Raden Alit, The Kind-hearted Prince

Retold by Samsuni

Raden Alit is one of the two sons of Ratu Ageng, the king of Tanjung Kemuning, Ogan Komering Ulu Timur (OKUT) Regency, South Sumatra. Once upon a time, his elder sister Dayang Bulan was kidnapped by Malim Hitam, son of the king of Salek Alam.  Why did Malim Hitam kidnap Dayang Bulan? Could Raden Alit save her sister? Here is the story of Raden Alit.

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Once upon a time in the land of Tanjung Kemuning, South Sumatra, lived a king named Ratu Ageng. The king married a goddess and lived in the sky. He fathered two sons, Raden Kuning and Raden Alit, and a daughter named Dayang Bulan. The king’s three children were dear to each other. Raden Kuning and Raden Alit grew very powerful men. Since childhood they learnt various supernatural powers from their grandmother, Nenek Dewi Langit.

After nearly twenty years of living in the sky, Ratu Ageng missed the Earth so much. He began thinking to move back to the Earth along with his family.

“O my wife and children! For a reason I do not really know, I missed my homeland. I want to return to the Earth and spend the rest of my life there. Would you mind if I take you all with me?” asked Ratu Ageng.

“Surely not, Father! I will come with you to the Earth. We are all children who have never seen our father’s homeland, aren’t we?” said Raden Alit.

“True, Father! We will come along!” added Raden Kuning and Dayang Bulan at once.

Ratu Ageng smiled happily to hear his children’s answers. He understood their feelings as the three of them had been in the sky for their whole lives without knowing anything about life on Earth.

“So be it. We will leave for the Earth tomorrow morning,” said Ratu Ageng.

In the next morning, Ratu Ageng along with his family and a number of his guards departed for the Earth. There they built a modest castle as their residence. They lived just the way the Earth people did.

Several years after, a disaster befell Ratu Ageng’s family. His daughter Dayang Bulan died by lidi snake bite. The death of his daughter brought sorrow for the king and queen. Raden Kuning and Raden Alit, however, could not accept his sister’s departure. They believed that it was not yet time for Dayang Bulan to die. They asked their father for permission to go looking for her.

“I beg you pardon, Father! But we are sure that Dayang Bulan is still alive! Let me and Raden Kuning look for her!” begged Raden Alit.

“My sons! You both saw her dead and buried in the garden, didn’t you?” asked Ratu Ageng.

“We did, Father. But we believe that the body buried in the garden is not her. The real Dayang Bulan is kidnapped by a powerful villain,” answered Raden Kuning.

At start, Ratu Ageng could not believe what had just been said by his sons. But as Raden Kuning and Raden Alit insisted, Ratu Ageng finally let them attempt a search for Dayang Bulan.

So there they went, Raden Kuning and Raden Alit took leave to find their sister. They wandered for months. Until one day they arrived at a bay wherein there was a docking rejung, a huge and grand ship. They jumped into the rejung right away, thinking that Dayang Bulan might be in there. They found nobody but two men sleeping in a room. Raden Kuning woke them up and asked them.

“My friends, who are you? Why did you anchor at this bay?”

“Well, my friends! We were so exhausted after looking for our sister Dayang Ayu for a long time and fell asleep,” answered the ship captain, Si Ulung Tanggal.

“If you do not mind, would you tell us how she was gone?” asked Raden Alit.

“Well, friend,” answered the brother of the captain, Serincung Dabung. “Our sister was found dead by a lidi snake bite. But, we believe that she has not died yet. She is kidnapped by Malim Putih, the son of the king of Salek Alam.”

“How, my friends, do you know that it is the son of the king who kidnapped your sister?” asked Raden Kuning curiously.

So they were told that Serincung Dabung was a psychic, he had supernatural power. Raden Kuning and Raden Alit asked for his help to know where Dayang Bulan actually was. After Serincung Dabung applied his power, it was revealed that Dayang Bulan was abducted by the other son of the king of Salek Alam, named Malim Hitam.

The four young men were apparently on the same mission, looking for their sisters kidnapped by the sons of the king of Salek Alam Kingdom. However, as Serincung Dabung could not find where the kingdom of Salek Alam was, they decided to disperse. Ulung Tanggal was searching in Heaven, Raden Kuning in the sky, and Serincung Dabung under water.

Meanwhile, Raden Alit would do his part on the land by perambulating in the jungle, walking up and down hill after hill. On his way, Raden Alit met an old woman.

“Where are you heading to, old lady?” asked Raden Alit.

“I am attending a wedding, young man,” answered the old woman.

“Who is getting married?” asked Raden Alit.

“The son of the king of Salek Alam Kingdom, Malim Hitam and Malim Putih,” the old woman explained.

“Pardon me, old lady. If you do not mind, could you please tell me whom they are marrying?” Raden Alit was getting more curious.

“Malim Hitam is marrying Dayang Bulan while Malim Putih is wedding Dayang Ayu,” replied the old woman.

Hearing the old woman’s answer, Raden Alit was more certain that Dayang Bulan and Dayang Ayu were still alive. Using his power, Raden Alit transformed his face. Then he left for Salek Alam Kingdom.

In the kingdom, Raden Alit met Djinn King and told him his intention of his arrival in the kingdom. The Djinn King was so kind. He had a daughter so beautiful named Salipuk Jantung Pandan. As soon as Raden Alit met her, he was in love with the gorgeous princess. Despite their brief meeting, they fell in love with each other and decided to get married soon. Thanks to his relationship with the princess, Raden Alit now had a connection with the Djinn King family. He asked the king’s help to free Dayang Bulan and Dayung Ayu.

The Djinn King used his power to transform Dayang Bulan and Dayung Ayu into two flowers just before they got married. Then, Raden Alit sneaked into the room of Dayang Bulan and Dayung Ayu. There he saw the two flowers on the floors. Raden Alit quickly grabbed the flowers and brought it with him.

Unfortunately, as Raden Alit came out of the room, Malim Hitam and Malim Putih were standing before him ready to hold him back.

“Hey! Who are you? where are you taking our brides to!?” shouted Malim Hitam angrily.

“Hand us those flowers or we will beat you to death!” Malim Putih was infuriated.

“No! I am not giving you these flowers. These are our sisters you have taken from us,” refused Raden Alit.

A fierce fight was inevitable. At the beginning, Raden Alit could match the two princes. But then, as days passed, Raden Alit could no longer handle them and was thrown away to the sky. He was fortunate that the Sky Gate was opened so that he did not fall back down to the ground. In the sky, Raden Alit decided to see his grandmother, the Sky Goddess, and ask for help.

“Please, Grandmother! Help me defeat my enemies, Malim Hitam and Malim Putih!” begged Raden Alit.

“My grandson, Raden Alit! Both your enemies cannot be killed. But you can throw them up to the sky. When they are up here, I will confine them in the iron jail,” advised the Sky Goddess.

“Very well then, Grandma. I will come back down to Earth now,” said Raden Alit.

On Earth, Raden Alit employed all his power to throw his enemies up to the sky. And so they were flung so high above and caught in the sky. The Sky Goddess put them in the iron jail so that they would never come back to Earth. Meanwhile, Dayang Bulan and Dayang Ayu were now transformed back into human.

Not long thereafter, came in Raden Kuning, Si Ulung Tanggal, and Serincung Dabung. Raden Alit told them what had happened.

“We are so grateful to you, my friend! You saved our sister, Dayang Ayu,” said Si Ulung Tanggal after hearing the story.

“Do not mention it, friend. I would not have done it without all of you and the Djinn King helping,” said Raden Alit humbly.

“Who is the Djinn King, my friend?” asked Serincung Dabung.

“He is the King of Djinn in this kingdom. He is very kind,” explained Raden Alit.

They decided to pay a visit to Djinn King residence to say thanks to the king for helping them save their sisters. They said goodbye to each other after that, and went back to their kingdoms.

Meanwhile, in the palace Ratu Ageng and his wife had been worrying for months waiting their sons to come back.  And as Raden Kuning and Raden Alit appeared with Dayang Bulan, the king and queen burst into tears all at once. Ratu Ageng then held big parties for three nights in a row for celebrating the return of his children.

After the parties, Raden Alit spoke to his parents and told them that he promised to marry the beautiful daughter of the Djinn King. Ratu Ageng had no objection about this. Soon, Ratu Ageng and the whole family went to the Djinn King’s palace to marry Raden Alit to Salipuk Jantung Pandan. At last, Raden Alit and his wife lived happily ever after.

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So the story of Raden Alit from South Sumatra ends. There are at least three lessons we can learn from this story. Firstly, brothers must love each other as what is shown by Raden Alit and Raden Kuning. Secondly, by helping each other, we can defeat evil easily. Thirdly, those who conduct evil will get their punishment as what happens to Malim Hitam and Malim Putih, who are confined by the Sky Goddess after they kidnap Dayang Bulan and Dayung Ayu. (Samsuni/sas/189/03-10).

Translation by Reza Daffi (trans/12/04-10)

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