The Story Of Toba Lake From Indonesia

TOBA LAKE

Once upon a time, there was a fisherman living in North Sumatra.

One day, while he was fishing in a river, a big fish was nailed. This fish had gold color all over it body. It was beautiful. The fisherman was very excited. He imagined a delicious dinner he would have. Soon he put the fish in his basket and went home happily.

When the fisherman got home, he put the fish in a sink. He took a knife to kill the fish. However, when he almost killed it, he saw the fish’s eyes and felt pity. So, he took the knife away and put the fish in a washbasin. Then, he added some water in it. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t kill you,” the fisherman said to the fish.

The fisherman went fishing again, but this time he couldn’t get any fish. He went home with nothing in his hand. He was starving and walked home slouching. He was surprised when he saw smoke came out from his kitchen.

“Who is cooking in my kitchen?” he confused.

He peeped in and was surprised knowing that there was a beautiful girl cooking in the kitchen. “Who is the girl in my kitchen?” he murmured.

The fisherman entered the room. “Who are you?” he asked the girl.

“I’m the fish,” the girl said.

The fisherman looked into the washbasin and saw nothing in it.

“The fish?” he asked incredulous.

“Yes, you didn’t kill me and I’m very thankful. I will return your kindness,” the girl said.

“That’s alright. I didn’t ask any return,” said the fisherman.

“But I have to,” the girl insisted.

“Well, I live alone. I don’t have a family. If you want to be my wife, I will be very happy,” the fisherman asked the girl.

The girl smiled and said “I’d love to, but you have to promise me that if we have a kid, you won’t tell him about me.”

And so, the fisherman and the fish girl were married. And then they had a child called Samo. Samo was very naughty. He always played and never helped his parents.

One day, Samo’s mother asked him to deliver lunch to his father. On his way, he met his friends and forgot to deliver his father’s lunch. Samo played with his friends. When he was tired and hungry, he took a rest under a tree and ate his father’s lunch.

Meanwhile, his father waited for him starving and tired. His father went home and saw Samo played. “Whwre is my lunch?”he asked.

“Umm .. mm .. I ate it,” Samo said. He looked afraid.

“Why did you eat it?” his father asked.

“Umm .. mm .. I was hungry after playing with my friends,” Samo said.

“You were asked to deliver my lunch but you didn’t do it,” said his father furiously. “I can’t handle you anymore. You are very naughty. Go away and don’t come back home!” his father yelled and evicted Samo from his house. His father said the words that he wouldn’t suppose to say. “You .. fish’s son.”

Suddenly, the sky got dark, and the storm was rumbling. The rain felt from the sky like a huge hose sprayed water all over the place. Water also came out from the earth and got harder.

Samo’s mother was very sad. “I told you not to tell him about me,” she said to her husband. “Now I’m going bak to be a fish again. Goodbye.” She magically turned into a gold fish and jumped into the water, disappeared. Very soon the village was drowned and it formed a lake. Meanwhile, Samo ran to the hill and stayed there. The hill was surrounded by the water.

Now, the lake was known as Lake Toba. The words Toba comes from tuba which means no mercy. The hill in the middle of the lake is called Samosir Island. Samosir means ‘Samo diusir’ or in English ‘Samo who had been evicted’.

DANAU TOBA

Pada zaman dahulu, hiduplah seorang nelayan di Sumatra Utara. Suatu hari sementara ia memancing di sungai, seekor ikan besar terpancing. Ikan ini berwarna emas di seluruh tubuhnya. Dia sangat cantik. Nelayan sangat senang. Dia telah membayangkan makan malam enak yang akan ia dapatkan. Dia segera  memasukkan ikan ke dalam keranjangnya dan pulang dengan gembira.

Ketika nelayan pulang, ia memasukkan ikan ke dalam sebuah baskom. Ia mengambil sebuah pisau untuk membunuh ikan. Bagaimanapun, ketika ia hampir membunuhnya, ia melihat mata ikan dan merasa kasihan. Jadi, ia mengambil pisau itu kembali dan memasukkan ikan ke dalam baskom. Lalu, ia menambahkan sedikit air ke dalamnya. “Jangan khawatir, aku tidak akan membunuhmu,” nelayan berkata kepada ikan.

Nelayan pergi memancing lagi, namun kali ini ia tidak mendapatkan ikan. Ia pulang dengan tangan kosong. Ia kelaparan dan berjalan pulang dengan pelan. Ia terkejut ketika ia melihat asap keluar dari dapurnya.

“Siapa yang memasak di dapurku?” ia bingung.

Ia mengintip ke dalam dan terkejut setelah tau bahwa ada seorang gadis cantik sedang memasak di dapurnya. “Siapa gadis di dapurku?” ia berbisik.

Nelayan masuk ke dalam ruangan. “siapa kamu?” ia bertanya pada gadis.

“Saya ikan,” gadis itu berkata.

Nelayan melihat ke baskom dan tidak melihat apapun di dalamnya.

“Ikan?” ia bertanya karena tidak masuk akal.

“Ya. Kamu tidak membunuhku dan aku sangat berterimakasih. Aku akan membalas kebaikanmu,” gadis itu berkata.

“Tidak mengapa. Aku tidak meminta balasan apapun,” kata nelayan.

“Tapi aku harus,” gadis itu menuntut.

“Baik, aku tinggal sendiri. Aku tidak mempunyai keluarga. Jika kamu mau menjadi istriku, aku akan sangat senang.” Nelayan meminta kepada gadis.

Gadis itu tersenyum dan berkata “aku juga mencintaimu, tapi kamu harus berjanji padaku bahwa jika kita memiliki seorang anak, kamu tidak akan mengatakan padanya tentang aku.”

Dan lalu, nelayan dan gadis ikan menikah. Dan lalu mereka memiliki seorang anak yang bernama Samo. Samo sangat nakal. Ia selalu bermain dan tidak pernah membantu orangtuanya.

Suatu hari, ibu Samo memintanya untuk mengantarkan makan siang kepada ayahnya. Di perjalanan, ia bertemu dengan teman - temannya dan lupa untuk mengantar makan siang ayahnya. Samo bermain dengan teman - temannya. Ketika ia lelah dan lapar, ia istirahat di bawah sebuah pohon dan memakan makan siang ayahnya.

Sementara itu, ayahnya menunggu sambil kelaparan dan lelah. Ayahnya pulang dan melihat Samo bermain. “Di mana makan siangku?” ia bertanya.

“Umm .. mm .. saya memakannya,” Samo berkata, ia terlihat ketakutan.

“Mengapa kamu memakannya?” ayahnya bertanya.

“Umm .. mm .. saya lapar setelah bermain bersama teman - teman saya,” kata Samo.

“kamu telah diminta untuk mengantarkan makan siangku tapi kamu tidak melakukannya,” kata ayahnya dengan geram. Aku tidak dapat menanganimu lagi.  Kamu sangat nakal. Pergi dan jangan kembali ke rumah!” ayahnya berteriak dan mengusir Samo dari rumahnya. Ayahnya mengucapkan kata - kata yang tidak seharusnya di ucapkan. “Kamu .. anak ikan.”

Tiba - tiba, langit menjadi gelap, dan petir bergemuruh. Hujan turun dari langit seperti pipa air yang menyemproykan air ke segala tempat. Air juga keluar dari bumi dan semakin kuat.

Ibu Samo sangat sedih. “saya beritahukan kapadamu agar tidak berkata tentangku,” katanya kepada suaminya. “Sekarang aku akan kambali menjadi ikan. Selamat tinggal.” Ia berubah secara ajaib menjadi ikan emas dan melompat ke air, menghilang. Dengan segera desa itu tenggelam dan berubah menjadi sebuah danau. Sementara itu , Samo lari ke bukit dan tinggal di sana. Bukit itu dikelilingi oleh air.

Sekarang danau itu dikenal sebagai Danau Toba. Kata Toba berasal dari tuba yang berarti tidak kasihan. Bukit di tengah danau bernama Pulau Samosir. Samosir berarti ‘Samo diusir’ atau dalam bahasa Inggris ‘Samo who had been evicted’.

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