The Legend of Surabaya (Folklore from East Java)

  A long time ago in East Java there were two strong animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea. Actually, they were friends. But when they were hungry, they were very greedy. They did not want to share their food. They would fight for it and never stop fighting until one of them gave up.
  It was a very hot day. Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat.
"Yummy, this is my lunch," said Baya.
"No way ! This is my Lunch. You are greedy ! I had not eaten for two days !" said Sura.
  Then Sura and Baya fought again. After several hours, they were very tired. Sura had a plan to stop their bad behavior. "I'm tired of fighting, Baya," said Sura
"Me too. What should we do to stop fighting ? Do you have any idea ?" asked Baya
"Yes, I do. Let's share our territory. I lived in the water, so I look for food sn the sea. And you live on the land, right ? So, you look for the food also on the land. The border is the beach, so we will never meet again. Do you agree ?" asked Sura.
"Hmm...Let me think about it. Ok, I agree. From today, I will never go to the sea again. My place is on the land," said Baya.
  Then they both lived in the different places. But one day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very hungry when he knew that Sura broke the promise.
"Hey, what are you doing here ? This is my place. Your places is in the sea !"
"But, there is water in the river, right ? So, this is also my place !" said Sura.
  Then Sura and Baya fought again. They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya's tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up. He went back to the sea. Baya was very happy. He had his place again.
  The place where they were fighting was a mess. Blood was everywhere. People than always talked about the fight between Sura and Baya. They than named the place of the fight as Surabaya. It's from Sura the shark and Baya the crocodile. People also put their fight as the symbol of Surabaya City.

Lutung Kasarung (Folklore from West Java)

  Prabu Tapa Agung was an old king. He had two daughters, Purbararang and Purbasari. Prabu Tapa AGung planned to retire as a King. He wanted Purbasari to replace him as the leader of the kingdom. Hearing this, Purbararang was angry. "You cannot ask her to be the queen, Father. I am older than she is. It's supposed to be me, not her !" said Purbararang. But the King still chose Purbasari to be the next queen.
  Purbasari than set a bad plan with her fiance, Indrajaya. Together they went to a witch and asked her to put a spell on purbasari. As the result, Purbasari had bad skin. There were black dots all over her body. "You are will not as beautiful as I am. You cannot be the queen. Instead, you have this palace an stay in a jungle," said Purbararang.
  Purbasari was very sad. Now she had to stay in the jungle. Everyday she spent her time playing with some animals there. The was one monkey that always tried to cheer her up. It was not just an ordinary monkey, he had magical power ! and he also could talk with humans. The monkey's name was Lutung Kasarung. He was actually a God. His name was Sanghyang Gurumina. Lutung Kasarung planned to help Purbasari. He mad a small lake and asked her to take a bath there. Amazingly, her bad skin was cured. Now she got her beautiful skin back.
  After that, she asked Lutung Kasarung to accompany her to go back to the palace. Purbararang was very shocked. She knew she had to come up with another bad idea. She than said, "Those who have longer hair will be the queen." The King then measured  his daughters' hair. Purbasari had longer hair. But Purbararang did not give up. "A queen must have a handsome husband. If my fiance is more handsome than yours, then I will be the queen," said Purbararang.
  Purbasari was sad. She knew Purbararang's fiance, Indrajaya, was handsome. And she did not have a fiance yet. "Here is my fiance, Indrajaya. Where is your ?" asked Purbararang. Lutung Kasarung came forward. Purbararang was laughing very hard. "Your fiance is a monkey ? hahaha." Suddenly, Lutung Kasarung changed into a very handsome man. He was even more handsome than Indrajaya. Purbasari then became the queen. She forgave Purbararang and her fiance and let them stay in palace.