In the village of Papansura, near the city of Duri, there once lived an old peasant and his wife. They had seven children: three sons and four daughters. It so happened that the old man's wife suffered. Already on the fifth day, she felt that the baby was moving in her stomach, spinning, as if it wanted to come out into the light. Immediately her contractions began. A child is a miracle! – went not down, but up. He rose to the mother's chest, then moved even higher, climbed into the hand and crawled to the wrist and, finally, came out of the woman's right palm. First his head appeared, then the baby began to cry and began to call his father. His mother immediately put him behind her back and began to cradle him. Sitting behind her shoulder, the baby said to his parents:
[Toraj women do not carry their children on their arms, but tie them with slendang behind their backs.]
- Follow me carefully, don’t forget about me! I did not come to earth to kill, not to torture people. I brought with me life, not death; I will make everyone in the world happy.
He said this and fell silent.
When he was three days old, he asked for food, on the ninth day he was already sitting, and on the twelfth he learned to walk, and all this time he did not speak - he was silent, and that’s all. No matter what his mother, father, brothers and sisters told him, he remained silent. If he goes with his brothers to play savakh, ladang, or in an open field, he is also silent. Everyone was surprised at such a strange child.
They gave him a name - Sadodong. Since he was born, his parents began to get rich: the rice field gave an unprecedented harvest, the cattle brought such offspring that everyone was amazed. In a word, their life became better and better. The parents realized that their youngest son brought them happiness, and they loved him very much - more than the other children.
One day Sadodong and his brothers were herding buffaloes. So he sat down to rest under a bush, and an old shepherd was walking past. He was very surprised that the one-year-old boy was already going to herd buffaloes, and that he looked so smart. When he saw a tuft of hair on his right palm, he was completely surprised, called it Pong Bulu Pala - “Hairy Palm” and said to him:
[A mole with a topknot is considered a sign of happiness and good fortune by the Toraja. ]
- The time will come, you will become a big man, happy and rich, you will do a lot of good to people, and everyone will honor you. You will bring happiness to your parents and other people, and you will leave your older brothers far behind.
Pong Bulu Pala listened silently to the old man, and his brothers listened to him. They envied their younger brother: it’s a joke, he will leave them behind, and even become his father and mother’s favorite. Their envy increased and finally they decided to kill Pong Bulu Pal.
It's time to return home. The road was narrow, and they had countless buffalos. The brothers told Pong Bulu Pal to sit down in the middle of the road where the buffaloes were passing. Pong Bulu Pala realized that the brothers had decided to destroy him, but still obeyed. As soon as the boy sat down on the road, the brothers drove the buffaloes right to the place where the boy was sitting. Pong Bulu Pala lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. The animals ran quickly along the road, crowding and pushing each other, but not a single buffalo even touched Pong Bulu Pal. He remained safe and sound. The last buffalo ran by - Pong Bulu Pala stood up. The brothers were surprised that the buffaloes did not trample him; they were annoyed. And Pong Bulu Pala was not angry with them; he didn't say a word. The brothers pretended to regret what happened and cry, but they harbored anger in their souls. The next day they told Pong Bulu Pal to lead the buffaloes to the pen, and they themselves followed. They came, then one brother pushed Pong Bulu Pal into the pen, into the very mud. He fell face down and got stuck in the liquid mud - it was deep there, half a fathom - and the brothers went home. They thought that Pong Bulu Pala would definitely choke. If he is found later, all the blame can be placed on the buffalos.
At home, their father and mother asked them where Pong Bulu Pala was. The brothers answered:
“He played in the forest, and then disappeared, disappeared to an unknown location.
No matter how much their father asks, they keep repeating their own opinion, and that’s all. The father loved his youngest son very much and went to look for him; I searched for three days and three nights, shedding bitter tears.
Meanwhile, the buffaloes again did not touch Pong Bulu Pal. He stuck his head out of the mud and sat there the entire time. Finally the father comes to the pen. He saw that his son was sitting hungry, covered in dirt and manure, he began to cry and began to ask how he fell into the mud.
“The brothers wanted to destroy me, but I don’t know why,” Pong Bulu Pala answered him. “They will try for a long time to drive me away from the world, but they will not succeed, because Puang Matua is protecting me.” It was written differently for me.
The father wanted to punish his sons, but the youngest son did not order him: this will not help the matter.
The brothers were surprised when they saw that Pong Bulu Pala had returned alive, and they again began to think about how to get rid of him.
Then one day all the brothers went to graze the buffaloes again. They climb a steep hill, look, and below the Churio River overflows. It seemed to the older brothers that here they would be able to destroy the younger one. The three of them picked up Pong Bulu Pal and threw him down into the river. He fell into the water, the current picked him up and carried him away. The brothers thought that he had drowned and were happy.
But in fact, the river carried Pong Bulu Pal onto a gentle bank, he was exhausted, lay down on the grass and fell asleep.
The brothers come home and their father asks where Pong Bulu Pala is. The brothers try to wriggle out, one says: “We left him there,” the other swears: “Pong Bulu Pala left with the shepherd.” The father didn’t believe it and told him to show him where they left his brother. The sons showed the place, only not the real one, but another one. My father didn’t believe them either, and went in search himself. He wandered for three days and three nights, looking for his son, and only then came to where Pong Bulu Pala slept.
“I’m here, father,” said Pong Bulu Pala.
The father heard his son’s voice, ran up to him, hugged him and began to kiss him: after all, he almost buried him.
- How did you get here? - asked the father.
“The brothers wanted to drown me and threw me into hollow water. They won't get their way; It is not my destiny to die at their hands. But I won’t pay them evil for evil.
So they came home with their father. The father wanted to teach his older sons a lesson, but Pong Bulu Pala and his mother did not give him.
“Don’t punish your brothers, father,” said Pong Bulu Pala, “they won’t abandon the same anyway.” Until their envy passes, I will not live from them.
A week passed, then another, and Pong Bulu Pal asked his father and mother to let him go to a foreign side: at home he is like an eyesore to his older brothers, all they do is sharpen a knife on him. “It would be better if I go,” he says, “to distant lands and gain wealth, then I’ll return home or I’ll take you in with me.”
His father did not give him permission; he really did not want to part with his beloved son. Moreover, he was afraid that as soon as Pong Bulu Pala left home, his elder brothers would kill him. The son continued to insist, but the father became stubborn. Both were reduced to tears: the son was out of frustration that it wasn’t working out according to his wishes, and the father was sorry to let go of his son, who brought happiness to the family. For twelve days they argued, cursed and cried - the father flatly refused. He leaves the house - he orders the servants to guard his son, not even to let him into the garden, so as not to run away.
On the thirteenth day, the father went to the field, and the older brothers drove the buffaloes into the forest. Two servants remained near the house. But one went to get firewood, the other began to light a fire to roast the wild boar, and Pong Bulu Pala took three ears of rice, put a chicken egg under his arm and slowly went down into the garden. The servants did not notice anything; they thought that Pong Bulu Pala was still sitting at home.
And he walked about half a mile, stopped and began to think where to go next: east or west, north or south. Suddenly a voice came from somewhere: “Go east, Pong Bulu Pala. If you see a river, follow it up. When rice bran and buffalo dung float on the water, you know there is housing nearby. Head there."
Pong Bulu Pala went up the Churio River. Soon he saw manure and rice bran floating towards him.
“Apparently, housing is close,” he was happy and moved on.
Already after noon he looks, and another one flows into the river. “Where should I go now?” - Pong Bulu Pala thought, but soon noticed that bran and droppings were floating from the tributary. Pong Bulu Pala walked along it and saw that the road went to Mount Latimojong. He continued his way upstream. So he walked until it began to get dark.
The sun had almost set when Pong Bulu Pala reached the upper reaches of the river. There was a beautiful house on the hill, and in front of it were three barns. Pong Bulu Pala walked up the slope and entered the garden in front of the house. At this time, a girl appeared on the threshold, but when she saw the man, she immediately turned around, ran into the house and slammed the door behind her. Pong Bulu Pala was surprised and did not dare to follow her. He went to the barn, sat down there to rest, and he kept wondering whose house this was. He felt hungry and began gnawing on a grain of rice from his supplies. He took out the egg and suddenly heard a chicken squeaking inside. Apparently, he warmed the egg under his arm, and a chicken grew inside it. Pong Bulu Pal broke the shell, sat the chicken on his lap and gave him half a grain of rice. Suddenly the chicken began to grow and become covered with feathers right before our eyes.
A little later, the owner's dog approached Pong Bulu Pal. She waved her tail as if she wanted to make friends with him. Pong Bulu Pal now has two friends. But the owners still did not show up, although they could hear people talking in the house. Pong Bulu Pala could not understand anything, but he did not have the courage to knock. He lay down in the barn and decided to sleep there until the morning.
The night was cold, he was chilled and shivered, and then a fresh wind blew from Mount Latimojong. He became unbearable, and he decided to knock on the door: maybe the owners would let him into the warmth. The door was unlocked, but as soon as he wanted to enter, all the people fled to the southern room, leaving Pong Bulu Pal alone in the middle one. He was surprised that the owners did not meet him, did not question him, but did not say a word to them, lay down on the mat and began to warm up. His eyes closed, and he quietly began to sing. Apparently, the owners liked this, and they began to ask from another room where Pong Bulu Pala came from and what he needed.
“I am a poor wanderer,” he answered, “and I wandered into these parts by chance, and turned to you because I was very tired on the road.” When I saw this house, I wanted to relax here.
“Aren’t you up to something bad?” – a male voice asked from behind the wall.
- Why should I plan something bad? “I will be grateful to the owner if he allows me to rest in the house and warm myself by the fire,” answered Pong Bulu Pala.
Then the man from the southern room spoke to the women in an unknown language, and then entered and sat opposite Pong Bulu Pal. They sat talking until midnight, and the owner saw that Pong Bulu Pal could be trusted.
From that night Pong Bulu Pala began to live in the house on the hill and little by little he became part of the family as one of his own. Finally, he was married to the same girl who ran away from him on the day of his arrival. Every day he helped his father-in-law in the fields, tending cattle, and his wife’s parents fell in love with his hard-working and friendly son-in-law. Since Pong Bulu Pala settled in the house, its owners became rich, and everything came from them.
Rumors about their wealth reached other villages and were passed from village to village. The parents of Pong Bulu Pal also heard about this. The eldest sons still hated their brother, and when they heard that he lived well and was married to the daughter of a rich man, their anger overflowed. They went to stay with Pong Bu Lu Pal, like loving brothers, and pretended that they doted on him. He received them kindly and cordially. Meanwhile, they again conspired to destroy him. One day the brothers come running to Pong Bulu Pala and say that their father has died, and before his death he bequeathed to bury himself near the house of his youngest son.
“Let’s dig a grave for him,” the brothers said.
“Okay,” answered Pong Bulu Pala. The four of them dug a grave, and one brother said:
- Hey, Pong Bulu Pala, get into your grave! Think about whether it would be suitable for our father or for his wife, since you are the same height as him.
Pong Bulu Pala jumped down and lay down there to see if the grave would fit his father. Before he could look back, the brothers covered him with earth and hurried to their parents. At home they began to tell that their brother was alive and well.
Fortunately, Pong Bulu Pal had friends - a dog and a rooster that grew from that chicken - who loved their owner and were faithful to him. They waited until evening, and then the two of them went in search. We walked and walked and came to a fresh pile of earth. They realized that Pong Bulu Pala was buried under this mound. Then they began to dig - they dug all night - and at dawn their owner was able to get up and leave the grave. Then the three of them returned home, and Pong Bulu Pala and his wife lived as before, along with the rooster and dog.
Soon the brothers came to visit Pong Bulu Pal again. He accepted them as family and did not remember the old things. But they still hated him and would like nothing more than to see him dead.
So the brothers decided to deceive him again. One day one brother comes running to the house of Pong Bulu Pal and shouts from afar that their father really died. This time he allegedly bequeathed to be put in a coffin.
“Let’s go into the forest and look for a better tree for his coffin,” said the elder brother.
The brothers left, and Pong Bulu Pala followed them - he almost believed that his father had died. In the forest they cut down a tall tree, cleared it of branches, trimmed it and hollowed it out. When the coffin and lid were ready, the elder brother said:
“Come on, Pong Bulu Pala, lie down in the coffin, let’s see if it fits our father.”
Pong Bulu Pala, without hesitation, reached into the coffin. As soon as he lay down on his back and made himself more comfortable, the brothers quickly closed the coffin and tied it tightly with rattan. Then they took him to the river and threw him into the water, while they themselves ran to Papansura. The river was fast, and soon the coffin floated to the mouth, and it was carried out to sea.
The dog and the rooster waited for the owner all day. The sun had already set, but he was still not there. Then they went to Pong Bulu Pal’s wife to share their thoughts: “Why is the owner still missing? Maybe he’s in trouble?” That same night, the three of them went into the forest and looked for Pong Bulu Pal until dawn, but they never found him. Only at dawn did they come across a stump and fresh wood chips. “Apparently, they made a coffin here,” they guessed, “wasn’t Pong Bulu Pal hidden in it?” The dog sensed the tracks, ran in the direction where the coffin was carried, and went out to the river, followed by Pong Bulu Pala's wife and a rooster.
“Apparently, our owner was thrown into the river,” said the dog.
There was nothing to do - all three of them went down the Sadan River. They see: the peasants are reaping rice. The wife asks them:
-Have you seen a coffin on the river? The Reapers answer:
- Well, we saw him float down.
They went downstream again, meeting many people along the way. Some guarded the ripening rice, others weeded, there were those who sowed seedlings, and those who planted them in the field. They all unanimously said that they saw a coffin floating downstream, and the wife, dog and rooster walked further along the river. They were very tired, but did not want to rest until they found Pong Bulu Pal.
On the way they met a thief - he was hiding in the darkness. His wife asked him:
“Didn’t a coffin float past you?”
The thief did not answer and began to run as fast as he could, while they continued on their way. At dawn they met a robber going on his bloody business. His wife asked him:
-Have you seen the coffin on the river?
The robber did not answer and wanted to pierce her with his spear. They forcibly carried their feet away from him. But the robber did not rob that day because he encountered an obstacle on the way.
Almost at the very mouth they see a crocodile basking in the sun under the jam-bu tree. The wife asks:
-Did you notice a coffin on the river? Crocodile says:
“Yesterday a coffin was carried out to sea by the current.
Indeed, soon all three saw that a coffin was floating in the sea. The rooster flew, sat on it and began to rock the coffin to turn towards the mouth of the river. Not one or two days passed until the coffin sailed to the shore. Then his wife and dog pulled him onto land, and from then on this place began to be called endekan, which means “rise,” and there is now the city of Enrekang. The dog chewed through the rattan ropes, and the wife lifted the lid. Oh, how they were scared when they saw that all that was left of Pong Bulu Pal were bones! Then the rooster began to crow. He sang for a long time, and then shouted:
- Pong Bulu Pala, wake up! Pong Bulu Pala wake up!
And Pong Bulu Pala came to life as if nothing had happened to him. He rose from the coffin, saw his wife, dog and rooster and was delighted. But then he remembered what his brothers had done to him, and he was inflamed with enmity towards them. He lost faith in people, he wanted to go to the mountains and live there away from the human race.
They went up the Sadan River and came to a beautiful country. Pong Bulu Pala chose a beautiful place on the hillside and ordered the rooster to crow. Instantly a good house appeared with all the utensils and a barn, with fields, buffaloes, pigs and chickens. Pong Bulu Pala immediately became a rich man. He blocked the river that flowed under the hill in order to wash and bathe his buffaloes at the dam - he now had more than a dozen of them.
One day Pong Bulu Pal wanted to visit his native village. He grabbed bags of rice and went to the market in Papaisura. At the market he began to sell his rice at a cheap price. His rice was good, and there were no shortage of customers. Soon everyone learned that Pong Bulu Pala was selling rice. People ran to his parents and began to tell them that their youngest son was alive and was selling selected rice at the market, and a shaggy dog and a rooster were sitting with him. When the older brothers heard that Pong Bulu Pala was still alive, they became frightened. They were afraid to catch his eye and fled to other villages: one to Palopo, another to Ma-masa, and the third to Balangnina.
The next market day, Pong Bulu Pal's parents went to the market. They see: in fact, their son is selling rice. Pong Bulu Pala did not recognize the old men. Then his mother asked him:
- Apparently there is a lot of rice in your area, since you sell it so cheap?
Pong Bulu Pala replied:
- Yes, where I live, there is more than enough rice.
Mother says:
- If so, we want to go with you to your village and buy more rice there. Your rice is excellent and large.
“Well, you can,” answered Pong Bulu Pala.
The next day they went to Pong Bulu Pala. They arrived, entered the house, he received the guests respectfully, and treated them to glory. Father and mother began to eat their rice, but they couldn’t get enough of it. They could not stand it and both burst into tears.
- Why are you crying? asks Pong Bulu Pal.
And his parents answer him:
“How can we not cry, son, we are so glad to see you.” There’s hair on your palm – this has been your mark since childhood. But we thought that the villain brothers killed you. How we grieved that you left us!
– Did I really meet my father and mother?
Pong Bulu Pala hugged them and was in tears. But the mother’s heart could not stand the joy - she soon died. Her father also died after her: the joy was beyond his strength.
Pong Bulu Pala gave a rich funeral and called upon the guests. He ordered the slaughter of many buffaloes and pigs, as is the practice among the Torajan leaders: he wanted his parents to not suffer need for anything in the next world. When the funeral festival was over, Pong Bulu Pala said to his wife and dog:
“I no longer have a father and mother, and I don’t even want to look at people, at my evil deceiver brothers!” The rooster and I will fly to the sky, become stars, and you stay here and go to the ground. We will meet at the appointed hour: when I appear in heaven, come out of the earth.
Pong Bulu Pala and the rooster flew to the sky, but the wife and the dog remained. They began to dig the ground. Then the wife turned into a winged white ant, and the dog into a wingless ant.
They say that when the stars Orion and Sirius are visible in the sky, Pong Bulu Pala appeared; This means that clouds will soon gather and it will rain heavily. At this time, a winged white ant emerges from the ground and flies upward to meet her husband. Only white ants never reach the sky; they fall to the ground and die.
And at this time the wingless ant comes out of the ground to look at its owner. He takes revenge on his brothers, and at the same time on all people - and, sparing no effort, he spoils their houses and things.
That's the whole tale of Pong Bulu Pala.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru