Bayu and the Dragon
Long, long ago, there lived a poor young man named Bayu. Bayu was an orphan living alone on a small town’s edge. One day, he heard the news about the sudden appearance of a vicious Dragon, which frequently attacked the villages around his town. For the past 100 years, the Dragon had never bothered anyone and had only slept in its lair. However, the big earthquake that happened recently seemed to wake him up. After sleeping for so long, it was no wonder that the Dragon felt hungry and started hunting.
Bayu, thirsty for attention from others, felt compelled to defeat the Dragon and save his town and other villages. He prepared himself with a simple wooden arrow he made himself and went to the Dragon’s lair, which was located in a mountain far from his small town. After searching for several days, Bayu finally found the Dragon’s nest. It was a large cave on top of the mountain. In front of the nest, there were lots of iron weapons and shields just lying around. The condition of the weapons and shields was still good, only a little charred in a few places. It seemed other adventurers had tried to defeat the Dragon but had not had much luck. Bayu chose iron weapons, shields, and several other pieces of equipments with the best conditions from among the pile and left the weapon he made. Then, he entered the Dragon’s nest, determined to win and come out alive.
Inside the nest, he had to go through a long, sharp winding tunnel before finally seeing the Dragon sleeping inside. He felt scared but had no choice but to stay brave. It was a swimming or sinking situation for him. After all, no one was waiting for him at home either. He had come this far; returning empty-handed would be a waste.
Bayu used a bit of his time to observe the situation and make plans. Bayu realized he would be killed if he woke the Dragon with noise or movement. Instead, he decided to use his wits to defeat the Dragon. Bayu began to move very carefully and slowly, slowly entering the deeper cave. He realized that the Dragon was very sensitive to sound, so he had to move carefully not to disturb his sleep. Bayu took advantage of the equipment he had brought and looked for a safe way around the cave.
Finally, he arrived at a dark corner of the cave. In that corner, he saw many strange plants glowing in the dark. Upon getting closer, he recognized the plant as the kind of poisonous plant often used by the Necromancers in his small town. The plant was harmless, except when burned, and any living creature inhaled the fumes. He also realized that the entire cave was filled with these plants. Voila! An idea popped into his head.
Bayu crept closer to the sleeping Dragon and tightly tied the Dragon’s legs and wings to a large rock. Then he scattered the poisonous plants around the Dragon. Furthermore, he went deeper into the cave. He saw a large pot filled with gold and jewels but ignored it. He covered his nose and mouth with a cloth, approached a nearby clump of poisonous plants, and started burning it. Nimbly, he dashed towards the cave entrance while continuing to burn some of the toxic plant parts he encountered, including those he scattered around the Dragon.
Bayu continued to burn poisonous plants while running out of the cave, and he kept running away from the cave. The Dragon, awakened by the growing smoke, could not move as its legs and wings were tightly bound to a boulder. In addition, he had had time to inhale the toxic fumes while sleeping, and his body began to experience paralysis. The smoke inside the cave was getting thicker, and it was trapped inside because the location was quite far from the cave door and the sharp winding passages leading to it. Unable to escape, the Dragon died from choking on the poisonous fumes.
Bayu had succeeded in defeating the Dragon with his cunning trick and making the cave safe for other adventurers to explore. However, he did not want to return home to spread the news yet and camped for several weeks near the nest. Bayu would dispel other idle adventurers who wanted to try their luck and seek glory. He showed them the weapons, shields, and other equipment that had previously been lying in front of the Dragon’s lair. Then he made up scary stories to drive away the adventurers. While doing that, Bayu also tried to sell some of these items to adventurers and made a small profit.
After 3 weeks of camping and driving people out of the cave, Bayu returned to the Dragon’s lair. It could be seen that the smoke was gone, but Bayu remained careful by covering his mouth and nose and did not stay in there for long. Strangely, the Dragon’s carcass was not visible where the Dragon had previously been. Now, there was a very dense thicket of poisonous plants there. The area of the toxic plant bush was the size of the Dragon’s body. When Bayu thought of it, the color of the poisonous plant was similar to the color of the Dragon’s scales.
Anyway, Bayu rushed over to the pot of gold and jewels he had seen and immediately took them. After that, he returned to his town and told the people that he had destroyed the Dragon. The cave that was the Dragon’s lair was now safe to explore. Moreover, many unique poisonous plants grew there. It would be of great value to those who could use the plant.
Bayu became famous throughout the country as a brave and intelligent hero. Bayu also taught people that ingenuity and courage could be more powerful than physical strength. A year later, Bayu was appointed Mayor by the small town’s residents. They were greatly impressed by his courage and ingenuity. Bayu ruled wisely and justly, bringing peace and prosperity to the city and surrounding villages. He used the treasure he found in the Dragon’s cave to improve his town and its villages. Meanwhile, his profits from selling weapons and shields were kept as his savings for old age.
That is the story of Bayu, who managed to defeat the Dragon. This story teaches us always to fight and be brave in facing life’s obstacles and challenges. Even though Bayu was just a poor young man and did not have sophisticated weapons, he could defeat the cruel Dragon and save the villages in danger. Success will always come to those with the determination and courage to face life’s challenges.
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The Indonesian version of this story can be found here^^
