The Legend of Pesut Mahakam

A long time ago, there was a village in East Kalimantan. The village was near the Mahakam
River. The villagers always worked hard. Although they were poor, they were very happy. They
also helped each other.

In the village, there was a rich family. The head of the family was Pak Pesut. Everybody knew
Pak Pesut. He was known not because of his wealth, but because his stinginess. He did not like
to help others. His family always ignored people. That’s why Mr.Pesut’s family always lived
alone and never mingled with others.

It was a very long dry season. All the rice fields could not get water properly. The villagers could
not harvest the rice.There fore, all villagers were planning to leave their village and find other
place to stay. Then they sent some young men to look for a place that had enough water for
their rice fields.

After several weeks looked for a new place, finally those young men arrived. They brought good
news. There was a waterfall and it was enough to water their rice fields. Later, all the villagers
rushed to the new place. Some villagers went to Pak Pesut’s house to inform about the
waterfall. Although Pak Pesut was stingy, the villagers did not hate him.

“I’m not going with you! I will stay here. I have enough rice for my family.

We will survive!” said Pak Pesut arrogantly.

The villagers knew it was useless to ask Pak Pesut to join them. So, they all left him and his
family alone in the village. When they arrived at the new place, they all were very happy. They
had enough water from the waterfall.

In the mean time, Pak Pesut and his family were beginning to worry. Their rice slowly was
gone. Soon they would not have enough rice to eat. It was in the morning when Pak Pesut’s
wife was cooking their last portion of rice. Suddenly, someone knocked the door. A beggar
came to his house.

“Go out! I don’t have enough rice,” said Pak Pesut. He was lying.

“Please mercy me. I’m so hungry. Give me a little rice please,” asked the beggar.

Pak Pesut immediately asked his family to eat the rice. He was worried the beggar would enter
his house and stole the rice.
“But the rice is still in the cooking pot. Mother is still cooking it. If we eat the rice, it will be very
hot,” said his son.

“I don’t care! If you all don’t eat now, you will never eat again,” said Pak Pesut.

Later, Pak Pesut and his family ate the rice. It was very hot. They needed water to drink. They
rushed to Mahakam River. It was so hot that they finally jumped to the river.

The beggar saw the incident. He then prayed to God. Amazingly, Pak Pesut family slowly
changed into fish. The fish looked like dolphin. Since then, everybody named the fish as Pesut
fish.

Moral of the story: stingy is bad habit

Terjemahan:

Legenda Ikan Pesut Mahakam

Dahulu kala, ada sebuah desa di Kalimantan Timur. Desa ini di dekat sungai Mahakam.
Penduduk desa selalu bekerja keras. Walaupun mereka miskin, mereka merasa sangat senang.
Mereka juga membantu satu sama lain.

Didesa, ada sebuah keluarga kaya. Kepala keluarganya adalah Pak Pesut. Semua orang tahu Pak
Pesut. Dia kenal bukan karena kekayaannya, tapi karena kekikirannya. Ia tidak suka untuk
membantu orang lain. Keluarganya selalu diabaikan orang. Itu sebabnya keluarga Pak Pesut
selalu tinggal sendirian dan tidak pernah bercampur dengan orang lain.

Saat Itu musim kemarau yang sangat panjang. Sawah yang tidak bisa terairi air dengan baik.
Penduduk desa tidak bisa panen padi. Oleh karena itu, semua warga desa berencana untuk
meninggalkan desa mereka dan menemukan tempat lain untuk tinggal. Kemudian mereka
mengirim beberapa orang muda untuk mencari tempat yang cukup air untuk sawah mereka.

Setelah beberapa minggu tampak untuk baru tempat, tiba orang-orang muda. Mereka
membawa kabar baik. Ada air terjun dan itu sudah cukup untuk air sawah mereka. Kemudian,
Semua penduduk desa bergegas ketempat baru. Beberapa orang pergi kerumah Pak Pesut
menginformasikan tentang air terjun. Meskipun Pak Pesut pelit, para penduduk desa tidak
membenci dirinya.

"Aku tidak akan dengan Anda! Saya akan tinggal di sini. Aku punya cukup beras untuk keluarga
saya. Kami akan bertahan! "kata Pak Pesut sombong.
Penduduk desa tahu tidak ada gunanya untuk bertanya Pak Pesut untuk bergabung dengan
mereka. Jadi, yang hanya tersisa dia dan keluarganya sendiri didesa. Ketika mereka tiba
ditempat baru, mereka semua yang sangat bahagia. Mereka memiliki cukup air dari air terjun.

Dalam suatu masa, Pak Pesut dan keluarganya mulai khawatir. Nasi mereka perlahan-lahan
telah pergi. Segera mereka tidak memiliki cukup untuk makan nasi. Pagi itu ketika istri Pak
Pesut sedang memasak porsi nasi mereka terakhir. Tiba-tiba, seseorang mengetuk pintu.
Pengemis dating kerumahnya.

"Keluar! Aku tidak punya cukup beras, "kata Pak Pesut.

Pengemis itu berbaring. "Mohon ampuni saya. Aku begitu lapar. Tolong berikan saya sedikit
beras, "meminta pengemis.

Pak Pesut segera diminta keluarganya makan nasi. Dia khawatir pengemis akan memasuki
rumahnya dan mencuri nasi.

"Tapi beras masih dalam panci memasak. Ibu masih memasak ini. Jika kita makan nasi, itu akan
menjadi sangat panas, "kata anak-Nya.

"Saya tidak peduli! Jika kalian tidak makan sekarang, kalian tidak akan makan lagi, "kata Pak
Pesut.

Setelah itu, Pak Pesut dan keluarganya makan nasi. Nasi Itu sangat panas. Mereka
membutuhkan air minum. Mereka pun bergegas kesungai Mahakam.karena Nasi Itu begitu
panas, mereka akhirnya melompat kesungai.

Pengemis yang melihat kejadian itu, kemudian berdoa kepada Allah. Hebatnya, Pak Pesut dan
keluarga perlahan berubah menjadi ikan. Ikan itu tampak seperti lumba-lumba. Sejak itu,
semua orang bernama ikan sebagai ikan pesut.

Moral cerita : Pelit adalah kebiasaan buruk

QUESTIONS

1. What the kind of the text ?

2. Why Mr. Pesut’s family become the Pesut fish ?

3. Where the origin of The Legend of Pesut Mahakam ?

4. What Mr.Pesut agree when invited residents to relocate ?

5. What response Mr. Pesut when a beggar asking for food ?