Long time ago in
Riau, lived a kid named Dang Gedunai. He lived with his mother. Dang Gedunai
was a stubborn kid. His mother was sad. Dang Gedunai was her only child but he
never made her happy. One day, Dang Gedunai went to the river to catch some
fish. “Mother, I want to go to the river. I want to go fishing,” said Dang
Gedunai to his mother. “It’s cloudy outside. Rain will soon fall. Why don’t you
just stay at home?” said his mother. As always Dang Gedunai ignored her. He
then went to the river.
It was very cloudy
when he arrived at the river. Soon it was drizzling, but Dang Gedunai was still
busy fishing. Later rain fell down heavily. Dang Gedunai finally gave up.
However right before he left, he saw something shining in the river. It was a
very big egg. Dang Gedunai then brought the egg home.
His mother was
surprised to see him brought a big egg. “What egg is that? Where did you find
it?” she asked. “I found it in the river, Mother,” replied Dang Gedunai. “Be
careful with the egg. It’s not yours. You should return it,” advised his
mother. As always, Dang Gedunai ignored his mother’s advice. He planned to eat
the egg even though his mother said not to.
In the morning,
his mother was ready to go to the paddy field. Again, she advised Dang Gedunai
to put the egg back to the river. Dang Gedunai did not say anything. When his
mother left the house, he immediately boiled the egg. Then he ate it. It was so
delicious. He was so full and suddenly he fell asleep. He had a dream. A giant
dragon came to him in his dream. “Human, you stole my egg! For the punishment,
you will become a dragon.”
Dang Gedunai woke
up with fear. He was sweating. He felt very thirsty. Later his mother went
home. She saw her son panicking. “What happened?” she asked. “I don’t know,
Mother. Suddenly I feel very thirsty. My throat is like burning,” said Dang
Gedunai. His mother then gave him a glass of water. It’s not enough. He drank
another glass, and then another glass until there was not any water left in the
house. His mother told him to go the pond. Dang Gedunai drank all the water
until the pond was dried. But it was not enough. Then they went to the river.
Again it was not
enough. Dang Gedunai knew his dream would come true. He would become a dragon.
“Mother, please forgive me. I ignored you. I ate the egg. It was a dragon’s
egg. I will change to a dragon. I cannot live with you anymore. I will live in
the sea. If you see big waves in the sea, that means I’m eating. But if the
waves are calmed, then it means I’m sleeping,” said Dang Gedunai.
Then Dang Gedunai
left his mother. He headed for the sea. His mother couldn’t do anything to stop
him. She just cried. Until now fishermen don’t want to go fishing in the sea
when the waves are big. They know that the dragon is eating. They just wait
until the dragon is finished eating and the waves are calmed.***
