Folklore for Kids: Nyi Mas Belimbing: The Indonesian Folktale of a Dream Love and a Deceiving Disguise

Chapter 1: A Dream from Cirebon

Long ago, in the quiet hermitage of Ujung Kulon, there lived a hermit named Resi Rarata. He had a daughter named Nyi Mas Belimbing, who was known throughout the land for her gentle heart and her quiet grace.

One night, Nyi Mas Belimbing had the most wonderful dream. In it, she saw a handsome young man from the city of Cirebon. His name was Sunan Gunung Jati, and though she had never laid eyes on him while awake, her heart fell in love with him completely.

From that night on, Nyi Mas Belimbing could think of nothing else. She wandered through the hermitage with a faraway look in her eyes, sighing at the wind and staring at the clouds as though they might carry her to Cirebon. Days passed, and still her sadness did not lift.

Her father noticed at once. Resi Rarata watched his daughter grow paler and quieter with each passing day, until at last he could bear it no longer.

Resi Rarata: "My child, something troubles your heart. Tell me — what is it that keeps you so far away, even when you are sitting right beside me?"

Nyi Mas Belimbing lowered her eyes, unsure whether to speak of something as strange as a dream.

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "Father, I hardly know how to say it without sounding foolish. I have fallen in love — not with someone I have met, but with someone I have only seen in my dreams. His name is Sunan Gunung Jati, and he lives in Cirebon."

Chapter 2: A Father's Warning

Resi Rarata listened carefully, his brow furrowed with worry. He loved his daughter dearly, and he understood that a heart in love does not always listen to reason.

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "Father, please, will you let me go to Cirebon? I only wish to see if he is real, and if he might be as kind as he seemed in my dream."

Resi Rarata: "My dear daughter, it is not proper for a young woman to travel alone to seek out a man, even one who visited your dreams. Cirebon is far from here, and the road is long and full of danger."

Nyi Mas Belimbing's eyes filled with tears, but her father continued gently.

Resi Rarata: "Listen to me. If it is truly meant to be between the two of you, then fate will find a way to bring you together. You need not chase after it. Be patient, and trust in what is written for you."

Nyi Mas Belimbing nodded, though her heart was heavy. She tried, truly she did, to put Sunan Gunung Jati out of her thoughts. She busied herself with chores around the hermitage, she prayed, she even tried to sleep early so that no dreams could find her. But the more she tried to forget him, the more her love for him grew, until it filled every corner of her heart and left no room for anything else.

Chapter 3: A Secret Journey

One morning, before the sun had fully risen and while her father Resi Rarata still slept, Nyi Mas Belimbing rose quietly from her mat. She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, took one last look at the sleeping hermitage that had been her home, and slipped out into the pale morning light.

She told no one where she was going. She simply walked, following the paths that she hoped would lead her toward Cirebon, her heart pounding with both fear and hope. She knew she was disobeying her father's wishes, but her longing had grown too strong to hold back any longer.

Chapter 4: A Jealous Heart Follows

Unbeknownst to Nyi Mas Belimbing, her departure had not gone entirely unnoticed. A young man named Ki Pandan Alam had loved her in secret for a very long time, watching her from afar and hoping that one day she might notice him too.

When Ki Pandan Alam learned that his beloved was travelling all the way to Cirebon to meet another man, jealousy burned inside him like a fire that would not be put out.

Ki Pandan Alam: "I cannot let this happen. I will not stand by and watch her give her heart to a stranger she has never even met!"

Without pausing to think it through, Ki Pandan Alam set off after her, determined to catch up before she reached Cirebon.

He walked swiftly, and after covering half the distance, he finally spotted Nyi Mas Belimbing on the road ahead. He called out to her, begging her to turn back.

Ki Pandan Alam: "Nyi Mas, please! Come back with me to Ujung Kulon. Forget this foolish dream and this stranger you have never truly met!"

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "I cannot, Ki Pandan Alam. My heart belongs to Sunan Gunung Jati, and nothing you say will change that."

Chapter 5: The Battle on the Road

Ki Pandan Alam's jealousy turned to anger. When kind words failed to sway her, he resorted to force, trying to seize her and drag her back toward the hermitage. But Nyi Mas Belimbing refused to yield, and soon the two of them were locked in a fierce battle upon the road.

Ki Pandan Alam: "You will not go to him! I will make sure of that!"

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "You cannot stop what is written in my heart!"

To Ki Pandan Alam's shock, Nyi Mas Belimbing possessed a magical strength far greater than his own, and in the end, he was soundly defeated. Bruised in both body and pride, he limped away in shame and fury, unable to accept that he had lost.

Ki Pandan Alam returned home to his father, Sang Hyang Tenggulung, and poured out his grief and humiliation.

Ki Pandan Alam: "Father, I have failed. She would not listen to me, and when I tried to stop her by force, she defeated me easily. I cannot bear to lose her to another man!"

Chapter 6: A Dangerous Disguise

Sang Hyang Tenggulung could not bear to see his son so heartbroken. Wanting to ease his son's suffering, he devised a plan that would change the fate of everyone involved.

Sang Hyang Tenggulung: "My son, do not despair. If you cannot win her heart as yourself, then perhaps you should become the very man she seeks. I shall change your form to look exactly like Sunan Gunung Jati."

Ki Pandan Alam: "Father, do you truly believe this could work?"

Sang Hyang Tenggulung: "Trust me, my son. With just a snap of my fingers, it shall be done."

And with a single snap, Sang Hyang Tenggulung transformed his son's appearance completely. Where Ki Pandan Alam had stood a moment before, now stood someone who looked exactly like Sunan Gunung Jati himself. Filled with renewed confidence, Ki Pandan Alam hurried back down the road to catch up with Nyi Mas Belimbing, who was drawing ever closer to Cirebon.

Chapter 7: A Joyful Reunion — and a Hidden Lie

When Nyi Mas Belimbing saw the man approaching her, her heart leapt with joy. She had no reason to suspect anything was amiss — after all, he looked exactly like the man from her dreams.

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "Is it truly you? Sunan Gunung Jati, I have travelled so far, hoping with all my heart to find you!"

Ki Pandan Alam (disguised): "Yes, it is I. I have been waiting for this moment, just as you have."

Believing wholeheartedly that her dream had finally come true, Nyi Mas Belimbing agreed to marry him at once. The two of them settled in Cirebon together, and for a time, Nyi Mas Belimbing was the happiest she had ever been, certain that she had found the love she had dreamed of.

Chapter 8: The Truth Comes to Light

But a lie, however cleverly disguised, cannot stay hidden forever. In time, the truth about Ki Pandan Alam's deception came to light, and word of it reached the Sultanate of Cirebon. Ki Pandan Alam was swiftly punished for his impudence and his trickery.

Nyi Mas Belimbing was left devastated. The love she had cherished for so long had been nothing but a cruel illusion, and the shame of having been so thoroughly fooled weighed heavily upon her.

Nyi Mas Belimbing: "How could I have been so blind? I gave my heart to a lie, and now I have nothing left — not even the courage to return home, for I disobeyed my father's wishes to come here."

Torn between grief and shame, and unable to face returning to Ujung Kulon after breaking her father's trust, Nyi Mas Belimbing made a heartbreaking decision. She chose to end her own life rather than live with her sorrow, and she was laid to rest in Cirebon.

Chapter 9: The Crying from the Grave

Some months after Nyi Mas Belimbing had passed, something strange began to happen. From her grave, the people living nearby began to hear the unmistakable sound of a baby crying.

Night after night, the crying continued, until the whole village was thrown into confusion and unease. Frightened and puzzled, the villagers brought word of the strange happening to Sunan Gunung Jati himself.

Villager: "Great Sunan, we do not know what to make of it. Every night, a baby's cry rises from the grave of Nyi Mas Belimbing. We fear something is deeply wrong."

Sunan Gunung Jati listened closely and ordered that the grave be opened at once so that the mystery could be resolved.

Chapter 10: The Child Named Cikal

When the grave was carefully opened, everyone gathered around gasped in astonishment. There, nestled where no child should have been, lay a healthy baby boy, crying softly into the open air.

Moved by the sight of the innocent child, Sunan Gunung Jati chose to raise the boy as his very own son. He gave him the name Cikal.

Cikal grew up under Sunan Gunung Jati's care, but as he became a young man, he developed a deep love for travelling and wandering far from home. During his travels, Cikal came to meet the Prophet Khaidir, who was struck by the young man's intelligence and curiosity.

Prophet Khaidir: "You have a sharp mind and a wandering spirit, young Cikal. Would you like to travel with me and learn all that I have to teach?"

Cikal: "Nothing would make me happier. I have always longed to see the world and to learn its secrets."

And so Cikal set off with the Prophet Khaidir, journeying across many lands, and he never returned to Cirebon again. To this day, no one knows for certain whether every part of this story is true — but it has been passed down for generations, a tale of love, deception, and the mysteries life can hold.

Nyi Mas Belimbing was the daughter of the hermit Resi Rarata, who lived in the Ujung Kulon hermitage, in what is now the province of Banten. According to West Javanese folklore, Nyi Mas Belimbing's story is forever tied to the legend of Sunan Gunung Jati.

Want to experience Nyi Mas Belimbing's love story come to life? Play the interactive game below! Help her open her dream, sneak away from the hermitage, and face Ki Pandan Alam's shocking disguise — complete with voice narration you can mute anytime.

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Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Nyi Mas Belimbing: The Indonesian Folktale of a Dream Love and a Deceiving Disguise