Legend: Atu Belah

This story takes place in the village of Penurun, Gayo Land, hundreds of years ago. Once upon a time, there was a poor family consisting of a father, a mother, a seven-year-old child, and another child still nursing. The father is a farmer. In his spare time he always hunts deer in the forest. In addition, he also catch many grasshoppers in the fields to be food, if not managed to get the game deer. The grasshopper was collected bit by bit in an empty rice barn because it was a famine season.

One day his father went hunting deer into the forest. At home wife and children. The time when the meal arrived, the big boy sulked because there was no fish as a friend of his rice. Also no other side dishes available in the house. This incident made her mother's heart sad.

               Finally, the mother instructed her son to pick up the locusts in the barn. When the child opens the door of the barn, he is not careful, the granary door remains open. This situation causes all the locusts to fly out.Meanwhile his father came home hunting. The father looked very upset and tired. He did not get the hunted deer. His anger grew larger when he learned from his wife that all the grasshoppers in the barn had flown. His irritation also increased when he remembered how long he had gathered the locusts. Now everything disappears in an instant. In a state of self-forgetfulness, the father beat his wife up to be battered. Then he dragged her out of the house.

Whimpering in pain. The mother left her home. In desperation he heads to Atu Belah who always accepts and swallows anyone who is willing to swallow. This kind of intentions can come true if he winds up, saying the words while singing in Gayo as follows:

"Atu belah, atu bertangkup nge sawah pejaying te masa dahulu." Meaning: Stone, stone, cupped, has arrived our promise of the past.

The words were sung many times gently by the poor mother. Meanwhile the mother heads to Atu Belah, her two children continue to follow him crying from a distance. Big one carrying his little brother. Finally what happened? Slowly but surely the part of the split stone is open. Without hesitation the mother went into the stone mouth. Little by little his body was swallowed by the Great Stone after he repeatedly sang the magical sentence. By the time the two brothers arrived there. The surrounding nature is bad. Heavy rain accompanied by a storm. The earth feels vibrating because it is watching the Atu Belah swallowing humans. After it had all died down, the two brothers could only see her mother's hair that was not swallowed by Atu Belah. Then his eldest son pulled out the seven strands of his mother's hair to be used as their protective amulet.

The moral message of the Tale About Legend: Atu Belah Atu Bertangkup is listening to the advice of both parents. If you make a mistake, immediately apologize to them. Mom's love all the time, he surely forgive our guilt. The opposite applies when we see the faults of others, it's a big soul to forgive.