In ancient times, when mythical creatures still walked the earth and magic flowed through the rivers and forests of the Malay kingdoms, a king and his heavily pregnant queen fled for their lives. A garuda, a fearsome bird-like creature of immense power, had attacked their palace, its massive wings darkening the sky and its terrible cry shaking the very foundations of the royal halls.
The royal couple ran with desperate speed, the queen clutching her swollen belly as they escaped into the dense forest. The trees closed protectively around them, their thick canopy hiding them from the garuda’s sharp eyes. When they finally reached a peaceful river, its waters clear and calm, the queen could go no farther.
There, beside the flowing water with sunlight filtering through the leaves above, the queen gave birth to a daughter. The infant princess opened her eyes to the world and immediately began to wail, her cries echoing through the forest.
The Mysterious Connection
As the king held his newborn daughter, trying to comfort her, he noticed something unusual in the river. A goldfish, unlike any he had ever seen, swam near the bank. It was remarkably tame, showing no fear of the humans nearby. On impulse, the king reached down and gently lifted the fish from the water.
The moment the goldfish left the river, the baby stopped crying. Her little face grew peaceful, and she gazed at the shimmering creature with wide, wondering eyes.
Curious, the king placed the goldfish back into the water. Immediately, the princess began wailing again, her cries even more distressed than before.
The king repeated this several times, each time with the same result. When the goldfish was out of the water, the baby was calm and content. When it returned to the river, she cried as if her heart would break.
“There is magic at work here,” the queen whispered, her voice filled with awe and concern. “Our daughter’s life is somehow bound to this fish.”
They named their daughter Bidasari, and the king carefully placed the goldfish in a royal golden bowl so the two could remain close to each other.
The Difficult Decision
But the king and queen faced a heartbreaking reality. They did not know what dangers still pursued them or what enemies might threaten their kingdom. The garuda’s attack had shown them how vulnerable they were. How could they protect their daughter when they themselves might not survive?
With heavy hearts, they made a terrible decision. They placed baby Bidasari and her companion goldfish on a small raft and set them adrift on the river, praying that fate would be kinder to their daughter than it had been to them.
The raft floated downstream, carrying the infant princess and the magical fish toward an unknown future.
A New Home
Fortune smiled upon little Bidasari. A wealthy merchant and his wife, traveling along the river, spotted the raft and pulled it ashore. They found the beautiful baby girl sleeping peacefully beside a golden bowl containing a goldfish.
“We have been blessed with no children of our own,” the merchant said to his wife. “Perhaps the gods have sent us this child to love and raise as our daughter.”
They took Bidasari and the goldfish home with them. But when they removed the fish from its bowl to examine it more closely, Bidasari suddenly stopped breathing. Terrified, the merchant’s wife quickly returned the goldfish to the water, and the child gasped and began breathing normally again.
From that moment on, they understood that the goldfish was no ordinary creature. It was the vessel of Bidasari’s soul, and the two were inseparably linked. They guarded both the child and the fish with devoted care.
The Beauty That Provoked Jealousy
Sixteen years passed, and Bidasari grew into the most beautiful maiden in all the land. Her beauty was legendary, spoken of in every town and village. Her grace, her kindness, and her radiant loveliness made her beloved by all who knew her.
But in the royal palace, there lived a queen whose heart was poisoned by vanity and jealousy. When she heard tales of Bidasari’s extraordinary beauty, rage consumed her. She could not bear the thought that anyone might be more beautiful than herself.
“Bring this Bidasari to the palace,” the queen commanded. “Tell her I wish her to be my companion.”
The merchants, honored by the royal summons, sent Bidasari to the palace. But they kept the goldfish at home, not understanding its importance and thinking it merely a pet.
The moment Bidasari arrived at the palace, the queen’s mask of kindness fell away. She made the beautiful maiden her servant, forcing her to perform the most degrading tasks. Bidasari was starved, made to clean chamber pots, and subjected to every humiliation the queen could devise.
“Surely such work will make her ugly,” the queen thought with satisfaction.
But Bidasari’s beauty only seemed to increase. Hardship could not dim her radiance or break her gentle spirit.
The Stolen Life
Frustrated beyond measure, the queen sent her spies to discover Bidasari’s secret. They returned with tales of a goldfish in a golden bowl, and how the maiden’s adoptive parents treasured it above all things.
The queen’s eyes gleamed with malicious understanding. “Bring me that fish,” she commanded.
Her servants stole the goldfish from the merchants’ home and delivered it to the queen. The moment the fish left its home, Bidasari collapsed as if struck dead. Her heart stopped beating, her breath ceased, and she lay motionless on the palace floor.
The queen laughed with cruel triumph. “The threat is ended. Return her body to her parents.”
The heartbroken merchants received their daughter’s lifeless form. But they knew the truth. They understood that while the goldfish lived, Bidasari was not truly dead. They built a beautiful house for her in a secluded garden deep in the forest, laying her body on a bed surrounded by flowers, and waited for the day when the mysterious connection might somehow be restored.
The King’s Discovery
Time passed, and one day a young king went hunting in the forest. This was the same king whose parents had fled the garuda years before, though he did not know it. He wandered deep into the woods and stumbled upon the hidden garden.
There, in the beautiful house, he found what appeared to be a sleeping maiden of such extraordinary beauty that his heart was immediately captivated. He sat beside her, marveling at how lifelike she appeared, as if she might wake at any moment.
At that very same moment, back in the palace, the jealous queen was admiring the goldfish in its bowl when it suddenly leaped from the water with supernatural strength. Before anyone could stop it, the fish escaped through a window and found its way to the river, swimming with miraculous speed back toward the forest.
The Awakening
The instant the goldfish entered the flowing waters near the hidden garden, Bidasari’s eyes opened. She drew a deep breath and sat up, finding herself face to face with a handsome young king.
After her initial surprise, Bidasari felt words tumbling from her lips. She had been silent for so long, trapped in her death-like sleep, and now she told the king everything. She spoke of her mystical bond with the goldfish, the jealous queen’s cruelty, her suffering in the palace, and how she came to be in this enchanted sleep.
The king listened with growing horror and anger. He realized that the woman he had married, the queen, was capable of such wickedness. But he was not entirely surprised, for he had seen hints of her cruel nature before.
“I will right this wrong,” he declared.
Justice and True Love
The king returned to his palace and confronted the queen with her crimes. Her jealousy, her cruelty, and her attempted murder of an innocent maiden could not be forgiven.
He banished the wicked queen from the kingdom forever, stripping her of her title and riches.
Then he returned to the forest garden, where Bidasari waited with her adoptive parents and the goldfish, now safely returned to its golden bowl. The king asked Bidasari to marry him, and she, seeing his kind heart and noble spirit, agreed.
They were wed with great celebration, and Bidasari became queen. The goldfish remained always nearby in its golden bowl, the visible sign of the magic that had preserved her life and brought her to her destiny.
And so Bidasari, the princess who had been set adrift as an infant, who had survived cruelty and death itself, finally found her place as a beloved queen, living in happiness and peace for all her days.
Journey through enchanted forests and islands in our Southeast Asian Folktales collection.
The Moral Lesson
The tale of Bidasari teaches us several important lessons about inner beauty, jealousy, and justice. First, true beauty cannot be destroyed by hardship or mistreatment; Bidasari’s radiance came from her spirit, not just her appearance, and no amount of cruel treatment could diminish it. Second, jealousy is a destructive force that harms the jealous person most of all; the queen’s envy led to her own downfall and banishment. Third, the story reminds us that evil actions eventually face consequences; the queen’s wickedness was ultimately exposed and punished. Fourth, the mystical bond between Bidasari and the goldfish symbolizes the interconnectedness of all life and the mysterious forces that protect the innocent. Finally, the tale emphasizes that goodness and patience are rewarded; despite all her suffering, Bidasari’s gentle nature never changed, and she was ultimately elevated to become queen. This is a story about remaining true to yourself even in the face of cruelty, and trusting that justice will eventually prevail.
Knowledge Check
Q1: Why was Princess Bidasari’s life connected to the goldfish in this Malaysian legend?
A: When Bidasari was born by the river after her parents fled from a garuda attack, her father discovered that she stopped crying whenever he held a goldfish from the river, but wailed when he put it back. Through this mystical connection, Bidasari’s life force became bound to the goldfish. Whenever the fish was removed from water, she would stop breathing, and when it was returned, she would revive.
Q2: Why did Bidasari’s birth parents send her away on a raft?
A: The king and queen had just escaped a deadly garuda attack and feared for their safety and their daughter’s future. Not knowing what dangers still pursued them or whether they could protect their newborn, they made the heartbreaking decision to set Bidasari and the goldfish adrift on the river, hoping fate would provide her with a safer life than they could offer.
Q3: How did the jealous queen attempt to destroy Bidasari’s beauty?
A: The queen first tried to make Bidasari ugly by forcing her to be a servant, starving her, and making her perform degrading tasks like cleaning chamber pots. When this failed to diminish Bidasari’s beauty, the queen discovered the secret of the goldfish, stole it, and kept it in the palace, causing Bidasari to fall into a death-like state.
Q4: What happened when the goldfish escaped from the palace?
A: When the goldfish escaped from the jealous queen and made its way back to the river near where Bidasari’s body lay in the forest garden, she immediately awakened from her death-like sleep. This occurred at the exact moment the king had discovered her in the hidden garden, allowing her to tell him the entire story of the queen’s wickedness.
Q5: What does the goldfish symbolize in the Bidasari folktale?
A: The goldfish symbolizes the soul or life force, representing the mystical and spiritual aspects of existence in Malay folklore. It also represents the interconnectedness of all living things and the idea that life can exist in unexpected forms. The golden bowl that holds the fish symbolizes the care and protection needed to preserve life and magic.
Q6: How does the story of Bidasari relate to other fairy tale traditions?
A: Bidasari shares similarities with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, featuring a beautiful heroine, a jealous female antagonist, a death-like sleep, and awakening through intervention. However, the Malaysian tale is unique with its mystical goldfish element, the external soul concept common in Southeast Asian folklore, and its emphasis on the heroine’s inner strength and patience rather than passive waiting for rescue.
Source:
Traditional Malay legend, recorded in various Malaysian and Indonesian folklore collections; earliest known written version in Syair Bidasari (classical Malay poem).
Cultural Origin: Malaysia (Malay oral and literary tradition)
