Folktales from West Java

THE STORY OF DESA PANYALAHAN

By Endang Fiedaus

There was once a young couple. The husband was a farmer. He and his wife lived happily with their baby. The couple had some animals. One of them was a tiger. If the couple went to field, he looked after their baby.
One day, the husband said to the tiger, “We will go to the field. Look after our baby.”
The tiger nodded.
The couple then went to the field.
Afternoon came. The couple arrived home. The tiger welcomed them. He wagged his tail. He then rubbed his body to the couple’s legs. He looked too happy. The husband felt an odd thing had happened. “Why is this tiger seen strange? His behavior is not as usual,” he said in his heart.
The husband looked at the tiger. Instantly he was shock. He saw the tiger’s mouth was full of blood. He looked at it in wide eyes. His body was trembled. He then remembered his baby. “Why is your mouth full of blood?” he asked the tiger. “You must do the bad thing to my baby! You have killed him! Why do you do that! You are not an ungrateful creature!”
“You are wicked!” said the wife to the tiger.
The husband drew his chopping-knife. Full of angry he killed the tiger.
The couple went inside their house. Immediately they opened their mouths with perplexity. They then looked at each other. They found their baby was sleeping in his cradle.
Quickly the wife took the baby. She kissed him.
The baby was waked up. He opened his eyes and then smiled.
The couple then opened their eyes widely as they found a dead large snake under the cradle. The snake was full of blood.
“My wife,” the husband said, “we have done wrong act. The tiger is not guilty. Look at the dead snake. The tiger has killed him. He killed the snake, as he wanted to harm our baby. He has saved our baby, but I have killed him. I am very sorry. Forgive me my tiger.”
As not investigate in advance the husband had done wrong act. Since then, the couple’s village called Panyalahan. Panyalahan word comes from nyalahan word with meaning wrong anticipate.