BAGUS DIARSA

    

 A long time ago there lived a Balinese prince who loved to le at cockfights. Although his people feared him, most of them also enjoyed cockfights. A large crowd always gathered when a cockfight was held. People came from near and far if they knew that the prince was holding a fight, for then the gambling stakes were high.

Among the people who attended the cockfights was a man called Bagus Diarsa. He liked to gamble, but he was very poor. Each time he went to a cockfight he brought only a little money, some to gamble with, and the rest to buy food.

               One day Diarsa lost almost all of his gambling money at cock­fight. He went to the food stalls and bought a plate of rice with some of the money he had left. While he was eating, he noticed a poor old man, going from stall to stall, asking for left-over. For Every­one turned the old man away, he was dirty and smelled bad.

When the old  man came to Diarsa Diarsa said, 'Why do you ask for left-overs, If that is all I give you I will feel very unkind. It's better that I buy you your own plate of food.' Diarsa bought the old man a full plate of rice, and waited while he ate every grain.

After his meal the old man asked if he could spend the night at Diarsa's house. Diarsa promptly agreed, and when they reached his home, Diarsa asked his wife and son Wira to swiftly prepare a sleeping place for their guest.

As they sat talking late into the night, the old man asked Diarsa if he often went to the cockfights, and whether he won or lost. Diarsa told him that he always went, but always lost.

Then the old man asked, 'Do you keep many cocks?' Diarsa replied, 'Grandfather, I don't have any cocks now. They were all defeated and killed. So now I can bet only on other people's cocks.'

Then the old man said, 'Come to my home and I will give you a strong fighting cock. I have three, and you may take whichever one you like.' Diarsa thanked the old man for his of­fer. The old man asked Diarsa if his son Wira could accompany him home. 'I am old and alone.' he said. 'I need someone to look after me.'

Diarsa felt sympathetic towards the poor old man. 'Cer­tainly, you can take Wira,' he replied, 'if the boy has no objec­tions.' Diarsa and his wife called Wira, and Wira immediately agreed to go with the kind old man.

The next morning Wira and the old man prepared for their journey. Before they went, the old man asked Diarsa to get three chicken feathers. Then he told Diarsa, 'Take good are of thew three feathers. Whenever you want to see Wira or me, just free the feathers. They will fly into the air. Follow them whenever they go, and you will reach my little house.

Then the old man and Wira said goodbye and set off to­wards the east. After they had walked for many hours, the old man said to Wira, 'Listen, my son, let me tell you who I really am. I am the God Siwa.' Just then, he changed into the God Siwa, and soon he and Wira arrived in heaven, and lived in Siwa's palace.

Meanwhile, Diarsa and his wife lived on as usual. Diarsa continued to attend cockfights, and as usual, he always lost. His son had been away for so long that he and his wife had for­gotten him. It was Siwa's wish that this be so.

One day the prince ordered a cockfight to be held outside his palace, and commanded everyone in the village to enter a cock, or else pay a large fine. Diarsa was worried. But suddenly he remembered the old man's promise to give biro a cock. Diarsa told his wife that he must go to look for Wira and the old man.

Diarsa took the three chicken feathers, walked outside his house and looked them. They flew off, and he followed them. After many days Diarsa found himself in front of a beautiful palace. The feathers flew right in, but Diarsa did not dare to follow.

When Siwa saw the feathers enter his palace, he told Wira, 'Your father is outside. Go and bring him in, for he is too afraid to enter alone.' So Wira brought Diarsa in, and explained to him who the old man really was.

Siwa already knew what Diarsa wanted, and he led him to his cocks. Diarsa chose the largest cock. Then he thanked Siwa and said goodbye to his son. But before he lift, Siwa gave him flowers from the garden in his temple. 'Use these when you bet on your cock,' he said.

On the day of the cockfight, people crowded the village square and chose opponents for their cocks. Unfortunately for Diarsa, his cock scared all the others, so he could not find an opponent.

News of Diarsa's strong cock reached the prince, who im­mediately ordered Diarsa to fight his cock against the prince's own. Sharp blades were attached to the legs of both cocks. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the battle between the prince's cock and Diarsa's. How much money do you want to bet on your cock?' The prince asked Diarsa. Diarsa remem­bered Siwa's advice. He reached into his pocket for the temple flowers. But when he pulled his hand out, it was filled with gold, silver, and precious stones. He told the prince that he would bet these on his cock.

Then the two cocks were released. But Diarsa's cock flew up into the air, swooped down on the prince, and killed him. There was a great uproar Diarsa ran home, chased by the prince's soldiers.

Once he was inside, many eagles surrounded his house. His cock perched on the roof, and suddenly turned into a huge Garuda. With the help of the Garuda and the eagles, Diarsa soon subdued the prince's followers. The people, who had hated and feared the strict prince, rejoiced and called Diarsa their new prince.

Diarsa was much loved, for he ruled justly. The princedom became prosperous and happy. Siwa watched all this happen­ing, and one day he called Wira and said to him, 'Wira, it is now time for you to return to earth, for your father has become a prince, and will soon need your help.' So Wira returned to earth amidst great rejoicing by Prince Bagus Diarsa and his Princess. They made Wira the prime minister, and Diarsa's family and his descendants ruled that princedom of Bali for many generations.

The Poleng

Cerita Bahasa Inggris memang menarik untuk dibaca khususnya bagi mereka yang paham dan yang sedang belajar bahasa inggirs, karena Cerita Bahasa inggris tersebut dapat menambah pengetahuan dan menjadi bahan uji coba penguasaan vocabulary atau kosa kata bahasa inggris.
Jenis cerita bahasa inggris sangat bervariasi mulai dari cerita bahasa inggris yang ringan, sedang, dan cerita bahasa inggris yang berat dari segi penggunaan vocabulary, Cerita bahasa inggris yang ringan biasanya menggunakan kosa kata yang ringan juga sehingga pembaca biasanya mudah mengerti dengan cerita bahasa inggris sejenis ini.
Sedangkan cerita bahasa inggris yang sedang, dan berat biasanya menggunakan kosa kata (idiom) yang membuat pembaca sulit memahaminya bagi mereka yang kemampuan kosa katanya masih minim. 
Berikut cerita bahasa inggrisnya dari daerah Bali, cerita bahasa inggris yang seru pastinya hanya di Englishstory12.
 
There was a farmer called Father Poleng. He was ploughing his rice fields with his cows one morning. When it was al­most noon, the sun was high in the sky, Father Poleng sat down to rest and to eat his lunch. While he was eating, an ant crawled up and ate some of his rice. Poleng got angry and without thinking he cursed the ant. Then a voice spoke from heaven.

“Father Poleng,” said the voice, “do not refuse those who ask. Even an ant, a creature who cannot grow rice, is worthy of help.”

Father Poleng thought and thought, and realized that people and creatures of all kinds who are poor deserve to be helped. And with a pure heart, he gave all his satisfied at heart.

That night, when Father Poleng was sleeping alone in his hut on the rice fields, the God Indra descended in all his glory, wearing a beautiful shining jewel. Father Poleng woke up startled, and he saw the bright light burning over his hut.

Then a voice said, “Father Poleng, don’t be frightened. I am Indra who spoke to you when you cursed the ant. I noticed your charity in giving the ant rice and going hungry yourself. I have now come here to reward you. I want to take you to heaven.”

Father Poleng, after writing a letter to his family, went with Indra to heaven. There he became a servant of the gods.

Next morning, Father Poleng’s son, called Young Poleng, arrived at the hut only to find his father gone. He looked for him in the rice fields, but without luck. Young Poleng went home to urge his relatives to join in the search for his father. They searched all the streams of fields but did not find him. Then, thinking that he might have come back in the meantime, they all returned to the hut.

There they noticed the letter which read, “Your father has left you and will not return again. I have been taken by God Indra to heaven.” After Young Poleng read the letter, everyone looked at it. True enough, it was Father Poleng’s writing. Young Poleng and his relatives were all happy that Father Poleng had gone to heaven.

Several days later Young Poleng thought to himself, “Now that Father Poleng is in heaven, we must burn the bones of Grandfather Poleng so that he too can go to heaven.”  In Bali people follow the Hindu practice of burning the dead to free the soul so that it can fly to heaven.

Young Poleng asked a priest to pick a suitable day. He also told the priest that he wanted to hold a large cremation cer­emony fit for a king. But the priest said, “No, it is wrong for you to hold such a ceremony. The Polengs are poor and humble people, not kings.”

“Never mind,” said Young Poleng. “If the gods are offended, I’ll bear all the responsibility.”

When the day arrived, the bones of Grandfather Poleng were cremated like those of a king, with a royal cremation tower and costly cloths.

Later, around midnight, Young Poleng went by himself to the graveyard carrying an offering to the god of death. Soon there appeared a tall man with a long beard, who with a large stick was beating an old man. The old man groaned with pain as the stick came down upon his back. When he saw that the old man being beaten was the spirit of his dead grandfather, Young Poleng became very angry. He went up to the tall man and pulled strongly at his beard.

The tall man was startled, and looking down he said, “Who is that? What are you doing here? How dare you pull my beard!”

“I am the grandson of the old man you are beating,” an­swered Young Poleng. “What has my grandfather done that he should be beaten?”

“I am Jogormanik,” said the tall man. “I hold power over all the spirits here. I also decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The reason your grandfather is being beaten is that you held an elaborate and royal ceremony for his cremation. You shouldn’t have. It is only right that your grandfather be sent hell.”

“No!” cried young Poleng. “If my grandfather is to be sent to hell, it must be with Indra’s permission.”

“Then,” said Jogormanik, “let us go to heaven.”

So the three of them travelled to heaven. When they arrived Young Poleng found Father Poleng and explained the whole matter to him. When he understood, Father Poleng went before the God Indra and asked that his father not be sent to hell.

“Jogormanik,” said Indra, “it is not right for you to punish the spirit of Grandfather Poleng, because Father Poleng and Young Poleng have done many good deeds. I invite Grandfather Poleng’s spirit to live here, together with Father Poleng. You, Young Poleng, may return again to the world. I grant you every happiness, but remember, always do what is right, so that when you die your spirit may come here to be with your father and grandfather.”

Young Poleng arrived home and told his family and fellow villagers all about his journey. Young Poleng was loved and re­spected by everyone, for he was the only one among the living who had visited heaven.