Many of us know about the classic fairy tale of Cinderella
made up by the brotherly duo, the Grimm Brothers. Coincidently, it has
somehow a similar story on a story from Indonesia: Garlic and Shallot (Bawang
Putih dan Bawang Merah).
The story of the Garlic and Shallot goes like this. There is
a girl named Garlic, she was always tortured by her step mother and her step
sister. One day, she lost her step mother’s scarf and her step mother sent her
and told her to not come back until she finds it. This story, Garlic and Shallot
was made in the country of Indonesia.
This story as we said before, Garlic and Shallot is somehow
similar to Cinderella. Garlic and Shallot has a part where Garlic, both the
Protagonist and the Main Character in this story has an evil step mother and an
evil step sister same like Cinderella. They are both patient about their
suffering and they’re both wishing something. Though, there are differences
like when Cinderella wants (and later gets) romance with a prince while Garlic
gets a pumpkin filled with treasure. They both also achieve it differently, while
Cinderella gets it by the help of nature while Garlic gets it with the help of
God and with her kindness to an old widow.
If you want to know
the rest, read the folklore. You could find it on Folklore books both for kids
and the real one, which one you want is fine, they’re both the same.
This story is really good to read because of its very
meaningful message. The message of this story is: Always be patient and always
be nice to people in need, and one day you’ll be rewarded. Cinderella also has
the similar message.
This story reminds me of the book Ranah 3 Warna (Land
of 3 colors). The main character of both stories both believe in the saying
“Good things come to those who wait.”, and they are both very optimistic and
are willing to go to great lengths to satisfy those they care about.
Garlic’s optimism and capacity for empathy is impressive, as
she goes through so much verbal abuse. A typical girl her age in modern times
will barely hold the abuse that long. They would just give up in life.
So in conclusion, both Garlic and Shallot and Cinderella has
the same root problem and they’re both the main character getting rewarded with
something they wanted. They are also grateful for it. Thanks for reading.
(Not me. He's the writer of (most of) the article.)
