The Story of The King of the River

The Story of The King of the River
A Folktale from Maluku, Indonesia

Once upon a time, a frog, a turtle, a snail, and all other animals were getting together in a river. Suddenly,

“The snake is coming!” screamed a fish to his friends.

A frog, a turtle, a snail, and all other animals were surprised. They were immediately hiding. They were afraid of the snake. They were worried the snake will harm them.

“Hey! Where is everybody!” said the snake.

He was looking around for all the animals.

“I’m hungry. Give me some food. Come on, get out now!”

The snake went here and there. Finally he found them.

“Ha…ha…ha…What are you doing here? Why are you hiding? Are you afraid of me? You should be afraid of me. I’m the biggest animal in this river. I’m your king.”

“You are not our king. There is no king here. Everybody is equal,” said the turtle.

“Let’s prove it! Who wants to fight me? I can beat you easily. With my big body, I can twist you easily. Ha…ha…ha! Now, give me some food!”

The animals were afraid. They did not have any courage to fight the snake. They then prepared some food for him. After the sake finished eating and leaves them, they had a meeting.

“We can’t be like this all the time. I want to live peacefully,” said the frog.

“I have and idea. Let’s go to the alligator’s house. Talk to him about our problem. We ask him to help us,” said the fish.

All the animals agreed with his idea. Finally, the alligator met the snake.

“I heard what you do to the animals in the animals in this river. You have to stop your bad behavior,” said the alligator.

“I’m not afraid of you. I will twist your body.” The snake and the alligator than were fighting.

The alligator used his tail to hit the snake. He did that several times.

“Mercy me, mercy me!” the snake screamed in pain.

“Are you still the king in this river? Are you going to harm the animals again?”

“No. I’m not the king and I promise I will be good to them,” said the snake.