Cerita Terjemahan - Turtle's Flute

Seruling Si Kura-Kura 

Cerita Rakyat Brazil

Zaman dahulu kala, di tepi sebuah sungai, seekor kura-kura memainkan serulingnya. Saat kura-kura memainkannya, singa, gajah, kupu-kupu, ular dan monyet menari dengan alunan musik si kura-kura.

Suatu hari, seorang pria mendengar permainan si kura-kura. “Ahh.” pikirnya. “Itu pasti musiknya si kura-kura. Saat ini rasa kura-kura pasti lezat.” Jadi  pria itu pun memanggil. “Kura-kura! Tunjukkan padaku seruling cantikmu.” Kura-kura berjalan lamat-lamat ke arah pintu dan memegang serulingnya. Tapi saat pria itu melihat kura-kura ia menangkap leher kura-kura lalu berlari. Kura-kura meminta pertolongan, tapi ia tak dapat berbicara. Ia pun menutup matanya, serulingnya ia pegang erat.

Saat pria tadi mencapai pondoknya, ia menaruh kura-kura di dalam kandang dan menguncinya. Lalu ia berkata pada anaknya, “Jangan biarkan kura-kuranya keluar dari kandang ya.” Setelahnya ia pergi ke kebun. Anak-anaknya bermain di luar rumah. Kura-kura terduduk kesakitan di dalam kandang, ia memikirkan perkataan ayahnya. Ia pun mulai memainkan nada yang indah lewat serulingnya, dan anak-anak tadi lalu berlari ke arah kandang. “Tadi kamu yang memainkannya, kura-kura?” tanya mereka, dengan mata berbinar. “Ya,” kata kura-kura. Ia terus bermain, dan anak-anak itu kelihatan begitu gembira.

Akhirnya ia berhenti. “Aku menari lebih bagus lho daripada main seruling.” kata si kura-kura. “Mau lihat?” “Oh, silakan!” kata anak yang laik-laki. “Aku akan menunjukkan pada kalian bagaimana caranya menari sambil bermain seruling,” kata kura-kura. “Tapi kalian harus buka kandangnya. Soalnya nggak ada cukup ruang di sini.” Jadi si anak laki-laki membuka kandang dan kura-kura pun mulai menari dan memainkan serulingnya. Anak-anak itu tertawa dan bertepuk tangan, mereka tak pernah melihat hal sekeren itu.

Lalu kura-kura berhenti. “Jangan berhenti!” isak anak itu. “Oh,” kura-kura mengerang. “Kakiku rasanya kaku. Coba aku bisa jalan sebentar buat menghilangkannya …,” “Jangan pergi terlalu jauh ya,” Anak yang perempuan memperingati. “Balik lagi ya.” “Jangan takut.” kata si kura-kura. “Kalian tunggu di sini.” Kura-kura merayap menuju hutan. Saat si anak perempuan sedang tak melihat, si kura-kura berlari di sepanjang jalan menuju rumahnya.

Tak seorang pun yang pernah menemukan kura-kura lagi. Tapi kini, jika kalian mendengarkan baik—baik, kalian bisa mendengar suara indah dari seruling si kura-kura di dalam hutan.

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Turtle’s Flute 

A Brazilian folktale

Once upon a time, on the banks of a river, Turtle played her flute. When Turtle played, lions, elephants, butterflies, snakes and monkeys danced to Turtle’s music.

One day, a man heard Turtle’s music. “Ahh,” he thought. “That must be Turtle making music. Turtle would taste very good right now.” So he called out: “Turtle! Show me your beautiful flute.” Turtle slowly walked to the door and held out her flute. But the moment the man saw Turtle, he grabbed her by the neck and began to run. Turtle tried to cry for help, but she couldn’t make a sound. She closed her eyes, holding tightly to her flute for good luck.

When the man reached his hut, he put Turtle into a cage and shut it. Then he turned to his children: “Don’t let Turtle out of her cage.” And off he went to the fields. The children began to play outside. Turtle sat very still inside her cage, thinking about the father’s words. She began to play a sweet tune on her flute, and the children ran to the cage. “Is that you playing, Turtle?” they asked, their eyes wide with wonder. “Yes,” Turtle said. She kept on playing, for she could see the children were delighted.

At last she stopped. “I can dance even better than I can play,” she said. “Would you like to see?” “Oh, please!” the little boy cried. “I’ll show you how to dance and play at the same time,” said Turtle. “But you must open the cage. There is no room in here.” So the little boy opened the cage and Turtle began to dance and play. The children laughed and clapped their hands, for never had they seen such a wonderful thing.

Then Turtle stopped. “Don’t stop!” the children cried. “Oh,” Turtle groaned. “My legs are stiff. If I could just walk a little bit to loosen them ...” “Don’t go too far,” the little girl cautioned. “Come right back.” “Never fear,” said Turtle. “You wait right here.” Turtle crawled off toward the jungle. The moment she was out of sight, she raced all the way back to her house.

Nobody ever found Turtle again. But to this day, if you strain your ear, you can hear the sweet sound of a flute in the forest.