rhowens: Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup (The Stone that Opens and Closes) is a Malay legend of a large b
rhowens: Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup (The Stone that Opens and Closes) is a Malay legend of a large boulder that has an open mouth like a cave where bloodcurdling screams would come out of. It was said that the stone had swallowed many humans that had come to worship it. A popular folk tale exists of a recent widow who, out of madness, ran into the jungle to be eaten by the boulder. Her two young children, Melur the elder sister and Pekan the younger brother, could not stop her and were left as orphans. An old woman started to visit Melur in her dreams. Through her guidance, Melur bred an unbeatable cockerel for her brother to champion. After winning against a match with the king’s own prized bird, the king offered his hand to Melur. When she was queen, she told the king of the boulder that swallowed her mother. The king’s entourage visited the great stone and the king himself shot an arrow into the cavern. In Malay legends, a king’s lineage owns divine, superstitious powers and since then, the boulder sat silent and unmoving. -- source link