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.

Cindelaras (Folklore from East Java)

  Raden Putra was the King of Jenggela kingdom. He Had beautiful queen. Besides that, the king also had beautiful concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. By doing so, she could be the new queen.
  The Concubine asked the palace healer to help her do the bad plan. They toldd the king that the queen wanted to poison him. The King was angry. He sent the queen to a Jungle. It is the punishment for her. The was one condition that the king did not know, the queen was pregnant. After several months living in the jungle, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy and handsome young man.One day, while Cindelaras helped his mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle dropped an egg. He took the egg and carefully took care of it.
  The egg hatched into a chick and then became a strong rooster. The rooster had magical skill. It was very powerful and skilful in fighting with other rooster. Besides that, the rooster could also sing. The song was about Cindelaras and his father, Raden Putra."My Master is Cindelaras. He lives in the jungle. His father is a rooster often sang the song. When Cindelaras first heard that song, he ignored it. However, he could not stand it anymore. He talked his mother about it. His mother told him the whole story. Cindelaras was very surprised. He dedicated to go to the palace to met the King, his father. Cindelaras also brought his rooster to go to the palace.
  On the way to go there, he met some people. They wanted his rooster to fight their roosters. Cindelaras' rooster won the fight. He won again and again. The news about Cindelaras' rooster was heard  by King Raden Putra. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace to fight his rooster with the King's rooster. The King made a bet. If Cindelaras' rooster won the fight, he would get all king's jewellery. However, If Cindelaras' rooster lost, he would be ent to jail. The two roosters fought bravely in just a few minutes, Cindelaras' rooster won the fight ! Then, the rooster sang the song.
  The King was surprised, he asked who Cindelaras was. He Then told the king about he r mother living in the jungle. Later, the palace heler admitted his mistaked. He said thet the queen was innocent. She never tried to kill the king. The king was very angry. He ordered the concubine to be sent a jail. The king immediately went to the jungle to pick up his wife. He apologized for sending her to the jungle and made her the queen again.

Keong Emas (a golden snail)

  Kertamarta was the King of Daha. He had two daughters. They are Dewi Galuh and Chandra Kirana. Both of them were beautiful and kind. Chandra Kirana was enganged to Inu Kertapati. He was the Prince of Kahuripan Kingdom. He was a just and wise person.
  Chandra Kirana had a cousin named Galuh Ajeng. Actually Galuh Ajeng loved Inu Kertapati. She was jealous knowing that Chandra Kirana would become Inu Kertapati's wife. Galuh Ajeng visited a witch.
  "I wont you to curse her. I just want to be Inu Kertapati's wife," asked Galuh Ajeng.
  "Don't worry, Princess Galuh Ajeng," said the witch.
  At first, Galuh Ajeng said a rumour that Chandra Kirana would bring calamity to be the palace. Then she persuaded the King to expelled Chandra Kirana. The King was agitated and chased Chandra Kirana away.
  Chandra Kirana had to leave the palace. When she was walking along the shore, the witch appeared.
  "Hey, Pretty girl, I will curse you to be keong mas (a golden snail)," the witch shouted.
  Chandra Kirana turned to keong mas. She was helpless. The witch threw keong mas into the sea.
  "The curse would end if only you met Inu Kertapati." The witch laughed so hard and then disappeared.
  One day an old woman fished with her net. Incidentally, Keong mas was tangled in her net. She took keong mas and put it in a bowl. The Following day, the old woman fished again but she din not get anything. Then she went home and she was surprised because there were plenty of delicious food on the table.
   "Who brings it here ?"
  She thought it was so strange but after all she ate it.
  Day by day, the woman always found delicious food on the table after she had gone fishing. One morning, she pretended to go out. After she stepped out for her hut, she peeped on a small hole oh the hut's wall. The old woman was so surprised. She saw that keong mas turned to a beautiful girl. The woman opened the door right away and came inside.
  "Who are you, beautiful girl ?" the old woman asked.
  "I am the princess of Daha. My cousin asked the witch to curse. She was jealous because I wanted to be Inu Kertapati's wife."
  The girl was Chandra Kirana. Then she turned to keong mas again. The old woman was so astonished taht she couldn't speak anymore.
  In Kahuripan, Inu Kertapati worried about Chandra Kirana's fortune and tried to find her. He was disguised to an ordinary people. Unfortunately, the witch knew his disguise. She turned to a crow. She wanted to mislead Inu Kertapati. Inu Kertapati met the crow on the way and was amazed because it could speak like a man.
  "What an amazing crow. Would you accompany me ?" Inu Kertapati asked.
  "Yes, I would. Even I know where you want to go. You want to find Chandra Kirana, don;t you ?" said the crow.
  Inu Kertapati thought that the crow had magical power.   "So you know where I want to go. Could you show me where she is ?" Inu Kertapati asked.
  "Sure," said the crow.
  Actually, the crow showed Inu Kertapati the wrong way, however he didn't know it.
  On the way, Inu Kertapati and the crow met an old man. The old man was hungry, so Inu Kertapati gave him some food. Actually the old man had supernatural power. He was also a good man so he didn't let the crow to mislead Inu Kertapati.
  "Be careful, young man. the crow is a fake bird."
  The old man beat the crow with his cane and the crow became smoke.
  "The crow is actually the witch that would harm you. She showed you the wrong direction," said the old man.
  "Oh, really ? Thanks a lot. However, what can I do now ?" said Inu Kertapati.
  "Don't worry, prince. Now, go to Dadapan. You will find the Princess."
  Inu Kertapati went to Dadapan by ridding horse. He spent several days to reach Dadapan.
  After he had arrived to Dadapan, he went to a hut. His stock of food and water had run out. He intended to ask some water. When he was in front of the opened door, he was shocked. He was a familiar girl who was cooking.   "Oh, I couldn't believe. Chandra Kirana ?"
  Chandra Kirana turned her head.
  "Oh My God, you are Prince Inu Kertapati !" she shouted.
  "Chandra Kirana, why are you here ?"
  The witch's curse soon disappeared because Chandra Kirana had met Inu Kertapati.
  At the same time, the old woman when home from fishing. Chandra Kirana introduced Inu Kertapati to the old woman. Finally, Inu Kertapati brought  Chandra Kirana and the old woman to his palace. Chandra Kirana also went back to Daha to tell her father about her hardship.
  "Galuh Ajeng has been envious because I want to be Inu Kertapati's wife. Even she asked the witch to curse me. However, the curse was gone as I met Inu Kertapati at Dadapan."
  King Kertamata was shocked after hearing Chandra Kirana's story.
   "Oh, forgive me my beloved daugher. I promise I will punish Galuh Ajeng."
  Galuh Ajeng was afraid of her father's punishment. She decided to run away from the palace. Nonettheless, when she was in a forest, she got a bad luck. She stumbled on a ston and feel the vailey. After ail, she died in suffering.
  Inu Kertapati the married Chandra Kirana. The people also asked the old woman to live in the palace. They lived happily ever after.

*Indonesian Folktales