Legend of danau toba

Once upon a time there was a prosperous village in a far away island called Sumatra. In northern part of the island, lived a farmer whose name was Toba. He lived alone in a hut by a small forest. He worked on his farmland to grow rice and vegetables that he sells to local market. Once day he wanted to catch some fish so he went to a river and fished there. He was very surprised when he got a big fish. The fish was as big as human being. Soon he went home and put the fish in his kitchen. He planned to cook the fish for his dinner that night. When he got to his house that afternoon he took a bath. Then as he walked into his bedroom after taking a bath Toba was very shocked. Do you want to know what happened?


Dahulu kala ada sebuah desa makmur di sebuah pulau terpencil yang disebut Sumatra. Di bagian sebelah utara pulau itu, tinggal seorang petani yang bernama Toba. Dia tinggal sendirian di sebuah gubuk oleh sebuah hutan kecil. Dia bekerja di lahan pertaniannya untuk menanam padi dan sayuran yang dia jual ke pasar lokal. Suatu hari dia ingin menangkap ikan sehingga dia pergi ke sungai dan memancing ke sana. Ia sangat terkejut saat ia mendapat ikan besar. Ikan itu sama besarnya dengan manusia. Segera dia pulang ke rumah dan menaruh ikan itu di dapurnya. Ia berencana memasak ikan untuk makan malamnya malam itu. Saat sampai di rumahnya siang itu dia mandi. Kemudian saat ia berjalan ke kamarnya setelah mandi Toba sangat terkejut. Apakah kamu ingin tahu apa yang terjadi?

There stood in his living room a very beautiful girl. The girl greeted him nicely. For a moment Toba was speechless. When he could control his emotion he asked her.


Di sana berdiri di ruang tamunya seorang gadis yang sangat cantik. Gadis itu menyambutnya dengan baik. Sejenak Toba terdiam. Saat dia bisa mengendalikan emosinya dia bertanya padanya.

‘Who are you? What’s your name? Why suddenly you are here in my house?’

'Siapa kamu? Siapa namamu? Mengapa tiba- tiba  kamu berada dirumahku?'

‘Pardon me if I surprised you Mr. Toba, but you took me here. I was the fish that you caught in the river. Now that I become a human being again, I would like to thank you and I will be your servant to express my thankfulness’

'Maafkan saya jika saya mengejutkan Anda Pak Toba, tapi Anda membawa saya ke sini. Aku adalah ikan yang kamu tangkap di sungai. Sekarang setelah saya menjadi manusia lagi, saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih dan saya akan menjadi pelayanmu untuk mengungkapkan rasa syukur saya '

‘Were you the fish?’

'Apakah kamu ikan?'

‘Yes, I was the fish. Look at your kitchen’.

'Iya, Aku adalah ikannya. Lihatlah dapur kamu'.

Toba immediately rushed to his kitchen and the fish was nowhere to be seen. He saw some gold coins instead.

Toba langsung berlali ke dapurnya dan ikan itu tidak terlihat. Dia melihat beberapa koin emas malahan.

‘Whose coins are these? Why there are some coins here?’

''Koin siapa ini? Kenapa ada beberapa koin disini? '

‘Those coins are mine. As I changed into human being my scales changed into gold coins’

'Koin itu milikku. Saat saya berubah menjadi manusia, sisik saya berubah menjadi koin emas '

‘Ok you can live here and work for me. Your room is over there’

'ok kamu bisa tinggal disni dan bekerja untuk saya. Kamar kamu disana'

‘Thank you very much Mr. Toba’

'Terima kasih banyak Pak Toba'

Since that day the beautiful girl lived in Toba’s house. Since she was very beautiful Toba fell in love with her and not long after that they got married. The girl married to Toba on one condition that he would never tell anybody about her past. Toba agreed to the condition. Several months later Toba’s wife delivered to a baby boy. Their son was healthy. Soon he grew up into a handsome boy. Toba named him Samosir. Unfortunately Samosir was a lazy boy. He did not want to work at all. When his father worked hard in his rice field and farm, Samosir just slept. When he was awake he talked a lot and he ate a lot. Toba was very disappointed with his son’s nature. He hoped that one day Samosir would change into a diligent boy. Day in and day out but Samosir never changed.


Sejak hari itu gadis cantik itu tinggal di rumah Toba. Karena dia sangat cantik Toba jatuh cinta padanya dan tidak lama kemudian mereka menikah. Gadis itu menikah dengan Toba dengan satu syarat bahwa dia tidak akan pernah memberi tahu siapa pun tentang masa lalunya. Toba setuju dengan kondisinya. Beberapa bulan kemudian istri Toba diberi seorang bayi laki-laki. Anak mereka sehat. Segera dia tumbuh menjadi anak laki-laki tampan. Toba menamakannya Samosir. Sayangnya Samosir adalah anak malas. Dia sama sekali tidak ingin bekerja. Saat ayahnya bekerja keras di sawah dan pertaniannya, Samosir baru saja tidur. Saat terbangun dia banyak bicara dan dia banyak makan. Toba sangat kecewa dengan sifat anaknya. Ia berharap suatu hari nanti Samosir akan berubah menjadi anak yang rajin. Hari demi hari tapi Samosir tidak pernah berubah.

Toba used to go to his farm and rice field early in the morning. Then at midday his wife would bring him food. They used to eat lunch at their farm. As he was a teenager Toba and his wife tried to change his behavior. They ordered Samosir to bring food for his father for lunch while her mother stayed at home to do household chores. But Samosir never did his duty well. He always woke up very late. He woke up after midday. Then one day his mother forced him to bring the food.

Toba biasa pergi ke ladang dan sawahnya pagi-pagi sekali. Kemudian pada tengah hari istrinya akan membawakannya makanan. Mereka biasa makan siang di tanah perternakan mereka. Karena ia adalah seorang remaja Toba dan istrinya mencoba untuk mengubah perilakunya. Mereka memerintahkan Samosir untuk membawa makanan untuk ayahnya untuk makan siang sementara ibunya tinggal di rumah untuk melakukan pekerjaan rumah tangga. Tapi Samosir tidak pernah melakukan tugasnya dengan baik. Dia selalu terbangun sangat telat. Dia terbangun setelah tengah hari. Kemudian suatu hari ibunya memaksanya membawa makanan.

‘Sam, wake up. Go to the farm and bring the food for your father. He must be very tired and hungry now’. But Mom, Iam tired and hungry too’


"Sam, bangun. Pergilah ke peternakan dan bawalah makanan untuk ayahmu. Dia pasti sangat lelah dan lapar sekarang '. Tapi Mom, aku lelah dan lapar juga '

‘What makes you tired? You just wake up. Go now. You father needs the food’

'Apa yang membuatmu lelah? Kamu baru bangun Pergi sekarang. Ayahmu butuh makanan 

Toba reluctantly went to the farm. But he did not go to the farm immediately. He stopped somewhere in the street and ate the food. It was already late afternoon when he got to the farm. His father was disappointed. Then he was angry as he realized that his son had eaten his food. He said sarcastically.


Toba dengan enggan pergi ke peternakan. Tapi dia tidak segera pergi ke peternakan. Dia berhenti di suatu tempat di jalan dan makan makanannya. Sudah sore ketika dia sampai di peternakan. Ayahnya kecewa. Lalu dia marah saat menyadari bahwa anaknya telah memakan makanannya. Dia berkata dengan sinis.

‘O, you are stupid lazy boy. You are son of a fish!’

'O, kamu anak malas malas Kamu adalah anak ikan! '

Samosir was hurt. He went home right away and as he got home he told his mother about his father’s words. Samosir’s mother was shocked. She was also deeply hurt.

Samosir terluka. Dia langsung pulang dan saat dia sampai di rumah, dia memberi tahu ibunya tentang kata-kata ayahnya. Ibu Samosir kaget. Dia juga sangat terluka.

‘O Toba. You break your promise so I cannot live with you here anymore. Now you have to accept to consequence of what you did. Samosir, now go to the hill, find the tallest tree and climb it’

'O Toba. Anda melanggar janji Anda jadi saya tidak bisa tinggal dengan Anda di sini lagi. Sekarang Anda harus menerima akibat dari apa yang Anda lakukan. Samosir, sekarang pergi ke bukit, temukan pohon tertinggi dan naikinya '

‘Why mom? What will happen?’


'Kenapa ibu? Apa yang akan terjadi?'

‘Just do it, never ask any question. Good bye’

'Lakukan saja, jangan pernah mengajukan pertanyaan. Selamat tinggal'

As soon as she finished saying that suddenly the weather changed. Sunny day suddenly turned into cloudy day. Not long after that the rain poured heavily. The rain last for several days. Consequently the area was flooded. The whole area became a big lake. Then it was called Lake Toba and in the middle of the lake there is an island called Samosir Island. Meanwhile Toba’s wife disappeared.

Begitu dia selesai mengatakan bahwa tiba-tiba cuaca berubah. Hari cerah tiba-tiba berubah menjadi hari berawan. Tak lama kemudian hujan turun deras. Hujan berlangsung selama beberapa hari. Akibatnya daerah itu banjir. Seluruh daerah menjadi danau besar. Kemudian disebut Danau Toba dan di tengah danau terdapat sebuah pulau bernama Pulau Samosir. Sementara itu istri Toba pun lenyap.

Lake Toba is located in the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Today it becomes a tourist destination.


Danau Toba terletak di provinsi Sumatera Utara, Indonesia. Hari ini menjadi tujuan wisata.