Read · B1 · Story
Si Kancil dan Buaya
The Mouse Deer and the Crocodiles. The classic Indonesian folk tale. Clever Kancil the mouse deer wants to cross a crocodile-filled river, and tricks the crocodiles into becoming his bridge. The defining Indonesian children's story.
The story, line by line
- Pada zaman dahulu, hiduplah seekor kancil yang sangat pintar di hutan.
Long ago, there lived a very clever mouse deer in the forest. - Suatu hari, si Kancil lapar dan ingin mencari buah segar di seberang sungai.
One day, Kancil was hungry and wanted to find fresh fruit across the river. - Tetapi sungai itu penuh dengan buaya yang ganas.
But the river was full of fierce crocodiles. - Kancil berpikir sebentar, lalu tersenyum.
Kancil thought for a moment, then smiled. - 'Hai, buaya-buaya! Raja hutan mengirim hadiah daging untuk kalian!'
'Hey, crocodiles! The king of the forest has sent a gift of meat for you!' - Buaya-buaya itu segera berkumpul dengan gembira.
The crocodiles quickly gathered excitedly. - 'Tapi aku harus menghitung dulu berapa banyak kalian.'
'But I must first count how many of you there are.' - 'Silakan berbaris dari tepi sungai ini sampai ke seberang.'
'Please line up from this bank all the way to the other side.' - Para buaya menurut dan berbaris rapi di atas air.
The crocodiles obeyed and lined up neatly on the water. - 'Satu, dua, tiga...' kata Kancil sambil melompat di punggung mereka.
'One, two, three...' said Kancil as he leapt on their backs. - Sampai di seberang, Kancil tertawa keras.
Reaching the other side, Kancil laughed loudly. - 'Terima kasih, buaya! Aku hanya ingin menyeberangi sungai!'
'Thank you, crocodiles! I just wanted to cross the river!' - Pesan moralnya: kecerdasan lebih kuat daripada kekuatan.
The moral: cleverness is stronger than force.