Kancil and Crocodile stor

 Kancil and crocodile story

(Favourite Stories from Indonesia)

Kancil, the small but clever mousedeer, had many enemies in the forest. Fortunately, he was quick-witted, so that every time his life was threatened, he managed to escape.

One of his greatest enemies was Crocodile, who lived in the river that bordered the forest. Many times Crocodile had tried to capture the small mousedeer. Crocodile was big, but he was not very clever. Kancil was able to trick him every time.

One day it was very hot. There was no wind at all to refresh the thirsty plants and trees of the forest. It was in the middle of the dry season. For many weeks no rain had fallen so that the little creeks where the small animals used to drink had dried up. Kancil was walking alone in the forest; he was very thirsty. He had walked a long way; looking for a brook where he could quench his thirst, but he had found only dry mud in the once gay rippling brooks. It was very quiet in the forest. All the animals seemed to sleep. Even the birds did not sing in the trees. Kancil finally decided to go to the river that bordered the forest. Usually he avoided going there as he knew that Crocodile was always on the look-out for him, waiting for an opportunity to catch him.

When he arrived at the river. Kancil looked cautiously around him. There was no body to be seen. The clear river water mirrored blidingly the rays of the sun. step by step Kancil approached the water. His sharp eyes looked right and left; his pointed ears strained to catch the slightest sound. But no danger seemed to threaten him this time. Relieved, he bent his head to enjoy the cool water. Suddenly, his glance fell upon an object that was floating not far away from where he stood. It was a blackish thing. It looked like a fallen branch ………. Or, like the back of crocodile! Kancil jumped back, surprised and thoughtful. But he was also very thirsty. How could he possibly know whether the thing there in the river was really a log or a crocodile? Then he smiled a little as he  hit upon an idea. In a clear voice he shouted, “ Hey! There, you who are in the river. If you are crocodile, don’t answer me, but if you are only a long of wood, tell me your name!”

Now it was really Crocodile who was floating in the river. He had seen Kancil approaching and he was waiting for him to bend his head to drink. At the very moment when Kancil did not look. Crocodile would catch him. Without thinking any further, Crocodile answered Kancil in his gruff voice, “Don’t be afraid, I’m only a harmless log!”

Immediately, Kancil ran away as fast as his leg could carry him, while shouting over his shoulder, “O, stupid Crocodile, have you ever heard a log of wood talk?”

A fortnight later, however, Kancil forgot this incident. The dry season was not over yet and it seemed to be hotter than ever. Kancil remembered the cool, fresh river water. How wonderful it would be take a bath in it! He decidec to try his luck once again. This time there was nothing suspicious to be seen, so Kancil went to the water and drank to his heart’s content. It was very quite, and also very hot. Without thinking any further Kancil went down into the river and began to splash himself. In his delight he forgot all about danger. He pick up a dry twig that was floating by and began to beat the water with it. He made so much noise that he woke up….. who else, but old crocodile who was sleeping in the neighbourhood.

“Well, well, this seem to be my lucky day,” thought Crocodile. In a flash he shot out of his hiding place and all of a sudden. Kancil felt sharp teeth biting into one of his legs. It hurt him very much, but though he was shocked and frightened Kancil did not lose his wits. Without hesitation he dipped the dry twig into the water and in a mocking tone he said, “stupid old log of wood, do you really think you have got me? It is only a twig you have in your mouth, not my leg. Here is my leg’ catch it if you can!”

Kancil moved the twig rapidly to and in front of Crocodile’s eyes. Crocodile could not see very well in the water and above all, he really was blockhead! He believed the clever tal of the little mousedeer, released kancil’s leg and snapped his jaw on the twig. Of course, kancil did not wait one second to jump out of the water and run to the safety of the woods. Though his leg was very sore, he laughed heartily. Once more he had tricked Crocodile.

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Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story (Favourite stories from Indonesia)

One beautiful morning Kancil decided to fish in a certain river. On the way he met his friend, Swine, who stopped him for a chat. When Swine heard that Kancil wanted to go fishing, he asked whether he could join him, Kancil did not object, as Swine promised to help him with the work. The two of them went on together and soon they met Tiger and Elephant. When they heard that Kancil and Swine were going to the river, they decide to go along, too. And so the four animals went together to the river to fish.
Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story

Kancil and the giant story

When they arrived at the river bank, Kancil immediately began to give orders left and right. Elephant had to dam the river with stones and tree trunks. Tiger and Swine had to throw away the river water while Kancil himself set out to catch the fish left on the dry river bed. There were, however, few fish, so they decided to go further down the river to try their lick again. Kancil ordered Swine to stay behind with their catch. He himself went with Tiger and Elephant further downstream where the tree of them began their work all over again.
Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story

Meanwhile, a giant came to the place where Swine sat. As soon as he saw the glittering fish, he grabbed them greedily and stuffied them what into his mouth. It was useless for Swine to protect and the giant did not even listen to him. Swine ran toward his friends and told them had happened. Of course, the three others were bot very pleased.

Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant StoryThe second time, too, they did not catch enough fish. did not even listen to him. Ordered Tiger to stay behind with their second catch, while he, Swine and Elephant went further away to dam the river at another place. As soon as the three of them were out of sight, the hungry giant came from behind the bushes and ate up all the fish. Tiger snarled angrily, but he did not dare to fight the giant.

Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant StoryWhen the other animals came back with their catch they found a very ashamed Tiger without a single fish. Kancil scolded him until he became red in the face. Now it was Elephant’s turn to play guard.

“You are so big. Friend Elephant. Certainly, we can trust you to defend our fish,” said Kancil.

For the third time the giant came to eat the fish. When Elephant saw how big he was, he became afraid and let the giant steal their fish. Kancil and the others came back, they found the basket empty again. Kancil was very angry with his three friends. He shouted, “What’s the use of having such big and strong bodies, if you can’t even chase away one single giant. This time I will stay here myself. Do you think I am too small to do this job? Go away , the three of you, and catch as a many fish as you can. When you come back, you will find that robber lying here in front of me, bound and helpless.”

  Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story
After Swine, Tiger and Elephant had gone away, Kancil plucked a big bunch of reeds from the river side. He tied these reeds around his body. Then lying down under the nearest tree, he bound the reed ends to the roots of the tree. He was very busy tying himself when the giant came. Kancil pretended not to see him and went on with his work. The giant became curious and instead of grabbing the fish he stopped to look sown at Kancil and asked what he was doing.

“Well. Well. Don’t you know what is going happen today?” asked Kancil in a surprised tone.

“What is going to happen today?” asked the giant curiously.

“I thought everybody knew about it,” answered Kancil. “You must have been asleep when Nabi Sulaiman came into the forest to warn all the animals about the big flood. The big flood will carry everybody away to the see, unless he takes precaution to be safe.”

“Oh, I have not heard about this flood,” answered the giant, who believe every word Kancil said, “Tell me, what do you do to avoid being carried away?”

“Don’t you see what I am doing” said Kancil. “I bind myself to these roots, so that the water will not drag me away
Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story

“That’s a very good idea,” said the stupid giant. “Won’t you help me a little?”

“Why not? I am always ready to help somebody in need,” answered Kancil. “But these reeds are not strong enough to hold your heavy body. Why don’t you go into the forest and collect a big bunch of thick rattan? I shall wait for you here. But hurry, we don’t have much time as the flood will come soon after noon.”

Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story

The stupid giant, afraid of losing his life, ran into the woods and soon came back with a big load of rattan. Kancil told him to bind his own legs tightly together with the rattan, then sit with his back  against a big tree so that Kancil could help him tie his body against the tree trunk. The giant did everything Kancil said. Soon he was sitting boud and helpless against the tree. To be  completely safe, Kancil wound several more pieces of rattan round him so that the giant could hardly move.

Narrative Text Fable - Kancil and the giant Story 
Then the clever little animal called out to his friends who were still busy catching fish some distance away. Swine, Tiger and Elephant did not have much trouble killing their enemy.

Of course, Kancil did not tell them that he had tricked the giant, and the other three animals thought that he had fought with him. They all admired his enormous strength. They gave Kancil the biggest share of the fish, and after having finished their meal each of them went his own way.

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