Legenda Pohon Dadi’ Cella’(The Origin of The Dadi’ Cella’ Tree)
- Title
- Legenda Pohon Dadi’ Cella’(The Origin of The Dadi’ Cella’ Tree)
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- English
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- Putri Fariha Akmalia
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- —
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Description(s)
The Origin of The Dadi’ Cella’ Tree I will tell this story in accordance with the version that has been passed down to me from my grandmother, with some modifications. There are many versions of this folktale, though all of them tell the story of a mischievous boy who was killed by his mother. This story begins with a tree in the village where I live. In Bugis language this tree is called pohon dadi' cella' (red sap tree). It has a large trunk, broad leaves, and bares no fruit. Its sap is red like the colour of a ripe pomegranate. The Pumpikatu village lies at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by vast stretches of rice fields that turn yellow in the harvest season and green during the planting season. At dusk, the air is filled with the screeches of swallows returning for the night. Sattu’s father had died fighting in the Indonesian army against invaders, leaving Sattu and his mother Raba’ with only each other. Sattu grew rebellious, never listening to his mother or helping her with the housework and the work in the fields. Though Raba’ never scolded her son, she often cried alone in her room. Other people in the village did not understand why Raba’ has never made her son work. Raba’ walks back and forth along the steep roads, carrying water from the river. Her back is stiff from bending under the weight of the full buckets and her palms are red from where the handles have dug into her flesh. As Raba’ is returning home for the last time, she sees Sattu playing in the field with his friends and is suddenly filled with anger and resentment towards her child. Without thinking, she takes her badik (Indonesia traditional knife) from the kitchen and waits beside the front door. When Sattu returns, Raba’ stabs him in the neck with the badik. Sattu’s skin grows stiff and rough, turning a brownish colour. His body begins to stretch and tree limbs emerge from his chest and shoulders. Realising what she has done, Raba’ begins to weep, crouching down onto the ground, her body heaving. In the months that followed, Raba’ became very sick, swallowed by the regret that she had neglected to educate her son, Sattu. It is still believed that Sattu is in the body of the dadi’ cella’ tree and that the red sap of the tree is his blood. When a landslide uprooted the tree, causing a road blockage, it was only partly cut down, so as not to harm Sattu.
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