By Yasmine Putri Nabila
For this year’s Valentine’s Day Issue, I’m going to tell you the story of a princess and an ape. This story originated from Java Barat, and is considered one of the most famous pieces of Indonesian folklore.
There was once a humble king who ruled over the Pasir Batang kingdom in West Java. The king had 7 beautiful daughters, all of which were married except for the oldest of all the sisters, Purbararang (though at this time she’s had a handsome fiancé named Raden Indrajaya, son of a Minister), and the youngest, Purbasari.
“I am old already,” said the King to his wife once upon a time when they were sitting by the lake. “Therefore I will give my throne up to one of my daughters.”
Now this is where the problem started—according to the royal rules, Purbararang was destined to take over the throne once her father had grown too old to rule. However, the King never really liked the idea of giving up his throne to Purbararang. As much as he loved all of his daughters, he never thought that Purbararang would be the perfect Queen—she was mean and percieved other people as if they were nothing to her – above all, she was unwise. On the other hand, Purbasari was an angel—she was humble and considered very wise for her age.
The King had made up his mind: he was going to give his throne to his youngest daughter. And of course, Purbararang was angered by his decision. She was supposed to take the throne and rule over their Kingdom. She whined to Indrajaya about this decision, and the both of them went out to seek help from a witch to get rid of Purbasari.
The witch casted a curse on Purbasari. Black spots covered her body. Everyone in the Kingdom thought that she was ill, but not doctor could heal her. Purbararang used this chance to persuade her father to kick Purbasari out of the castle.
“Father! My sister is cursed! Perhaps it is because we violated the royal rules. A cursed girl such as her can not be a Queen, Father!”
With a heavy heart, the King ordered one of his governors to take Purbasari away. The governor took her deep into the forest and told her, “Dear Princess, do be patient with what you are going through now, and may God help you. I shall come visit you with food and water.”
Being left to live alone in the forest, the young princess liked to leave her cottage to have a walk around the forest to entertain herself. She made friends with the kind animals who lived in the forest.
One day a lutung (monkey) came up to her and startled her.
“Oh, monkey, please don’t hurt me!” said Purbasari.
To her surprise, the monkey said to her, “But I wouldn’t hurt you, my Princess!”
“Oh, so you could talk! Where did you come from, monkey?”
“My Princess, I am Guruminda from Kahyangan. I made a mistake and I was sent to roam the Earth in this form as a punishment. And now here I am: lost in the forest!”
That afternoon, the Princess and the monkey had a great conversation. When night fell, lutung secretly prayed to God, asking Him to heal her from her illness. The ground around him turned into a small lake, and when morning came, he dragged the Princess to the lake.
“Swim in it, Princess!” said lutung. “This lake will heal you!”
Purbasari did what she was told to, and to her surprise every single spot from her body disappeared. When the Governer came to check on her, he was filled with joy, and took the Princess back to her castle along with lutung.
Purbararang was furious when she saw her sister’s beauty had returned to her, and so she challenged Purbasari. “Let’s see who has the prettiest hair here, Purbasari!”
When she saw that Purbasari’s hair was longer, she challenged her to yet another competition.
“If my fiancé is more handsome than yours, then I win.”
Purbasari had no fiancé. Raden Indrajaya, on the other hand, was a very handsome young man.
She stared at lutung, grabbed his hand, and dragged him forward. “And he is mine. I love you, lutung!”
Lutung could tell that the Princess was being genuine, and was utterly happy. He asked for his parents in Kahyangan to transform him back into his normal self for the sake of Purbasari.
There was a flash of blinding light, and everyone shut their eyes tight. Purbasari peeked through her fingers, and saw a man far more handsome than Indrajaya stood in front of her.
“I am Purbasari’s fiancé! Guruminda from Kahyangan,” he declared proudly.
Having won all of the challenges, Purbasari was officially the new Queen of the Kingdom. Afraid the she’s going to be exiled, Purbararang begged for Purbasari to forgive her, which she did, despite all the things that she had done to her sister. The folks were happy to have a wise Queen ruling over the Kingdom, along with her handsome husband from Kahyangan.
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