Once upon a time, in Mandailing, North Sumatra, there was a small kingdom called Huta Bargot. The government is across the Batang Gadis River. The king is called Sutan Pulungan. He had a queen and an infant son. In the midst of his busyness building the kingdom, Sutan Pulungan often spends time going to the middle of the forest to hunt animals.
One day, Sutan Pulungan with some warlords and his soldiers hunted deer in a dense forest. Sutan Pulungan brings his very smart and agile pet dog named Sipamutung. When they reached the middle of the forest, Sipamutung suddenly ran fast towards a place. Not long after, he was heard barking loudly. Hearing the barking of his favorite dog, Sutan Pulungan immediately ordered his soldiers to go to the place where Sipamutung barked.
“Soldier! Hurry up and follow Pamutung! I’m sure he must have found a deer! ” exclaimed Sutan Pulungan to his soldiers.
Hearing the order, some soldiers immediately ran to where Sipamutung was barking. When they arrived at the place, they saw a large group of women running from under a large banyan tree. While Sipamutung still continues to bark. As the soldiers approached and inspected the tree, a handsome baby boy was lying on a large rock. Not long after, Sutan Pulungan arrived at the place.
“Hi, Soldier! Where is the deer? ” asked Sutan Pulungan.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty! Apparently Sipamutang barked not because he found a deer, but a baby, “replied a soldier.
“What did you say? A baby? ” Sutan Pulungan asked in surprise as he approached the baby.
“Who put the baby on this rock?” Sutan Pulungan asked again.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty! I also do not know. But, when it just arrived, the servants and other soldiers saw a woman in a hurry very quickly leaving this place, “replied another soldier.
Hearing the soldier’s explanation, Sutan Pulungan was convinced that the baby was deliberately thrown away by his parents. Finally, he and his entourage decided to stop hunting and immediately bring home the unfortunate baby. Upon arrival in Baruta Huta State, Sutan Pulungan handed over the baby to an old widow named Saua, who had long coveted a child.
“Thank you, Your Majesty! I will treat this baby like my own child, ”said the old widow happily.
Every time she went to work in the fields, the old woman put the baby in the baroar, which is a dog kennel. Therefore, people even named the child Baroar.
Time goes on. The Baroar is five years old with a very handsome face. But strangely, the Baroar’s face and body are very similar to Sutan Pulungan’s son, so that the people around him can no longer distinguish the two. People often mistakenly say hello when meeting one of the two children. If the Baroar walks alone, the people who meet him always respect him and greet him like greeting Sutan Pulungan’s son. But otherwise, if met with the son of Sutan Pulungan, they treated him like a son of ordinary people.
Upon learning that his son often received such treatment from those around him, Sutan Pulungan and his queen felt very humiliated. Therefore, they decided to kill the Baroar secretly so that it would not be known to the public.
One day, Sutan Pulungan gathered all the government officials to formulate the secret assassination plan. In the meeting, he ordered his superiors to immediately hold the traditional ceremony of Sopo Godang, which is the ceremony to replace the old pillar of the old court hall. Sutan Pulungan will hold the traditional ceremony on a large scale in the palace of the Huta Bargot Kingdom, because he wants to use the crowd to cover up his act of killing the Baroar.
“How do we kill the Baroar, His Majesty?” asked a warlord.
“Before inserting a replacement pole into the hole where it is planted, you must first drop the Baroar into the hole, and overwrite it with a replacement pole,” explained Sutan Pulungan.
Sutan Pulungan also ordered a hulubalang to give a cross mark on the Baroar’s forehead with betel lime.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty! Why should the Baroar be given a cross? ” the other warlord asked curiously.
“The purpose is for you to be able to distinguish exactly which one is Baroar and which one is my son, so that you are not mistaken in killing the Boroar,” explained Sutan Pulungan.
After hearing the explanation, the royal officials immediately prepared everything needed in the Sopo Godang ceremony. Similarly, the warlord who had been appointed by the King immediately looked for the Baroar to give a cross on his forehead.
On the appointed day, the customary ceremony will be performed immediately. All the people of the state who will follow the customary ceremony have gathered in the courtyard of the palace. During the ceremony, Sutan Pulungan also held various attractions and art shows. This aims to divert the attention of the people present so that the warlords can carry out the task of killing the Baroar without their knowledge.
While the villagers were having fun, the warlords also prepared poles to put in the hole. Coincidentally at that moment, they saw the Baroar who had been marked on his forehead was standing not far from them. Secretly, they immediately caught and dropped the Baroar into the hole, then hit him with a large pole. No one knows what they are doing, because the residents are having fun. The head of the jar also felt relieved and happy, because he managed to carry out the task smoothly. So did Sutan Pulungan, because the Baroar who always insulted him was dead.
However, since the event was held, Sutan Pulungan’s son has never been seen in the palace. The whole palace family panicked and immediately looked for Sutan Pulungan’s son. They had searched for him around the palace, but they still could not find him. Sutan Pulung also began to worry, lest the warlords be confused in carrying out their duties. For that, he immediately sent a warlord to the Saua’s house to see if the Baroar was still with him. It turns out to be true. Arriving there, the envoy saw the Baroar was splitting firewood with the Saua. He immediately returned to the palace to report the matter to the King.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty! It turns out that the Baroar is still alive. He is still with the old widow, ”the messenger reported.
Hearing the report, Sutan Pulungan immediately fainted. He was very angry with his warlords who had mistakenly carried out his duties.
“Hi, for Hulubalang! You have killed wrongly. The son you put in the hole is my son, not the Baroar! ” exclaimed Sutan Pulungan with a flushed face.
Apparently the confusion started a few seconds before the customary ceremony was performed. Putra Sutan Pulungan saw a cross on the Baroar’s forehead. Because he wanted to be like the Baroar, he also told someone to make a similar mark on his forehead. Then he went to the center of the ceremony, and at that moment the warlords secretly caught him, and put him into the pit.
Sutan Pulungan, who had lost his son, immediately ordered his three warlords to kill the Baroar. The three warlords immediately headed to the Baroar’s house with their swords drawn. When they got there, they did not find the Baroar and the Saua.
Apparently, there are people who know the plot to assassinate the warlords against the Baroar. The man also told the Saua to immediately save the Baroar. So, before the warlords arrived at his house, the Saua had taken the Baroar to the rice fields that were turning yellow, not far from the banks of the Batang Gadis River.
When he reached the rice fields, the Saua invited the Baroar to hide in a hut whose roof was just a skeleton standing in the middle of a field. Because, he was sure that the warlords would definitely chase and find them before arriving by the river.
“My son! We just hid here! If we keep running, they will definitely catch us, because they can run fast! ” said the Saua while embracing the body of the Baroar.
The warlords suddenly lost track. When they saw a hut in the middle of the field, they approached it. When they reached near the hut, their steps suddenly stopped. The Saua and the Baroar were even more frightened, thinking that the warlords knew where they were. But it turned out that the warlords stopped walking, because they saw a balam bird perched on the top of the roof frame of the hut while continuing to chirp.
Let our friends find them elsewhere! What are we looking for in the old widow and the Baroar in the hut. If they were hiding there, it would not be possible for the balam to perched up there! ” exclaimed the warlord who led the pursuit.
After the warlords were quite far from the hut, the Saua and the Baroar came out of the hut and ran towards the Batang Gadis River. Unfortunately, the warlords saw them again.
“Hi, that’s them! Let’s chase! ” exclaimed the warlord.
The Saua and the Baroar also ran faster. When they arrived by the river, it turned out that the Batang Gadis River was flooded, so they could not cross. While the warlords chasing him are getting closer. They can do nothing more. In a state of endangered life, the Saua immediately prostrated himself on the ground asking for the help of Almighty God.
“Oh God! Save our lives! ” said Saua.
As he raised his head back, the Saua saw a large long wooden stick floating across the middle of the river. Surprisingly, the big tree stopped right in front of them in a horizontal position to the other side. Without thinking long and feeling a little scared, the old widow and the Baroar immediately climbed the big tree. As soon as they reached the other side of the river, the big tree was washed away again by the flood. The warlords who had just arrived by the river could no longer catch up with them. Finally, the Saua and the Baroar survived.
It is said that, a few years later, on the other side of the Batang Gadis River there was a kingdom called Panyabungan Tonga-Tonga led by the Baroar with his queen. His descendants later became known as the Mandailing people of Nasution descent.
Such is the story of Si Baroar from the region of North Sumatra, Indonesia. According to the storyteller community, Si Baroar’s story includes a legendary category about the origins of the Mandailing people of Nasution. Until now, the place called Huto Bargot and Tonga-Tonga Connection became the name of two villages in Mandailing. In the Tonga-Tonga Connection Village there is an old tomb that is believed to be the tomb of the Baroar.
The moral message that can be gleaned from the above story is that a person who intends evil to an innocent person, then he himself will be afflicted with misfortune. This is shown by the behavior of Sutan Pulungan who had tried to kill the Baroar, but his own son was killed. It is said in the guidance Malay: if you like to do evil, sooner or later harm will come.
