The Lesser Sunda Islands
At the begining of time, Heaven was so close to Earth that the people who lived in Heaven could easily climb down to Earth on a ladder. The Heaven-people and the Earth-people often went visiting each other so there was a lot of travelling to and from between the two places. This didn't please Bai Ngao, a giant who lived on Earth. He did not like the noise people usually made when they were travelling.
Bai Ngao was very big. In fact, he was huge. He was so tall that he could not stand upright because if he did so his head would knock againts the floor of heaven. One day, something happened which made Bai Ngao very angry. That day it was very hot and Bai Ngao was resting under a banyan tree. In the afternoon two Earth-people, a husband and wife, came down the ladder after visiting some friends in Heaven. Dupelopa, the husband, went fisrt, followed by Sakuete, his wife.
Dupelopa was carrying some pieces of burning coal in an earthen bowl to light the fire in his stove. They had not taken their children with them when they went visiting, and the rice was not cooked yet. Now they were in a hurry to get home. Dupelopa did not know how it happened, but suddenly he slipped and fell head first down the ladder. He dropped the burning coals which scattered on Earth.
One of the pieces of coal fell on Bai Ngao's head and set fire to his hair. The giant awoke suddenly and shouting with pain, he plunged his head into a river to put out the flames. Then he looked round to find who or what had caused the accident. It didn't take him long to see Dupelopa and his wife. The poor man was still lying at the bottom of the ladder rubbing his sore legs, and Sakuete was wiping some blood from her husband's forehead.
Angrily, the giant ordered them to go back to Heaven. Away from his sight. The poor woman begged him to give her time to collect her children, but Bai Ngao was so furious that he refused to listen to her. He grabbed the husband and wife in both hands and put them back in Heaven. To prevent them from coming back to Earth, he first threw away the ladder, then he pushed the floor of Heaven up with his hands, until he could stand upright. Since then, Heaven is so far removed from Earth that no ladder is long enough to connect the two places.
Dupelopa and Sakuete realized that they would never see their children again, and tears came into their eyes. Soon both of them were crying and their tears fell on Earth like rain. When the weather is miserable and wet, people on the islands still say that this is caused by Dupelopa and Sakuete crying for their children.
The two children waited at home for their parents. At the first, they p layed happily inside, but when the hours passed and their mother and father did not return, the boy and girl went out of their hut into the garden. They looked up expecting to see Heaven nearby as usual, but ... oh, how hight it was now. And where was the ladder ? They could not see it anywhere. And where were their parents?
"Dupelopa ... Dupelopa ...," called the boy.
"Sakuete ... Sakuete ...," called the girl. But Heaven was too far away and their parents could not hear them.
The two children then climbed up a tree to come nearer to Heaven and from the top they called and called. "Dupu-u-u. Saku-u-u." Finally, they turned into doves, and if you listen carefully you can still hear them calling, "Dupu-u-u. Saku-u-u."
The wind carried one of the hot coals over the houses and it fell on the roof of Old Man Turtle's hut. The roof was made of dry leaves and it caught fire. Soon the whole hut was burnt.
Old Man Turtle was not at home then. He was working in his field. Looking up across his field, he saw grey smoke coming from the direction of his house. "I hope that's not my house on fire!" thought Old Man Turtle. He dropped his spade and ran towards it, but he was too late. Old Man Turtle sat down in front of his burnt hut, tears in his eye. "Where am I going to live now?" he said. "I'm not strong enough to build a new house. I'm too old, and I've lost everything-everything I've worked for all my live."
His neighbours felt sorry for Old Man Turtle and they decided to help him. Some gave him bamboo poles to make a new house. Others gave him palm leaves to cover the roof, and still others came with bamboo for the walls. With all his friends helping, Old Man Turtle soon had a new hut. He was very pleased with his new home, but the fire had made him very worried. He did not dare to leave his new house or to go and work in the field, so how he get food?
Bai Ngao, the giant, heard about Old Man Turtle's problem. One day, he came to his friend's house and said, "Dear friend, I've found an answer to your problem. Since you don't want to leave your house, you must take your house with you. Come, I'll help you tie your house to your back." And that's why, to this day, turtles still carry their houses on their backs.
On the same day, Buffalo and Zebu (a humped domestic ox), two brothers, had gone to the river to bathe. There is nothing as pleasant as a cool swim on a hot day, Buffalo always said. The two brothers did not look like each other, for Buffalo was round and fat, and Zebu was thin.
The two brothers put their clothes on the river bank and jumped into the water.When they grew tired of swimming, they sat in the shallow side of the river with their bodies in the water and their heads sticking out from the surface.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a terryfying cry nearby and at the same moment Buffalo and Zebu felt that the water of the river had become boiling hot. That was because Bai Ngao had plunged his head into the river to put out the flames in his hair.
Frightened by all this, Buffalo and Zebu jumped out of the river, grabbed their clothes, and ran away. While running they put their clothes on. But because they were in a hurry Buffalo had grabbed Zebu's clothes and Zebu had taken Buffalo's clothes. Zebu's clothes were too tight for round Buffalo and Buffalo's were too loose for thin Zebu. That's why, to this day, the skin of a Buffalo fits tightly around his body, and the skin of a Zebu hangs loose around his neck and chest.
And all this happened because of Dupelopa's fire.
