THE BEGINNING OF CIANJUR

Folklore  From Indonesia: The Beginning of Cianjur

BY BENNY

           Once upon a time, there was a richest man lived in West Java. He was the one owner of the fields in the area. The villagers were just as the  laborers to him, so they called him as "Pak Kikir" (a stingy man). He had a son and his son had different character from him. He was humble and good boy. He used to help the villagers.

       One day, Pak Kikir celebrated a thanksgiving party. He thought this party could make him the rich from all of the harvest of his fields. All of villagers were invited. They were really happy because they thought that they could find and eat many delicious foods in that party. But it was far from what they had already imagined.

        Pak Kikir provided simple food only.
" Huh.... The miserly man. I can't imagine how miserly he is"
“The lord  never blessed him," Said some of the villagers in that party. At the same time, there was eldery woman approached Pak Kikir and asked for his mercy. "Give me a plate of rice please............” Said the old woman.
“What ! I must work hard to get the place of rice!” Said Pak Kikir "Have mercy on me, please......"
"No....... get out of my house! Then, the old woman cried and left the party. But Pak Kikir's son was really sad about that so he gave her lunch food  to the old woman.
        

        After that, the old woman walked out of the house toward a mountain.

When she was on the top of the mountain, she could see Pak Kikir's house, the best house in that area. She said "Remember this Pak Kikir ! Your greediness will sink you! And the lord will never bless you! "And the old woman jabbed her stick to the land and suddenly there was full of water emerged from the jab.

       Gradually the water became flood. The villagers and pak Kikir's son ran to save themselves up to a mountain. While they were running, Pak Kikir tried to save his prosperity. 

The flood was getting fast and Pak Kikir sank with his prosperity.
The villagers and pak Kikir's son were saved. They were really sad with what had happened. They decided to find a new area for farming and they chose Pak Kikir's son as their leader and he taught the villagers how to be a good farmer, how to handle the fields and water balance. And then the area called Anjuran (Suggestion) because the villagers obeyed what their leader said.

       Some years later, the villagers changed the name to be Cianjur, its meaning was full of water. Now, Cianjur is well known as the best area to produce rice in West Java Province-Indonesia.

Answer these questions based on the text above! 

1. What is the text about?

     __________________________________________ 

2. Who are the characters of the story above?

     __________________________________________

     __________________________________________

3. Where did the story happen? 

     __________________________________________

4. What is the purpose of the text?

     __________________________________________

5. What was the name of the party?

     __________________________________________

6. Who came to Pak Kikir's house to ask for his mercy?

     __________________________________________

7. Who were invited to the party?

     __________________________________________

8. Who jabbed the stick into the earth?

     __________________________________________