Danau Toba (The Story)

Danau Toba

I swear! Since my childhood, one of my pride as a pure Batak Toba man is Lake Toba. Until now, I feel my hair stand on end when I sing “O…Tao Toba Nauli” by Nahum Situmorang. Being grown up in Lake Toba, I myself can swim very well. When I was at Secondary School, I liked reading a book with title “Batu Naimpol”, a compulsory subject at that time.
Along with Pak Hutabalian, we were trained with Batak tradition such as an art, pustaha (note written on wood), and extraordinary culture. Even we are frequently asked to tell orally about umpasa (Batak literature) and Batak folklore in Batak Toba language. Well, along with this writing, I want to share with you one of the interesting stories which I still remember well. This story is telling about a legend of the origin of Lake Toba.

The story as follows:
Once upon a time, there was a young man (doli-doli) lived with his mother in the northern part of Sumatera. Sidoli na poso used to live as a farmer in the Batak Valley. In brief, one day that area was suffered from hard times. The food stock was decreasing.
To fill up the stomach this day, there was no other way for si doli but fishing. When the sun was rising, he went fishing in a river. Until midday he caught not even a fish.
The sun was going down, and his stomach began to rumble with hunger. Finally si doli felt hopeless. Just when he wanted to go home, he saw a big and beautiful fish coming closer to him on river side. It had golden color it was very tame, so si doli caught the fish easily and then brought it home.
On arrival at home, his hunger was unbearable. He wanted to cook the golden fish. But soon he realized the strange fish was so beautiful. He broke off for a while to forget his hunger until he decided not to cook the fish but to care of it. Nothing to be done, this night si doli could only eat the remaining food stock.
In short, the hard times had gone. The morning sun was cheerfully to welcome the planting season that came this year. Happily si doli began his activity to sow rice in the field until midday. When the sun was over head, he went home for lunch. But si doli was so surprised to see on the table, the food was ready to eat. All the foods looked very delicious and better than he had before. Suddenly he remembered something. May be his mother had cooked his favorite fish that he caught.  Si doli was running like hell to the back yard.
Oh Debata, thank’s God, the fish was still alive and move lively in its place. It took time for him to think of who prepared the food on the table, while his mother was not at home. Even more, his mother never cooked food as delicious as this food. He was so hungry, so si doli took his meals ravenously. This good opportunity happened once in a while.
In fact, the following day the same thing happened again. The strange thing made si doli suspicious. On the third day, he intended to know who really had prepared the food for him.
With a tactic, si doli pretended to go to the field, but halfway he returned home to peer at the person who did all these things. When the mother also went to the field, si doli secretly hide among the trees. After waiting too long, the smoke in the kitchen was still not seen, and soon he wanted back home because he was tired of waiting. But when he would go out from his hiding place he began seeing the smoke out from the kitchen. Slowly he was heading for back yard home.
A moment later, his face expression changed. Through the hole in the kitchen of his house he was peeping at a boru nauli, a beautiful woman with long hair was cooking in the old and ramshackle kitchen. Her skin was shining and looked very contrast to the petrified woods which being eaten by termites.
After he regained his mind, si doli then entered his house to catch si boru nauli. Then he was asking, ”Oi boru nauli (beautiful girl), who are you? And where are you from?”
The girl bowed her head and quiet, and she began crying. At the same time, the young man did not see the fish in the container any longer. She was also asking the woman.
 “Oi boru nauli,  where does the fish in the container go? What have you done to it?”
Even the woman was crying and sobbing. But si doli kept asking her until the beautiful woman told her startling confession. “I am the fish that you caught…“  
Si doli was silent in a moment. Once in a while he saw the empty container of the fish, and later on he amazed at the beautiful face of the girl. Because si boru nauli  was crying on and on, so si doli had to persuade her to stop crying.
At that time, he began to fall in love with the girl. He was so fascinated, and being afraid of unexpected thing happened, he daringly asked: ”Oh, boru nauli, are you willing to be my wife?”
But si boru nauli was silent and bowed her head.
A moment later, si boru nauli said while showing off her beautiful face. Her eyes was soaked staring at the man who was so kind to take care of her. “I am willing to be your wife…but with one condition”. 
 “What kind of condition,” the young man interrupted impatiently.
Si boru nauli said, “When our child was born and grown up, please never say that he is anak ni dekke (child of a fish)”.
The winds suddenly came from the lake. Aroma of the girl’s body made sweet smelling like the smell of thousand flowers of highland in the morning. The smell reached at nose of si doli, and entered to his nerve system. He was half conscious when saying, “Yes, I agree to your terms”.
In the sunny day, si doli took an oath under the sun, when they were given a child, he would never call the child anak ni dekke (the child of a fish).
In later time, they were having a son. Si ucok (a son in Batak society) who was growing up to be a naughty boy, and he never listened to his parent’s advice.
One day, the mother ordered her son to bring the rice to the field where his father worked. The son went to deliver the rice to damang (father), but on the way, he was so hungry because spent time in playing. Then the son opened the package of meal for his damang, and finished it.
After having his meal, then he wrapped the package again and went on walking. On arrival in the field, he gave the package to damang. Happilly, his father received it, and sat down to open the rice package from his wife. Damang was shocked to see the content of the package.
He was asking to his son, “Hi my son, why inside the package only the bone fish?”
 “On the way here, I was so hungry, so I finished it, Damang,” he confessed.
Upon hearing it, damang was very emotional. He slapped the cheek of his son strongly and said, “Botul maho anak ni dekke (you are really the son of  a fish)!”
After hearing the word from his father, si ucok (the boy) was crying while running to his home. On arrival home, while crying, he kept telling the words of his father. To hear such a thing, his mother was sad and angry. My husband had broken his vow, and I had to be back to my own world, she thought.
Rain of tears soaked the body of the two persons. Gradually they changed into fish again.
At that time, the sky was darkening. The rain and thunder were very strong as the mother and son simultaneously disappeared. And then the spring came out from their footprint and water flowed heavily until taking the form of the lake which later on called “Danau Tuba” that meant “the lake of broken vow”.
***

According to my observation in the field with the help of partopi Tao Toba (the persons who stay in the edge of Lake Toba), si boru nauli and her son were still living in water territory of Lake Toba. In our research locations in the last few years—Balige, Parapat, Pangururan, area of Haranggaol, and Tongging, none of the areas denied about the existence of 3 very big fishes in Lake Toba. The three big fishes have three specific colors of bangso Batak’s red, black, and white, namely bonang manalu. According to people in partopi tao whose job is fisherman or boat man, they sometimes saw the fish and its party passing by tao (lake). And even some of them were very often showing off their “appearance”.
The giant fish has various names based on the area. In Parapat, for example, the people called it namboru (aunt), while in the territory of Tao Silalahi was called turbo. The fish had three different sizes. One fish about the size of a little canoe (solu) or 4 meters long. And the other two fish measuring of 6 meters to 10 meters.
The fisherman in Lake Toba waters was so worried when the fish’s party passed by, because doton (net for trapping fish) was totally broken. Some of the fishermen were quite lucky because a golden fish about 2 or 3 kilograms sometimes were left behind in the broken net by the party.
The people who understand about it will stay calm when they see these fishes. They feel sure that all the creatures are the guards who live in the world’s largest and highest lake. Partopi tao also believe that the fish party is used to ask a human life. People disappeared quite often without news in waters of Lake Toba. Until now, hundreds or may be thousands of peoples died as the sacrifice. Total number of the victims is unknown due to no accurate data from each district.
On this April 2009 alone, for example, a young man who was looking for fish in the lake side of Tigaras waters, Simalungun, got lost without leaving a trace. I got information that the man and one of his friends was looking at one of the fish party passed in front of them. Due to their innocence, one of them jumped and dives into the lake to catch the fish by a traditional gun. What can be done, he died but his dead body could not be found although the various effort and ritual had been made.
As a matter of fact, Lake Toba keeps a lot of mystery that can not be explained by scientific method and human logic. So this lake also keeps a valuable metaphysic report beginning from legend until culture which originated from the character of Lake Toba itself.(insidesumatera.com)