati mempersilahkan Bawang Putih untuk masuk dan menginap di gubuknya.
Nenek tua itu juga bertanya apa yang dilakukan Bawang Putih hingga bisa mencapai tempat itu, dan Bawang Putih pun menceritakan kejadian yang menimpanya serta selendang Bawang Merah yang hilang.
“Apakah Nenek melihat selendang yang hanyut?” tanya Bawang Putih.
“Kebetulan tadi aku menemukan sebuah selendang ketika mengambil air di sungai, mungkin itu milik kakakmu?” kata sang Nenek tua.
Ternyata benar selendang yang ditemukan dan disimpan oleh sang Nenek tua adalah selendang kesayangan Bawang Merah yang hanyut.
“Sayang sekali, aku menyukai selendang itu,” kata sang Nenek tua. “Baiklah, akan kukembalikan selendang ini, tetapi kamu harus menemani dan membantuku di sini selama seminggu. Sudah lama aku tidak mengobrol dengan siapapun. Bagaimana?”
“Baiklah Nek, saya akan menemani Nenek selama seminggu. Jangan bosan dengan saya, ya.”
Dengan senang hati, Bawang Putih menerima syarat tersebut dan tinggal bersama sang Nenek tua selama satu minggu.
Selama di sana, Bawang Putih sangatlah rajin membantu pekerjaan rumah Sang Nenek tua.
Karenanya, setelah seminggu berlalu, Nenek tua itu sangat senang dengan Bawang Putih dan tidak hanya mengembalikan selendang Bawang Merah, tetapi juga menawarkan sebuah hadiah untuk Bawang Putih.
Sang Nenek tua membawa dua buah labu yang berbeda ukuran dan menyuruh Bawang Putih memilih salah satu untuk dibawa pulang.
“Bawang Putih, pilihlah salah satu dari dua labu ini sebagai hadiah dariku,” kata sang Nenek tua.
Awalnya Bawang Putih menolak, tetapi demi kesopanan pada akhirnya memilih labu yang lebih kecil.
Bawang Putih beralasan takut tidak kuat membawa labu yang besar.
Sang Nenek tua hanya tersenyum mendengar penjelasan Bawang Putih.
Setelah mengucapkan terima kasih dan berpamitan, Bawang Putih pun kembali ke rumahnya dan menyerahkan selendang Bawang Merah padanya.
Sang ibu tiri pun marah karena Bawang Putih menelantarkan tugasnya selama seminggu dan hanya membawa pulang sebuah labu kecil.
Dia merebut labu itu dari tangan Bawang Putih dan dengan penuh amarah membanting labu itu ke lantai.
*PRAKK!!*
Labu itu pun pecah.
Namun dari labu yang pecah itu, keluarlah berbagai emas dan permata yang berkilauan.
Ibu tiri Bawang Putih yang melihatnya langsung merampas semua emas tersebut dan memaksa Bawang Putih menceritakan dari mana dia mendapat labu itu.
Dengan emas dan permata yang sebegitu banyak, mereka akan menjadi kaya raya!
Setelah mendengar cerita Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah dan Ibu tiri yang serakah itu justru membentak dan memarahi Bawang Putih karena tidak mengambil labu yang lebih besar.
Kemudian muncul sebuah rencana di benak ibu tiri yang serakah ini.
Sang Ibu menyuruh Bawang Merah untuk melakukan hal yang sama keesokan paginya, dengan harapan dapat memperoleh labu ajaib yang lebih besar dan tentunya lebih banyak isinya.
“Bawang Merah, pergilah ke Nenek tua itu juga dan pilihlah labu yang paling besar. Di dalamnya pasti terdapat lebih banyak lagi emas dan permata,” kata sang Ibu pada Bawang Merah.
Bawang Merah pun menyusuri sungai dan menemukan gubuk sang Nenek tua dan tinggal di sana selama satu minggu.
Selama di sana, Bawang Merah sangatlah malas dan menolak membantu pekerjaan rumah Sang Nenek tua sedikit pun.
Ketika satu minggu sudah berlalu dan tibalah waktu bagi Bawang Merah untuk pulang, sang Nenek tua yang kesal dengan Bawang Merah menyuruhnya pulang tanpa memberinya hadiah apapun.
“Hei Nenek tua, bukannya kamu seharusnya memberiku labu? Aku sudah membuang waktu seminggu hanya untukmu!” kata Bawang Merah dengan ketus.
Sang Nenek tua memandang Bawang Merah sesaat sebelum membawa juga dua buah labu yang berbeda ukuran dan menyuruh Bawang Merah memilih salah satu untuk dibawa pulang.
Tanpa pikir panjang, Bawang Merah menyuruh sang Nenek tua memberikan labu yang lebih besar padanya dan kemudian dia segera berlari pulang tanpa kata terima kasih ataupun pamit.
Setibanya di rumah, sang Ibu yang melihat labu yang dibawa Bawang Merah merasa sangat senang karena dia yakin terdapat banyak sekali emas di dalamnya.
Untuk mencegahnya melihat atau bahkan meminta bagian, mereka menyuruh Bawang Putih pergi mencuci pakaian di sungai.
Setelah Bawang Putih pergi, Bawang Merah dan sang Ibu mengunci diri di kamar dan segera membelah labu besar tadi.
Dalam bayangan mereka, dari dalam labu itu akan keluar emas dan permata yang melimpah.
Namun ternyata, bukan emas dan permata yang ada di dalamnya!
Dari labu besar itu, keluarlah ratusan ular, kalajengking, kelabang, dan berbagai hewan berbisa lainnya!
Hewan-hewan itu lantas menggigit Bawang Merah dan sang Ibu yang serakah itu.
Ibu dan anak itu pun meninggal akibat ketamakan mereka sendiri.
Sedangkan Bawang Putih menjadi sebatang kara.
Namun karena sifatnya yang rajin dan baik hati, Bawang Putih sangat disayangi oleh masyarakat desa itu.
Dan Bawang Putih pun hidup dengan bahagia.
That was the story of 'Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah'. How was it?
The story line, at least in the beginning, might reminds us of Cinderella. It has the same element of a biological mother who has passed away, a mostly absent father who is a merchant and also passed away not long into the story, and the existence of a step-mother and step-sister who forces the female lead to slave away doing household chores all day.
However, it deviates in the middle and ended without a prince charming or glass slippers. I don’t think it’s common for royalties to host balls in Indonesia, especially one where every people can come to.
The Fairy Godmother figure is also not present, instead replaced by a mysterious old grandmother who lives alone in the middle of nowhere.
One point that is still the same is the existence and importance of a pumpkin; not sure why, perhaps because it can be found easily enough anywhere and has a hollow middle perfect to hide something magically.
Still, this folklore is an effective, if not a little gruesome, way of teaching the younger generation about the correct attitude to have if one wants to have a good life; not necessarily successful or famous, but a good, normal life away from danger and misfortune.
Anyway, that is all for today's story. I'll put some key words and their translation under this.
Thank you and see you ~(^_^)~
Vocabulary Time!
Bahasa Indonesia [English]
Ayah [Father]
Ibu [Mother]
Pedagang [Merchant]
Selendang [Shawl]
Nenek [Grandmother]
Labu [Pumpkin]
Emas/mas [Gold]
Permata [Gem]
(Ke)tamak(an) [Greed(iness)]
(Dengan) bahagia [Happy(-ily)]
Comentários