BATU BELAH BATU BERTANGKUP

(The Devouring Rock )

A Famous Malay Folktale

This story is about

Mak Minah , a widow, her two children, her

daughter Mawar , and her young son, Bulat. Mak Minah would work hard
at several jobs in a day . She would work in both a field and as a
fisherwoman to support her fairly young children as best as she could.
One morning , while fishing , she catches a tembakul fish ( local
river fish ). She of course is really happy, and fantasizes all day about
eating the fish with her children for dinner. At noon , Mak Minah goes
home and starts to clean the fish, and is happier when she realizes that
there is fish roe inside. Fish roe back then was very very expensive and
was a delicacy, one that poor people like herself would very

rarely be

able to enjoy. she happily fries it before she goes to work in the fields
and cuts it into three equal parts , one for her older daughter, one for her
young son, and the other for herself. As she heads out the door, Mak
Minah tells her children that they may each have their portion , but she
asked them to leave one of the pieces to eat when she comes home.
Mak Minah spent the entire evening at the field thinking of eating
the roe. When she came home , she finds all three portions eaten. Mawar
explained to her that she and her brother had both eaten their portions ,
but after finishing his , Bulat demanded the other portion and threw a
horrible tantrum when she said no , and that he had taken the piece
anyway. Mak Minah was so devastated that she didnt say anything and
just went to bed.
That night Mak Minah was kept awake by the calling of the batu
belah batu bertangkup , the eater of suicides. She heard the rock calling
her, saying You never managed to eat your roe because as much as you
desired it , it never desired to be eaten by you. This is the way of the
world : what we desire to touch has no desire to be touched by us. But I
am your death and I have longed for you since you were born. And now
all I ask you is that you have the same longing for me. She then snaps
and runs to the rock .
Mawar , hearing the commotion of her mother storming out of the
house, wakes up Bulat and they try to chase her down. They called out
after their mother , but it was no use , the voice of the rock drowned out
everything else. Mak Minah stopped only once on her way to the rock ,
and just long enough for her children to catch sight of her , right in front
of it , where she made a funnel and filled it with her breast milk for her

young son. As she did so , the rock split , and beckoned her to enter. Mak
Minah left the funnel on the floor and fled deep into the rock.