The Legend of Lake Toba Indonesia
Long time ago, there was a wanderer, named Sibuatan.
After wandered over so many places, he finally decided to stay in one place; it
was on the river bank near the valley. He was so pleased staying in this new
place because it has beautiful scenery, fresh air, and the most fertile land.
He did his daily works like cultivating the land, collecting vegetables and firewood,
and catching fish for his meal diligently.
One afternoon, when he went fishing, he caught a very
big fish which has golden scales. "Hurray! I got a giant fish. I will have
a big dinner tonight!" said Sibuatan happily. He walked home quickly to
cook the fish. When arrived in his house, he put the fish on the table in the kitchen;
meanwhile he went down to get some firewood underneath the house. However, when
he came back from collecting fire-woods he was so surprised to find out a
beautiful woman in his house instead of the fish. Sibuatan’s heart beat very
fast, he knew he fell in love with that woman which he soon learned was a
transformation of the big fish he had caught that day. Without second thought
Sibuatan proposed her to marry him. The woman agreed to marry him on one term,
Sibuatan wouldn't ever mention her origin (she was a fish) to anyone. Sibuatan
agreed about it. He was too happy to have such a beautiful wife.
A year past and they had already a son named Sam. Since
he was a little, her mother spoiled him. So, when he was big enough his
behavior was bad. He was a lazy boy, just played around the river and never
helped and respected his parents. He was good at swimming and diving and did it
everyday, but his father wants him (Sam) to help him in the field.
One day when Sam's mother told him delivering his father's
lunch, he ate it little by little while walking. When he arrived at the field,
the rest of the food was a little. His father (Sibuatan) got very angry finding
this fact. Everyday Sam's only playing... playing... and playing around; and
when he for the first time was given a task delivering his father's lunch, he
didn't only arrived late but also had eaten the lunch. Sibuatan could not
control his anger anymore. He smacked and cursed his son. "You are really
area son of a fish! You can't be taught well. All you want to do is playing in
the river like fish. Get out of my sight!" he was furious.
The boy ran home, crying and then told his mother that
he was cursed as a son of a fish by his father. His mother was very sad to know
that his husband had broken his oath. Sibuatan told about her origin to their
son. The woman then told Sam to climb the hill behind their house as high as he
could. Without asking anymore, Sam went away. When his mother saw.his son had
climbed high the hill, she walked to the bank of the river. Then, thunder
struck one after the other. The woman jumped into the river. She transformed
back into a big fish. The rain came down hardly with thunder rumbled. The river
overflowed so fast and kept overflowed till the big valley that circled the
hill where Sam had climbed up was covered by water. Sam cried when he watched
from top of the hill, what had happened. The overflow from the river became a
big lake with an island in the centre. That lake is known as Lake Toba,
meanwhile the hill is named as Samosir Island. The name came
from the words "the son (Sam)
that was chased move away (diusir)".
