The Story of Panyalahan Village
Folklore from West Java
Long time ago in Tasikmalaya, West
Java, lived a young couple. They were farmers. They lived happily with their
baby. The couple also had some animals. One of them was a tiger. When the
couple went to work on the paddy field, the tiger looked after their baby. As
usual, the couple went to the paddy field. Before they left, they asked the
tiger to look after their baby.
“We will go to the field now. Look
after our baby, okay?” The tiger nodded.
So, the couple went to the field.
They worked from morning until afternoon. When the couple arrived home, the
tiger welcomed them. The tiger acted differently. He wagged his tail and rubbed
his body to the couple’s legs. He looked very happy. The husband became
suspicious.
“Why does this tiger behave
strangely? He does not act as usual?” he thought.
The husband looked at the tiger
carefully. He was shocked. The tiger’s mouth was full of blood. Then he
remembered his baby. He thought the tiger had eaten the baby.
“Why is your mouth full of blood?” he
asked the tiger.
“You must have done something bad to
my baby! Have you killed him? Why did you do that?” he was very panicked.
The husband took his knife and killed
the tiger in anger. Then they both entered the house. They were shocked. They
looked at each other. Their baby was sleeping peacefully in his cradle. He was
not eaten by the tiger.
Quickly, the wife took the baby and
kissed him. The baby woke up. He opened his eyes and smiled. The couple found a
very large snake under the cradle. The snake was dead and full of blood.
“Oh, my wife,” the husband said.
“We have done a terrible thing. The
tiger is not guilty! Look at the dead snake. The tiger must have killed him. He
had saved our baby, but I killed him. Oh, my God! What have I done? I am so
sorry. Forgive me, my dear tiger. Forgive me, please?”
The couple felt very guilty. They
have killed their faithful tiger. It all happened because they did not check
the baby first before they killed the tiger.
Since then, the couple’s village was
called Panyalahan. The word Panyalahan derives from the word “nyalahan”, which
means “wrong guess”.
