Narrative Text ( Indonesia Legend ) ( Mundus and the Snake )

Mundus and the Snake

Folklore from East Nusa Tenggara

MUNDUS was a young man. He lived alone. His parents died a long time ago. Mundus was a farmer. He worked diligently. His neighbors liked him. Mundus always helped people whenever they needed help.

Mundus and other villagers often were hunting in the jungle. They hunted the animals and shared the meat to all villagers.

It was a beautiful day. All the men were ready to go hunting. They all brought their own weapons. When they arrived in the jungle, they separated into two big teams. There was an open land and they choose that place as their base. They would meet in that place two hours later.

Mundus and his team were walking silently. Suddenly they saw a big snake. they all prepared their weapons. In just a minute, they killed the snake.

They brought the snake to the base. the other group also already arrived. Unlike Mundus' group, they were unlucky. They did not bring animals. they all were hungry. they decided to cook the snake and prepare it for their meal. After they all finished eating, they continued their hunting. This time, Mundus did not join them. He was not feeling well, so he stayed in the base.

While he was resting, suddenly a big snake came. Mundus was so scared. The snake looked the same as the snake which was killed by his friends. Mundus thought that the snake was the mate of the dead snake. Well, he was right! The snake was exactly the mate of the dead snake.

Mundus climbed a big tree. he hoped the snake would not chase him. And Mundus saw the strange thing. The snake did not chase him. The snake came to the body of the dead snake. There were not many parts left. The meat of the snake was already eaten by Mundus and his friends. There were only the skin and the head left.

Strangely, the mate was trying to rearrange the body parts of the dead snake. And after all the parts of the body were rearrange, the mate went to the bushes. Later, the snake brought some leaves in his mouth and came to the dead snake. the mate chewed the leaves then covered the skin, the head and the bones of the snake.

Amazingly, the dead snake lived! And then, the two snakes went back to the jungle. Mandus could not believe what he saw. And when his friends came back, he told them about the snakes. They also not believe him.

On the following day, Mundus came to the jungle again. He felt that that snake was giving him a lesson on how to cure the wounds. Mundus then looked for the leaves, Mundus went home.

When he arrived, his neighbor asked for his help. The neighbor fell from the tree, and broke his leg. Mundus then chewed the leaves and covered the broken leg. Amazingly, it was cured! Mundus was very grateful. Since then, every time people had problem with broken bones, Mundus always helped them. Mundus became famous. He was known as master of curing broken bones. ***