.jpg "The Sparrow and the Parakeet An East Java Folktale on the Origin of the Bent Beak")
Chapter 1: A Hungry Season
Long, long ago, in the days of the Prophet Sulaiman, a terrible famine spread across the land. Strange diseases crept through the fields and withered the crops, and food became scarce for every creature, great and small.
Among the birds who struggled that season was a kind parakeet named Betet. Betet had a young chick, and according to custom, it was time for the boy to be circumcised. But such a ceremony required new clothes — a proper sarong and a skullcap — and Betet had no money at all.
"What shall I do?" Betet sighed, looking at the small basket of rice he had managed to save from the blight. "This is all I have left. The rest was eaten by disease. But perhaps... if I sell it at the market, I can buy what my son needs."
So, with the basket balanced carefully on his wings, Betet set off down the winding path toward the market.
Chapter 2: A Meeting on the Road
Betet had not gone far when a sparrow named Gelatik hopped out from the bushes, blocking his way.
Gelatik: "Where are you off to with all that rice, Betet?"Betet: "I'm going to the market to sell it. I need to buy a sarong and a skullcap — my son is about to be circumcised, and this is the only rice I have left. Everything else was ruined by the disease."
Gelatik's eyes gleamed at the sight of the plump grains. He had no money of his own, but he was hungry, and hunger can make a bird think of tricks.
Gelatik: "Wait just a moment, my friend! It just so happens I'm looking to buy rice myself. Let me see if yours is any good before I decide."
Betet, seeing no harm in it, set the basket down on the ground.
Chapter 3: The Trick
Tik... tik... tik... Gelatik pecked and turned the grains of rice over and over, again and again, as though carefully inspecting them.
Gelatik: "Hmm. I'll give you a very low price for this."Betet: "That's far too little! This rice is worth much more than that."
Betet shook his head and refused the offer. But what he did not realize was that Gelatik had no intention of paying anything at all — with every peck, the clever sparrow was secretly swallowing mouthfuls of rice!
It did not take long before Betet noticed his basket looking emptier than before.
Betet: "What are you doing, Gelatik?! Why are you eating my rice?"Gelatik: "Eating your rice? Certainly not! I was only checking to see if you'd already eaten some of it yourself!"
Chapter 4: The Scuffle
Betet's feathers bristled with anger. This was the only rice he had — his last hope of buying his son a sarong and skullcap — and now this dishonest sparrow had eaten half of it and dared to lie about it!
Without thinking, Betet lunged forward and seized Gelatik by the back of the neck, pulling with all his strength. Gelatik squawked and flailed, struggling in pain — but he was not about to give up so easily.
Twisting free, Gelatik grabbed the rice paddle lying nearby and swung it hard, striking Betet right across the beak!
Whack!
Betet cried out as his beak bent sharply downward from the blow. Meanwhile, Gelatik's neck, stretched and pulled from Betet's grip, remained forever swollen — a small pouch bulging at his throat.
Chapter 5: The Legacy
And that, dear reader, is why to this very day, the parakeet flies with a beak curved downward, and the sparrow carries a little pouch — a teleh — at the nape of its neck. A single quarrel over a basket of rice left its mark on two birds forever, as a lasting reminder of what a lie and a moment of anger can cause.
This is a folktale from East Java, telling the origin of why the sparrow bird has a pouch (teleh) at the back of its neck, and why the parakeet has a bent beak.
Relive the East Javanese folktale of The Sparrow and the Parakeet in this interactive version! Help Betet the parakeet carry his rice to market, watch Gelatik's sly trick as he "inspects" the rice, and discover how their scuffle gave the sparrow its neck pouch and the parakeet its bent beak. With voice narration and an Indonesian/English toggle — click "Start the Story" to play!
Source: I.B. Mantra, Astrid S., Susanto, B. Susanto, & S. Wibisono. Cerita Rakyat Daerah Jawa Timur [Folk Tales of East Java]. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Ministry of Education and Culture).
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