The Legend of Sugar Palm Tree - legend from south sumatra

ASAL MULA TERJADINYA POHON ENAU 
(The Legend of Sugar Palm Tree)

Long time ago, there was a very kind man. She didn’t have any child or wife. He used his life to help poor people. Everyday, he always did good actions. He really cared about them, until he forgot to eat and have a break. His neighbor thought he is a really kind man, so they gave him some food, but the pious man still help the poor people and frustrated those feed.

Of Course he felt really tired. He stressed too much, and a few days later he died. But nobody knew about it. One day, his neighbor felt strange about him. He thought something happened to him, and then he went in to the pious man’s house. He surprised when he met that the pious man has been stiff and smells. His dead body was to smell, he couldn’t to be buried. So they buried him in front of his house. Village people didn’t know that he has died, what they knew is the pious man didn’t do any good actions anymore.

And then his colleague stayed in his house. In seven days, there was grasses grow on his brother’s tomb. But he let the grass grow to be the big tree. And in 100^th day, the grass was become a tree, and produced fruits. It grew under the door and blocked it.

One night, the person who stayed in the pious man’s house was dreaming. There was an old man in his dream. The old man said that the plant in front of his house named “sugar palm”. And it could produce some sugar when he take the water and boil it. So if he sold it, he could get some money to eat. Then the old man was disappearing from the dream and the person who got the dream was woke up from his sleep and got the sugar palm fruit.

He took a chopping-knife and chopped the fruit. He took it to the kitchen and boiled it. He was surprised what the old man said was true; the sugar palm could produce a lot of sugar. He did the same way everyday, and sold it to the market. And many people bought the sugar from the sugar palm fruit.

Day by day, he got a lot of money. And he used it to help poor people like his brother. Until the village become the prosperous town.

Now, we know sugar palm as a fruit from every pious man, and we don’t use it to be the rich man but we used it to help the poor people.

Credit :
By: Farli From 
Cerita Rakyat Sumatera Selatan PT. Grasindo
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