Sabah Folklore ~ Turtle's Legend in Sabah

Many, many years ago, there lived an old woman. This woman was well-liked in her village. She was very beautiful when she was young and had married a stranger from another village. She had a son. His name was Kumbir.
            When Kumbir was five years old, his father died. While he was walking in the forest a huge tree fell on him. This made Kumbir’s mother very sad. She had to work and support her son. She did work for the others and she also sewed clothes. In this way she brought up her son who became a young and handsome man.
            The woman worked very hard. At last, she became old and ill. However her son was of no use. He never did any work. Everyday he would go down the river. There he would disturb he girls who were washing clothes and bathing. He would waste his time with boys who did nothing useful. The mother often advised him but he never listened. She would even ask the chief to talk to the boy. However, all their efforts failed.

One day Kumbir was walking in the jungle. He saw a young girl picking fruit from a tree. He stopped and talked to her.
            “I’ve never seen you before. Are you new to the village?”  he asked.
            “Yes, I am new to the village. My parents and I just moved to the village yesterday. We are staying opposite the chief’s house,” replied the girl. She then walked away.
            Kumbir liked the girl very much. He went to the jungle and met her there often. As time passed he fell in love with that girl and wanted to marry her.
            One day, an old friend met Kumbir’s mother. She asked him how her son was.
            “Where is your son? I am sure he must be a brave young man by now. Life should be much easier now than he has grown up.”
            “No,” the lady said sadly. “He has grown up, but he is more a burden than anything else. He refuses to do any work. He wastes his time with his friends,” she added. The friend was surprise to hear this. She was saddened too. The friend then said,”Let me try and talk to him. Perhaps he will listen to me.” She said this and left.
            When the friend saw the boy, she told him about his mother’s worries. The boy did not seem to listen. The friend went to the mother and suggested that should get married. The friend told the mother, “ I know a lot of young man who wasted their time doing nothing. After marriage, they became responsible.”
            That night the mother asked Kumbir, “ Son, I’ve something important to talk to you. Please come here. If you like any girl in the village, please let me know. I’ll get you married to her.”
            So the son said to the mother, “ I have met the girl in our village. She stays opposite the chief’s house. I want to marry this girl.”
            The mother was surprised to hear this. The next day, the mother went to see the girl’s family. The family liked Kumbir very much and agreed to the marriage. A few weeks later, the wedding was held. All the people in the village celebrated the wedding. Kumbir’s wife came to live with his mother. She never did any work in the house. All the work had to be done by Kumbir’s mother. Kumbir never took pity on his mother. He never told his wife to help his mother.


A few months later, the woman’s friend came again. She asked about Kumbir. Kumbir’s mother complained about him and his wife. Kumbir’s wife became very angry. When the friend left the house, Kumbir’s wife scolded her mother-in-law.
            “I never knew you hated me so much. Why do you complain about me to your friends?” said the daughter-in-law.
            When Kumbir returned home that evening, his wife complained.
            “Your mother hates me very much. I heard she complaining about you and me to her friends. I will not stay in this house anymore. It is like hell to me.” she said. The old woman tried to calm down the daughter-in-law but she would not listen. Kumbir’s wife asked Kumbir to build a new house where they could stay on their own.
            The next day, Kumbir took a few of his friends and built a new house. His mother begged him not to go but he would not listen.Instead, he pushed her aside. The old woman fell down and injured herself. There were some thorny leaves lying on the floor. She had brought them to make medicine. The young girl also pushed the old woman. The mother fell on the thorny leaves and was blinded. She could not see anymore and cried for help. Kumbir and his wife left for their new home.

            The old woman wept. She realized that she was old, sickly and blind. She thought of who would help her or give her food. She just wept and wept. The daughter-in-law told the village people that her mother-in-law was cruel. She said that her mother-in-law would often beat her. The villagers believed this story.
            The old woman stayed all by herself. She did not eat or drink. She did not move  from her place at all. At last, she decided that she would beg her son to return. She thought she would jump into deep river if her son did not return to her.
            Slowly, she came out of the house. She tried to find the way to her son’s house. She asked the people but no one would helped her. The villagers believed the young girl’s story. They were angry with the old woman. Slowly, she came near to the river. She could hear the sound of running water. She sat down by the river.
            She thought to herself, “What a cruel world this is. When I was young and beautiful, young men could come around me. Now that I am old and helpless, no one wants to help me.” She looked very sad.
            As she was weeping, a big turtle came out of the river. It saw the woman sitting there alone.
            “You are blind and you are sitting near a river. It is too dangerous,” said the turtle.
            “I want to kill myself by jumping ito the river,” said the old lady. My son has left me. My daughter-in-law says bad things about me to all the village people. They believe her. Everyone is against me. Why should I live?” added the old lady.
            “Do you think that killing yourself will solve the problem? Will your son and daughter-in-law change if you kill yourself? No, you must prove yourself. Come, I’ll take you to the chief. We will explain all to him. He will tell you what to do,” said the turtle.


The chief called for all the people to assemble. The people gathered noisily. The chide asked them to be quiet. When they were quiet, the chide asked the turtle to speak.
            The turtle said, “All of you have made a mistake. You have not believes this old lady’s story. Instead, you have believed the daughter-in-law’s false story. Ask her for forgiveness. Otherwise, a bad curse will fall on this village.”
            The people were frightened. They realized their fault. They asked the old lady for forgiveness. They also scolded the son and daughter-in-law for treating the old ldady badly. Kumbir and his wife promised to look after the old lady.
            The old lady was very happy. She went to the turtle and said, “Youhave saved my life and given me happiness. How can I thank you?”
            The turtle replied, “For what I have done, I ask you one favour. Please tell al the human beings that they should not eat the meat of the turtles.”
            The old lady went up to the chief and made this request. The chief agreed and ordered everyone to leave he turtle in peace.
            To this day, many people in Sabah do not eat turtle meat.

Adapted from: Turtle’s Legends In Sabah.
(By Patrick SameulSebastian)
Pages: 3 – 19

(Courtesy from: www.sabah.edu.my)