Indonesian Folktales Series: Batu Menangis (Cried Stone)

.Fauzul Mei 10, 2025

The legend of Batu Menangis tells the story of Darmi, a beautiful but disobedient daughter. Darmi has an arrogant, spoiled character and is reluctant to help her mother. Darmi's daily life consists of bathing, combing, cleaning, and staying at home to preserve her beauty. Meanwhile, her mother, a widow, slaves in the garden daily to support herself and Darmi. Never once did her mother stop to think that her skin was darkening from the constant exposure to the scorching sun or that she was smelling bad from sweating.

Once upon a time, on top of a hill in a remote village in West Kalimantan, far from residential areas, lived a poor old widow and her beautiful daughter. The widow's daughter's name was Darmi. Darmi's face was very beautiful, her skin was langsat yellow, her hair was long and shiny, and her body was slim. Unfortunately, her beauty was not matched by her temperament.

Mama works hard every day. From early in the morning, she takes care of the vegetable garden: sowing, watering, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting, and selling the harvest at the market. Not to mention looking after the small children and collecting firewood for cooking. The mother's skin, which was originally light, has gradually darkened from exposure to the sun. She is losing weight and has no time to look after herself.

Her mother hoped that Darmi would live a happy life, unlike herself. So Darmi was spoiled, full of love. Darmi grew up to be a very spoiled, lazy, and arrogant girl. She was reluctant to help her mother work in the fields or do any housework. Every day, Darmi spends her time preening herself and admiring her own beauty. Despite living in poverty, Darmi always demanded to be bought nice clothes and jewelry. Her mother, who loved Darmi very much, always tried to fulfill her daughter's wishes, even if it was difficult. This was different from the mother, who had not bought anything for herself for a long time. She was old, she thought. She doesn't need all these things anymore.

But Darmi is still young and outgoing. Darmi was always happy to be bought new clothes, accessories, and makeup tools. As time went by, these were the only things she cared about. Darmi loves to look in the mirror while combing her hair. She realized she was very beautiful. But that was all Darmi did. She would admire herself all day while her mother worked in the garden.

One day, Mama forgot to deliver an order of vegetables to her customer in the village. Mum asked Darmi to help her cook. But when she came home, it turned out that Darmi was still cleaning. Apart from cooking, her room was just as messy as when she left. When asked, Darmi was even angrier because Mummy had disturbed her dressing and left her hungry. Eventually, Mum did the cooking and then cleaned up Darmi's room.

Darmi is getting more and more comfortable; just to get a glass of water, she has to call Mum. Never once did Darmi do any housework, let alone heat the vegetable garden or take goods to the market at the bottom of the hill. But when she wanted something, Darmi would whine until she got what she wanted. If Mum had no money, Darmi was furious! She said she was angry because she was born into a poor family. This made Mama sad, and she often used up all her savings. After all, Darmi was Mama's only love, her dearest child, whom she raised herself from childhood.

One day, Darmi's only comb broke, and she was grumpy all day. She wanted a new comb! It had to be nicer than her old one. But Darmi doesn't trust her mother's taste. After all, when she goes to the market, she can see beautiful accessories and maybe get them too. In the end, Darmi decided to follow Mama down the hill as she delivered vegetables to the market.

They had to walk through several villages to get to the market. The mother wore her shabby clothes, while Darmi looked very beautiful in her best clothes and jewelry.

Darmi, who is afraid of the sun, carries a large leaf as an umbrella. Meanwhile, her mother uses her frail body to pull a cart full of vegetables. One or two people walk past them, casting cynical glances. Darmi thinks it's because people look down on her for having a mother who looks like a beggar. Skinny and shabby!

Darmi took a quick step, leaving her mother behind so that people wouldn't know that the woman pulling the cart was her mother. Unexpectedly, Darmi met friends on the way. They chatted until Mama arrived. But they were surprised to see Darmi walking with an old woman dressed in simple clothes behind her. One of them asked Darmi,

"O beautiful girl, who is the old woman walking behind you?"

Ibu asked who the young man was who was talking to Darmi, hoping to be introduced. Darmi immediately replied sarcastically, "Oh, she's not my mother. She is my maid.

But Darmi instead introduced Mom as her maid. The mother's heart was broken by her son's words. She held back tears and was speechless. Knowing that his mother was silent and accepted being called a maid, Darmi repeated his words every time someone greeted him.

The mother heard Darmi's words. Her heart was very sick, and she was sad to hear her own daughter say such things. However, the mother tried to hold back her sadness.

Not long after, they again crossed paths with other people who also asked about the old woman who walked behind Darmi. Again, Darmi haughtily replied that the woman was her slave. The incident continued to repeat several times along the way to the market. Every time someone asked, Darmi always claimed that her mother was her maid or slave.

At the market, Darmi deliberately followed the mother selling vegetables first so she could peek at the mother's income. Afterward, Darmi immediately asked for money. At first, Mom only gave Darmi money to buy a comb, but Darmi scolded her in public! Already tired of her child's behavior, Mom gave up. Giving up all her earnings that day, somehow, she bought seeds and rice every day.

Darmi is excited; she immediately buys all the interesting things in sight. But every time her mother approached to say hello or praise her, Darmi would shy away. The mother tried several times until she couldn't stand it anymore; she just let Darmi spend money until she was satisfied.

Darmi's beauty meant that she was greeted by many young men at the market until someone wanted to take her home. But Mum was worried about Darmi's safety. Mum followed Darmi from behind to look after her. Darmi looks very cool chatting to the gang of young men who, "he said," wanted to take her home.

More and more young men are approaching my daughter! So Mum had to warn Darmi by calling her. Suddenly the boys looked over and asked Darmi if the caller was her mother.

This time Darmi laughed. They said, How could the woman who looked like a tramp be her mother?" Darmi said she was from a wealthy family; her mother was beautiful and waiting at home. Darmi added that the woman was a lowly worker in his house. The young men laughed too, realizing how ridiculous the question was.

The mother's heart broke even more as she listened to Darmi's every lie and painful confession. She was deeply ashamed and saddened by her daughter's disobedient behavior. Finally, the mother could no longer bear the pain in her heart.

On the way she stopped, "That's enough, I can't take it anymore! She let go of the cart and fell to the ground. Sick at heart, she wept. She let out all the tears she had been holding back as she begged God's help to end her heartache, her fatigue, and her vain prayers for happiness for the disobedient child.

Suddenly the sky, which had been bright, turned dark. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed. It turned out that God had heard the mother's prayer. Darmi, who was still surrounded by young men, suddenly felt her legs stiff and heavy, making it difficult to walk. She panicked and tried to move her body, but she could not.

Suddenly, Darmi realized that she was cursed because of what she had done to her mother. As her body grew heavier, Darmi cried out in fear. The weight pulled Darmi's body down to the ground. Now she knelt and cried even harder.

Her legs turned to stone, all the way to her hips. Even more frightened, Darmi called her mother. She apologized and promised not to repeat her actions. The mother could only gape, then approached her daughter, who was half a stone.

Darmi screamed in fear. She looked back to see her mother with an apologetic face. "Mum... I'm sorry, Mum!" cried Darmi, crying hysterically.

The two of them could only cry together until Darmi turned to stone. Surprisingly, tears continued to flow from Darmi's stone for some time.

The young people moved the stone to the side of the cliff. Facing the sky so that Darmi would not be lonely. The local people called it the weeping stone. It is said that the stone still often sheds tears as a sign of Darmi's remorse for disobeying her mother.

There are several moral lessons to be learned from the story of Batu Menangis. Firstly, parents should bring up their children to be independent. Especially the values of responding to the circumstances and conditions of life. Instill ethics in thinking and politeness. When children make mistakes, parents should give the best possible warning. So that children understand what is good and what is not good, or what is appropriate and inappropriate.

Batu Menangis is a reminder to everyone of the importance of respect and devotion to parents and of the bad consequences of arrogance and disobedience.

As children, we must respect our parents no matter what. All forms of conditions and realities of our parents and family are also part of us. To love our family and parents is to love ourselves.