ANTONETTE CALLEJA 8-SCORPIO

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.