Folklore from Central Java
A long time ago, there was a giant dragon. His name was Baruklinting. One day, one of the gods asked him to take nine shepherds as an offering for the gods.
Then Baruklinting went to a mountain. He opened his big mouth everyday. He hoped that shepherds would enter his big mouth. In the village, ten shepherds took their cows to the grass field on the mountain. They didn’t know there was a dragon. One of the shepherds was very skinny and dirty. His friends always made fun of him. The skinny shepherd never got angry. He just kept quiet and left his friends every time they laughed at him.
It was a very hot day. All shepherds were very tired. They wanted to find a cool place to rest. The skinny shepherd had already found a nice place to rest. It was under a big tree. The place was cool so he did not feel hot anymore. His friends were jealous.
“Let’s steal his place,” said one of them.
“Yes! Let’s do it!” other shepherds agreed.
They took some mud and threw it to the skinny shepherds. The skinny shepherd was so sad. Still, he did not get angry. He just left them and walked away.
“Ha ha ha go now! You skinny boy!” they laughed at him.
Suddenly the sky became dark. There was a thunder and lightning. Heavy rain began to fall. The shepherds did not want to get wet. They had to find a better place. They finally found a big cave. The cave had sharp rocks inside it. All shepherds did not know that the cave was actually the mouth of the giant dragon. Yes, it was Baruklinting’s mouth! When all shepherds were inside the ‘cave’, suddenly one of them pushed the skinny shepherd away.
“Go out! You don’t belong here! It’s only for the big boys!”
"But it was raining outside,” said skinny shepherd.
"I don’t care!” then they pushed him.
Right after the skinny shepherd was outside the cave, it suddenly closed! Yes, Baruklinting just finished his job to get nine shepherds for the gods.
When the skinny shepherds saw the cave closed, he ran away! He ran as fast as he could. He then told the villagers about the cave and the dragon. The villagers then went to the mountain to kill the dragon. But when they arrived, the dragon had already gone.
From that day on, the village was named Kesongo Village. Songomeant nine for the nine shepherds who were eaten by Baruklinting Dragon***
