Author / Illustrator: Rejab F.I
Genre: Traditional Literature (Folktale)
Major Awards: N/A
Age Group: 4th - 6th
Summary:
A man and his wife lived in Pulau Langkawi. They were poor and managed to make money by working on the farm and selling forest products they found. After they moved, they planted paddy and soon after they gave birth to a baby girl, Mahsuri. Since her birth, Mahsuri has brought good changes to the family and they became rich. Many people pursued Mahsuri because her beauty was admired by everybody. Mahsuri soon married the brother of headman of Pulau Langkawi and started their wonderful life together. Mat Darus, the brother, had to go fight in the battle with the rest of the warriors, leaving Mahsuri to live alone for a while. During this time, she spent it taking care of her baby at home with her family. Suddenly one day, a handsome young man, Deramang, came into town from Batu Bara. He was known for his performances, personality, and everybody liked him. Mahsuri's father was very fond of him and wanted to invite Deramang to stay at their house as he didn't have a set place to stay. Whenever Mahsuri spent time with her family and Deramang, she didn't feel sad and lonely like she did before. For appreciation of friendship, they gave him a ring and silk sash that were shown to everyone by Deramang. Mat Darus' parents found out about what had happened and felt that she brought shame to their family. Mahsuri was brought to a tree and tied up in front of a huge crowd. Even though she pleaded for mercy, she was stabbed with a keris by Dato' Pekerma with no effect at all. Others soon started pleading for mercy on her behalf and Mahsuri suddenly told Dato to kill her with a spear if he must. When she was stabbed with the spear, spurts of white blood came out, symbolizing her innocence. Mahsuri spoke a curse before she died saying that Pulau Langkawi will not prosper for seven generations because of the injustice that was done to her. The Legend of Langkawi lives on to this day.
Evaluation & Comments:
While I do think that this book is a really interesting and colorful one, I wouldn't necessarily use this for a lesson. My students could use this as a resource to learn about Legends of Langkawi because it does provide some information that can be learned. Students can learn that you should always repay the kindness through gifts or actions like Mahsuri's family did with Deramang. I didn't want to use this book as a read aloud because it ends sadly and there's a lot of violence and negative actions going on throughout while we go about her life. 🙅
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