Ruwan Bagaja

Folktale: The story of a Girl and the River of Bagaja. [A summary]

Yarmowa (the adored daughter) wetted her buzu (sheepskin sleeping mat), and yarbora (the unwanted one) was unfairly asked to walk to the Bagaja River and wash it. She obeyed and headed off in search of the river. She came to many rivers with varied varieties of food on her journey. She was invited to help herself, but she declined because a decent girl is not permitted to eat outside of her home. She eventually made it to the water, where she washed the buzu. She found refuge in a hunt on her way back. She discovered a dog and a thigh inside. The girl was thigh-tested and found to be well-behaved. The thigh presented her with an egg and explained how to crack it. As soon as the girl broke the egg as advised, she was converted into a wealthy woman. When she saw Yarmowa, she purposefully wet her buzuand set out to wash it out of envy. She came over the same river as Yarbora and sought refuge in the same cottage. However, she did not get the same objective because she is unpleasant. Instead, she became a leper, and her mother died from sadness. (Ahmad, 2002)

This story is divided into two parts: the first is about Yarbora’ssearch for Bagaja’s water, and the second is about Yarmowa’ssearch for the same thing. Yarbora’s objective is driven by her father’s dislike for her, but Yarmowa’s mission is motivated by envy. Yarbora encountered numerous magical beings while carrying out her mission, and their good manners helped her become affluent. Yarbora’s success inspired the second episode. Yarmowa was envious of the task and wanted to imitate it in order to get rich rapidly as well. However, because she was spoiled, she acted harshly and received nothing but punishment as a result.