For your reading enjoyment, we have assembled a collection of eighteen stories from the Kulisusu area. Here are brief descriptions of each one.
If no link is available to take you to a story, please check back later since we are continually updating our website.
Bintausu - As a child Bintausu had such a large appetite that he was eating his parents out of house and home. When they finally turn him out, Bintausu begins an adventure of epic proportions.
Buragil - As a young man Buragil was abandoned by his father and brothers in the forest. With the help of a magical bird he survives several dangers to eventually become the ruler in a new land. Read more »
Coconut Trees With Twisty Trunks - A young woman dressed like a man is tested to see if she’s the real deal. Read more »
Deer in Kulisusu - This short text tells some things about deer in the Kulisusu area. Read more »
The Hidden People - This short text explains some things about the ‘hidden people,’ a race of invisible people who inhabit the same world as humans. Read more »
The King of the Food Crops
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The food crops need a good leader who can raise them out of obscurity to become valued commodities. The question is, which of them will make the best king?
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Langkule - This short expository text relates certain present-day geographic features to a previous inhabitant of extraordinary size. Read more »
La Ode Panuinta and Wa Ode Sirinakamba - In this Hansel-and-Gretel-like tale, a stingy stepfather abandons his stepchildren in the forest. All on their own, this brother and sister manage to survive encounters with ferocious pigs, a man-eating giant, and cut-throat thieves. Read more »
Molosu Lake - In this short story the author relates his experiences as the first person to garden in the area around Molosu Lake at the southern tip of the Goram Peninsula. Read more »
The People of Konawe - In this story about the early settlement of the Kulisusu area, the headman of Doule goes in search of marauding pigs. Along the way he gives names to various locations. Read more »
The Rajah and Misikini - A poor fellow and an unscrupulous sea captain compete for the hand of the rajah’s daughter in marriage. Read more »
The Ruler’s Twin Sons - A ruler is troubled when his twin boys disappear while playing with fighting cocks. Read more »
Sultan La Elangi - This story recounts an important episode in the history of our people when the fourth Sultan at Baubau, La Elangi, visited Kulisusu and sired a son. Read more »
The Sun and the Wind - This story is Aesop’s well-known fable of the North Wind and the Sun, in which the two antagonists compete to see who can remove the coat from a traveler. It has been retold here for a Kulisusu audience. Read more »
Wangkinamboro - The hero of this short folktale is La Engu, who must find a way to trick and defeat the man-eating giant Wangkinamboro. Read more »
Wa Ode Ginunduri - When the king demands that his infant daughter be killed, the people instead hide her on a distant mountain. Years later when her father discovers her whereabouts, Wa Ode Ginunduri obediently returns to be put to death. What will happen to this brave girl when she arrives? Read more »
The Water of Koringkoneno - This brief folktale about a source of water encapsulates the same themes as the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden: paradise, a commandment given, the commandment broken resulting in paradise lost, and finally the hope of paradise restored. Read more »
The Well at Rombo - This story tells about the digging of the well in Rombo. Even today this important event in the history of the village is commemorated with festivities held every three years. Read more »
