The Twins of the Kingdom of Taun

 A long time ago, in a small kingdom near the present harbour of Lembar, there reigned a king known as Datu Taun, with his wife, Queen Dewi Mas. The people in the kingdom lived in happiness, peace and security, under the wise rule of Datu Taun, his ministers Aur and Gereng and his Queen Dewi Mas, who was praised far and wide for her kind heart and noble character There was only one thing to mar the happiness of the King and Queen, and that was the fact that they had not yet been blessed with a son or daughter who would one day inherit their beloved kingdom. As time went on Datu Taun felt that his life was slipping away, and that he must act to change his situation. After having given the matter full consideration, he made his decision and approached his wife. 

"My Queen," he said gently. "For many years we have hoped for a child; we have made all the necessary offerings, said all the prayers, but to no avail. Now I would like to have your thoughts on this matter." The Queen, although in her heart she must have known what the King was considering, replied sweetly, "I leave it entirely up to you, my Lord, to do what you think best. Whatever you 

decide, I will agree." 

"Then give me your permission to take another wife," said the King. 

"Perhaps in this way I will be given an heir." "I have no objection," said Dewi Mas. "But if you take another woman to marry, be sure that she is a woman of good character, who will produce the kind of offspring you have been longing for." With the Queen's approval, the King now consulted his chief ministers, and told them of his decision. With no objections forthcoming, he then told them that he would soon marry a beautiful princess, the daughter of Minister Aur named Sunggar Tutul. After Datu Taun's marriage to Sunggar Tutul, the King was very seldom seen in the chambers of Dewi Mas. He spent all his time at the palace of his younger wife, a state of affairs which caused the elders of the kingdom not a little concern. Some of them even dared to come before Queen Dewi Mas to express their displeasure at the King's failure to treat both wives equally, as prescribed in the tenets of their religion. 

Dewi Mas, however, pacified them and remained patient and steadfast, and even happy, since she knew that she was with child. The news of Dewi Mas' pregnancy was received by Sunggar Tutul with surprise and shock, and her immediate reaction was to think of a way to dispose of Dewi Mas. It was not long before she had a story prepared for Datu Taun. The baby Dewi Mas was carrying, Sunggar Tutul told the King, was not his, but the result of an extramarital relationship between Dewi Mas and Loq Deos, a courtier who often served her. The King accepted Sunggar Tutul's story without question, and in great anger, he decided to banish Dewi Mas from his kingdom. He commanded his palace courtiers to see that she was sent away immediately, with sixty attendants, both men and women. Among the King's ministers there were many who were convinced that Dewi Mas was not guilty of any adulterous act, but they were compelled to carry out the King's command. 

Dewi Mas arranged that all the people who had been sent away with her were happily settled. She assured herself that each family had a satisfactory place to cook their rice, as well as a comfortable place to sleep. 

Dewi Mas herself was able to resign herself to her banishment; what she could not accept was the fact that others might have to suffer because of her. Sometimes she would sit outside her small abode, and looking across the sea, ponder her fate and that of her loyal followers. 

One day, as she sat thus, she caught sight of a small, boat, far away, in the middle of the sea that stretched into the distance before her, and she watched as it drew closer. As the ship approached the island, its Captain and crew, one by one, marvelled at a light that seemed to be radiating from a certain spot on the island. One of the crew remarked that the island was now inhabited, and another suggested that the light was coming from a female jinn. Another insisted that whatever it was, he was sure there was no danger, and they should anchor there, to which proposal the Captain agreed. Now they could see Dewi Mas clearly, and they were all charmed by her beauty. They disembarked, and the Captain approached Dewi Mas at the spot on the shore where she always sat. After an exchange of friendly greetings, the Captain asked for water, which Dewi Mas ordered to be brought to him. The Captain then said, "We have often passed this place on our journeys, but we have never known it to be inhabited. We find this strange. And — may I ask? — Are you a human being, or are you a jinn?" 

Dewi Mas replied to the Captain's ques tions, explaining exactly what had happened. The Captain and his crew felt great sympathy for Dewi Mas, and the Captain even proposed that she become his wife. Dewi Mas refused, telling him that she was carrying the King's child, but she asked that they all be transported to the island of Bali. The Captain could not refuse Dewi Mas' request, and the Queen and all her followers were duly taken to Bali, where they prepared to settle for an indefinite period of time. 

By now Dewi Mas' time had come, and she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, each being born with an extraordinary attachment: the boy a keris, and the girl, an arrow. The boy was named Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq and the girl, Dewi Rinjani. The twins were healthy children, and grew up happily, playing with the many other children in the neighbourhood. From their playmates they often heard the word "father," and they also saw their friends' fathers. They began to wonder about their own father, and one day they decided to ask their mother, who had never mentioned him. 

"Mother, where is our father?" asked both twins. 

Dewi Mas knew that the time would come when she would have to answer this question, and this saddened her. However, she replied brightly, "Your father has gone away on a journey, but he will return soon; in two weeks, perhaps, he will be sailing back into the harbour." 

Two weeks passed, and then two months, but there was still no sign of their father, and the boy, Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq could bear it no longer. 

"Mother, please tell us where our father is. Do we have a father or not?" Realising that it was now no longer possible to keep the truth from her children, Dewi Mas told them the whole story: how their father, Datu Taun, the King of the kingdom of Taun on the island of Lombok, had banished his wife because of the slanderous story told by their stepmother. From that moment on Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq begged his mother to allow him and his sister to search for their father. "Tell us where he is," he 

demanded, "and the way to get there, so that we may right the dreadful wrong that has been done to you, and to us, his children." 

The boy left his mother no rest, and finally she agreed to let him go, saying, "Go, my son, if you must, but leave your sister here with me. If you succeed, return to us, and take us back with you to Lombok." Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq said farewell to his mother and sister, and with the keris that he had been born with in his belt, he embarked at the village of Labuhan Tereng, where he immediately asked a passerby the way to the kingdom of Taun. The person who answered the boy's question, telling him the way in minutest detail, was none other than Loq Deos, who many years ago had disappeared from the palace of Taun because he was accused of having committed adultery with the Queen. 

Following Loq Deos' directions, Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq arrived at the palace. He addressed the guard 

straightforwardly: "I am looking for Datu Taun, if he is still alive. Is he? If he is, I must see him immediately." The guard, taken aback, replied, "Who are you, boy, to address me thus? Where have you come from, and why do you ask about the King in such a 

manner?" 

"I have come from Bali," said the boy, "and I cannot leave this place before I have met this man called Datu Taun." And he made a move to pass the guard, pushing him roughly aside. By this time the palace attendants had noticed the boy and his aggressive behaviour, and they all moved to prevent him from advancing any further. As they did so, Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq drew out his keris, and one by one, left his opponents stunned and defeated. He then proceeded to an inner chamber where he found Datu Taun himself. 

"Are you the King?" the boy asked. 

"I must meet the King, Datu Taun." 

"And who might you be?" asked the King. 

"How dare you enter without my per mission?" 

"I have come from Bali," said the boy, "to meet the King." 

"I am the King," said Datu Taun. 

"What do you want?" 

"So you are really the King," said the boy. "I am sorry to hear that." "Leave my presence at once!" shouted the King. "Away with you, boy!" and he took out his keris. Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq had his own keris at the ready, and a furious battle ensued between father and son. Many times Datu Taun's keris touched the boy's body, but was unable to pierce it, and likewise Datu Taun was invulnerable 

to all the attempted thrusts of the boy's. But finally Datu Taun seized the boy and was just about to throw him to the ground with all his might. At that very moment he heard a voice, an inner voice, which said, "Datu Taun, now you must know the truth. The boy you are about to torture is your own son, and Dewi Mas is his mother. Do not harm him!" Datu Taun released the boy, and grasping him by the shoulders, looked long and penetratingly into his eyes. A feeling of great sadness and regret overcame him, and he embraced the boy whom he now knew to be his own son. 

Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq then told him all about his mother and his twin sister who were now in Bali, and the King promised to bring them back to the kingdom of Taun with all their 

loyal followers. Arrangements were made without delay, and Dewi Mas, her daughter Dewi Rinjani, and all their attendants with their families returned to Lombok, to the kingdom of Taun. Datu Taun presented his crown and his kingdom to his son, and the family moved into the Palace. Sunggar Tutul begged for giveness, which Dewi Mas was willing to grant, and they lived together in peace and harmony. As soon as Raden Nuna Putra Janjaq had begun his reign, Datu Taun be took himself to a high mountain to meditate, accompanied by his daughter Dewi Rinjani. It was there on the mountain peak that Dewi Rinjani was summoned by the female jinns to be their leader, and from that moment on, the highest mountain in Lombok, where they lived and meditated, was called Mount Rinjani.