BidaSari
PLOT
When a simple merchant, his young son and mute servant are out in the woods, they chance
upon a drifting boat, in which there is a baby girl and a bowl containing a
live gold fish.
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The merchant realizes that the baby is unusual because
her life is bonded to the fish: if the fish leaves the water, she stops
breathing. The merchant adopts the baby as his own and names her Bidasari.
Years later Bidasari grows up into a beautiful young woman while the merchant
has prospered into a wealthy businessman.
At the royal palace of this
kingdom, the King has just remarried a beautiful woman, the Permaisuri (Queen).
The Permaisuri is a proud woman who secretly practises witchcraft. Hidden in
her chambers is a magic mirror that can show her anything she asks. She uses it
to ask who the most beautiful in all the land is. One day when she asks the
mirror this question, the image of Bidasari appears in it. She is enraged by
this and carries out a search to find who Bidasari is.
Her search leads her to the merchant's
house. Under the guise of kindness, the Permaisuri asks the merchant for
permission to bring Bidasari to the palace to be her companion. Although the
merchant is reluctant to part with his beloved daughter, he lets her go. But
once Bidasari arrives at the palace, she is sent to the kitchens as a servant,
where she is starved and given the dirtiest jobs.After the Permaisuri is satisfied
that Bidasari has been ruined, she once again asks her magic mirror who is the
most beautiful in the land. When the mirror shows Bidasari yet again, the
Permaisuri flies into a rage and runs to the kitchen where she grabs burning
pieces of firewood which she tries to burn Bidasari's face with. She is shocked
when the fire goes out and Bidasari's face is left untouched. Bidasari, who has
by now realised that the Permaisuri's malice is targeted only at her and will
never stop, begs for mercy and explains her life is bonded to that of a fish
that is kept in a bowl in her father's garden.
The Permaisuri has a servant steal the
fish for her from the merchant's garden, and as soon as the fish leaves the
water, Bidasari collapses and stops breathing. Satisfied that Bidasari's life
is in her hands, the Permaisuri hangs the fish around her neck as a trophy.
When she asks the mirror who is the most beautiful in the land, the mirror
shows her own image.The merchant realizes that the
fish is missing, and is told that Bidasari died mysteriously at the palace. Her
body is returned to him and he builds a small tomb for her in the woods where
her body is laid out in peace.
Meanwhile, the Permaisuri's stepson the
Prince has been having dreams about Bidasari, although he has never met her.
The dreams plague him even in his waking hours, despite his father's advice
that such a beautiful woman cannot exist. The Permaisuri sees her stepson
acting this way and plants a painting of Bidasari in his room. The Prince finds
the painting, which leads him to the merchant who explains the sad tale of
Bidasari's death and the mysterious disappearance of the fish.
The Prince decides to visit Bidasari's tomb to
see her beauty with his own eyes. Coincidentally at this time, back at the
palace the Permaisuri is having a bath in the royal bathing pool. The fish
manages to break free of its locket and drops into the water where it starts
swimming. This causes Bidasari to wake up right before the Prince's eyes.
Bidasari tells him of what the Permaisuri did to her, which confirms the
Prince's suspicions of his stepmother.
When the Permaisuri finishes her bath,
she discovers that the fish has gotten free. She manages to catch it just as
the Prince is about to help Bidasari leave the tomb, causing her to fall
unconscious again. The Prince places Bidasari back in the tomb and promises to
make things right.
The Prince returns to the palace
in a fury, demanding that the Permaisuri give him the fish. The Permaisuri
pretends not to know anything, and when the King listens to the Prince's
explanation, the King declares that his son has gone insane and calls the royal
guards. A fight ensues, during which the Permaisuri is injured and dies.
Just before the Prince is about to be
captured, the merchant and the Prince's loyal manservants arrive with Bidasari
on a stretcher. The merchant explains that the story about the fish being
bonded to Bidasari's life is true. The Prince takes the fish from the locket
around the Permaisuri's neck and puts it into a bowl of water. As soon as the
fish enters the water, Bidasari comes back to life. The King apologizes to his
son, and the Prince and Bidasari are married.
REACTION
For me,the moral lesson I've learned of epic Bidasari is that sometimes it can't be denied that there are things that I can't accept without thinking that God created us equally so, I realized that I must always be contented of what I have, I must not compare myself to others especially my physical appearance, economic status and other things, I should always put in my mind that Insecurity doesn't adds beauty.I must always be contented for we are equally made by God.
Moreover, there are some decisions
that are not correct, we must think first before deciding because
wrong decisions may lead us to destruction or even into death.
