Folklore for Kids: Nai Manggale: The Legend of Si Gale-Gale from Lake Toba

Chapter 1: The Clever Sculptor

Once upon a time, in the green land of North Sumatra, there lived a sculptor named Datu Panggana.

Everyone in the villages knew his name. His hands were so clever that everything he carved looked almost alive! His carved animals looked ready to run away. His carved flowers looked ready to bloom. His carved people looked ready to say hello.

People came from far and wide to ask for his work.

Villager: "Datu Panggana, please carve a statue for my house. Yours are the most beautiful in the land!"

Datu Panggana: "Thank you, my friend. I will carve it with all my heart."

Chapter 2: A Statue Without a Model

One bright morning, Datu Panggana walked into the forest to look for good wood.

Datu Panggana: "This piece is smooth and strong. It is perfect for my next statue!"

He carried the wood home and began to carve. He carved by day. He carved by night. He had no model to look at, so he closed his eyes and imagined the most beautiful woman in the world.

Chip, chip, chip went his tools. Slowly, a lovely face appeared in the wood. At last the statue was finished!

Datu Panggana stepped back and gasped.

Datu Panggana: "Oh my! Did I really make something so beautiful?"

Chapter 3: A Gift of Clothes and Jewelry

Just then, a traveler named Bao Partigatiga walked past the house. He stopped and stared at the statue.

Bao Partigatiga: "Goodness! What a beautiful statue! Datu Panggana, you are a truly wonderful sculptor!"

Datu Panggana: "Thank you, kind traveler. I made her with all my imagination."

Bao Partigatiga happened to be carrying pretty women's clothes and sparkling jewelry. He had an idea.

Bao Partigatiga: "May I dress her in these? I think they will look lovely on her."

Datu Panggana: "Of course! Please go ahead."

Bao Partigatiga carefully dressed the statue. Now she looked even more beautiful, almost like a real woman! The two men gazed at her in wonder.

Chapter 4: The Statue That Would Not Let Go

After a while, Bao Partigatiga said,

Bao Partigatiga: "Well, it is time for me to go home. I will take my clothes and jewelry back now."

He tugged and tugged, but the clothes would not come off. It was as if the statue did not want to give them back!

Bao Partigatiga: "Datu Panggana, I cannot take my jewelry! Please break your statue so I can have my things back!"

Datu Panggana: "Break my statue? Never! You put the clothes on her yourself. It is your own doing!"

The two men argued and argued. At last, to stop the quarrel, Bao Partigatiga sighed and walked away. He left his clothes and jewelry on the statue.

After Bao Partigatiga left, Datu Panggana tried to carry the statue into his house. But it would not move, not even a little!

Datu Panggana: "Oh dear! Why are you so heavy today?"

With a tired sigh, he left the statue standing outside.

Chapter 5: Datu Partoar's Wish

Some days later, a kind man named Datu Partoar walked by. When he saw the statue, his eyes grew wide.

Datu Partoar: "How beautiful she is! I wish she were a real girl. I would love to take her home."

He closed his eyes and prayed to the Gods.

Datu Partoar: "Dear Gods, please turn this statue into a real person. I promise to care for her with all my heart."

The Gods heard his kind wish. Suddenly, a warm light glowed, and the wooden statue turned into a lovely, living girl!

Chapter 6: A Name for the Girl

Datu Partoar was overjoyed.

Datu Partoar: "Sweet girl, would you like to come home with me?"

The Girl: "Yes, I would like that very much."

When they reached his home, his wife hurried to the door. She smiled from ear to ear.

Datu Partoar's Wife: "Oh, what a sweet girl! Welcome to our home, dear."

Datu Partoar: "She does not have a name yet. Let us call her Nai Manggale."

Nai Manggale: "Nai Manggale... I love it! Thank you both. I was a statue, but the Gods turned me into a girl because of Datu Partoar's prayer."

From that day on, Nai Manggale lived with them, and they loved her as their own daughter.

Chapter 7: Who Does Nai Manggale Belong To?

Soon the news spread across the village: a statue had become a beautiful girl! When Datu Panggana heard it, he hurried to Datu Partoar's house.

Datu Panggana: "That is my statue! I carved her with my own hands. Nai Manggale must come home with me!"

Datu Partoar: "But I found her standing alone outside your house. And I am the one who prayed for her to become a real girl. She belongs with me!"

Just then, Bao Partigatiga arrived.

Bao Partigatiga: "Wait! The clothes and jewelry she is wearing are mine. She should stay with me!"

All three of them wanted Nai Manggale, and none of them would give way. The argument grew louder and louder!

Datu Panggana: "I made her!"

Datu Partoar: "I prayed for her!"

Bao Partigatiga: "I dressed her!"

Finally, they agreed to ask the village elder for help.

Chapter 8: Wise Aji Bahir

The village elder was named Aji Bahir. Everyone knew him as a wise and fair man. He always found kind answers to hard problems.

He listened carefully to all three men. Then he stroked his chin and smiled.

Aji Bahir: "Datu Partoar, your prayer gave Nai Manggale her life. You shall be her father."

Aji Bahir: "Datu Panggana, your hands carved her form. You shall be her uncle."

Aji Bahir: "Bao Partigatiga, you are still young, and you gave her lovely clothes. You shall be her older brother."

The three men looked at one another. Then they began to smile.

Datu Panggana: "That is a fair answer!"

Datu Partoar: "Yes, now we can all be a family."

Bao Partigatiga: "I am happy to be her older brother!"

And so Nai Manggale lived happily with her father, her uncle, and her older brother. Her beauty was famous all over the land of Tapanuli.

Chapter 9: Nai Manggale's Wedding

As time passed, word of Nai Manggale's beauty traveled to faraway villages. One day, a young man named Datu Partitik came to visit.

Datu Partitik: "Nai Manggale, will you marry me?"

But Datu Partitik was not handsome, and Nai Manggale politely said no. Datu Partitik did not give up. He used a little magic, and when he asked again, Nai Manggale changed her mind.

Nai Manggale: "Yes, I will marry you."

They had a big, joyful wedding, with music and dancing and lots of food.

Chapter 10: A Sad Wish

Sadly, after the wedding, Nai Manggale's life was not as happy as everyone had hoped. Troubles came one after another, and she never had a child of her own.

Nai Manggale: "Maybe the Gods did not give me a child because I was once a statue."

Her heart grew heavy, and before long she became very ill. No doctor in the land could make her well.

One day, she called her husband to her bedside.

Nai Manggale: "My dear husband, I do not think I will be here much longer. When I am gone, please make a statue that looks like me. Then everyone who loved me can remember me."

Datu Partitik: "I promise I will, my dear."

Not long after that, Nai Manggale passed away.

Chapter 11: The Statue of Si Gale-Gale

Datu Partitik kept his promise. He asked the best sculptor in the land, Datu Panggana, to carve the statue.

Datu Partitik: "Datu Panggana, please make a statue of Nai Manggale, just as she wished."

Datu Panggana: "I will, with all my heart. It is the least I can do for my dear niece."

When the statue was done, it was given a name: Si Gale-Gale.

From then on, people made a Si Gale-Gale statue whenever someone passed away without children, so that the person would never feel lonely.

Chapter 12: Si Gale-Gale Today

If you ever visit Samosir Island, in the middle of beautiful Lake Toba in North Sumatra, you may see a Si Gale-Gale statue that can move!

In the old Batak belief, when a person passes away without children, their spirit is kept company by a Si Gale-Gale. A puppeteer gently guides the statue's arms and body, and the people gather around it and dance to comfort it. That way, no one is left sad and alone.

These statues are dressed in lovely clothes. Their faces are painted with egg yolk, their eyes are made from fruit, and their hair is made from horse hair.

And that is how the legend of Nai Manggale gave us the moving statue of Si Gale-Gale.

Play the Story! Before or after reading the tale above, follow Nai Manggale's journey through this interactive game. Help Datu Panggana carve his statue, help Datu Partoar's prayer come true, and watch a wooden statue transform into a living woman — complete with narrated storytelling and an Indonesian/English language switch. Just tap or click to play, right in your browser with nothing to install.

More folklore from North Sumatra:

Pages

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Nai Manggale: The Legend of Si Gale-Gale from Lake Toba