Many years ago in Serawak, there were six girls who were
good friends. The most beautiful one was Gayah. She was the cleverest too. One
day they went to the jungle to collect some wild fruit. They lost their way.
When night came, they saw a bright fire not far away.
They walked towards it. There was a little old woman sitting in front of it.
“I know you have lost your way,” the old woman said. “You
must be hungry, although you certainly look quite fat and well fed. Ha, ha, ha!
It is lucky that you found me. Have some of these cakes, my dears.”
“Don’t take any!” whispered Gayah. “Let me talk to her.
She’s a witch.”
“I’m sorry we can’t eat without first having something to
drink,” she said to the old woman. “How far is the nearest river from here?”
“I can’t tell you,” replied the old woman. “If I tell
you, you’ll run away. No my dears, I’ll fetch some water for you.”
“Thank you, madam,” Gayah answered.
She thought that the old woman was stupid to leave them
alone while she went to fetch some water. However, the old woman was not as
stupid as Gayah thought. She waved a magic wand. All the girls felt weak and
they had to sit down. In a flash, the old woman tied them up with a long
rope.
“I’ll carry one end of the rope with me. If I pull it, I
can easily find out whether you’re still tied to the other end,” She said.
Then she went to fetch some water. After a while, she
tugged the rope, “Ha, ha, ha my little ones, don’t try to run away! You can’t
escape from me!”
A little while later, she pulled the rope again, “Good,
you’re still there! Don’t think you can trick me!”
But Gayah had untied the rope and had fastened it to a
tree. So when the witch pulled the rope the next time, she thought that the
girls were still there. The girls ran back into the jungle as fast as they
could. When the witch returned, the girls were nowhere to be seen.
She waved her magic wand and cried, “Let there be a wide
river with a big crocodile in it to stop the girls running away.”
In a second, the witch pursued the girls. She saw the
girls talking to the crocodile, “Stop! Stop!” she cried. She was afraid that
the girls will be eaten by the crocodile.
Gayah heard her and saw her quite far away behind them. Gayah
spoke quickly to the crocodile. “Please take us across the river one by one,”
she begged.
“How much will you pay me?” asked the crocodile.
“Mr. crocodile, you know we don’t have any money. But you
may eat the sixth one.”
The crocodile agreed. He took the first girl on his back
and swam across the river. Then he went back and carried the second girl
across. And the third and fourth and the fifth.
“Now I shall eat the sixth,” the crocodile thought as he
was swimming back.
The witch ran down to the edge of the river. The
crocodile shouted at her, “quick get into my back.”
The witch thought that the crocodile will help her so the
witch sat on the crocodile’s back
“Ha, this must be the sixth,” the crocodile laughed in
his mind. He took her to the middle of the river. Suddenly, he threw her high
into the air and caught her in his mouth.
“Ugh, ugh, she’s a bit hard and bony! Not at all like the
other five,” he said.
Actually, Gayah had crossed the river at the same time as
the fifth girl by hanging on to the crocodile’s tail. All the girls agreed that
they would never go alone into the jungle again.
-FIN-
Read the Indonesian translation HERE
Author: Unknown
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