Dongeng Ratu dan Nelayan

By Speak Indo, original reading practice from the Speak Indo course.

The Tale of the Queen and the Fisherman. A grandmother tells a moral tale about a fisherman whose honesty prevents a war.

The dialogue, line by line

1. Nenek, ceritakan dongeng dong.
   Grandma, tell me a story.
2. Baiklah. Dulu ada seorang ratu yang bijak.
   All right. Long ago there was a wise queen.
3. Dia kaya atau miskin?
   Was she rich or poor?
4. Kerajaannya kaya, tapi banyak rakyatnya masih miskin.
   Her kingdom was rich, but many of her people were still poor.
5. Terus bagaimana?
   Then what happened?
6. Datang musuh dari laut, kapten kapal yang jahat.
   An enemy came from the sea, an evil ship captain.
7. Dia mau membunuh ratu?
   Did he want to kill the queen?
8. Mau. Tapi seorang nelayan tua memohon agar dia tidak menyerang.
   He did. But an old fisherman begged him not to attack.
9. Kapten itu menerima permohonannya?
   Did the captain accept his plea?
10. Awalnya tidak. Kata-katanya tajam sekali.
    At first no. His words were very sharp.
11. Lalu apa yang mengubah dia?
    So what changed him?
12. Nelayan itu bercerita bahwa perang telah menyebabkan kematian anaknya sendiri.
    The fisherman said that war had caused his own child's death.
13. Sedih sekali.
    That is very sad.
14. Iya. Kapten itu teringat keluarganya, lalu memerintahkan kapalnya pergi.
    Yes. The captain remembered his family, then ordered his ship to leave.
15. Jadi kejujuran bisa memecahkan masalah tanpa kekerasan, ya kan?
    So honesty can solve a problem without violence, right?
16. Betul. Belas kasih bisa lebih kuat daripada kemarahan.
    Correct. Compassion can be stronger than anger.

Vocabulary in this dialogue

• nenek, grandmother
• dong, please
• ada, there is
• ratu, queen
• yang, which / who / that (relativizer)
• dia, he
• kaya, rich
• atau, or
• miskin, poor
• tapi, but
• banyak, many
• bagaimana, how