Story of Glutinous Rice

Story of Glutinous Rice
A Folktale from North Sumatra, Indonesia

Once upon a time, there were a woman lived with her son Olih. Olih and her mother lived in a village in North Sumatra, Indonesia. They were poor. Their neighbors love them because they are kind and always help other people.

In the evening, seven old women came to Olih’s house. Those women looked dirty, and they were wearing ragged clothes. They were also very hungry.

“Good evening. We are hungry. Could you please give us some food?” asked one of the old women.

“Don’t worry, Ma’am. We have some food for you. Just wait for a moment.”

Olih then went to his house. He opened the cupboard then takes some food. A moment later he gave the food to those old women.

“Thank you very much, Kid. It’s very kind of you. We are also very tired. Would you let us stay here to spend the night? Nobody wants to let us stay in their house. We are strangers here, we have no place to go.”

“Don’t worry. You all can stay here,”said Olih’s mother.

“Thank you very mich. You two are very kind to us.”

In the morning, those seven old women were still sleeping. Olih’s mother asked Olih to wake them up to have breakfast.

Suddenly Olih screamed!

“Mom! Come here!!!”

Olih’s mother then run to the bedroom. She found the room full of rice. The old women were gone. But there was one beautiful girl sitting on the bed.

“Don’t be afraid. I am one of the women. My father sent me here. He has a great super natural power. He changed me into an old woman and ask me to deliver this special rice to a family that helped me, “said the girl.

Olih and her mother were very happy. Then they had enough rice to eat. They also shared the rice to the neighbors. The rice was so delicious. They called it beras pulut or glutinous rice, it means sticky and delicious rice.