Lake Toba

Once upon a time, there was a fisherman living in North Sumatra. One day, while he was fishing in a river, a big fish was nailed. This fish had god color all over its body. It was beautiful. The fisherman was very excited. He imagined a delicious dinner he would have. Soon he put the fish in his basket and went home happily.

When the fisherman got home, he put the fish in a sink. He took a knife to kill the fish. However, when he almost killed it, he saw the fish’s eyes and felt pity. So he took the knife away and put the fish in a washbasin. Then, he added some water in it. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t kill you,” the fisherman said to the fish.

The fisherman went fishing again, but this time he couldn’t get any fish. He went home with nothing in his hand. He was starving and walked home slouching he was surprised when he saw smoke came out from his kitchen.

“Who is cooking in my kitchen?” he confused.

He peeped in and was surprised knowing that there was a beautiful girl cooking in the kitchen. “Who is the girl in my kitchen?” he murmured.

The fisherman entered the room. “Who are you?” he asked the girl.

“I’m the fish,” the girl said.

The fisherman looked into the washbasin and saw nothing in it. “The fish?” he asked incredulous.

“Yes. You didn’t kill me and I’m very thankful. I will return your kindness,” the girl said.

“That’s all right. I didn’t ask any return,” said the fisherman.

“But I have to,” the girl insisted.

“Well, I live alone. I don’t have a family. If you want to be my wife, I will be very happy,” the fisherman asked the girl.

The girl smiled and said, “I’d love to, but you have to promise me that if we have a kid, you won’t tell him about me.”

And so, the fisherman and the fish girl were married. And then they had a child called Samo. Samo was very naughty. He always played and never helped his parents.

One day, Samo’s mother asked him to deliver lunch to his father. On his way, he met his friends and forgot to deliver his father’s lunch. Samo played with his friends. When he was tired and hungry, he took a rest under a tree and ate his father’s lunch.

Meanwhile, his father waited for him starving and tired. His father went home and saw Samo played. “Where is my lunch?” he asked.

“Umm…mm… I ate it,” Samo said. He looked afraid.

“Why did you eat it?” his father asked.

“Umm…mm… I was hungry after playing with my friends,” Samo said.

“You were asked to deliver my lunch but you didn’t do it,” said his father furiously. “I can’t handle you anymore. You are very naughty. Go away and don’t come back home!” His father yelled and evicted Samo from his house. His father said the words that he wouldn’t suppose to say. “You … fish’s son.”

Suddenly the sky got dark, and the storm was rumbling. The rain felt from sky like a huge hose sprayed water all over the place. Water also came out from the earth and got harder.

Samo’s mother was very sad. “I told you not to tell him about me,” she said to her husband. “Now I’m going back to be a fish again. Goodbye.” She magically turned into a gold fish and jumped into the water, disappeared. Very soon the village was drowned and it formed a lake. Meanwhile, Samo ran to the hill and stayed there. The hill was surrounded by the water.

Now the lake is known as Lake Toba. The word Toba comes from tuba which means no mercy. The hill in the middle of lake is called Samosir Island. Samosir means ‘Samo diusir’ or in English ‘Samo who had been evicted’.