100% found this document useful 1 vote2K views1 pageDescriptionKemaro Island, a small island with a Buddhist temple and the grave of a Palembang princess has the legend about the love story of Siti Fatimah and Chinese young man called Tan Bun Ann. They loved each other and got married but unfortunately, Tan Bun Ann's parents couldn't come to their wedding party and visited them to © All Rights ReservedAvailable FormatsDOC, PDF, TXT or read online from ScribdShare this documentDid you find this document useful?100% found this document useful 1 vote2K views1 pageThe Legend of Kemaro IslandDescriptionKemaro Island, a small island with a Buddhist temple and the grave of a Palembang princess has the legend about the love story of Siti Fatimah and Chinese young man called Tan Bun Ann. They …Full description
A story from South SumatraOnce upon a time, there was a kingdom in the area of South Sumatra led by a king. The king had a very beautiful daughter named Siti Fatimah. Besides her beauty, the princess was also well-known for her kindness and good manners. Many young men fell in love with her. However, they dared not approach her because the king wanted his daughter to marry a rich a prince of China, named Tan Bun An, came to the kingdom to talk about the trades of the two kingdom. The king wanted to collaborate with Tan Bun An as long as Tan Bun An shared his profit to the king. Tan Bun An agreed with the king’s deal. He decided to stay in South Sumatra for several months. One day, when Tan Bun An was in the palace, he encountered Princess Siti Fatimah and instantly fell for her beauty. To his delight, the princess returned his affection. The two then promised to meet each other whenever Tan Bun An came to the palace. They became lovers. After a few months, Tan Bun An decided to propose marriage to Siti Fatimah. He asked the king for his daughter’s hand. “Your Majesty, I want to marry your daughter, Princess Siti Fatimah. We have met for a long time and we suit each other perfectly,” said the king, who was determined to marry his daughter only to a wealthy man, stated his terms. “You may marry her if you pay me the bride price.”“What is the bride price, Your Majesty?” asked Tan Bun An.“Bring me nine jars full of gold. After the jars are in my palace, you may marry my daughter,” replied the king.“I agree. I will write a letter to my parents asking them to send nine jars of gold to South Sumatra,” said Tan Bun letter from the king of China finally arrived. He was willing to send nine jars of gold as the bride price for Siti Fatimah. The lovers were overjoyed. Their dream had almost come few months later, the ship from China carrying the bride price arrived. Tan Bun An and Siti Fatimah went to the Musi River to welcome the ship. Tan Bun An rushed on board and immediately looked for the jar. He opened the cover of a jar, and behold, instead of the gold he expected, it was filled with rotten vegetables! How frustrated Tan Bun An was! Enraged at his father, who played trick on him, he threw the jar into the water. He opened the covers of all the other jars. Seeing the same rotten vegetables, he tossed them to the water. However, when he threw the last jar, the jar crashed into the vessel wall. Pieces of gold, hidden underneath the rotten vegetables, were revealed. Tan Bun An was aghast. It turned out his parents intentionally put rotten vegetables over the pieces of gold to hide them from pirates. Realizing his mistake, Tan Bun An quickly jumped into the sea to retrieve the jars. Siti Fatimah saw the whole incident. She waited anxiously for Tan Bun An to come out of the water. However, he did not appear. “Prince Tan Bun An, where are you? Please return safely to me, or I will look for you in the sea,” pleaded the princess.“Please, princess, don’t!” said her maids.“I must! My maids, if I don’t come back, there shall rise a mound in the middle of the sea. You shall know that it is our graves,” said the she jumped into the water and never came back. The next day, in the middle of the Musi River, a mound appeared, rising higher and higher. It was named Kemaro Island, which means “the island of drought”, because it was never drowned by the river even when the water overflowed.
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