Bawang Merah Bawang Putih [English Version-Narrative]

BAWANG Putih lived with her step mother and her step sister, Bawang Merah. Bawang Putih's mother died when she was a baby. Her father remarried another woman and later her step sister was born. Unfortunately, not long after that her father died. Since then, Bawang Putih's life was sad. Her step mother and her step sister treated Bawang Putih badly and always asked her to do all the household chores.

 One morning, Bawang Putih was washing some clothes in a river. Accidentally, her mother's clothes were washed away by the river. She was really worried so she walked along the river side to find the clothes. Finally she met an old woman. She said that she kept the clothes and would give them back to Bawang Putih if she helped the old woman do the household chores. Bawang Putih helped her happily. After everything was finished, the old woman returned the clothes. She also gave Bawang Putih a gift. The old woman had two pumpkins, one pumpkin was small and the other one was big. Bawang Putih had to choose one.

 Bawang Putih was not a greedy girl. So she took the small one. After thanking the old woman, Bawang Putih then went home. When she arrived home, her step mother and Bawang Merah were angry. They had been waiting for her all day long. Bawang Putih then told about the clothes, the old woman, and the pumpkin. Her mother was really angry so she grabbed the pumpkin and smashed it to the floor. Suddenly they all were surprised. Inside the pumpkin they found jewelries. "Bawang Merah, hurry up. Go to the river and throw my clothes into the water. After that, find the old woman. Remember, you have to take the big pumpkin," the step mother asked Bawang Merah to do exactly the same as Bawang Putih's experience. Bawang Merah immediately went to the river. She threw the clothes and pretended to search them. Not long after that, she met the old woman. Again she asked Bawang Merah to do household chores. She refused and asked the old woman to give her a big pumpkin. The old woman then gave her the big one. Bawang Merah was so happy. She ran very fast. When she arrived home, her mother was impatient. She directly smashed the pumpkin to the floor. They were screaming. There were a lot of snakes inside the pumpkin! They were really scared. They were afraid the snakes would bite them. "Mom, I think God just punished us. We had done bad things to Bawang Putih. And God didn't like that. We have to apologize to Bawang Putih," said Bawang Merah.

 Finally both of them realized their mistakes. They apologized and Bawang Putih forgave them. Now the family is not poor anymore. Bawang Putih decided to sell all the jewelries and used the money for their daily lives.

Jantur and Menur [Narrative]

 JANTUR and Menur were twins. Jantur was a boy and Menur was a girl and they had different personalities. Jantur was lazy, he got angry easily. He always said bad words when he was angry. However, Menur was a very kind, diligent, patient and always helped their parents. She always reminded her brother to behave well.

 “Menur! Where are you? I’m hungry! Give me some food!” said Jantur. “Be patient Jantur I’m still cooking, the food is not ready yet. Why don't you help me mop the floor? Father and mother will be home soon,” said Menur. “Arrrgggh! What took you so long? I’m hungry, you are so slow!” said Janur. And he said bad words to Menur.

 Menur was very sad. She cried. When their parents went home, Menur told them about Jantur’s bad behavior. Her father then advised him. However, Jantur did not want to listen to him. He ignored him, and it was getting worse.

 Jantur asked his parents and his sister to leave the house. They were very sad. They never thought that Jantur would ask them to leave the house. After his parents and his sister left her house, Jantur lived alone. At first he felt very happy because no one disturbed him. He could do anything he wanted. He even spent his parents’ money for bad things. When all the money was gone, he sold his parents animals, cows, goats, cocks and hens.

 Meanwhile, Menur and her parents lived in another place. When they left home, they did not bring anything. Because they worked very hard, they could build a new home and they had new animals.

 They were rich.

 How about Jantur? Soon all his parents’ wealth was gone. Jantur was lazy, he did not want to work. He wanted to have much money in an easy way. So he sold the last wealth, it was the house. After Jantur sold the house, again, he spent the money foolishly. It was not surprising that Jantur became poor again.

 He did not have any money and he did not have a house. His body was very thin. He suffered skin disease, his skin was full of black dots.

 Jantur did not have a way to go, he just walked and walked. Finally, he arrived at his parents’ house. Menur was in front of the house sweeping the floor. At first, they did not recognize each other. Menur thought that Jantur was a beggar.

 “Are you hungry? Here, I have some food,” said Menur. Jantur was happy. He was so hungry that he did not recognize his sister. However Menur knew him. “Jantur? Is that you brother? Father, mother, Jantur is here!!” screamed Menur. “Jantur my son, what happened to you?” said his mother. Jantur was surprised. “Mother, is that really you? Father, mother, and Menur! Please forgive me. I was punished by God. I suffer an illness, I’m poor, and I don’t have a house to live. I have done bad things to you all. I promise I will be good,” promised Jantur.

 The family now reunited. They have already forgiven Jantur and amazingly Jantur was cured. And as he promised, Jantur became a very good man.

Nopombalu [Narrative]

ONCE upon a time there were a handsome hunter, his name was Lawongo. In the jungle he only hunted wild hogs. The animals often always destroyed the villagers' fields. The villagers were very grateful. With Lawongo's help, their field were safe from the wild hogs.

Lawongo was also very great in playing a flute, it was so melodious. Everybody always enjoyed listening his playing the flute. One of the people was a beautiful girl. She always listened attentively. Lawongo knew there was a beautiful girl who always paid attention to him. Lawongo fell in love with her. The girl also loved him, later they got married.

They were very happy. They loved each other and promised to be always together. They would be together until they died.

In one night, Lawongo had a strange dream. In his dream he was hunting a very big wild hog. The hog attacked him. He did very hard to kill the hog. He used his knife to stab the hog and it finally died.

On the next morning, Lawongo went hunting. It was still early in the morning and he did not want to wake his wife up.

In the jungle ha did not see any animals. He could not find any wild hog either. He felt very strange. He walk and he felt very thirsty. He picked a coconut. And when he wanted to open it using his knife, he saw his knife was full of dried blood. He was confused. Suddenly he remembered his wife. Somehow he had a bad feeling about his wife. He immediately went home.

When he arrived home, many people were in front of his house. One of the people said,"We're sorry for your wife, Lawongo. Please accept our condolences."

"What happened?" asked him. He rushed into his house. He saw his wife was dead. Her body was full of blood. Lawongo was very sad. He felt very guilty. He knew last night he stabbed hi wife. He then told the villagers to do something.

"I cannot live without my wife. Please prepare two coffins, one for me and the other one is for my wife."

"No, please don't do it. You are still young and we still need you here. Besides that we still want to hear you play the flute." said one of the villagers.

"Don't worry, I still play the flute for you. Male a hole on the coffin's cover. If you cannot longer hear my playing, it means I'm dead. You go to the beach. A strange thing will appear from the sea. Do not point at that thing and do not say anything. It is my reincarnation." said Lawongo.

Later, the villagers buried the two coffins. At the first night, they could still hear his playing. However the sound was getting weaker and weaker. And finally the villagers did not hear anything.

They did Lawongo's request. They went to the beach. They all set down on the beach. Suddenly, a strange thing appeared from the sea. It was very big. They all were surprised. However they did not say anything. The thing finally stooped growing.

The villagers used their sampan and came to the thing. It was a coral island. They named the island as Napombalu, which is from the words Napo and Nawalu. Napo means a coral island and Nawalu means a strange thing which turn into an island.

Unknown Source

The Princess and The Pea [ a fairy tale ]

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.

     One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.

     It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.

     Well, we'll soon find that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.

     On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.

     "Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"

     Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.

     Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

     So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.

     There, that is a true story.

By Hans Christian Andersen

Umpama dalam Keterpurukan

Terkadang, aku ingin mendengar lagu dengan volume yang tak cukup hanya keras dan tinggi
Terkadang, aku ingin berteriak lantang dengan suara yang tak cukup hanya sampai serak
Terkadang, aku ingin menangis dengan air mata yang tak cukup hanya sembabkan mata dan mencekik hidung
Terkadang, aku ingin berlari jauh dengan kaki yang tak cukup hanya sampai lelah
Terkadang, aku ingin tertidur dengan mata yang tak cukup hanya terpejam
Dan terkadang pula, aku hanya ingin diam dengan tanpa satu kata dan nafas yang berbahasa




Bale Enje, Maret 2012

Apa Perdulimu?

Apa perduli mu? Kau akan meludah didepan ku jika kau tahu kalau aku tak sesuci melati. Karena aku hanya setangkai chrysan. Apa perduli mu? Kau hanya mampu untuk mengucap maaf dan terima kasih berulang kali tanpa bias benar-benar memahami apa yang terjadi. Apa perduli mu? Kau hanya akan semakin merusak otak dan perasaan ku jika kau terus saja seolah perduli pada ku. Apa perduli mu? Kau akan tak pernah memandang ku jika kau sudah membangun istana bahagia mu dengan nya. Apa perduli mu? Aku tak mau perduli dengan perduli mu. Karena aku sudah terlalu lelah untuk terlalu perduli lagi pada semua tentang mu. Aku muak dengan keperdulian ku sendiri. Semuanya hanya sia-sia. Dan aku sudah akan selalu perduli pada diri ku sendiri. Aku harus egois karena terlalu sering kecewa dengan perduli yang sudah ku bagi sana-sini. Apa perduli mu pada perduli ku? Pergilah saja. Dan perdulilah pada yang memang seharusnya mendapat perduli mu dengan cuma-cuma tanpa harus mengemis dan mengorbankan keperdulian yang percuma. Apa perduli mu? Apa kau sungguh perduli? Sudah lah. Aku lelah. Aku kalah. Aku tak mau mengemiskan perduli mu lagi. Aku muak. Aku jengah. Sudah. Pergi lah.

Bale Enje, Februari 2012

Hujan Sore di Taman

Aku merenung di taman sore ini

Tak ada siapa pun

Hanya berisik angin menyapu paksa daun mati

Aku bukan menanti seorang

Hanya sedang memikirkannya

Ah, apa ini?

Pipi ku basah

Bibir ku tergetar

Keheningan menyeret ku melukis lamunan

Akan sudah selalu ku lamunkan

Jika itu hanya rasa bahagia

Tetesan dari mata semakin deras

Dan gerimis berjalan mendekat perlahan

Seolah hendak menutupi kesedihan

Dan aku tak beranjak hingga hujan berlalu hilang

Biarkan Pipit Pergi

Rasa wangi itu sudah jadi hambar

Pipit harus pergi karena kekasihnya sudah mati

Dia tak akan lagi kembali ke sangkar mu

Tempat yang mencekik

Lagipula ada merak yang lebih mempesona

Pipit terbang sebebas dia suka

Dan akan memaksa untuk amnesia

Jangan coba memburunya lagi

Dia hanya akan mati bila harus kembali

Karena pipit tak sudi jadi saksi

Kau bercinta dengan merak tepat didepan mata