Title in Kulisusu: Raja te La Misi-misikini
Told by: Wa Ode Samiyra
Date: circa 1978
One day the rajah went to visit the house of Misikini, with the intention of making an agreement with him. When he arrived as Misikini’s house, Misikini was startled and he asked the rajah, “Hey, rajah, what are you doing here?” The rajah answered, “Don’t be afraid, Misikini, I come here come here with good intentions.” Misikini asked, “What are those good intentions of yours?” Said the rajah, “I want to make a promise with you, if you will agree.” Misikini asked, “What do you want to make a promise about?” “It’s like this, Misikini. If it comes about that we have children, let’s marry them. If your child is a boy and my child is a girl, let’s marry them, and the same if it’s the reverse.” They agreed to this. “But if they are both girls or both boys, we will encourage their friendship.”
Not long after that, Misikini’s child was born, and it turned out it was a boy. When he heard this, the rajah prayed that when his child was born it would be a girl. The rajah got his wish: his child was born, and it was a girl. The Rajah was very happy. Misikini’s child they also named Misikini, and the rajah’s daughter they named Sitti Maria.
Not long after that, when Misikini and Sitti Maria had grown up a bit, they were friends and they played together. At that time, Sitti Maria was very happy to have Misikini as her friend, and the same with Misikini, he wasn’t happy unless he was with Sitti Maria.
As time went on and they got bigger, Sitti Maria’s father was going to put her in school. Beginning at that time Misikini began telling his mother, “Sitti Maria is going to be put in school, and I’m going to start school too with Sitti Maria.” When Misikini’s mother heard this, she said, “How will you go to school? We are dirt poor and you don’t have any school clothes. As for Sitti Maria, her father is very rich.”
After that, Misikini told his mother to take his sarong and sew it into pants and a shirt. Said Misikini, “Sew my sarong into pants and a shirt for me, don’t worry that I won’t have a sarong when I sleep, as long as I can go to school with Sitti Maria.” His mother followed his wishes, and she took his sarong to sew it into pants and a shirt. At that time Sitti Maria was already in school. When his clothes were finished, Misikini went to school with Sitti Maria, and they were constant companions. Sometimes Sitti Maria gave Misikini things that he needed.
One day the rajah visited Misikini’s home and saw Misikini sleeping without any sarong. The rajah asked Misikini’s mother why he slept without a sarong. Answered his mother, “He doesn’t have a sarong because I already sewed it into pants and a shirt so that he could go to school with Sitti Maria your child, Rajah.” When he heard her words, the rajah felt pity for Misikini, because he knew that Misikini was to be his son-in-law. The rajah gathered clothes for Misikini, and gave them to him. Things were good between the rajah and Misikini’s mother because of the promise they had made previously to marry their children. Then the rajah returned to his house.
As time passed and Misikini and Sitti Maria grew up into teenagers, they remained good friends. They cared for each other a lot, and inside the heart of each one there grew an affection. A way for their parents to see their intentions fulfilled began to open up. Misikini and Sitti Maria often went around together, and they often visited each other. The parents of the two of them were very happy to see the close friendship and affection between their children.
At that time as Misikini and Sitti Maria were falling in love, there arrived a ship captain with his ship. The captain disembarked in that village, and was walking around to observe the beauty of that village. It turned out that he saw a very beautiful maiden. That maiden was Sitti Maria, the daughter of the rajah of that village. The captain fell in love with her, and began making efforts to win her. Because of his desire, sometimes he was disappointed and sick at heart to see Sitti Maria and Misikini going around together. The captain was eating his heart out over them.
At that time, Sitti Maria desired to own a large boat like the captain’s. She made her wished known to her father, and he agreed. Then they called the ship captain to have him build a ship for his daughter. The captain was very happy to get a call from the raja, because he desired to have his daughter. So the captain came to meet with the rajah.
When he was at the rajah’s house, the captain saw Sitti Maria going back and forth in front of him, and he was spellbound to see her, and his heart pounded like anything, to the point where he also became jittery. They agreed on the ship that the captain was to make. The next day the captain began building the ship at the place for building boats.
While the captain was building the boat, Misikini and Sitti Maria often came to watch him, and the captain could see the two of them having long discussions. This made the captain unhappy, and he was eating his heart out and became extremely jealous of Misikini, because he knew that Sitti Maria and Misikini loved each other. The captain also knew that the boy who loved Sitti Maria was poor, while he himself was very rich. Such was the behavior of Sitti Maria and Misikini in front of the captain that it was if they were ridiculing him.
Even so, because of his great desire toward the rajah’s daughter, he was always looking for opportunities. Whenever he finished working and it was time to rest, he used his time to go to Sitti Maria’s father’s house to present his intentions to the rajah.
Not long after that the boat he was making was finished. The captain wanted to return to his own country, in order to tell the rajah and all his family there that he was going to marry the princess of country that he had visited. He also wanted to gather all the furnishings for his wedding with Sitti Maria, even though in reality he didn’t yet know whether he would be accepted.
At that time, Misikini also had a great desire to see a bustling country, and he wanted to go with the captain whenever he departed. The captain was about ready to depart, on the ship that he had just made (Sitti Maria’s boat).
So Misikini went to ask permission from the rajah and from Sitti Maria’s mother to go with the ship captain. The rajah and Sitti Maria’s mother wouldn’t allow it, because they were worried that he might be killed by the captain because of the resentment the captain held against him. But Misikini insisted, and finally they allowed him to go.
Before he departed, he gave a length of red thread to Sitti Maria’s mother, and he said, “Store this thread away. If this thread changes color and becomes white, it means that I am dead. But if it stays red, it means that I am still alive.”
After that, Sitti Maria’s mother gave him seven grains of rice, and she said, “Take this rice and store it well. Don’t throw it away, it is for your amulet.”
After they had finished speaking, the boat he was going to take was about to sail, and Misikini departed. The rajah, Sitti Maria’s mother and Sitti Maria herself escorted him to the boat, then they took their leave of each other.
In the middle of their journey, when Misikini was sleeping, the captain came up beside Misikini in order to throw him into the sea. But just as the captain was about to lift him, Misikini awoke, and the captain fled. Another time the captain again came up close to Misikini in the middle of the night when he was sound asleep, and all at once he lifted Misikini up and dropped him overboard, then he sped up the ship, but Misikini had fallen into the ocean.
The captain went on full speed ahead, while Misikini was left floating in the ocean, and he was swimming this way and that seeking a way to be saved. Not long after that, Misikini saw a white ship that appeared to be headed straight toward him. He was glad, because he felt that he was going to live. Not long after that the white ship arrived, except when it arrived in reality it wasn’t a ship but a large, white pig. Then the pig asked him, “What’s going on with you here, Misikini?” Misikini answered, “How I got here is like this. I was on my way to a bustling country that I wanted to see. But in the middle of my journey, the ship’s captain threw me overboard while I was sleeping in the middle of the night. Then the boat left me.”
When he heard this explanation, the pig asked him again, “If it’s like that, where do you want to go to now? Do you want to return to your country, or do you want to continue on to your destination?” Misikini answered, “I want to go on to the bustling country, because I said I wanted to see it.”
Then the pig said, “If that’s how it is, then don’t be afraid, I will help you.” Then the pig ordered Misikini to mount on his back, and he was going to dive with him to the bottom of the ocean. Misikini climbed up onto the pig’s back, and the pig took him to his destination country. It was only a little while before they arrived over there, and they came out on a beach. After that, the pig ordered him to cut off a small piece of his flesh. Misikini did so, and after that the pig said to him, “If you ever run into any difficulties, just burn this piece of my flesh, and I will come.” After that the pig departed.
On the beach he saw a person building a boat, and he asked him, “Why is this country not festive, because I have heard stories that this is indeed a bustling country?” Then the person answered him, “It’s like this, son. This country isn’t festive at present because the rajah’s daughter is gravely sick. None of the doctors, shamans, or officials could heal her. At present they are all in prison, because the rajah no longer believes in them, he thinks they are liars. They can’t go free as long as his daughter remains sick.”
When Misikini heard this explanation, he said, “All those people will be saved and will be released from prison. Because I can heal the sickness of the rajah’s daughter.”
When he heard Misikini’s talk, then the person informed him that he had heard news from the rajah, that whoever could heal his daughter, would be given his daughter in marriage. Misikini said again, “I can heal her. Go and tell the rajah that I want to be the one to heal her.” The person went off and informed the rajah that there was a young man from somewhere unknown, who professed his ability to treat his daughter.
When he arrived there, he informed the rajah that there was a person who was able to treat his child. The rajah asked, “Where is he? Go and call him, and order him to come and meet me.” The person who had reported returned to get Misikini, so that he might go and meet with the rajah. They went to board a car, and that was Misikini’s first time to see a car going around in that country.
A crowd coming to visit Misikini arrived down there, and they called Misikini to come meet with the rajah. Misikini said to them, “You all go first to the rajah’s house; I will come later.” Then he asked for matches, and the crowd returned.
When they had returned, Misikini burned the piece of pig flesh that he had taken earlier, and when the pig who had taken off earlier smelled the smell of it, he came and met Misikini. Then the pig asked Misikini, “What is it that’s troubling you?” Misikini answered, “Just a little while ago, I said that I would heal the rajah’s sick daughter. The other people who have treated her are all in prison, because none of them were able to heal her.”
Then the pig told him again to cut off some of his flesh for medicine. The pig spoke again, “When you go to treat her, just rub this flesh of mine on her body wherever she has pain, and for sure it will heal her.” After the pig told him how to treat her, he set off once more.
Not long after that the crowd of people came again and called him to come treat the rajah’s daughter. At that time they also gave him clothing, because his clothes were all tattered. Misikini took the clothes and put them on. When he arrived at the rajah’s house, the rajah welcomed him, and ordered him to treat his daughter. But La Misikini was unwilling to go in alone. The rajah’s daughter who was sick was behind a bed curtain with seven layers. The rajah said, “Don’t be afraid. If she recovers she will become your wife.”
Then Misikini went in to treat her. When he saw the princess, she couldn’t move or speak. Then Misikini asked her, “Where on your body does it hurt?” The princess answered him not a word. Then Misikini rubbed the pig’s flesh over her entire body, until the flesh was completely used up. Not long after that the young woman began to regain consciousness, and she got up from her bed and she cried, “Boy, how hungry I am! Get busy you all and cook. I want to eat!” They cooked for her and they gave her food to eat. So the rajah’s daughter recovered, and how happy the rajah was because his child, who they thought was going to die, was well again.
The more time that passed, the better the young woman felt, and she regained her weight. Then the rajah married them. According to his promise, he married Misikini with his beloved child, and he also gave the kingdom to him. At that time, the captain who had thrown him overboard had not yet arrived.
It wasn’t long before the captain arrived in the country where Misikini had become rajah. The captain came before the rajah to relay his intentions. He reported that he had fallen in love with a princess in a country where he had stopped over, and his reason for coming was to gather all the furnishings for his marriage to her. The captain didn’t know that the rajah he was facing was Misikini whom he had disposed of in the ocean. The captain’s intention was to invite the rajah to the wedding. The rajah agreed to his request and made ready to be his companion.
The rajah ordered them to depart ahead of him, and he would come later. The captain with all his family left, while the rajah had a gold ring made, which he decorated with the seven grains of rice that Sitti Maria’s mother had given him on his departure. When it was ready, he left too to go to the country where the captain was getting married. He rode in a helicopter, and he landed beside his mother’s house in the middle of the night. At that time, he saw that the place where the marriage was to take place was very festive. When the captain arrived, Misikini wasn’t with him, and they suspected that he was dead, that the captain had gotten rid of him. When the marriage ceremony was about to begin, they called the rajah who had arrived earlier to come and attend the marriage of the captain with the rajah’s daughter.
The rajah came with his beautiful wife, and they were seated. The rajah and his wife sat together. At that time the princess (Sitti Maria) was sick at heart because she didn’t want to marry the captain. When the rajah was seated, Sitti Maria’s mother came down and looked the rajah over closely. On the rajah’s hand she saw a gold ring mounted with seven grains of rice. When she saw that, she began to have doubts, and she began to suspect that the rajah in attendance was Misikini who had gone off with the captain.
Then she went to inspect the thread which she had stored, and it turned out that it was still red. Sitti Maria’s mother went and called Sitti Maria to go down and look over the rajah, whether he was Misikini or not. Sitti Maria went down, and she also saw the ring mounted with seven grains of rice, and she also carefully observed his face, and she was certain that the rajah was indeed Misikini. When she knew it was really her beloved Misikini, she went a bathed and put on fine clothing, and she came down again and immediately she went and sat in rajah Misikini’s lap. Then she said, “Me, I’m not going to marry that captain. Me, I’m going to marry this rajah. This rajah is Misikini, my betrothed from long ago. A long time I’ve been waiting for you!” When he saw this, the ship captain who was to be married became troubled, and he left the marriage ceremony, went to his boat, and killed himself.
In the end Misikini, who had gotten a wife and become rajah, also married Sitti Maria. Beginning at that time, their parents were happy because Sitti Maria and Misikini had gotten together again, just as their parents had promised. After they had gotten married, Rajah Misikini returned with his wives and his mother to the place where he ruled.
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