Friday, July 13, 2012

CERITA SESAAT*

(Translated from Ernest Hemingway’s a very short story)

Suatu petang yang panas di Padua, mereka membawa lelaki itu naik ke atap membuatnya melihat seluruh puncak kota. Burung-burung cerobong asap tampak di angkasa.  Sesaat kemudian hari beranjak gelap dan sorot-sorot lampu pun mulai bermunculan. Beberapa dari mereka turun mengambil botol. Lelaki itu dan Luz bisa mendengar mereka di bawah, di sebuah balkon. Luz duduk di atas tempat tidur. Ia tampak sejuk dan segar di malam yang gerah.

Luz tinggal untuk bertugas malam selama tiga bulan. Mereka senang  Luz disana. Ketika mereka mengoperasi lelaki itu, Luz lah yang menyiapkan meja operasi untuknya; dan mereka pun bersenda gurau tentang teman atau suntikan. Lelaki itu mulai tak sadarkan diri, memegangi dirinya sendiri kuat-kuat, hingga tak sepata katapun keluar dari mulutnya selama pembicaraan yang konyol itu. Setelah lelaki itu menggunakan kruk, biasanya ia akan langsung mengukur suhunya, jadi Luz tak perlu repot-repot beranjak dari tempat tidur. Hanya ada sedikit pasien disana, dan mereka semua tahu itu. Mereka menyukai Luz. Selama berjalan kembali menyusuri lorong-lorong, lelaki itu memikirkan Luz di tempat tidurnya.

Sebelum lelaki itu kembali ke sektor, mereka berdua pergi ke Duamo dan berdoa. Redup dan tenang, beberapa orang juga berdoa disana. Mereka ingin menikah, tapi tak ada cukup waktu untuk menikah resmi di gereja, akte kelahiran pun mereka tak punya. Mereka merasa seolah-olah telah menikah, mereka ingin semua orang tahu itu, dan untuk mewujudkannya mereka berdua tidak akan menyerah.

Luz menulis banyak surat yang tak pernah lelaki itu terima sampai genjatan senjata  usai. Lima belas surat datang ke sektor secara bersamaan, lelaki itu mengurutkannya sesuai tanggal lalu membaca semuanya saat itu juga. Semua bercerita tentang rumah sakit, tentang betapa besar Luz mencintainya, tentang bagaimana mungkin sejauh ini berlangsung tanpa dirinya, dan betapa sakit saat merindukannya di malam hari.

Setelah genjatan senjata, mereka setuju lelaki itu pulang untuk mencari pekerjaan dan selanjutnya mungkin menikah. Luz tidak akan pulang sampai lelaki itu mendapat pekerjaan yang bagus, dan datang ke New York untuk menemuinya. Semua tahu, lelaki itu takkan mabuk, tak ingin menemui teman-temannya atau siapapun di Amerika. Hanya untuk mencari pekerjaan lalu menikah. Di kereta dari Padua ke Milan mereka berselisih tentang ketidaksediaan Luz untuk sekalian pulang. Ketika mereka harus berpisah di stasiun Milan, mereka berciuman yang tentunya tidak diakhiri dengan pertengkaran. Lelaki itu merasa sangat sakit berpisah seperti itu.

Lelaki itu pergi ke Amerika menggunakan kapal dari Genoa. Luz kembali ke Pordonone untuk membuka rumah sakit. Saat itu suasana sepi dan hujan, ada batalion arditi yang bermarkas di kota itu. Tinggal di kota hujan yang becek membuat mayor batalion itu bercinta dengan Luz, dan Luz tak pernah kenal orang italia sebelumnya. Pada akhirnya ia menulis surat ke Amerika dan mengatakan bahwa cinta mereka hanyalah cinta monyet. Luz meminta maaf, ia tahu lelaki itu mungkin takkan mengerti, tapi Luz yakin suatu saat nanti ia akan memaafkan Luz dan berterima kasih padanya, dan Luz berharap, tanpa diduga-duga sama sekali, ia akan menikah di musim semi. Luz selalu mencintai lelaki itu, tapi sekarang ia sadar bahwa cinta mereka hanyalah cinta monyet. Ia berharap lelaki itu akan mendapat pekerjaan yang hebat, dan ia sangat percaya itu. Luz tahu bahwa inilah yang terbaik.

Mayor itu tidak menikahi Luz di musim semi, atapun musim-musim lainnya. Luz juga tak pernah mendapat balasan atas suratnya ke Chicago. Tak lama setelah lelaki itu tertular gonoria (penyakit kencing nana) dari seorang pramuniaga di putaran swalayan saat naik taxi melewati Lincoln Park.

*Tugas matkul Advanced Translation jaman dulu-dulu...:)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Girl Who I knew well

The window was open when I came and got closer. But I heard no sound, nobody inside I guess.  I just kept standing in the doorstep, waiting. I was trying to call someone, but I didn’t know who I should call. I was still standing, trying to knock the door, again I heard no one.

I decided to come in, although I never knew what kind of place it was. I did not know whether it’s a house, or just a room. But it looked neither like a house nor a room. I just often saw it, there, in my dream.
I opened the door, walked alone into the room. There were many things I knew well. That pictures which hang on the dirty wall, the soft sofa bed which I always laying down, and the floor, yes that was the glossy green floor which I often lay my clothes there.

I never came here. I just knew it well. It was the place which I always saw in my dream. The dream that I always met the girl who could make me feeling high, as high as a flying cloud in the sky. There, on the lilywhite bed, she always sat looking at me. Telling me how wonderful story hidden on the pictures which she put in her classic picture frames. She sometimes came close to me, whispering me something funny. I guess I like her so much, but I didn’t know who she was. Perhaps she was the girl who was fated to accompany me, or was she the girl that I would met in my future?  Or was she my girl on the past?. I never knew, and could not remember.

I walked around the room, looking for her and something that could make me find her. I was in a total confusion. And I need her smile I guess, her smooth hand touch caressing me warmly. But where was she? I didn’t see her, I could not find. It had been a long time, I didn’t see her in my dream, again. I was glad to be here, wishing that she would see me smiling blissfully because I would see her lucent eyes. And it was not a dream. I could feel that it was so real. I could touch the door, the window, the sofa. I could step on the floor. I could smell the scent. I could feel it.

I had looked for her in the room, but I didn’t find. Where were you, baby? I missed you so bad, and I did need you much. I was trying to find her out side. I went out from the room. Maybe I could find her there, I thought. I knew I never saw her outside the room in my dream. I was just trying to find. I would keep finding, or just waiting till she came.

I walked again. I saw my way home, there, in front of me. But I still wanted to be here, waiting the girl. I walked again and again. And I trod something slippery. Then I fell. My head collided with a hard thing, and it was so sick. I closed my eyes, felt it.

I was surprised, when I opened my eyes I was in my own home, my own room. I was sitting in front of my cup board, holding my sick head. Oh shit, I thought it was a real, Apparently it’s still a dream. And I felt I lose her.

I saw something I knew well next to my feet. A picture frame with a picture inside. It had just fell from the top of the cup board. I took it. I saw her in the picture. And it was really really her. She was so beautiful, sitting on a chair which I knew too. She sat with a smiling little boy. And I knew him too. That’s me, the young me. I knew. It was the picture that my father always wanted to give me before he passed away. He said that was my picture and my mom who I never knew where she was since I was so young. I always promised to my dad that I would find her.

I knew her, I missed. I promised to find her, bringing her back to my hug. For me and for my father there.
                                                                                                              
Malang, june 2012