THE LEGEND OF MALIN KUNDANG

    A long time ago, in a small village near the beach in West Sumatra, lived a woman and her son, Malin Kundang. Malin Kundang and his mother had to live hard because his father had passed away when he was a baby. Malin Kundang was a healthy, diligent, and strong boy. He usually went to sea to catch fish. After getting fish he would bring it to his mother, or sell the caught fish in the town.

    One day, when Malin Kundang was sailing, he saw a merchant’s ship being raided by a band of pirates. With his bravery, Malin Kundang helped the merchant defeat the pirates. To thank him, the merchant allowed Malin Kundang to sail with him. Malin Kundang agreed in the hope to get a better
life. He left his mother alone.

    Many years later, Malin Kundang became wealthy. He had a huge ship and a lot of crews who worked loading trading goods. He was also married to a beautiful woman. When he was sailing on his trading journey, his ship landed on a coast near a small village. The local people recognized that it was Malin
Kundang, a boy from the area. The news ran fast in the town; “Malin Kundang has become rich and now he is here”.

    An old woman, who was Malin Kundang’s mother, ran to the beach to meet the new rich merchant. She wanted to hug him to release her sadness of being lonely after a long time. When his mother came near him, Malin Kundang who was with his beautiful wife and his ship crews denied that she was his mother. She had pleaded Malin Kundang to look at her and admit that she was her mother. But he kept refusing to do it and yelling at her. At last Malin Kundang said to her “Enough, old woman! I have never had a mother like you, a dirty and ugly woman!” After that he ordered his crews to set sail to leave the old woman who was then full of sadness and anger. Finally, feeling enraged, she cursed Malin Kundang that he would turn into a stone if he didn’t apologize to her. Malin Kundang just laughed and set sail. Suddenly a thunderstorm came in the quiet sea, wrecking his huge ship. He was thrown out to a small island. It was really too late for him to avoid his curse; he had turned into a stone.

(Taken with adaptation from http://understanding-text.blogspot.com/)

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Why did Malin Kundang and his mother have to live hard?