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The legend of
the formation of Lake Toba
There are several legends about Toba but they are basically all
the same except for a few details. This is the story:
Once
upon a time, there was a man who lived around a ravine of Toba
hill. Nobody knew when he arrived or where he came from. He lived
in a small temporary hut in a farming area by the river, surrounded
by an oval-shaped hill.
He was a fisherman.
He also owned a garden. Once, he found a big fish in his woven
rattan fish trap and it changed his life. In fact, he had never
caught such a big fish before. It was an extra ordinary one. Then
he put it in his hut and went out to think about how to cook it
in a special way.
After a little while,
he went back to the hut. To his surprise, it was not an ordinary
fish but a supernatural one. It had turned into a beautiful princess.
Its scales had changed into beautiful jewelled ornaments and dresses
fit for a princess. Then, the man fell in love with the princess.
He then proposed to her. He asked her: "Will you be my wife ?"
She nodded romantically. Then the man was very happy. The princess
said that she would like to get married with him but only on one
condition. He should never tell anybody that she had been a fish.
The man agreed. She told him that if he broke his promise that
there would be tears, parting and disaster. Finally, they lived
happily and harmoniously with their only daughter.
After the daughter
grew up her mother always asked her to take her father's lunch
to him where he was out working in the fields. But, unfortunately
she was very greedy. Once, she ate up all the food that should
have been given to her father. He was very angry when he saw her
eating up all his food in the street. He shouted at her, "You
are rebellious. You are really the offspring of a fish." The princess
heard the curse and felt that he had broken their agreement. Arriving
home the daughter asked her mother, who was crying, about it.
Without answering her daughter's question, she asked her to go
to the hill because there would be a disaster.
After
she had gone, the princess knelt and prayed to God. After she
had been praying for one minute there was an earthquake. Heavy
rains fell down and springs came up from the ground. The place
was flooded and covered the hut, her daughter and her husband.
The princess turned into the fish again and her husband turned
into a stone. Their daughter wandered everywhere. The place turned
into Lake Toba and the hill into Samosir island.
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