Pan Balang Tamak

Ok, Today I will tell you a story that also really famous in Bali,  This is a story about a man called Pan Balang Tamak. Pan it means father because in Bali we called all the man that already married with Pan or Pe (When you don't call it with their name). This story is really funny. I can't stop laughing  when I was  thinking about Pan Balang Tamak.  He was really smart man and always succed to fool the people in his village. I guaranteed you guys will like this story too. This story also give some moral, that as a leader we have to understand our people condition and be wise when we make a rule for people. Because all of the people have a different background and different story about their own life. Like not all of the poeple in this world are rich. Some of them might be still in poverty. We also can learn from this story that as a leader, we have to make a clear rule. Ok let's start the story!

Once upon a time, there lived a man called Pan Balang Tamak who lived in a village that all the people really hate him because he was really anti-social and never open up about himself. Also, He was really rich, smart, cunning but a little bit lazy. One day the people in that village did a social activity to clean a temple for a big ceremony. The people who was not coming will get fined. The kelian (The leader in the village) announced to come tomorrow after the chicken get down from its nest. I think you know what excactly happenned next. Pan Balang Tamak came after the people finished clean the temple. Then, The kelian said that Pan Balang Tamak have to pay for the fine. Pan Balang Tamak didn't want to pay. He said that he only had one chicken and it was a hen. His chicken just got down from its nest at noon because his hen had to incubated its eggs. So that's why he came to the temple at noon. The Kelian and the people so angry but could not say anything that was making sense.

Ilustratration of Pan Balang Tamak and The People in the village
image source

Another day, The Kelian told the people to come to the temple to fix the Bale Agung (a building in the middle of the Kahyangan Tiga Temple). Also, The Kelian told the peolpe to bring sengauk ( a dried rice) to eat as their lunch. But, Pan Balang Tamak didn't bring sengauk. He brought sanggah uug (sanggah is a part of our private temple in Balinese house and uug means broken) which sound like sengauk. So the people could help him to fix his broken sanggah.  The people in the village just could inhale deeply their breath. 

Again, in the another day, The Kelian told the people to came to Desa Temple on sunday morning to prepare a big ceremony and have to clean the temple. The Kelian also told the people to bring a sickle to trim weeds. The Kelian also said for whom that do not bring sickle, have to pay for the fine. Pan Balang Tamak didn't have a sickle but he didn't want to pay. At home, He saw his wife was making a cake called Iwel, a black cake that always made for an offering. This cake is really delicious. I really like it. But now, Balinese people love to buy a cake like sponge cake as an offering. So this cake is rarely made now on. This cake like playdough. So, you will easily to shape it. Ok, let's back to the story. After saw the Iwel Cake, Pan Balang Tamak got an idea. He took some iwel cake and made a dog poop with it. At midnight he went to the temple and put the dog poop shape on a strategic places. On the sunday morning Pan Balang Tamak came and he didn't late. But He didn't bring a sickle. So some of people said to him that he have to pay for the fine. Then, Pan Balang Tamak said that he didn't have any sickle at home. He said he will clean all the dog poop inside the temple as long as he don't have to pay. The people and The Kelian agreed. So Pan Balang Tamak now clean all the cake. While he was cleaning the cake, he asked the people. "Hello everyone, I will pay 10 gobang for whom that can eat this dog poop!" Then a man answer. "Are you crazy?" Another man said."Each of us will pay you 5 gobang if you could finish all of the dog poop! All the people agreed for that idea because they know he couldn't ever do that. The people really surprised when Pan Balang Tamak said he will finish it. So, again Pan Balang Tamak succed to fooled the people. Then, each of them have to pay  5 gobang for Pan Balang Tamak.

Iwel Cake
image source

Some of people knew that Pan Balang Tamak cheat on the people. So it made the people angry. Even the king heard the story. He was really angry. Then, The king, The Kelian, and the people decided kill Pan Balang Tamak. The King invited Pan Balang Tamak to the palace and prepare a lot of delicious food which has toxic inside. Off course Pan Balang Tamak knew what was happening. Because it was really strange, only him was invited. So, Pan Balang Tamak only ate the food a little bit. He could not don't eat it because it was The King's ordering. So, when he was at home, he told his wife everything. He also told that he may be will die soon. So He said to his wife. "My wife, if I die, don't bury me, put on my traditional clothes, put my corpse in the piasan (A small building that inside a private temple in a Balinese house) as if I prayed,  untie my hair, hang some wasp, Tie them on my hair, and when the sun goes down, put my corpse in a box and put it in gedong (Balinese building that located in the north of house area of balinese). 

Suddenly, Pan Balang Tamak felt pain in his tummy. Then he died. After he died, his wife did all the things that he said before. In the morning, some poeple saw Pan Balang Tamak as if were praying from piasan. People tricked by wasp sound and thought that Pan Balang Tamak said some mantra because of the wasp. People who saw him also wondering why he still alived. Then, The King heard that news. The King wondering is his toxic donesn't strong enough? Then, he tried it by himself. The King directly died just after he tried the toxic. At midnight some thiefs came to Pan Balang Tamak house. They found a big box in Pan Balang Tamak's house. They though there were alot of money or jewelry inside. So, they took it and went outside quickly. The thiefs opened the box in the temple of the village, because they sure that nobody will come the temple at that time. Once they opened it, they all panic because it was a corpse. It was Pan Balang Tamak corpse! They closed the box and run from the temple as fast as they could.

In the morning, a priest came to the temple and saw a box in the temple. The priest thought, it was from God. The priest told the people that "Betara turun kabeh!" (The God went to the earth!). The people and the priest prayed together with that box, to God. After they finished praying, They bowed to the box and opened it. I think you should know what the priest and the people felt when they saw the corpse of Pan Balang Tamak haha. "What an annoying Pan Balang Tamak!" One of the people said. Then, The people went to the cemetry and buried Pan Balang Tamak. Another man said. "Even when he already died, He still annoying!"

The End