Buaya Perunggu

Cerita rakyat dari Maluku

Dahulu kala, di Teluk Baguala, Maluku, tinggal

seekor buaya raksasa. Buaya itu sangat besar. Ekornya
panjang dan giginya tajam.
Si buaya tampak sangat menyeramkan. Warna
kulitnya perunggu dan itu dapat membuat manusia dan
binatang yang baru saja melihat buaya merasa
ketakutan. Buaya itu bernama buaya perunggu.
Meskipun buaya tampak sangat menyeramkan,
semua binatang di teluk sangat mencintainya.
Mengapa? Bagaimana ini bisa terjadi? Mengapa
semua binatang menyukai buaya? Nah itu karena
buaya melindungi mereka. Ya, buaya perunggu adalah
rajanya. Semua binatang di teluk hidup bahagia dan
damai. Itu adalah hari yang indah sementara kepiting
tampak sangat khawatir.
"Hei, ada apa denganmu?" Tanya seekor ikan.
"Aku ... aku ... aku ..." kepiting itu tidak bisa bicara.
"Tenanglah, lalu ceritakan apa yang terjadi."
"Ada seekor ular besar yang datang ke teluk kami, dia mencoba memakanku, untung aku bisa
kabur," kata kepiting itu.
Di tengah percakapan mereka, datanglah seorang gurita.
"Astaga ... Anda tidak akan percaya apa yang baru saja terjadi pada saya," kata si gurita.
"Kenapa? Apa yang terjadi?" Tanya ikan itu.
"Seekor ular besar baru saja menyerang saya, dia hampir memakan saya, untung saya bisa lolos,"
kata si gurita dengan gugup.
"Kita tidak bisa membiarkan ini terjadi, kita harus melaporkannya kepada raja kita," kata ikan
itu.
"Saya setuju, mari bertemu dengan raja kita!" Kata si gurita.
Ketiganya segera menemui raja mereka, buaya perunggu. Dalam waktu singkat, mereka masuk
ke tempat buaya perunggu,
"Yang Mulia, kita punya kabar buruk! Seekor ular besar akan sampai ke tempat kita, dia
mengganggu kita dan mencoba memakan kita!" Kata si kepiting.
"Aku harus menghentikan ular itu!" Kata buaya perunggu.
Dia melanjutkan,
"Dimana dia? Dimana saya bisa menemukannya?"
"Saya akan menunjukkan di mana dia, Yang Mulia Tolong ikuti saya," kata si gurita.
Si buaya dengan berani mengikuti gurita. Dia sangat marah! Dia benci tempatnya terganggu.
"Di sana, Yang Mulia! Itu ular yang mencoba memakanku," kata si gurita. Dia menunjuk seekor
ular besar.
"Terima kasih, sekarang kamu bisa pulang," kata si perunggu buaya.
 "Hei, kamu apa yang kamu lakukan disini?" Tanya si buaya perunggu ke ular itu dengan marah.
"Saya lapar saya mau makan," kata si ular sombong.
"Anda tidak bisa melakukannya di sini! Anda tidak disambut! Pergi!" Tanya si buaya.
"Ha ha ha ... aku tidak mau pergi, aku suka tempat ini dan aku akan tetap di sini!"
"Kalau begitu aku harus melawanmu," kata si buaya.
Pertarungan antara buaya perunggu dan ular itu tak terbendung. Pertarungan itu sangat
mengerikan.
Untung buaya perunggu itu jauh lebih kuat dari pada ular. Segera, ular itu mati. Semua binatang
sangat senang. Mereka tidak perlu khawatir lagi.
Sampai saat ini, masyarakat Maluku percaya bahwa buaya perunggu masih tinggal di Teluk
Baguala. Buaya sering menunjukkan dirinya dan setelah itu, banyak ikan akan mengikutinya. Itulah
mengapa orang senang saat melihat buaya perunggu karena nantinya bisa menangkap banyak ikan.
***
 The Bronze Crocodile
Folklore from Maluku

A long time ago, in Gulf Baguala, Maluku, there

lived a giant crocodile. The crocodile was very big. Its
tail was long and its teeth were sharp.
The crocodile looked so scary. The skin color was
bronze and it made anyone and any animals that just
saw the crocodile would be scared to death. The
crocodile was named bronze crocodile.
Though the crocodile looked so scary all animals
in the gulf loved him very much. Why? How could this
happen? Why all the animals loved the crocodile? Well
it was because the crocodile protected them. Yes, the
bronze crocodile was their king. All the animals in the
gulf lived happily and peacefully. It was a beautiful
day while a crab looked so worried.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" asked a fish.
"I... I... I..." the crab was unable to talk.
"Calm down, relax. Then tell me what happened."
"There is a big snake coming to our gulf. He is trying to eat me. Luckily I was able to escape,"
said the crab.
In the middle of their conversation, came an octopus.
"Gosh... you are not going to believe what just happened to me," said the octopus.
"Why? What's going on?" asked the fish.
"A big snake just attacked me. He almost ate me. I escaped," said the octopus nervously.
"We cannot let this happen. We have to report it to our king," said the fish.
"I agree! Let's meet our king!" said the octopus.
The three of them immediately went to see their king, the bronze crocodile. In just a minute, they
arived at the bronze crocodile's place,
"Your Majesty, we have a bad news! A big snake is coming to our place. He is disturbing us and
trying to eat us!" said the crab.
"I have to stop the snake!" said the bronze crocodile.
He continued,
"Where is he? Where can I find him?"
"I will show you where he is, Your Majesty. Please follow me," said the octopus.
The crocodile bravely followed the octopus. He was so angry! He hated that his place was
disturbed.
"Over there, Your Majesty! That's the snake that tried to eat me," said the octopus. He pointed at
one big snake.
"Thank you, now you can go home," said the bronze crocodile.
"Hey, you! What are you doing here?" asked the bronze crocodile to the snake angrily.
"I'm hungry I want to eat," said the snake arrogantly.
 "You cannot do it here! You are not welcomed! Go away!" asked the crocodile.
"Ha ha ha... I will not go. I love this place and I will stay here!"
"Then I have to fight you," said the crocodile.
The fight between the bronze crocodile and the snake was unstoppable. The fight was very
terrible.
Luckily the bronze crocodile was much stronger than the snake. Soon, the snake died. All the
animals were extremely happy. They did not have to worry anymore.
Until now, the people of Maluku believe that the bronze crocodile still lives in the Gulf Baguala.
The crocodile often shows himself and after that, lots.of fish will follow him. That's why people are
happy when they can see the bronze crocodile because later they can catch lots of fish. ***