Princess Nilarani

Folklore from West Java

ONCE upon a time in West Java, there was a kingdom named Pasir Batang. The kingdom was ruled by KingMarundata. The King had only one child. Her name was Princess Nilarani.

The king and the queen loved the princess very much. She was not only beautiful but also kind-hearted. She always helped people. That was why the people of Pasir Batang kingdom also loved her. Many young men had tried to propose her and asked her to be their wife. But Princess Nilarani could not decide.One of the young men the princess refused to marry was Duruwiksa. He was a son of a witch. The witch was so angry. She kidnapped Princess Nilarani and changed her into a very ugly woman.

The king and the queen were sad.They then made a promise. They would give a lot of jewelleries to whomever who could find Princess Nilarani.

Many people searched for Princess Nilarani. One of them was Prince Sumirat from the neighbouring kingdom. He was a handsome man and had great skills in martial arts.He had heard that a witch kidnapped Princess Nilarani. He also knew that the witch lived across a jungle. Nobody dared to cross the jungle. There were robbers and wild animals lived in there. Those robbers were mean and would harm everyone. Prince Sumirat was a brave man.

He crossed the jungle and met the robbers. The robbers forcedPrince Sumirat to give them his moneyor they would kill him. Prince Sumirat refused to give his money. The robbers then get angry. They were fighting.Luckily, Prince Sumirat had great skills in martial arts.He won the fight and continued his journey.Later, he found the witch’s house.

He was sneaking to the window. He heard that Princess Nilarani could be cured if she drank water from a kendi.

It was a water jug. The witch hid the kendi in the ceiling. After he knew all about the kendi, Prince Sumirat broke the window and entered the house.

The witch was surprised. She was so angry that someone entered her house without permission. She became angrier when she knew that Prince Sumirat wanted to help Princess Nilarani.

They were fighting. Luckily, Prince Sumirat did not only have skills in martial arts. His father had taught him about magical skills. So, he used the skills to fight the witch.

Finally, Prince Sumirat won and he immediately asked Princess Nilarani to drink water from the kendi. Slowly, Princess Nilarani turned back as she was before, a very beautiful girl. Prince Sumirat then brought Princess Nilarani back to the palace. Princess Nilarani fell in love with Prince Sumirat and Prince Sumirat also had the same feeling. Afterwards, they got married and lived happily ever after. ***