Asep, Dayat, Eungkoy, and Darman, four friends from Situ Babakan, often hung out at Kang Muklis's coffee stall. They were among the many victims of unemployment in this country. The residents of Situ Babakan were actually quite fed up seeing these four young men constantly loitering and chatting aimlessly at Kang Muklis's stall. However, the locals were quite sympathetic towards them because their jokes always provided entertainment. Like this morning, for instance, they were engrossed in a discussion about the Indonesian government's minimal protection for rare animals in the country.
“If only the government cared about rare animals, your relatives wouldn't be almost extinct like they are now, Sep!” Dayat joked.
”My relatives? Which relatives?” Asep asked, somewhat puzzled.
”The...King Eagle!” The other two friends laughed upon hearing Dayat's joke.
Asep didn't want to be outdone. He took a deep breath, then sipped the warm black coffee in front of him. ”Now, I've got a riddle for you! What animal likes to lay eggs?”
Darman, Dayat, and Engkoy answered in unison, ”Chicken!” Dayat replied.
”Duck!” Engkoy added.
”Goose!” Darman continued.
”Correct, but you're missing one.”
”What is it?” they asked in unison.
”The salty animal!” Asep's three friends were stunned.
”Is there really a salty animal?” Dayat asked.
”Well, there are chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs. They are certainly produced by those three animals. So, salted eggs (telor asin) must also be produced by an animal called 'salty'. I just don't know what kind of animal it is!”
”Ha! ha! ha! You're something else!”
"This 'cerlu' (short for 'cerita lucu' - funny story) is told by a comedy group named Kang Jagur in the form of a drama. We then translated this funny story into text in Indonesian. Originally, Kang Jagur performed this 'cerlu' in Sundanese. We then developed this story into Indonesian so that 'Kartuneters' could read Kang Jagur's humorous tales. Well, enjoy!"