Batu Gantung and Parapatan city Legend

Batu Gantung and Parapatan city Legend

                                               
Once upon a time at Toba Lake, which is famous with its legend and beautifull sightseeing, there was a family who live around the place. They live in an isolated village. The family work as farmers. Their fields are at the edge of a lake.
They used to work on their fields and plants which the products could fulfill their daily needs. This family had a beautiful daughter named Arum. People said, the beauty of the girl was so famous so that many young men tried to persuate her to become their girlfriend. One of the young men who were also persuading her was Surandu, A young man from other village.
Suradu’s attitude in treating arum, made arum fell in love with him. So, there was an affair between them.
Behinde her happiness, Arum felt so sad because she knew that her parents were picking a fiance who she didn’t like at all.
One day, her father called her because there was a purpose of sudden that should be done. “Did you call me father?” ask Arum to his father. “Yes,, Arum, I will go to our neighbouring village with your mother. I want you to take control of the fields as what I’ve taught the last day about how to control our fields. Do you mind?” asked her father
“No, but what time you will go home, father?” Arum asked. “If the business has done, we will go home as soon as possible.” The father replied.
“Alright, father, I hope it could be done as soon as possible”. Arum said to his father.
After packing some stuff, her parents said goodbye to her. “Take care of yourself, Arum. If your activity has done, you should go home as soon as possible”. Her mother gave her a message.
“Yes, mother”. Arum answered.
They went to the neighbouring village on foot with Arum who walked along with them until at the end of the village road.
After the sun was straigt to his head, Arum went to the fields with her lovely dog that was name Toki. When she had arrived to the fields, she didn’t go to work immediately. Her eyes were glazing. Then she approached to a big rock. It was like a buffalo-size rock.
Arum sat on the rock and mused while looking at Toba Lake with empty eyes. He talks to herself:” mother and father would be in her fiance now. They must be arguing yhe day of the wedding….Oh, god, what should I do..?. My mother and my Father had picked a faire for me who is still my cousin. Meanwhile, I have a boyfriend. I even had promised to have a happy family with him.”
Arum cried, she didn’t know what to do. What should she pick for a way out? The problem that she had been difficult and hurted hurt deeply so that she had forgotten to work on her fields.
She became more confused when Surando said that he and his family would go to her house to purpose her in a few days.
But what a pity, before she told her mother about it, her mother had accepted a purpose from another. Arum would be married by a young man who was still having a family relationship. He was a son from her aunt.
It made Arum felt so down. It had benn days that she couldn’t sleep well. She couldn’t eat well also. She was depressed.
Her mind was in an uprare. She didn’t dare to refuse her parents willingness because she was respecting them. But she couldn’t survive without her love.
Arum felt that she had to make her parents happy by showing them her devotion. In the other hand, she had promised to Surandu to live together forever.
Meanwhile, Toki who sat besides her looked at its master with sad eyes as it felt its master’s feeling.
Arumi became more confused, she was just crying and despiring
Arum got up slowly.She stood up with eyes filled with tears. She walked to Toba Lake and said: “Oh, mother, father and my darling I’m sorry for my powerlessness. ...i felt I can’t live with a life full of trials and obstacles. I can’t make you happy also, mother and father”.
“Maybe death will be the best way for this powerless!”
Arumi was going to end her life; she went to a steep cliff and she wanted to jump to the lake. Toki, the dog had a bad feeling so that he was barking while following his master.
Because of her chaotic feeling, she didn’t look at the pass way carefully so that she slipped into a big stone pit.
Arum was surprised. She shouted loudly. “help…help…!!”
The stone pit was so deep. Nobody knew about the accident. Meanwhile, Toki couldn’t make anything but barking and barking.
Arum had hit the bottom of the piit where there was no light because the sun couldn’t reach the bottom of the hole. Arum could only touch the stone without seeing anything.
She tought it was possible for her to go out. In her despired. She became brave. She even shouted to the stone to moor. “ Parapat….!Parapat batu…parapatlah!!” (Moor! moor…! moor..!)
Arum wanted the stone to tie her up and she would die in the hole without nobody knew that she had been there.
Toki was still barking. It had made an attraction of two farmers who passed the way unintended.
First farmr: “The dog looked like arums, our neighbour”
Second farmer:” you are right, why it is barking continuously?”
First farmer: “We better go there”.
Both of the farmers rushed to toward the dog. They saw a big stone pit. They were surprising by a voice that they were familiar with.
First farmer: “I know this voice. It is arums!”
Second farmer:” Yes, you are right.”
First farmer: “What is she doing down there and why is she shouting: Parapat, parapatlah batu?”
Second farmer: “There is something wrong here. We have to help her”.
First farmer: “but how? The sun is almost set now!”
It was true that the sun had almost set. They felt that they couldn’t help so that the two farmers decided to ask some help from other neighbour. Toki was brought home so that it could be a provement.
At the same time, Arum’s parents who had home were surprise that their daughter were not home yet.They felt something’s wrong. So the father decided to go to the fields.
On the way to the fieds, he met the two farmers.” Did you see my daughter?” he asked. “Yes,she had fallen to the bottom of the rock pit over there, here’s the dog. We were incapable to help her. It was so difficult to help her.” They answered. Without asking more, the father rushed to the stone pit.
The news had spread quickly, people went out from their house to know what had happened. The young men of the village rushed leaving the people behind.
After the people had gathered near my the stone pit, they were trying to help her, but they were confused by the torch that they brought can not light up the stone pit.
People were hearing Arum’s voice who had shouted “ Parapatlah…!parapat Batu….Perapatlah!”
“Aruuuuuuumm…! Arum’s mother shouted desperately. Then her mother fainted. She had helped by their neighbour.
When a rope that they had thrown couldn’t touch the bottom of the stone pit, her father tried to save her daughter himself, but the villagers had prevented it first. They tought it could be dangerous.
Suddenly there was bluster. The rock moved and closed itself so that the people couldn’t save the poor girl.
The father fell down. He was powerless. His face had turned pale. He was so sad because Arumi was her only child and arumi was the most beautiful girl in his village,
The young men who wanted to be his wife was desperate and regreted because tere would any girl as pretty as her.
Days had gone by; a ceremony had been held to commemorate the accident. Many people from other places came to see what had happened. Some of them explained that they heard that arum had shouted to the stone pit to moor her. The girl shouted:”Parapatlah…Parapat batu..Parapatlah….!
Because “parapat” words used to be said among villagers, people agreed to memorise it and celebrate a fair which had been named as “Parapatan”.
But, soon there was an earthquake which had made people run everywhere to selfthemselves. Meanwhile, the earth shocking hardly, even harder that the earthquake had destroyed houses, trees and human.
After the earthquake had stopped, a scary view appeared. Many pets and people died. But the most surprising that there was a big stone that appeared suddenly. The stone looked like a girl. The existance was like hanging to the mountain side.
People believe that the hanging rock was the manifestation of a girl who died in the stone. They named the stone as “Batu Gantung” or hanging rock.
Parapatan that was a name of a ceremony became a small city which is located close to Toba Lake. That’s all a history about “Batu Gantung” in north Sumatra.