Leungli

Last updated

Leungli or Si Leungli is a tale from Sundanese folklore, of West Java, Indonesia. [1] The folktale tells the story of a beautiful friendship between a poor girl and her magical pet goldfish named "Leungli", who helped and cheered her whenever her older sisters abused her.

Contents

The theme and moral of the legend are similar to those of the European folktale "Cinderella".

Summary

Once upon a time, seven orphan sisters lived together in a village; the youngest sibling was the only stepdaughter from previous marriage of their late parents. The youngest one was opposite in character and personality to her sisters. She was a diligent, kind, honest and humble girl who did all the housework, such as laundry, cooking and cleaning. Her older sisters were lazy, rude, mean, glamorous, proud and envious girls who were always ordering their youngest sister around.

One day, the youngest sister loses some of her older sisters' clothes while doing the daily laundry on the river. The older sisters scolded her severely and told her not to come home until she has found the missing clothing. The youngest one tried desperately to find the lost clothes in the river but was not successful. In her sadness she cried on the river bank. Suddenly a beautiful goldfish with shining golden scales appeared in front of her, jumping from the water and trying to cheer her up. The goldfish is magical and can talk to humans so introduced itself to her as "Leungli". Leungli finds out why the girl is crying and offers to help her to find the lost clothes. The girl is delighted when finally Leungli locates the missing clothes along the river. From then on Leungli becomes the girl's faithful friend, listening to her problems, comforting and cheering her. Every time she needed Leungli's company she would bring rice she had saved from her daily meal on a banana leaf plate to share. She would call by dipping the tip of her hair into the river and singing the pantun and shortly after the magical goldfish would appear.

As the friendship between the girl and Leungli grows the older sisters notice a change in their younger sister's behaviour. She seems to have become stronger, more confident and happier, despite the abuse they continue to inflict. One day they curiously follow their youngest sister to the river and finally learn of Leungli's existence. The evil older sisters are envious and plot to catch Leungli. They copy the call used by their youngest sister and trick the magical goldfish, catching it in their net. Later that day the kind youngest sister tries to call Leungli at the river but Leungli does not come. She returned home saddened by the sudden loss of her friend. When she entered the kitchen she was shocked to find scales and fish bones on a plate which were clearly the remnant of Leungli. Her mean older sisters had cooked Leungli for their lunch. She cried heavily and buried Leungli's remains in her backyard.

Magically from the grave of Leungli grew a golden tree with golden leaves and precious stones as the fruits. When anyone takes the golden leaves or the jewel fruits they turn to dust and disappear, except for the kind younger sister. She is the only one that can take the bounty of the magical tree. The story of magical tree spread widely within the kingdom and finally reached the palace. One day a handsome prince visited the village to see the famous magical golden tree, he finally learned about the story behind the tree and meets the youngest sibling. The prince admired the beauty and kindness of the youngest sister and they fell in love, got married, moved to the palace and lived happily ever after.

Moral of the story

Leungli is a popular Sundanese children folklore. This tale is a traditional pedagogical means to teach children to be kind to their siblings and other living beings including animals (in this case goldfish). The parents often recite this tale as a bedtime story and expect the children to take the role model of the kind and diligent youngest sister. The story also uphold the traditional moral theme, the good shall be rewarded and the evil shall be punished. The karmic theme and fable story that teach about benevolence and kindness is somewhat similar with Buddhism Jataka tales, it probably the trace of Sundanese traditional reverence to nature and also Hindu-Buddhist influences.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tale of Tsar Saltan</span> 1831 fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin

The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Swan-Princess is an 1831 fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird</span> Sicilian fairy tale

The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird is a Sicilian fairy tale collected by Giuseppe Pitrè, and translated by Thomas Frederick Crane for his Italian Popular Tales. Joseph Jacobs included a reconstruction of the story in his European Folk and Fairy Tales. The original title is "Li Figghi di lu Cavuliciddaru", for which Crane gives a literal translation of "The Herb-gatherer's Daughters."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Boys with the Golden Stars</span> Romanian fairy tale

The Boys with the Golden Stars is a Romanian fairy tale collected in Rumänische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book. An alternate title to the tale is The Twins with the Golden Star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Feather of Finist the Falcon</span> Russian fairy tale

The Feather of Finist the Falcon or Finist the Falcon is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. It is Aarne–Thompson type 432, the prince as bird. Other tales of this type include The Green Knight, The Blue Bird, and The Greenish Bird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Love for Three Oranges (fairy tale)</span> Italian fairy tale

"The Love for the Three Oranges" or "The Three Citrons" is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in the Pentamerone. It is the concluding tale, and the one the heroine of the frame story uses to reveal that an imposter has taken her place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lutung Kasarung</span> Indonesian folktale

Lutung Kasarung is a Sundanese folktale from Indonesia. Set in the Pasir Batang Kingdom, it tells the tale of a magical lutung who helped a beautiful princess, Purbasari Ayuwangi, when her older sister attempted to rob her of her status as crown princess. The story is from an old Sundanese quatrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keong Emas</span> Javanese folktale

Keong Emas is a popular Javanese folklore about a princess magically transformed and contained in a golden snail shell. The folklore is a part of the popular Javanese Panji cycle, which tells stories about the prince Panji Asmoro Bangun and his consort, princess Dewi Sekartaji.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bawang Merah Bawang Putih</span> Indonesian folk tale

Bawang merah dan bawang putih is a popular traditional Indonesian folklore from Riau involving two siblings with opposite characters, and an unjust step mother. The folktale has a similar theme and moral to the European folktale Cinderella.

The Hedgehog, the Merchant, the King and the Poor Man is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by László Merényi and translated by folklorist Jeremiah Curtin.

Les Princes et la Princesse de Marinca is a French-Canadian fairy tale from Gaspésie published by Canadian folklorist Carmen Roy. It is related to the motif of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The Children with the Golden Locks is a Georgian folktale. It is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The story of the Princess Arab-Zandīq or The Story of ‘Arab-Zandīq is a modern Egyptian folktale collected in the late 19th century by Guillaume Spitta Bey. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The Bird that Spoke the Truth is a New Mexican folktale. It is related to the motif of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The Story of The Farmer's Three Daughters is an Icelandic fairy tale collected by author Jón Árnason in his 1864 compilation of Icelandic tales and legends. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The Golden Fish, The Wonder-working Tree and the Golden Bird is an Eastern European fairy tale. It is related to the motif of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

The King of the Snakes is a Chinese folktale published by John Macgowan in 1910. In it, a father gives his youngest daughter to a snake spirit, who turns out to be a human. Out of jealousy, the girl's sister conspires to take her place and kills her. The heroine, then, goes through a cycle of transformations, regains human form and takes revenge on her sister.

The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts is an Albanian folktale. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

Little Nightingale the Crier is a Palestinian Arab folktale collected by scholars Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

Maria is the title given to a Filipino version of Cinderella collected by Fletcher Gardner and published in The Journal of American Folklore, in 1906. The story is related both to the international Cinderella narrative, as well as to the motif of the calumniated wife.

Molla Badji is an Iranian folktale collected and translated by researcher Adrienne Boulvin and published in 1975. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

References