Source text in Indonesian | Translation by Ian Forbes (#13273) — Winner |
Suara gaduh terdengar dari rumah Suliah ketika ia sedang memarahi Meriam, anak gadisnya semata wayang. Bagaimana dia tidak mau gusar, Meriam yang kini menginjak umur 16 sering menjadi gunjingan penduduk desa Madurasa. Memang semenjak kecil Meriam merupakan anak kesayangan pasangan Abas dan Suliah yang hanya dikurnai anak satu ini. Gadis cilik ini memiliki paras yang amat cantik, namun kecantikan inilah yang menjadikannya buah godaan kawan-kawan prianya. Ketika Meriam baru berusia 6 tahun, Abas merantau ke Jakarta untuk mencari keberuntungan di ibu kota. Tanggung jawab untuk membesarkan Meriam kini sepenuhnya berada di atas pundak Suliah. “Sudah berapa kali saya peringatkan kamu, jangan main-main sama laki sebelum kamu menikah. Kamu mau jadi lonté apa?” teriak Suliah sambil menampar muka anaknya. “Walaupun kita bukan orang kaya, namun ibumu ini masih cukup dipandang orang di desa ini. Tahu tidak, bahwa dengan kelakuanmu ini kamu mencemarkan nama baik keluarga kita?” Gara-garanya waktu pulang dari mencuci baju di kali, Suliah memergoki anaknya sedang bercekikikan sambil bercumbu-cumbuan di semak-semak dekat sekolah dengan Didi, anak sulung Pak Gadé. Setelah memaki-maki si Didi, Suliah menyeret anaknya sendiri pulang untuk diberi pelajaran. Walaupun dengan hati yang pedih karena sebenarnya ia sendiri tidak tega untuk menyakiti anak kesayangannya, namun dalam alam pikirannya yang sederhana, ia hanya mengenal satu cara untuk memberi pelajaran kepada anaknya yaitu dengan cara memukulinya. Malam itu Meriam dengan mata bengkak akibat tangisnya duduk termenung di atas tempat tidur sambil merenungkan kata-kata ibunya. Darah puber dalam dirinya berontak atas perlakuan kasar terhadap dirinya yang dirasakannya tidak adil. Apakah ini wujud cinta kasih yang layak ia dapatkan dari orangtuanya? Apakah ia salah bahwa teman-teman sekolahnya, terutama yang pria senang pada dirinya? Kalau ibuku tidak mencintaiku lagi apa gunanya aku masih lama-lama tinggal di kampung? Kalaupun pergi aku mau pergi ke mana? Jakarta! Ya, JAKARTA-lah yang akan menjadi tujuanku untuk mencari ayah. Seribu pertanyaan berkecamuk dalam benaknya namun tekadnya sudah bulat. Ia berangkat ke Jakarta! Bulan sudah merayap tinggi di langit ketika pintu rumah Suliah dibuka perlahan-lahan dan sosok tubuh gadis ramping menyelinap keluar dengan membawa bekal satu buntalan berisi dua setel baju dan sepasang sepatu kesayangannya. | A commotion could be heard coming from Suliah’s house as she scolded Meriam, her one and only daughter. How could she help being angry – Meriam, who had now turned 16, was often the butt of gossip of the villagers of Madurasa. From a young age Meriam, an only child, had been the delight of her parents Abas and Suliah. The small girl was extremely beautiful, but it was her beauty that made her the object of teasing by the boys she was friends with. When Meriam was only 6, Abas had set out for Jakarta to try to strike it lucky in the capital. The responsibility of bringing up Meriam now rested squarely on Suliah’s shoulders. “How many times have I told you not to play around with boys while you’re not married. Do you want to become a prostitute?” screamed Suliah, slapping her daughter’s face. “Even though we’re not rich, I’m still looked up to by the people in this village. Don’t you realise that your behaviour is dragging the good name of our family through the mud?” The cause of all this was that, returning home after doing the laundry in the river, Suliah had discovered her daughter giggling and kissing Didi, Gadé’s oldest son, in the bushes near the school. After bawling out Didi, Suliah had dragged her own child back home to be taught a lesson. Although it was with a heavy heart because she could hardly bear to hurt her beloved child, to her unsophisticated way of thinking there was only one way to teach her a lesson and that was by beating her. That night Meriam sat brooding on her bed with eyes swollen from crying, mulling over what her mother had said. Her teenage blood boiled in rebellion at the harsh treatment meted out to her. It just wasn’t fair, she felt. Was this the way a parent expressed the love she deserved? Was it her fault that her schoolfriends, especially the boys, liked her? If my mother doesn’t love me any more what’s the point of my staying in the village any longer? But even if I went where would I go? Jakarta! Yes, I’ll head for JAKARTA to look for father. A thousand questions swirled in her head but her mind was made up. She was leaving for Jakarta! The moon had crept high into the sky when the door to Suliah’s house slowly opened and the slim figure of a girl slipped outside carrying a bundle for the journey containing two changes of clothes and a pair of her favourite shoes. |
Discussion about 11th ProZ.com translation contest: "Contemporary society" in Indonesian to English - Entry #13273 | |||||||||
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Eddie R. Notowidigdo Indonesia Local time: 22:04 Member (2006) English to Indonesian + ...
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