The Origin of the Ruai Bird (West Kalimantan Folklore)

The origin of the Ruai Bird is a folklore from West Kalimantan. This story tells of a king's daughter who has a kind nature. Because he had a good temperament, the king loved his daughter very much. This was different from her other siblings, the youngest princess's older siblings had bad tempers, so the king often scolded her older siblings. Because the youngest daughter was loved by her father, her older brothers had evil intentions to harm her younger sister. Here is the story.

In ancient times, there was a kingdom at the foot of Mount Ruai which is currently located in Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan. The kingdom was led by a just and wise king who had 7 very beautiful daughters.

Of the seven children, the youngest is the kindest compared to her older sisters who have very bad tempers. Because of this, the king often scolded his six daughters and instead pampered his youngest daughter.

Unbeknownst to the king, the six daughters often treated the youngest badly. They often ask their younger siblings to serve them and will hit them if they refuse or make mistakes.

However, the youngest was reluctant to report her older sisters' bad behavior to her father because she felt very afraid.

One day, the king wanted to visit a neighboring country for two months. So that the leadership would not be empty, the king appointed his youngest daughter who had the best attitude to temporarily replace him to lead the kingdom. Knowing this decision, the six youngest sisters felt very jealous and planned evil deeds. The next day, the youngest was invited by her six older siblings to look for fish using rattan in a cave. Upon arrival at the cave, the youngest was invited to enter first and her six older siblings followed her from behind. After reaching the depths of the dark cave, the youngest was left alone by her six older siblings. She immediately burst into tears when she realized that she had been intentionally harmed by her sisters by being left in a dark cave alone. Luckily, the youngest's cries were heard by the old man guarding the cave. This old man immediately offered help to the youngest so she could relieve her suffering.

Ash Echoes Top Up (Global)

“Calm down, my granddaughter! I will free you from all suffering. "But you will become a bird and your tears will become eggs that will accompany your daily life when they hatch into birds," said the old man. Sure enough, the youngest's tears turned into eggs and her body suddenly became a bird with very beautiful feathers that matched its original appearance. The youngest, who had become a bird, obeyed from the old man orders and hatched the eggs until they became birds to accompany her. After becoming a bird, the youngest was finally able to go out of the cave and perch on the branches of the trees around the kingdom while watching her six older siblings being judged by her father. From there, the people of West Kalimantan believe that the beautiful ruai bird is said to be the incarnation of a king's daughter.

This is a folk tale from East Kalimantan entitled The Origin of the Ruai Bird. Hopefully there will be lessons learned from this folk tale. Don't forget to read other folk tales from our blog. Hopefully the story is useful.

More folklore from West Kalimantan:

• Dara Itam
• Golden Watermelon
• The Crying Stone
• The Squirrels and The Fish Cork