Folklore for Kids: Nyai Anteh: The Legend of the Woman on the Moon (West Java Folklore)

Have you ever looked up at the full moon and seen a shadowy shape moving across its silver face? The people of West Java say that if you look closely, you can see a woman weaving thread, with a little cat sitting beside her. They say her name is Nyai Anteh, and this is her story.

Chapter 1: Two Girls of the Pakuan Palace

Long, long ago, in the royal palace of Pakuan, there lived two young girls who grew up side by side like sisters.

One was the daughter of Queen Endahwarni, a princess who would one day inherit the throne. The other was Anteh, a humble maidservant assigned to look after the princess.

Anteh's mother, Nyai Dadap, had once been the empress's most beloved lady-in-waiting. But sadly, she had passed away the very day Anteh was born. And so, out of kindness, the palace raised little Anteh alongside the baby princess, and the two girls shared every meal, every lesson, and every game of their childhood.

As the years passed, the princess came to think of Anteh almost as her own sister. But deep in her heart, a small seed of jealousy had quietly taken root — for Anteh had grown into a young woman of remarkable, radiant beauty, more lovely even than the princess herself.

Chapter 2: A Song Among the Jasmine Flowers

One day, the old Queen called the princess to her chamber.

Queen: "My dear daughter, the time has come for you to think of your future. One day you shall rule Pakuan — but first, you must have a husband by your side. I have already chosen him for you. His name is Anantakusuma, the young duke of Wetan."

The princess's stomach twisted with worry. She had never even met this man!

Princess Endahwarni: "But Mother... what if he does not love me? What if we are strangers to one another forever?"

Queen: "Do not fear, child. Love can grow, just as a seed grows into a tree. I have also asked Anteh to attend to your every need as the wedding day approaches."

Meanwhile, on a bright morning not long after, Anteh wandered into the palace garden with a woven basket to gather jasmine flowers — the same fragrant blossoms she would later weave into the princess's hair for the wedding.

As she picked each delicate white flower, Anteh hummed a soft, cheerful tune to herself, the kind of song that seems to float on the morning breeze.

Just beyond the garden wall, a young traveler happened to be passing by. It was none other than Anantakusuma, the very duke the princess was soon to marry! He stopped in his tracks, utterly enchanted by the sweetness of the voice drifting over the stone wall.

Anantakusuma (to himself): "What voice is this? It is more beautiful than any songbird I have ever heard..."

Filled with curiosity, and being skilled in the old arts of magic, Anantakusuma leapt lightly over the high palace wall and crept behind a cluster of trees. There, kneeling among the jasmine bushes, he saw her — a young woman whose beauty seemed to shine brighter than the flowers around her.

Could this be my bride, the princess? he wondered, his heart pounding with hope.

Just then, Anteh noticed the stranger and gasped in surprise.

Anteh: "Who goes there? Why have you entered the palace garden without permission?"

Anantakusuma: "Forgive me, gentle lady. I am Anantakusuma, son of the Duke of Wetan. Tell me — are you the Princess Endahwarni?"

Anteh shook her head quickly, her cheeks turning pink.

Anteh: "Oh, no, my lord! I am only Anteh, humble maidservant to the princess."

And with that, she scooped up her basket of flowers and hurried back inside, leaving the young duke standing alone among the trees, his heart heavy with disappointment. The girl he had fallen for in that single moment was not the bride waiting for him after all.

Chapter 3: The Wedding Feast

A few days later, grand carriages rolled through the palace gates. The Duke of Wetan had arrived with his son, Anantakusuma, to formally ask for the princess's hand in marriage.

The King and Queen welcomed their guests with great joy, and a magnificent feast was prepared in the golden hall. Princess Endahwarni sat proudly beside her betrothed, delighted to see that he was every bit as handsome as she had hoped.

But Anantakusuma barely smiled. His mind was elsewhere, still lingering on the girl among the jasmine flowers.

When the trays of food were carried in, several palace maids entered the hall to serve the guests — and among them was Anteh.

The moment Anantakusuma's eyes fell upon her, his breath caught in his throat. It's her! He could not help but stare, his gaze following Anteh's every movement across the room.

The princess noticed at once. A cold, sharp feeling of jealousy rose in her chest as she watched her future husband's eyes follow her own maidservant instead of her.

Princess Endahwarni (whispering to herself): "So this is why his heart is not with me... it belongs to her."

Chapter 4: Banished from the Palace

That evening, the moment the feast ended, Anteh went to check on the princess as she always did — but this time, she found her mistress trembling with fury.

Princess Endahwarni: "How could you, Anteh?! You knew he was to be my husband, and yet you stole his heart from me!"

Anteh: "My princess, I have done nothing! I did not seek his attention, I swear it on my mother"s memory!"

Princess Endahwarni: "Enough of your lies! I have loved you like a sister all these years, and this is how you repay me? Leave this palace, Anteh. I never wish to see your face again!"

Anteh's heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She opened her mouth to protest, but the look in the princess's eyes told her that no words would change her mind.

With trembling hands, Anteh packed her few belongings into a small cloth bundle and slipped out through the palace's back gate under the cover of night. She did not dare look back, for she knew that if she did, her tears would never stop falling. This palace had been her only home since the day she was born — and now she had nowhere left to go, except to seek out her mother's old village.

Chapter 5: A New Life in the Village

Anteh walked through the night, following the moonlit path toward her mother's hometown. When she finally arrived, weary and footsore, she asked a kind villager where she might find any family of Nyai Dadap.

Villager: "Ah, you must mean old Uncle Waru! He lives just down that road, child. Follow me, I"ll show you the way."

When Uncle Waru opened his door and saw the exhausted young woman standing before him, tears welled up in his eyes.

Uncle Waru: "Can it be? You have my sister"s very eyes! You must be little Anteh — how you"ve grown! Come in, come in, you shall stay here with us for as long as you need!"

From that day on, Anteh lived happily under Uncle Waru's roof, cherished as though she were his own daughter. To repay his kindness, she began sewing clothes for the family, and soon for the neighbors too. Her stitches were so fine and even that word of her skill traveled from village to village, until people from far and wide came seeking a dress or a shirt sewn by Anteh's clever hands.

Years passed like this, quiet and peaceful. Anteh married a good man from the village and raised two children of her own, and she rarely thought back to her painful days in the palace at all.

Chapter 6: The Chariot Returns

One ordinary afternoon, the peaceful village was startled by the rumble of wheels and the thunder of hooves. A grand chariot, surrounded by armed guards on horseback, came to a stop right in front of Anteh's humble home.

The curtain of the chariot was pulled aside, and a familiar face peered out. Anteh gasped and dropped the sewing in her lap.

Anteh: "Princess... Princess Endahwarni?!"

Before Anteh could even rise to bow, the princess had leapt down from the chariot and thrown her arms around her, weeping freely.

Princess Endahwarni: "Anteh, my dear Anteh! Can you ever forgive me? I was cruel and foolish to cast you out all those years ago. I have searched for you ever since — please, come home. Bring your husband and your children, and live in the palace with me once more."

Moved by her old friend's tears, Anteh could not refuse. And so her family packed their belongings and returned with the princess to the palace of Pakuan, where a lovely little house was built for them at the edge of the royal garden.

Chapter 7: Under the Full Moon

Anteh's return to the palace meant, of course, that she would once again cross paths with Anantakusuma — now the princess's husband and ruler of Pakuan. Though many years had passed, the old duke had never truly forgotten the girl he had glimpsed among the jasmine flowers so long ago. Seeing her again, even with the gentle marks of age upon her face, he found that his heart still remembered her beauty.

At first, Anantakusuma tried to bury his feelings and keep his distance. But the longer Anteh lived nearby, the harder his old affection fought its way back to the surface.

One quiet night, unable to resist any longer, Anantakusuma made his way through the palace garden, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. There he found Anteh sitting peacefully on her porch, playing with Candramawat, her beloved cat, as they both gazed up at the glowing full moon.

Though the years had touched her face, to Anantakusuma she still seemed as lovely as the very first day he had seen her.

Slowly, he stepped closer. Anteh looked up — and the moment she recognized him, fear flickered in her eyes. She rose at once and tried to hurry away.

But Anantakusuma called after her and quickened his pace, following her through the moonlit garden.

Trembling, Anteh closed her eyes and prayed with all her heart.

Anteh: "Please, Almighty, protect me now. Give me the strength to escape from this trouble I never asked for!"

Chapter 8: The Watcher of the Moon

No sooner had Anteh finished her prayer than she felt a strange, powerful force lifting her gently off the ground. She looked up in astonishment — a soft, silvery moonbeam had wrapped around her like a ribbon, drawing her upward into the night sky.

Anantakusuma froze in shock. Despite all his magical powers, there was nothing he could do. He could only watch, helpless, as Anteh rose higher and higher, growing smaller and smaller, until at last she disappeared into the glowing light of the moon, swallowed by a passing cloud.

And so, from that night onward, Nyai Anteh has lived upon the moon, together with her faithful cat, Candramawat, by her side. She has never dared return to earth, fearing that Anantakusuma might come chasing after her once more.

Yet even on the moon, far from everything she once knew, Anteh's heart still longed for her family below. So she took up her thread once again and began to weave — weaving and weaving, trying to fashion a long ladder that might carry her safely back down to earth.

But every time she comes close to finishing her weaving, mischievous Candramawat cannot help himself — he pounces upon the threads and tears them all apart, unraveling days and nights of patient work in a single moment of playfulness.

And that is why, even to this very day, whenever the moon is full and bright, people in West Java look up and say:

"There is Nyai Anteh, still weaving her ladder home — and there beside her, naughty Candramawat, still unraveling her hopes, thread by thread."

This is a retelling of a traditional folktale from West Java, Indonesia — the legend of Nyai Anteh, said to explain the shadowy shapes that can be seen on the surface of the full moon.

Want to experience Nyai Anteh's story firsthand? Help Anteh pick jasmine flowers, sew garments, and weave a ladder back to earth in this interactive game — complete with voice narration you can mute anytime!

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Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Nyai Anteh: The Legend of the Woman on the Moon (West Java Folklore)