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11th ProZ.com translation contest: "Contemporary society" » Indonesian to English » Entry by tfuselier


Source text in Indonesian

Translation by tfuselier (#13492)

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 noisy row was heard coming from Suliah’s house when she was scolding Meriam, her teenage daughter, her one and only child. How could she not have been hopping mad. Meriam, who had now turned 16 was often the object of gossip by the villagers in Madurasa. Truly, since young Meriam had been the most precious treasure of the couple, Abas and Suliah, blessed with just one child. The little girl had a very beautiful face. Alas, her beauty caused her to be the target of teasings by her boy friends. When Meriam was only 6 years old, Abas had to leave home for Jakarta in search for work in the capital. The responsibility of bringing up Meriam was now on Suliah’s shoulders alone.

“How many times have I warned you, do not hang out with men before you’re married? Do you want to be a hooker, or what?” shouted Suliah while slapping her daughter’s face.
“We may not be rich, but people in this village still have quite a respect for your mother. Don’t you know that you have tarred the family’s good name with that behavior of yours?

The cause of all this was Suliah catching her daughter by surprise. She was on her way home from washing clothes in the river when she caught her daughter giggling and making out in the bushes by the school with Didi, Pak Gade’s eldest son. After giving Didi a tongue lashing, Suliah, all by herself, dragged her daughter home to teach her a lesson. Even though it pained her heart, because the truth of the matter was, she could not bear to hurt her darling daughter, but being of a simple mind, hitting her daughter was the only way she knew how to teach her a lesson.

That evening, with eyes swollen from crying, Meriam sat brooding on her bed, pondering her mother’s words. The pubescent roiling blood in her rebelled against the harsh treatment she felt was unfair. Was this the kind of love she deserved from her parents? Was it her fault when her school friends, especially the boys, liked her? If my mother doesn’t love me any more what's the point of me staying in the village any longer? But, if I did leave, where should I go? Jakarta! Yes, JAKARTA, that's where I should be heading for to find Dad. Thousands of questions whirled in her head, but she was determined. She was leaving for Jakarta!

The moon had crept high up in the sky when the door of Suliah’s house slowly opened and the figure of a slender girl slipped out. She carried with her a small bundle containing two changes of clothes and a pair of her favorite shoes.


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