n the past, every village in Indonesia had its own stories and anecdotes about the orangutan, which were passed down from generation to generation. These stories are often funny and educational, but also have a moral. They show that people tried to incorporate the 'strange forest dwellers' into their world. A funny story from Indonesia tells how orangutans could once speak. They sat around all day, telling stories and gossiping, just like people. They understood people and people understood them. One day, the orangutans decided to stop talking and to be silent from that day forth. They were afraid that otherwise they would have to go to work! Long ago, a red-haired man lived in a village by the rainforest. One day he became angry at the villagers who had committed a crime. He left the village to go and live alone in the forest. There, he fell in live with a human-like forest-woman and they had children together. These children are the orangutans. Sometimes, you can still hear the man shouting angrily at the villagers through the forest. After they had made light, air and water, the Gods decide to fill the Earth with beautiful things. First they made the plants and animals and then they began to make people. They had been working on man for a couple of weeks and the first samples were already finished. The Gods were so proud of their work they decided to celebrate with a big party. The next day they carried on with the creation of man, but they weren't very sober: and so the orangutan was created!