The Blind and the Hunchback

Si Buta dan Si Bungkuk >> Edisi Bahasa Indonesia

Folklore from West Java

TWO men were walking. They were going to the forest to collect some firewood. They were best friends and they always helped each other. Both of them were disabled. One was blind and the other one was hunchback.

"Hey... slowly. Don't walk too fast. Do you forget that I'm blind?" asked the Blind.

"Sorry, my friend. I will walk more slowly now," said the Hunchback.

The Blind was walking behind the Hunchback. He always listened to the Hunchback whatever he saw. Yes, the Hunchback became his 'eyes' to see.

And how about the Blind? Well, although he could not see, he had a great skill in cooking. The food he cooked was so delicious, and the Hunchback was so grateful to eat the food.

And one day, they went to a party. As always, the Blind always followed the Hunchback. That day, the Blind did not cook. They planned to eat at the party. They were really starving.

They walked very slowly. The Hunchback could not walk fast like a normal person and every time he walked with the Blind he walked more slowly.

And when they arrived, the party was over. There was no food left They were very disappointed. The Hunchback blamed the Blind.

"You make us walk very slowly. If we walk faster, we could arrive earlier," said the Hunchback.

"What?! Are you blaming me? If you really wanted to go there, why you didn't leave me and ran there?" asked the Blind.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feeling. Okay, I had an idea. Why don't we go to the jungle and hunting an animal? Maybe we can catch a deer," asked the Hunchback.

"Good idea!" said the Blind.

They prepared a rope and planned to make a trap. They waited and finally a big deer approached their trap.

Then .... Aha! The deer was trapped.

"Hooray!" said the Hunchback.

"What happened?" asked the Blind.

"We caught a deer," explained the Hunchback

"Now, it's your job to cook."

"Don't worry, I will cook the most delicious food for you. I hope the deer is fat and has a lot of meat," said the Blind.

They both started to work.

The Hunchback collected some fire wood. He was so happy that he could catch a deer. He was so starving.

And finally the Blind finished cooking. The Hunchback was so hungry, and he thought that he wanted to eat the whole meat.

He had a bad idea. He wanted to make good use of his friend's weakness. His friend could not see, so he would not know where the meat was.

The Hunchback hid the meat and he gave some bones to the Blind.

"Oh my God! It's so hard! What's this?" asked the Blind.

"It's the meat. The deer is old so the meat is hard," said the Hunchback. He was lying.

"Really?" said the Blind.

He did not believe the Hunchback. Because when he cooked the food, he felt that the meat was tender. But he ate the bone anyway. And he bit very hard and that made his eyes bugged out. And amazingly that made him able to see clearly.

The Blind was so happy, he was not blind anymore. But then he was angry when he saw that his best friend was enjoying the meat while he only got the bone!

He took the bone and he hit his friend's back.

The Hunchback was screaming in pain. But amazingly the hit made his back cured. He no longer had the Hunchback.

They were happy. They were normal! And the Hunchback apologized to the Blind.

He promised that he would never cheat on him again. The Blind forgave the Hunchback and they still had their friendship. ***

Situ Gunung lake, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia

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