I learned about love, honesty, friendship and bravery from bedtime stories that my father told me.
Answering the challenge of the Blog English Club for week 16, I need to once more, summon my childhood memories. Recalling the memory warms my heart. I remember Bapak, how I call my father, was always there during my bedtime. He was the one tucked me in and my sister almost every night. It was very often when my sister had gone in her deep peaceful sleep, I stayed wide awake. It was hard to get to sleep. Not until my Bapak told me a story.
He was an amazing story-teller to me. He told me so many stories.I remember once he told me about Malin Kundang, a well-known story from Sumatera about someone who denied his poor mother when he was already a rich person. The other night he told me the story of Kancil, a very smart deer that tricked other animals so that he could get benefit from them and used it for other animals in need. Not t mention Ande-Ande Lumut and the Giant Crab or The Great Hanoman from Ramayana.
What made him a great story-teller were his expression and his voice that always changed according to the story and the characters being told.
The folklores he told me pretty much helped to make me who I am today. Bapak always put a moral message in every single of his story. How I must always love and put my mother – Ibuk, in my mind when he told me about Malin Kundang. How I should treasure honesty at all times from Kancil and Ande-Ande Lumut stories. The bravery to always bring truth and not to be a deceitful person from the doom of the evil side of the story.
I become the man I am today from the story I learned from him and how he always tried to walk his talk.
Gosh, I always cry writing about Bapak.
Well, you get what I mean right? It’s getting harder for me to write since I couldn’t stop my tears from falling apart *not to mention my nose. Haha.
Those are what I learned from the Indonesian tales told by Bapak, how about you?
My other posts in English:
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Febriyan
Same thing Dan. Can’t even write about my late dad without even crying. Even in fiction. Still cries a lot.
jendluvu
ande-ande lumut apa yah? jadi penasaran.. hehe..
kyknya jaman ku semua udah princess2 gt nihh. jadi i learnt al lot from the princesses. hehe.. but of course i treasured indonesian folktales as well. tapi crita kita itu kyk lebih ‘magis’ yah kesannya.. hehe..
Dani
Iyaaaa. Kerasa magis dan penuh arti.
Dani
Oiya ande-ande lumut itu cerita soal kepiting raksasa yang licik dan memperdaya putri-putri gitu. Cerita rakyat jawa timur.
lieshadie
Inget jaman muda nonton ketoprak lakone Ande – ande Lumut…trus menghayal diri jadi Kleting Kuning…:D
Wien
I’m refraining, then looking for a tissue.
That’s really sweet.
Bapak shall be proud of you 🙂
zilko
Hehe, the same here 🙂
nianastiti
I only could remember about Kancil, I’ll try to write about it later 🙂
Firman
hebat bapaknya mas Dan, biasanya kan yg suka kasih dongeng sebelum tidur ibu atau nenek. terus, menurun ke anaknya gak, nih? 😀
Lia
I always crying when talking about parents. Remember when Mbak Etty was telling my Dad’s story? I tried so hard not to cry hehehe…
Good story Mas Dani 🙂
Yeye
Kynya hampir sama yg diceritain nya, Kancil selalu ada dan entah brp kali diceritain nya smpe berubah smua ceritanya. Ande2 lumut? Kok gw lupa yah -__-“
Gara
Oh, it must be such a wonderful memory, Mas. Thank you for sharing. But you are very lucky, I envy you, because I haven’t ever get the chance to listen my parents told me a story before going to bed–they were, and are, very busy. I need to read it by myself. Well, the excitement is the same, though :haha.
Beby
Ande-ande Lumut ceritanya yang kayak apa ya? Ah lupaaaa.. Harus googling nih.
dani
Cerita soal kepiting raksasa gitu Beb. Ada putri warna warni gitu yang mau dimangsa sama si kepiting.