at 7:03 PM THE LEGEND of WATER LILY (Folklore from Central Java)

One upon a time, there was Umbul Wening Kingdom. The king was King Ranubanu. He was a wise king. He loved his people. He always took care of them. The king had a daughter. Her name was Princess Dewi Arum. She was very beautiful. Her skin was very smooth. She also smells very good. She lovedswimming and playing in the water. She often spent her time swimming in the pond.

The king was very very sad. A lot of people suffered a strange disease. Lots of them died. The king had asked the palace healers to cure the sick people. Sadly none of them could find the cure. He had an idea. He announced that he would give half of his wealth to anyone who could cure the sick people.

People from other kingdoms came. Again they could not help the people. While the king was almost hopeless, there came an old man.

He said, "Your majesty, I know how to cure them. The medicine is a beautiful flower that grows in the lake. However, not anyone can pick the flower. There has to be the most beautiful girl in the kingdom who can pick it."

The king was silent. He knew the most beautiful girl in the kingdom was his daughter. However, he was hesitant to ask his daughter to do the difficult task. Recently the princess was only staying in her room. She was not allowed to go outside of her room. The king was afraid that she would be infected by the disease. Theking knew that by asking his daughter to go outside she would risk herself. He talked to his daughter and asked her to decide.

"I will go, Father. If I am the only one who can pick the flower, yes I will go. I don't want to see our people dying," said Princess Dewi Arum.

Later, the princess left the palace. She was accompanied by the old man and some soldiers. The old man guided them to find the lake. After having a long journey, they finally found the lake. The old man and the soldiers stayed a bit far from the lake. The princess went to the lake alone. When she was standing at the side of the lake, she was amazed with the water.

The water was clear and it looked so fresh. The princess had not been swimming for a long time. She really missed spending her time playing in the water. Without waiting any longer, she jumped out and swam in the lake.

The soldiers and the old man patiently waited for the princess. They thought that she was still looking for the flower. They did not know that she was having fun swimming in the lake.

They waited for days and none dared to go to the lake. Finally, one soldier went back to the palace. He talked to the king about the princess. And the king decided to go to the lake. He was worried.

When he arrived at the lake, the king was really angry. He saw his daughter was only swimming and not looking for the flower.

"Dewi Arum!What are you doing here? You're supposed to find the flower and not swimming and having fun like this!" said the king. He was really angry.

"I...I...I am sorry, Father. I forgot," said the princess.

"You forgot? If you really want to stay in the lake, then you can stay forever!" said the king.

Amazingly, right after the king finished his sentence, the princess changed into a beautiful flower. The king was sad but it was too late. He picked the flower and gave it to the old man. The old man used the flower as the medicine and the people were all cured.

The people were very grateful. They were also thankful to God. Since then, they named the flower as teratai or water lily.