In a village located in the Aceh region, there lived a husband and wife who lived with their seven biological children. They live in harmony, peace and happiness. The eldest is 10 years old, while the youngest is 2 years old. Both of their parents worked as vegetable farmers in a garden. The vegetables are sold to the market to meet their daily needs, and the rest they use to eat together.
Once, the village was hit by a long drought. The water source started to dry up. The ground became dry. The residents began to be confused to find sources of water and food. Plants withered and died due to drought, as well as vegetables in the family garden of the seven boys, also not left. Their parents began to worry about their future fate. Raising seven young children is not easy. Finally they discussed to solve the problem. With a heavy heart, they plan to throw away the seven boys they love.
"My Husband, actually I find it hard to throw our children in the forest," said the mother of seven boys to her husband.
“I don't have the heart either, but what can I do. We can no longer afford to give them food,” said the husband.
"If you intend to throw them into the middle of the forest, how can you not find out that we are going to throw them away?" asked the wife.
"Oke, we invite them to look for firewood to the middle of the forest. When we arrived in the middle of the forest and it was time to rest, we pretended to look for drinking water and left them,” explained the husband.
"Okay if that's your plan," said the mother.
The conversation between the two parents was actually heard by the third child. However, because the child did not want to be scolded by his parents, he just kept quiet. The child only pretended to sleep even though tears were streaming down his eyes, because soon they would be abandoned by their own parents.
The next day, the seven boys were taken by their parents to look for firewood in the forest. They are not usually taken to the middle of a shady forest. However, they are not suspicious of this, except for the third child who has learned of his parents' plans.
They started collecting firewood with joy. They found a lot of wood to be used as firewood. Because the forest is very dense and overgrown with trees.
By noon, the mother took her seven sons to rest. The parents asked their children to stay at the resort without following them to find drinking water.
“My children, your mother and father will go away for a while to look for water sources, because our drinking water supply is running out. You guys stay here. Mom and dad will be back soon,” the father said to his children.
"We leave you for a while, yes, we will be back soon," said the mother.
"Hurry back. Mom... Dad..." said the youngest.
Their father and mother left in a hurry leaving the seven boys behind. They had ignored the words of their youngest child, because they had intended to leave them in the middle of the forest.
After a while, the seven children finally started to get restless. The eldest suggested to his younger siblings that they should follow his parents who were looking for a water source. However, this was prevented by the third child.
"Don't bro. I already know that our parents really intend to leave us in the middle of this forest, it's useless if we follow them," said the younger brother.
"What do I mean, my brother?" the eldest was not satisfied with his sister's statement.
"Oke, last night I overheard our father and mother's conversation. They plan to leave us in the middle of the forest because they are no longer able to raise us. They can't feed us because of the long drought."
The second child asked "Why did you just tell us?"
"I'm afraid if Mom and Dad are angry, that's why I'm telling it now," replied the third child.
The eldest sighed, now he will be responsible for saving his younger siblings. It was getting dark, fortunately they were finally able to find a large and shady tree for shelter. Moreover, the shady tree has a large hole in the middle of its trunk, so that the eldest and his younger siblings can rest there.
“My brethren, you must stay where you are, I will climb this tree up to its branches. Who knows there is a puff of smoke around this area. If there really is, it means that there is a village not far from this place,” said the eldest.
The six siblings obeyed their brother's orders. The older brother finally climbed the tree up to the branch. Luckily the eldest finally found a puff of smoke not far from where they were.
They finally rushed to approach the source of the puff of smoke. After arriving at the source of the smoke, they found a very large house.
"Maybe this is a giant house," said one of them.
Everyone was stunned by what they saw at that time. Not long after, a female giant came out of the house.
"Why are you here? O son of man," asked the giant woman.
"We are brothers and we were dumped by our parents in the forest," replied the eldest.
Hearing the eldest's words, the giant woman said "Okay, you can enter this house. Eat the food you like in this house."
They were finally invited into the giant's house. Inside the giant house, served a lot of delicious food. They ate it voraciously because they were starving.
When almost finished eating, the female monster said "Hurry up and finish your food, my husband will be coming from hunting soon. He likes human flesh. You'd better hurry to the attic of the house to save yourself."
The seven boys rushed to obey the female giant's orders. Luckily they had reached the attic when the male giant had arrived at the house.
“I smell delicious flesh, which is human flesh. Where did you hide the humans, my wife?” asked the giant male.
"They're up in the attic, my husband. They are still small, their flesh is still little. We should wait until they have grown up," explained the giant woman.
The next day, the giant male went back to hunt. After her husband went hunting, the giantess told the seven children to come down from the attic of the house and told them to leave. The giantess did not forget to provide them with food, gold and diamonds.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mother giant," replied the eldest.
They finally said goodbye and immediately left the giant house. After arriving at an area on the coast, they finally made a boat to cross the ocean. After arriving in the other country, the seven boys sold the gold and diamonds that the giantess gave them. The proceeds from the sale of gold and diamonds were used to buy large areas of land. The land was eventually divided and processed into plantations and houses to live in. They work with tenacity. The seven brothers helped each other.
Time after time passed, they have grown up. The seven brothers lived in prosperity and harmony. Their lives have been more than enough.
“My old brothers, I remember mother and father. I miss them," said the youngest.
"It's true my brother, we also miss them. Even though they have abandoned us, after all they are still our parents,” said the eldest.
"How about we try to find them?" asked the sixth child.
"Agree !" everyone answered in unison.
According to folklore from Aceh, finally they went to find the whereabouts of the parents they had longed for. They crossed the ocean, searching from one island to another, from one village to another. The effort was not in vain, they finally found his parents. Both of his parents are old. They live in poverty and in poverty. With great affection, the seven boys brought their parents to live together. Their parents couldn't stop crying because they regretted their actions. They also miss their children.
"Forgive us, my children. We left you in the forest because we couldn't feed you," said the father through tears.
"Don't be sorry, Father. Lucky if we can still meet and reunite. We know that Mom and Dad love us very much,” said the eldest.
Finally the two parents and their seven children were able to gather together. They live in harmony and peace.
That's it, an Acehnese folk tale entitled Seven Boys. This story tells the story of seven children who come from a simple family. Their father and mother loved them all. However, the situation and conditions were not good, so the seven children were thrown into the forest.
Thus the folklore from Aceh entitled Seven Sons. The lesson we can take from the folklore is not to hold grudges, always try and do good where we are, and always prioritize independence in our lives. Thank you for visiting this blog.
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