International Tales : Indonesia

Participation from Indonesia, by Anddrew Richmond Thezo

Anddrew – 22 years old, lives in Pontianak at the west of Kalimantan and studies Business management – follow him on instagram @anddrewrichz

“The Origin of Hedgehog River”

For the first time I heard about this urban story from my hometown in West Borneo, Indonesia.

I would think the moral story is about not stealing from others, as the simple mind of a 10-year-old child would get from the narrative of the tale. The story is called “The Origin of Hedgehog River” which is the literal name of one branch of the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia.

> Back on my reflection, this backstory conveys not only a message of integrity but also a point of gratitude. The point when the farmers do not become boastful with the statue that they had illustrates any opportunities that we have in life that we should not take for granted but to live for any second of it. Finally, being a grateful person is a value that I perceive from this story to see a life filled with blessings and opportunity to be used wisely and to be shared with others in any way.

The story starts with a background story of 2 farmer-spouses who have been suffering from hunger and a difficult time with the harvest season. One day, one of them found a Golden Hedgehog statue in their garden; they had a plan to sell the statue the next day.

However, both of them dream that the statue speaks to them and say that they can pray for any wishes by starting and stopping the prayer that the statue taught them in the dream. The farmers use it wisely and share it with others as well, but others envy it and would like to steal the statue. One night, one villager succeeded in stealing the golden statue and ran as fast as the wind. Eventually, the villagers got tired and prayed for water; all of a sudden, water came out of the statue’s mouth and kept pouring the water. The villager is extremely happy and starts to quench the thirst. The thirst is already gone but the water keeps coming out; without the stopping prayer, the villager does not know the water eventually drowned the area with water. The drowned area created a river that is known as the Hedgehog River or “Sungai Landak”.

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