The Legend of Si Pahit Lidah

The Legend of Si Pahit Lidah

        Once upon a time,there lived a mighty young man named Serunting in Semidang, South sumatra. He was very powerful due to the fact that he was the son of a powerful giant and a princess, Princess Tenggang. Serunting had a brother-in-law named Arya Tebing, Arya Tebing's sister was Serunting's wife.

     
  The two young men quarreled becouse of Serunting's jealousy over Arya Tebing. Each of them had rice paddies, side-by-side, separated by a decayed fallen tree. On this tree, some mushroom grew. The ones that grow overlooking Arya Tebing's rice paddy turned into gold, while those that grew overlooking Seruntin's turned into useless thatch grass. This made Serunting envious. No matter how hard he tried to move the tree, the mushroom overlooking Arya Tebing's rice paddy remained gold.

        Eventually, a violent fight broke out between them. Knowing that Serunting was mightier than him, Arya Tebing gave up fighting. He persuaded his sister to find out Serunting's waekness. She told Arya that Serunting concealed his soul in the highest thatch grass, which remained unshaken even mhen the wind blew on it.

         The next day, both young men resumed their fight. Having learned the secret, Arya Tebing pierced the thatch grass with his spear. Serunting fell and his leg was badly injured. Serunting knew that his wife had betrayed him so he left angrily. He haeded to Mount Siguntang and asked the god of Mahameru for mighty powers. The god told him to sit and meditate under a bamboo tree until his body was copletely covered by the bamboo laeves. Serunting did that for two years and succeeded in getting the mighty powers. Whatever words he spoke would turn into curse immadiately. From then on, people called him "Si Pahit Lidah" (the bitter tongue). Woe to him who dared oppose Serunting. Everybody feared him becouse everyone who opposed Serunting was turned to stone by his curse.