Laler

Suwardi Endraswara

Artwork by Eunice Oh

“Sing kleru ki dak pikir cen bapakmu dhewe, kurang nrima!”
 
“Lho, jarene tiyang gesang niku kudu usaha. Amrih saene ta Bu. Ngendikanipun para sepuh, kodrat niku saget diwiradat.”
 
“Piye? Arep ngowahi garis, nglengkara. Awake dhewe ki rak kaya aksara Jawa kae, ditulis nggandhul garis. Kari manut, mituhu.”
 
“Niku rak tiyang nglokro Bu. Awake dhewe kedah ngulir budi. Ngowahi kahanan niku wajib, boten kedosan. Kados bapak niku.”
 
“Ning, bareng bapakmu reka-reka ngilangi andheng-andheng, njur pijer ngundang laler ngene iki, coba, sapa sing arep disalahake. Hiiii, jijik.”
 
“Emmm!” Mas Habib Dewa ngemem. Metani ukara. Ibune cen semu nyucuh. Merga Pak Tunjung Jenar, sisihane, dianggep ora trep ngowahi andheng-andheng ing lambene. Manut sisihane, jare andheng-andheng nyenol ing lambene iku berkah. Ben wae, ra sah dioperasi. Sepisan, sing wadon owel ragad—najan Pak Tunjung Jenar wis mberesi, anggone operasi ora nyuwil dhuwit jatahe ngomah. Cukup nganggo dhuwit embuh—sing kasil dikiyak-kiyuk. Kapindho, andheng-andheng iku seksi sejarah jaman enome. Sing wadon ketarik marang Pak Tunjung merga andheng-andheng kuwi njlonet. Andheng-andheng nglaler mencok iku, yen dipandeng marahi wong lengak-lengok.
 
Mung wae, seka pamawase Pak Tunjung andheng-andeheng iku njelehi. Marahi siyal. Uga kurang estetis yen nemplok ing lambe. Ngganggu gawe yen omong. Soale, Pak Tanjung mono, wektu iki gaweyan pokoke cen kudu omong.
 
Manut penganggepe tambah dina, minggu, lan sasi andheng-andheng kuwi saya mundhak gedhe. Wusana, putusan batine, kanthi sesidheman Pak Tunjung pamit menyang luar negeri—operasi andheng-andheng. Emane, bareng bali terus ngundang laler.
 
“Laler-laler iku ngincim, sajake. Mengko gek laler trah manca negara. Oleh-olehe bapakmu minggu kepungkur. Katone kok angel diendhakake, galak banget kewan kuwi. Tur semu nglimpe.”
 
“Laler edan! Niku jeneng empun nglanggar hak asasi. Mosok lambene bapak ngge jag-jagan. Kurang ajar. Lha suwe-suwe nranyak, kok Bu. Boten namung bapak pas sare ngorok anggene ngencoki lambe. Ning, kula ngertos dhewe, nalika bapak disuting teng televisi—laler niku ngang-ngung. Ngglibet mawon, ngriseni. Njalari bapak saya celat ngendikane. Mosok bapak ngantos keclinthut ngendika, “Aku tikus beken”, asline rak politikus, kok poline kithal. Niku merga laler dhegleng. Ngaten niku, yen kesamber wartawan boten kritis lha rak salah alamat ta.”
 
“Mengko, gek pas dhahar bareng pejabat-pejabat barang ya, laler itu tansah ngeyel—rak napuk rai ta yen ngono iku. Mbok bapakmu ki kon cuti wae dhisik pa piye, timbang nggo dolanan laler. Yen ibu sing elik-elik, angel diluk. Bapakmu ki beda karo pejabat liyane kae—bisa disetir garwane. Mangka, aku weruh dhewe, kadhang laler ijo barang je sing uthang-utheng. Ora etis!”
 
“Mila, yen laler iku diuja, mbebayani!”
 
“Pancen, atiku wis mrongkol suwe. Anyel marang laler gendheng kuwi. Apike, tukokna lem laler wae, ben kapok. Mengko, yen wis kecekel dilebur, diobong. Huh, tobat-tobat soto babat campur trasi. Nekat-nekat jan marahi risi.”
 
Kanggo males ukum, laler iku dijaring nganggo lem kelet. Emane, lem sing dipasang ing fentilasi kuwi malah kebacut mancing tikus. Tikus iku kraket, kekejer—nganti bosok, breng-brengan ngebaki ruwang tamu. Saben Pak Tunjung Jenar ngundang kanca-kanca ing omahe, pengin ngatur strategi—dha mbitheng irung. Jebule, bosokan tikus itu ngganda banger, saya ngundang laler ewon. Angger wis ngono, tamune Pak Tunjung kayadene wis tanggap—njur pamit, amrih ora ngganggu.
 
Lebar ngencoki bathang tikus, laler-laler iku terus mburu lambene Pak Tunjung Jenar. Nguncit, semu ngincim. Lan, tambah dina laler iku saya mundhak akeh. Nganti ngregoni saben-saben Pak Tunjung arep omong. Sing luwih nggilani maneh, laler itu mesthi ngendhog saben mencok lambe. Njur njebrolke uget-uget.
 
“E, yen laler-laler itu isih gemblung, nekat, mbok mundur wae Pak. Ora sah methentheng, kudu dadi capres. Ora pateken. Kesehatan luwih aji, timbang kursi. Witikna Pak, yen mengko malah dijuluki capres laler, piye? Lha rak mbebarang wirang. Tur meneh, bledug periode wingi rak ora rentek dinggo selawe taun.”
 
Ning bledug iku, klebu kringet panas, mula aku kudu njago. Kudu dadi kemudhine negara. Yen aku dadi bala dhupak, ora wurung diidak-idak. Njur tatu sing dak kempit, dak singidake sasuwene iki, bakal kejiwit. Rak luwih dhowak-dhowak.”
 
Pak Tunjung tetep cukeng. Kebacut klebus bebasane. Dirantea, mbradhat. Tekade, gembleng kepleng ngungkuli rembulan prunama. Njur nyasmitani sisihane, kon melu ngewang-ewangi, kandhane: “Mosok, wong ngalah karo kewan. Kursi emas wis neng ngarepku. Lan, yen kepeksane laler iku isih ngincer, apa salahe mimpin bangsa iki kanthi topengan. Sah-sah wae.”
 
Lon-lonan, sing wadon manthuk, ampang. Angel ditegesi. Mung mbatin, yen sing kakung topengan waja, apa laler iku ya isih weruh? Sakloron nyedhot ambegan, jero banget. Let sedhela, laler ewon ngruyuk lambene rebutan. Sak rai kebak. Sing wadon saya bingung.




From Senthir, Antologi Cerkak (Dark Lamp, An Anthology of Short Stories) by Suwardi Endraswara, Yogyakarta: Narasi, 2005, pp.98-101.

Read the English translation

Listen to an excerpt read in the original Javanese by Amrih Widodo:

Javanese hosts by far the oldest heritage of written literature in Southeast Asia. The earliest work to have survived into the present—the Javanese Ramayana—dates from the ninth century CE. In the twentieth century, new writing in Javanese was pushed into obscurity by the rise of Indonesian nationalism and modern literature in Bahasa Indonesia, the new nation’s national language. But since around the year 2000, writing in Javanese has enjoyed a remarkable comeback, mainly due to political decentralization, rising middle-class buying-power, and the mass adoption of digital technology by the eighty million Indonesians who use Javanese every day. The revival is still largely unknown beyond Indonesia, and even in Indonesia itself, but it is substantial and continues to gather momentum.

The hitherto marginal position of new writing in Javanese has compelled its authors—consciously and unconsciously—to prioritize certain “safe” themes and sometimes esoteric literary conventions. These include wry but safe humour, and exotic metaphorical “conceits” or allegories. In Suwardi Endraswara’s story “Flies”, pestilent foreign flies infest the lips of a senior Indonesian politician, and the self-absorbed obsessions of Indonesia’s political elite get a good caning.

The story was first published in May 2004, two months before the first round of Indonesia’s presidential election on 5 July 2004. Incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri faced off against challenger Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Megawati has a prominent fly-like beauty spot just below her bottom lip. Shining a satirical spotlight on the personal appearance of a real, powerful, public figure could be risky in Indonesia where “face” is all-important. But Suwardi has been protected by the provincial obscurity of the language he writes in. Ironically, this obscurity was forced upon the Javanese language by the Indonesian state and its political culture, which the story satirizes.

Suwardi Endraswara was born near Yogyakarta in 1964. He holds a doctorate in Javanese literature from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and is currently professor of literary anthropology at the State University of Yogyakarta. He has published major studies on the methodology of literary criticism, the social ecology of literature, folklore and folk literature, and Javanese mysticism. His many short stories in Javanese are almost wholly surreal and absurd in character, making him a leading avant-garde author in the world of Javanese literature.

George Quinn was born in Te Kuiti, New Zealand in 1943. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta (1973), and a doctorate from the University of Sydney (1984). His doctoral thesis, The Novel in Javanese, was published in 1992. His translation of the Indonesian-language novel The Rape of Sukreni by Anak Agung Pandji Tisna remains in print twenty-five years after its appearance. His most recent study is Bandit Saints of Java (2019), translated into Indonesian as Wali Berandal Tanah Jawa (2021). He retired as head of the Southeast Asia Centre at the Australian National University in 2008.