Story Tale (Swimming and Kyai Jegod)

Swimming

When I was a boy, I liked swimming very much. Each year my two brothers and I spent

the holiday with our uncle and aunt in their house by the sea. It was only twenty yards from the

water. The water was warm, the sun shone brightly, and most days there were no waves. In the

middle of the day a wind always began to blow, but it was not strong and did not make the sea

rough.

One day, we put on our swimming-shorts before breakfast. Then, we ran down to the sea

across the sand and jumped in. We were in the sea or on the beach until late at night. When our

aunt rang a bell, we went back to the house for food, but we ate it in our swimming-shorts and

soon went back in the sea again. We were all very good swimmers. We dived through the waves

or rode towards the beach on top of them until we were tired and hungry.

Kyai Jegod

Once upon a time there was a kingwho ruled Mataram Kingdom. His name is

Amangkurat IV. He was the grandfather of Sultan. He often meditated in a nearby forest,

called Garjitawati.One day, when a gardener was gathering

grass for his cattle in the forest, he looked for some water because it was so hot. He found a

small pond and when he was going to drink some water from it, a dragon came out of the underwater,

but it was so friendly to him. The dragon said that if Sultan wanted to build his palace, it

was supposed to be located in that forest. Then it disappeared.

Then Sultan started to build the palace in that forest. He demanded strong and old woods

and the forest where those woods lied was said to be home of genies and spirits. His lumberjacks

could not fi nd anything to eat and the only thing they could have were some rice and water for

three days, or sometimes they could not have anything.

Then Sultan ordered that the main pole in the palace’s hall had to be built from special

wood, which would give strong impression. One night, a servant who was sleeping in the forest

heard loud and deep voice. The voice introduced itself as Kyai Jegod. The servant saw that Kyai

Jegod was an old, tall, and massive tree. He said that he would voluntarily let himself be cut to

make the main pole so that he could stay inside it forever.

The servant told it to Sultan and Sultan let Kyai Jegod stay inside it forever, while Kyai Jegod

became the protector of that palace since then.

Adapted from: http://www.st.rim.or.jp

Questions

1. Who is Sultan?

2. What happened to the gardener in the forest?

3. What kind of woods that Sultan wanted to build his palace with?

4. Who is Kyai Jegod? What does it look like?

5. What did Kyai Jegod say to the servant?

6. What has Kyai Jegod done till today?