A Farmer and the hedgehog statue

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer and his wife. They did not have any children. They
were old and poor, but happy. They never complained. The neighbors loved them very much.
They were very helpful. They liked to help others. One day the wife told her husband about
her dream.

“It was so strange. I was standing in our pond and I saw something shining. I was curious, so
I searched for it. I found a small statue! The statue had a shape of a hedgehog. And it could
talk!” said the wife.

“The statue said we can get anything from him. We just have to touch his head and mention
what we want. He will give it to us. The object will flow from his mouth like water. It will
never stop until we touch his head again and say stop,” she continued.
The farmer kept on thinking about his wife’s dream. He planned for the search in his pond
and finally did it. All of sudden, he saw something shining and immediately grabbed it. Yes,
it was a hedgehog statue!

“Let’s try it!” he screamed. He asked what the wife wanted.

She said shyly, “Jewelries?”
The farmer touched the statue’s head and said, “Jewelries!”
Amazingly, jewelries were flowing from the statue’s mouth. They became happy and very
rich! They then lived in a big house. They shared their money with their neighbors. Sadly, not
all of them were happy. There was a neighbor who got very jealous. He really wanted to
know how the farmer became very rich. The jealous neighbor secretly went to the farmer’s
house. He saw how the statue gave them what they wanted.

“Now I know the secret. I will steal their statue and be richer than them!” the neighbor said to
himself.
It was late. The farmer and his wife were asleep. The neighbor slowly went inside the house,
took the statue, brought it home. When the neighbor wanted to try the statue he was thirsty
and wanted to drink. He touched the statue’s head and said, “Water!”
The water soon flowed. When he thought it was enough for him to drink, he wanted the
statue to stop flowing the water.
He said, “Stop!” But water kept on flowing from the statue’s mouth. He repeated, “Stop!”
However, the water did not stop.
Apparently, he forgot to touch the statue’s head. Water kept on flowing and slowly it flooded
his house. He got panicked. He asked for help. People came to see what happened. They were
so scared. Slowly the house was swallowed by the water. They did not help, but ran away.
From a distance they saw the level of the water got higher. Slowly it became a river.
Because the river was made of the water flowing from the hedgehog statue, people then
named the river as Hedgehog River.
Sungai landak
Sekali waktu, hiduplah seorang petani dan istrinya. Mereka tidak punya anak. Mereka tua dan
miskin, tapi bahagia. Mereka tidak pernah mengeluh. Tetangga sangat menyayanginya.
Mereka sangat membantu. Mereka suka membantu orang lain.
Suatu hari sang istri memberi tahu suaminya tentang mimpinya.
“Itu sangat aneh. Saya berdiri di kolam kami dan saya melihat sesuatu bersinar. Saya
penasaran, jadi saya mencarinya. Saya menemukan patung kecil! Patung itu berbentuk
landak. Dan itu bisa berbicara! ”Kata sang istri.
“Patung itu mengatakan kita bisa mendapatkan apa saja darinya. Kita hanya perlu menyentuh
kepalanya dan menyebutkan apa yang kita inginkan. Dia akan memberikannya kepada kita.
Benda itu akan mengalir dari mulutnya seperti air. Itu tidak akan pernah berhenti sampai kita
menyentuh kepalanya lagi dan berkata berhenti, ”lanjutnya.
Petani terus memikirkan tentang impian istrinya. Dia merencanakan pencarian di kolamnya
dan akhirnya melakukannya.
Tiba-tiba, dia melihat sesuatu bersinar dan segera meraihnya. Ya, itu patung hedgehog!
"Ayo coba!" Teriaknya. Dia bertanya apa yang diinginkan istrinya.
Dia berkata dengan malu-malu, "Perhiasan?"
Petani itu menyentuh kepala patung itu dan berkata, "Perhiasan!"
Hebatnya, perhiasan mengalir dari mulut patung itu.
Mereka menjadi bahagia dan sangat kaya! Mereka kemudian tinggal di sebuah rumah besar.
Mereka membagi uang mereka dengan tetangga mereka. Sayangnya, tidak semua dari mereka
bahagia.
Ada seorang tetangga yang menjadi sangat cemburu. Dia benar-benar ingin tahu bagaimana
petani menjadi sangat kaya.
Tetangga yang cemburu diam-diam pergi ke rumah petani. Dia melihat bagaimana patung itu
memberi mereka apa yang mereka inginkan.
“Sekarang aku tahu rahasianya. Aku akan mencuri patung mereka dan menjadi lebih kaya
dari mereka! ”Kata tetangga itu pada dirinya sendiri.
Sudah terlambat. Petani dan istrinya sedang tidur. Tetangganya perlahan masuk ke dalam
rumah, mengambil patung, membawanya pulang.
Ketika tetangga ingin mencoba patung, dia haus dan ingin minum. Dia menyentuh kepala
patung dan berkata, "Air!"
Air segera mengalir. Ketika dia berpikir itu sudah cukup baginya untuk minum, dia ingin
patung itu berhenti mengalir di air.
Dia berkata, "Stop!" Tapi air terus mengalir dari mulut patung itu. Dia mengulangi, "Stop!"
Namun, air tidak berhenti.
Rupanya, dia lupa menyentuh kepala patung itu. Air terus mengalir dan perlahan-lahan
membanjiri rumahnya. Dia panik. Dia meminta bantuan.
Orang-orang datang untuk melihat apa yang terjadi. Mereka sangat ketakutan. Perlahan-lahan
rumah ditelan oleh air. Mereka tidak membantu, tetapi melarikan diri.
Dari kejauhan mereka melihat ketinggian air semakin tinggi. Perlahan-lahan itu menjadi
sungai.
Karena sungai itu terbuat dari air yang mengalir dari patung landak, orang-orang kemudian
menamai sungai itu sebagai Sungai Hedgehog.

#EngQuiz
Answer the questions based on the story above.
1. “One day the wife told her husband about her dream, “..I was standing in our pond..””
What is a pond?
2. [‘s] (apostrophe + “s”) can mean: is, has, or possessive. Mention 3 words in the story with
[‘s] that mean possessive.
3. “I was curious, so I searched for it.” What is curious?
4. Find the word in the story that is similar to “envy.”
5. As we have discussed in the first #folktale, in this kind of story we always use Past Tense.
Find 10 past verbs in the story.
 Alright fellas, questions 6-10 require your comprehension on the story, plus a little
imagination and creativity.
6. Why do you think the farmer and his wife got the hedgehog statue?
7. Why did the neighbors love the farmer and his wife very much?
8. Do you think the neighbor got what he deserved? Why?
9. What is the moral of the story?
10. If the statue came to your dream and became yours, what would you do?