Folklore from East Kalimantan
Once upon a time there was a king in Berau Kingdom. The king was wise. He had seven beautiful daughters and he did not have a son yet. Among the seven daughters, the most beautiful daughter was the youngest one. Her name was Princess Bungsu. She was a kind girl. She was not spoiled and liked to do the household chores and cooking. She had a special knife to cut the vegetables or meat.
One day the princess’ knife was broken. She was very sad. She did not want to cook anymore. The king loved his daughters very much. He did not want to see his youngest daughter sad.
Therefore the king had a competition. He asked the people to make a new knife for his daughter. The king would give great rewards for the winner.
Soon, everybody was busy making a knife. After they were finished, they brought the knives to the palace. One by one, the villagers showed their knives to Princess Bungsu. Sadly, the Princess was not interested. She thought that all the knives were not as beautiful as her knife.
On the following day, a young man came to the palace. His name was Maniki. He was handsome and very helpful to others and also skillful. He could make anything. Maniki also wanted to join the competition. He brought his knife and showed it to Princess Bungsu. The knife was very beautiful. Princess Bungsu liked it instantly. She immediately brought the knife to the kitchen and began to cook.
Princess Bungsu really loved the knife. She always kept the knife carefully. She even brought the knife to her bed room and put it on the pillow.
In one morning, Princess Bungsu did not feel very well. The king then asked the palace healer to cure the illness.
After a while, the palace healer was surprised. He found out that Princess Bungsu was pregnant! He immediately reported to the king.
The king was really angry. He asked the princess who the father of the baby was. The princess was confused. She always stayed in the palace and never had any contacts with any men.
Nine months later, the princess had a baby son.
The palace healer knew how to find out the father of the baby. He invited all men in the kingdom. Then he gave each of them a banana. If the baby crawled to the man holding the banana, then he was the father.
After all men came to the palace, they all sat down in a big circle. The baby was in the middle.
Amazingly the baby started to crawl. He came to a young man. It was Maniki!
Maniki was confused.
He said that he was innocent. But the king ignored him. Later the king sent Maniki, Princess Bungsu and the baby to the jungle as a punishment.
Days passed by and the baby turned to a boy. Maniki and Princess Bungsu were also rich. They worked hard and always saved their money. One day they heard that the king was terribly ill. They decided to go to the palace to visit the king.
It was true. The king was dying. He was terribly ill because he felt guilty by sending her daughter to the jungle. When he met Maniki and Princess Bungsu, the king apologized to them and asked them to stay in the palace.***
