1. Ulumbu- Fairy Tale of the Manggarai Region
ThisFairytale oftendeliveredbythe local guide of KomodoIslandBoatTourinLabuan Bajo - Flores
Island.
Once upona time,ina village inManggarai,EastNusa Tenggara,preciselyinthe village of Ulumbu,
there livedtwopeoplewhohaddifferentphysical conditions,one wasblindandthe otherwas
paralyzed.Theylive indifferenthousesandare a bitfar apart from othercommunitymembers.The
BlindMan has a petdog. So,everymorningtomake a fire,the BlindMantoldhisdog to take the fire in
the Paralyzedhouse whichwaspreviouslycodedbythe Blindtothe Paralyzedbyshouting.The fire was
carriedby meansof the firewoodtiedtothe dog'stail.Thusit happeneddayafterday.
So that one night,all the residentsinthe village wenttoattendaneventina neighboringvillage,only
the Blindandthe Paralyzedwere leftinthe village.Whilesleeping,the Blindmandreamedof being
visitedby anoldgrandmother,herdreamwasas follows“the oldgrandmotheraskedthe Blindman,he
said;"What do youwant to eat?Kar ko Mbelek?;Karmeans“a kindof hard and dry food;forexample
friedcorn(at that time)”andMbelekmeant“softfoodor somethingwatery,like porridge”.Considering
hisoldage,the blindmanreplied,"AkungoenghangataMbelek"whichmeans"Iwantto eat softfood
(porridge)".The grandmotheralsoagreedtothe blindman'swish,thatsoonhisfavorite foodwould
come.The Blind man thenwoke upand contemplatedhisdream.
Aftera fewminutes,suddenlyinsteadof hisfavorite porridge,somethingunexpectedwasbrought,
namelyaburst of hot waterthat came outof the bowelsof the earthwhose heatwasestimatedto
reach 100,000o C. The hot waterdestroyedeverythinginthatplace,notleast.the Blindmanand hisdog
and the Paralyzedwiththeirdwelling.Itturnedoutthatthat waswhat the OldGranny had meantinthe
BlindMan's dream.If the blindman'sanswerwasKar, thenthere wouldbe avolcanicexplosion.So
because the Blindaskedforsomethingsoftorsoft,whatappearedwashotwaterthat gushedfromthe
bowelsof the earth.Thusthe village vanishedinaninstant,swallowedbyatorrentof hot water.Coming
home fromthe party at dawn,people findtheirhomeshave beencoveredbythe overflowinghotwater.
Out of feartheyran away fromthe village.
Whendawnbroke theywere far fromUlumbu,where theylived.Whentheyclimbedupahill,there
were several of themturned towardsthe village.Immediatelytheyturnedintostonewiththeireyeson
Ulumbu(itlookslike ahusbandandwife couple,because the womanispregnant).
The Stone Man and the jetof water still existtoday.The sprayemitsaverystrong sulfursmell and even
by the Regional Governmentof Manggarai Regency,the hotspringhasbeenusedas a SteamPower
Plant(PLTU) whichcan be usedto meetthe electricityneedsof FloresIsland.