DONGENG TIMUN EMAS (THE GOLDEN CUCUMBER)

A long time ago, a farmer and his wife lived in a jungle. Everyday they went to the sacred tree where they prayed begging for a child. When they were praying, a giant passed and heard their prayed. The giant gave them a cucumber seed. He said to the farmer, “You will have a baby girl, but you have to promise me to give the child to me when she is seventeen years old. They agreed, because they wanted a baby very much. The giant gave them the seed, then they went home.



Next day, they planted the seed in the yard. They watered it everyday. They made fences around it to keep it from animal’s disturbances. Day by day the vine got bigger and bigger. A flower bloomed and finally it became a small gold cucumber. The cucumber grew rapidly, then became a big cucumber. The farmer picked it when it was ripe and brought it home. When they arrived, they laid it on the floor. Slowly the farmer cut it. Wow! They were surprised. The farmer said to his wife, “Look! My wife, there is a baby in it. His wife replied, “Yeah! How cute the baby is” They were very happy and they named her Timun Emas, means the golden cucumber.



Timun Emas blossomed into a real beauty with black hair, slim body and bright eyes. When she was seventeen years old, the giant came and said to the farmer, “I am coming to take your daughter”. The farmer tried to calm the giant by saying, “Ooo … do not worry. She is playing in the garden now. Let my wife get her”

Meanwhile his wife found Timun Emas and gave her four things in a cloth bag and said to her, “My daughter, the giant has come to take you. Bring this bag with you for fighting him”
“What can I do, mother?” asked Timun Emas
“Run as fast as you can, “ said the farmer’s wife. “Throw one of three things whenever the giant comes close”
Then Timun Emas ran as fast as she could.

Meanwhile the giant was impatient. He broke the hut and looked for Timun Emas. From the garden he saw Timun Emas running towards the jungle. Then he ran after her. When he almost caught her, she took out the first thing from the bag, a handle of salt, and threw it towards the giant. Suddenly the ground between Timun Emas and the giant turned into a wide sea. The giant tried to catch Timun Emas by swimming. It was very hard of course. It was a good chance for Timun Emas to run further. But in a short time the giant almost caught Timun Emas again. Timun Emas threw a handful of chilies. In a flash, there grew a thorny dense bush around the giant. The giant screamed with a pain, but again, the giant got free and was almost able to catch Timun Emas.

She took out the third thing from the bag, a handful of cucumber seeds. Suddenly, the ground turned into very wide field of cucumber vines. The giant felt thirsty and hungry, and then he ate lots of fresh cucumbers. The giant ate, ate and ate again and finally he feel asleep. When she saw this, Tminu Emas ran as far as she could but the giant woke up and ran after her quickly. Knowing the giant was coming closer and closer, Timun Emas threw out the last thing, a handful of shrimp paste. The ground where the giant running suddenly turned into a sea of mud. He was trapped there. He screamed and sank into the sea of mud. Timun Emas quickly went home. The farmer and his wife were very happy.

“Mother, Father, I am still life” shouted Timun Emas.
“Oh, my dear” said the farmer and his wife while embracing her.
“Thank God, our daughter is safe”, said the farmer and his wife again. They were very happy. No more fear. They did not want to lose their daughter anymore. The giant was died.