Reading Journal #6 : Folklore

    Hi! How's your day? Well, even though the Corona Virus is still out there, I hope you have a good day. I bet everyone knows what folklore is, right? There is a story that popped up in my mind when Mr. Dankur discussed about folklore in class. "The Origin of Lake Toba", it's a folktale from Indonesia. Lake Toba is the largest lake in Indonesia and South East Asia, it s located in North Sumatera.

    This story is about a young farmer named Toba. He lived in a valley which land was fertile. He was not a rich man, but he still can support his life. One day, he went fishing by the lake near his house. Unfortunately, there were no fish on that day. When he prepared to go home, his rod and line that still in the water caught a fish. Surprisingly, the fish talked. The fish was actually a princess cursed became a fish, she was willing to be his wife under one condition. He must not tell anybody about her being a fish once or a terrible disaster would be fallen on him. The farmer agreed. They got married and had a child with great appetite.

    One day, the boy did something wrong and made his father lose his temper. His father called him a son of a fish, the boy cried and asked her mother if it is right. His mother was shocked and asked him to climb to the top of the tallest tree on the hill near their house. She herself hurried up to the river where she met the young farmer and disappeared. Heavy rain fell and started to flood. The valley became a lake.The lake named after the farmer, Toba. The hill became an island in the middle of the lake, named Samosir Island.

    This is one of my favorite story. I use this story for my last exam in high school. This story teaches us about when make a promise, we must not break it. For me, folklore is a story that has many different version. Every version depends on their beliefs. We can express our culture or traditional commons in folklore.

    That was my favorite folktale, what about you? There are many folktales in Indonesia, I hope you can find your favorite. If you have one, please kindly comment the tittle😉 See you in the next blog!🐘