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of Bali, Indonesia
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HORRIBLE RAKSASAS Anyone
who is squeamish, will you stand up and be counted and pass on to the
next chapter. Now this poor family (who, of course, had no dole cheque to rely on) lived in the village of Djukut Paku, near Nukuning, and every day the mother and father, who were known as Ibu and Pak, walked across the sawahs to the Tjampuhan River, where they collected edible ferns, which they then took to Ubud to sell. Came one rainy season, the river rose high, all the ferns were swept away, and Ibu and Pak had nothing to sell - and nothing to eat. In despair, they went to the little temple in the forest where the two rivers join at Tjampuhan. (Forest Certainly There were more trees than tourists in Tjampuhan those days). Now, where was I Ah, yes They prayed to the god in the temple by the river to make them'rich, promising, in return, to make him a special offering - a roasted tailless pig. (Watch it now - the story begins to get seamy) From that day on, the family's fortunes changed. Money simply fought its way to their door. If they went to the river they found many ferns - other people found none, so prices soared. Let Pak bet on a cockfight - he would win at such long odds you wouldn't believe. In a few brief months they had more wealth than most people acquire in a lifetime. Now this poor family (who, of course, had no dole cheque to rely on) lived in the village of Djukut Paku, near Nukuning, and every day the mother and father, who were known as Ibu and Pak, walked across the sawahs to the Tjampuhan River, where they collected edible ferns, which they then took to Ubud to sell. Came one rainy season, the river rose high, all the ferns were swept away, and Ibu and Pak had nothing to sell - and nothing to eat. In despair, they went to the little temple in the forest where the two rivers join at Tjampuhan. (Forest Certainly There were more trees than tourists in Tjampuhan those days). Now, where was I Ah, yes They prayed to the god in the temple by the river to make them'rich, promising, in return, to make him a special offering - a roasted tailless pig. (Watch it now - the story begins to get seamy) From that day on, the family's fortunes changed. Money simply fought its way to their door. If they went to the river they found many ferns - other people found none, so prices soared. Let Pak bet on a cockfight - he would win at such long odds you wouldn't believe. In a few brief months they had more wealth than most people acquire in a lifetime. And then they remembered their promise - the offering of a roasted tailless pig. Which, to put another way, means - a roasted baby. (Well, I told you it would be gruesome) Of course, they were very sad. All that day they discussed their dreadful dilemma. But a promise is a promise, and next day found a solution. Many children came to play with their baby daughter, and often, when night fell, they all went to sleep together. So, they would take one of their daughter's playmates for the roasted tailless pig offering. To make quite sure that, in the dark, they would not accidentally take their own beloved daughter (they were a pair of thorough-going nasties, I fool you not) Ibu gave her a golden bracelet - a golden life-preserver. But the gods take a dim view of cheats, and so it came to pass that another baby borrowed -the beautiful bracelet, and went to sleep still wearing it. (The tale's getting spooky now, isn't it) That night, when Ibu and Pak crept amongst the sleeping children, feeling for the golden bracelet, they spared the one wearing it, took the child beside her, and roasted her. (Don't give up - worse is yet to come) So now they had their roasted tailless pig - and they tippy-toed that same night down to the temple at Tjampuhan and offered it to the god there with all appropriate prayers - for they were a very correct couple indeed. Their vow fulfilled, they were about to leave the temple, when they remembered that their prayers would not be complete until they ate some of their offering. (If you have a queasy tummy, you shouldn't be reading this, anyway). Very timidly, each tried a little piece of the roasted tailless pig. But, so delicious was it that, once started, they kept eating until all the offering was finished. (Gory, isn't it) Clouds covered the moon as lbu and Pak stumbled home feeling very ashamed about the whole affair. Next morning things turned from grim to ghastly when they discovered their own daughter was missing, and realised what they had done. Tears streamed down their cheeks, but as they wiped them away they felt something wrong with their mouths. In shocked silence they looked at each other - their teeth had pushed through their lips and were growing longer and longer - like tusks. Back they rushed to the Tjampuhan River and stared down at their reflections. They no longer recognised themselves, so bestial had they become. The villagers, naturally, asked what had happened. A good question - to which the two tusky monsters had no good answer. Late one night, they sneaked out of the village and back to the Tjampuhan River, where they found a cave just below the temple, and hid in it.
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