S. Prasetyo Utomo, lahir di Yogyakarta, 7 Januari 1961, doktor Ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa Unnes. Menulis di Horison, Kompas, Suara Pembaruan, Republika, Koran Tempo, Media Indonesia, Jawa Pos, Bisnis Indonesia, Nova, Seputar Indonesia, Suara Karya, Majalah Noor, Majalah Esquire. Menerima Anugerah Kebudayaan 2007 dari Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata untuk cerpen “Cermin Jiwa”, Acarya Sastra 2015 dari Badan Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa. Cerpen “Sakri Terangkat ke Langit” dimuat dalam Smokol (2008). Cerpen “Penyusup Larut Malam” dimuat dalam Pada Suatu Hari, Ada Ibu dan Radian (2009).  Cerpen “Pengunyah Sirih” dimuat dalam Dodolitdodolitdodolibret (2010). Novelnya Tarian Dua Wajah (Pustaka Alvabet, 2016), Cermin Jiwa (Pustaka Alvabet, 2017).

Prasetyo dapat dihubungi di: s.prasetyoutomo@yahoo.co.id

Hak cipta ©2018 ada pada S. Prasetyo Utomo. Terbit atas izin dari penulis. Hak cipta terjemahan ©2018 ada pada Indra B. Hurip.

 

 

 

Penyusup Larut Malam

 

Sunyi wajah lelaki tua, lusuh, bersarung dan berpeci. Langkahnya pincang memasuki pelataran rumah Aryo. Lepas asar, dalam gerimis, wajah lelaki tua lusuh itu seperti susut. Menahan kegugupan. Dia menemukan pencariannya pada Aryo — meski mereka belum saling kenal. Matanya juling. Tak tepat membidik wajah Aryo. Aneh, rekah bibirnya kian menakik senyum, “Nah, kaulah yang kucari!” Tangan kanannya terjulur. Menyalami Aryo, erat dan akrab.

Menolak duduk di kursi. Lelaki tua bermata juling itu memilih bersila di lantai. Aryo menduga-duga kenapa lelaki tua itu datang ke rumahnya, begitu rupa rendah hati.

“Belilah ladang saya, Nak,” pinta lelaki tua juling itu.

“Saya tidak berminat beli ladang” tukas Aryo, lunak, lembut, sambil memandangi sisa gerimis tipis yang membasahi peci lelaki tua lusuh itu.

Lelaki tua berpeci itu memohon dengan mata juling yang membersitkan cahaya harapan, sepasang mata yang penuh ketulusan. Tubuh lelaki tua itu kurus berkeriput. Mencari gairah dari luar dirinya. Rupanya Aryolah yang menjadi harapannya.

“Coba pikir lagi, Nak. Barangkali kau berminat. Kujual ladangku dengan harga sangat murah. Mungkin kau punya sejumlah uang yang saya perlukan.” lelaki tua lusuh itu menyebut sejumlah harga.

Aryo tercengang. Alangkah murah.

Wajah lelaki itu menyiratkan permohonan. “Uang ini untuk biaya berobat istri saya”

Tertegun. Aryo surut, merasa diri kerdil. Ditahannya tubuh yang menggigil. Ia tak lagi berani membalas tatapan juling lelaki tua lusuh itu. Liang sunyi sangat legam di dalamnya. “Besok siang. datanglah kembali ke sini. Akan saya bayar lunas ladang itu”

Gugup, lelaki tua berpeci itu menyalami Aryo. Menembus rintik genimis tiada henti membasahi pecinya. Langkahnya terpincang-pincang. Tertatih-tatih menjauh.

***

Menuruni jalan setapak tak jauh dari rumahnya, menjelang senja, Aryo mencapai ladang yang dibelinya dari lelaki tua berpeci. Ladang itu terletak di lembah yang dikitari pegunungan. Berpagar bambu berkeliling, dan didalamnya berdiri surau kayu. Dalam gerimis, surau itu mengekalkan sunyi, tak jauh dari rumah-rumah kampung yang dirobohkan buldoser. Pepohonan bergelimpangan ditebas gergaji mesin. Ladang-ladang diratakan sebagai dataran luas—coklat kemerahan—dengan kupu-kupu senja berpasangan, senyap dan rapuh. Tinggal rumah lelaki tua berpeci, ladang yang dibeli Aryo, dan surau kayu beratus tahun yang masih utuh berdiri.

Terdengar parau azan magrib, dikumandangkan lelaki tua berpeci. Ia sendirian di surau. Ketika mengumandangkan azan, lelaki tua berpeci berdiri dengan kaki kanan mengecil di bawah sarungnya. Tumit kaki kanannya sedikit diangkat, agar ia bisa kokoh berdiri. Menoleh sesaat ia, tatkala mendengar langkah kaki Aryo. Tapi segera tersenyum tulus.

Usai shalat dan berdoa, lelaki tua itu menyalami Aryo. Bertanya, “Kini kau tahu, mengapa kujual ladang ini padamu?”

“Belum sepenuhnya paham.”

“Lihat, seluruh warga kampung ini meninggalkan rumahnya. Tanah dan rumah mereka dijual. Di sini akan didirikan perumahan. Tinggal saya yang rnasih bertahan. Ladang ini kujual padamu, karena berdiri surau leluhur kami. Aku percaya, kau akan mempertahankannya.”

“Bagaimana Bapak bisa mengenaliku?”

“Anakmu, gadis kecil, Salsa, suka bermain di ladangku. Bersama teman-temannya, dia sering menungguiku membakar ketela atau jagung di ladang dan memakannya panas-panas. Aku pernah mengantarkannya pulang, ketika hujan, dan bersua denganmu.”

“Lalu, kenapa Bapak serahkan ladang ini padaku?”

Lelaki tua itu tersenyum, seperti ingin menertawakan Aryo. Dari senyumnya, lelaki tua itu menampakkan kepasrahan yang tenang.

“Aku ingin surau ini kaupertahankan. Jangun dijual.” Lelaki itu terdiam. Memandang tajam Aryo. “Ini surau leluhur.”

***

Seorang lelaki setengah baya berdasi mendatangi rumah Aryo menjelang senja. Sopan. Menunggu lama di ruang tamu. Menunggu Aryo yang baru saja pulang dari luar kota. Ia menampakkan kesegaran senyum. Saat bersua Aryo, lelaki asing itu menampakkan keakraban.“Kami datang untuk menawar ladang di tengah perumahan yang sedang kami bangun,” kata lelaki setengah baya berdasi itu.

“Saya tak berniat menjualnya pada siapa pun. Ada surau yang mesti kupertahankan.”

“Surau itu sudah ditinggalkan. Semua orang di kampung itu menjual tanahnya.”

“Termasuk rumah lelaki tua itu?”

“Dia telah menjual lahan dan rumahnya. Pindah di desa lain,” kata tamu setengah baya berdasi itu, penuh kemenangan. “Tinggal lahan Bapak yang belum dijual. Kami berani menawar dengan harga tinggi. Mungkin ini harga tertinggi yang pernah kami tawarkan.”

Tercengang Aryo mendengar harga sangat tinggi yang ditawarkan lelaki setengah baya berdasi itu. Baru beberapa saat dia beli ladang dari lelaki tua pincang itu, kini harganya sudah melambung berlipat kali. Dia merasa berdosa, telah membeli tanah dengan harga yang sangat murah. Kini dia tak bisa mempertahankan surau dan lahan itu.

***

Usai shalat magrib. Kiai Najib memimpin doa di surau yang sepi, hampir-hampir tanpa pengunjung. Hanya empat orang yang mengikuti shalat magrib di surau itu. Kiai Najib yang mulai rapuh tubuhnya, menyalami tiga orang yang mengikuti doanya.

Aryo memahami kecemasan dalam cahaya mata kiai.

“Jangan pulang dulu,” kata Kiai Najib, “ada hal yang perlu kubicarakan. Surau ini sudah sangat tua. Perlu dibangun kembali surau yang lebih baik, agar orang-orang mau shalat berjamaah ke sini.”

“Kiai jangan cemas. Aku akan membangun surau ini dengan uang penjualan ladangku.”

Kiai Najib terbelalak. Aryo mengangguk. Meyakinkan kiai.

***

Meradang pandangan lelaki tua pincang itu. Tajam. Kemarahan membakar sepasang mata juling itu. Kemurkaan memperkeruh wajahnya.

Aryo tak menyangka, lelaki tua juling itu datang ke rumahnya sore hari.

Aryo tersenyum. Terus tersenyum. Dia tak ingin mengimbangi perangai murka lelaki tua bermata juling. Dia seperti sudah menebak akan ketakrelaan itu.

“Kuserahkan ladang itu bukan untuk kaujual pada pengembang perumahan!” kata lelaki tua bermata juling.

“Aku tak bisa mempertahankan lahan itu. Ketika seluruh kampung menjual rumah, tak ada lagi yang menghalangi pengembang perumahan untuk membeli lahan itu,” tukas Aryo. “Saya memang sudah menjual ladang itu, tapi semua uang yang kuterima, kuserahkan untuk membangun surau di permukiman ini.”

Sepasang mata lelaki juling itu meredup. Dada tipis yang menahan sesak napas itu menguncup. Kedua bahunya jatuh. Wajahnva luruh. Ia menyalami Aryo. Berpamitan.

Aryo mengikutinya. Langkah mereka terhenti di tanah lapang yang dibangun surau baru. Lama lelaki tua juling itu memandanginya. Tersenyum. Mengangguk-angguk. Tubuhnya kian rapuh tertatih-tatih menjauh.

Aryo lupa bertanya, di mana rumah lelaki tua juling itu kini.

***

Gerimis tengah malam memperpekat surau kecil yang baru selesai dibangun. Gelap seluruh ruangan tatkala seorang lelaki pincang menyusup ke pelataran surau. Mengucurkan air wudu dari keran. Desis air memancar lebih keras dari rintik gerimis di dedaunan jambu. Lelaki tua itu memasuki surau. Tahajud. Duduk bersila. Zikir. Lama. Hingga menjelang dini hari lelaki tua pincang itu masih berzikir.

Kiai Najib yang memasuki surau untuk sembahyang Subuh terperanjat. Dalam gelap surau, dia melihat lelaki asing di suraunya.“Apa yang kaulakukan di sini?” tegur Kiai Najib, keras, tajam.

Lelaki pincang tua itu terdiam. Tenggelam dalam zikirnya.

Kecurigaan Kiai Najib pada lelaki asing itu klan memuncak. Tak pernah sebelumnya, dalam suraunya datang seseorang lewat tengah malam, shalat tahajud dan berzikir.“Kau tak bisa semaumu saja di surau ini!”

Masih duduk bersila, zikir, lelaki tua lusuh berpeci itu tak menyahut hardikan Kiai Najib. Tersenyum. Tenang sekali. Menyalami kiai. Mencium tangannya. Terpincang-pincang meninggalkan surau. Menghambur dalam rintik gerimis. Tak menoleh.

***

Usai shalat subuh. Kiai Najib mendekati Aryo, dan membisik. “Semalam aku menemukan seorang lelaki degil berzikir di surau ini. Aku tak mengenalnya. Kuusir dia. Jalannya terpincang-pincang.”

“Atas nama dialah kusumbang seluruh uang penjualan ladang untuk mendirikan surau kita”

“Oh, aku telah keliru mengusir orang,” tukas Kiai Najib masygul.

***

Tak lagi kelihatan Kiai Najib menjadi imam shalat di surau. Kiai terbaring sakit.

Aryo tak pernah menduga, kiai akan jatuh sakit, justru ketika pengunjung surau tak sesunyi dulu lagi. Menjenguk kiai di kamarnya, Aryo menemui lelaki tua itu terbaring lunglai, namun suaranya jernih saat berpesan, “Sampaikan maafku pada lelaki tua berpeci itu. Aku berdosa telah berkata kasar padanya.”

“Akan saya sampaikan permintaan maaf Kiai,” balas Aryo.

***

Tiap tengah malam lelaki tua pincang itu terlihat memasuki surau dengan wajah yang jernih, pandangan mata juling yang teduh. Berzikir larut dalam sunyi. Tapi Aryo, yang ingin sekali bersua dengannya, tak pernah mendapat kesempatan itu.

***

Indra Blanquita Hurip lahir di Mexico City saat ayahnya ditugaskan di kota tersebut sebagai diplomat. Ia besar di Islamabad dan Karachi dan terpakasa bersekolah di sekolah berbahasa pengantar Inggris. Sejak kecil, ia sangat gemar membaca buku dan buku-buku tersebut menumbuhkan kecintaannya pada bahasa. Ia mengambil jurusan Bahasa Perancis saat kuliah untuk beberapa tahun dan akhirnya bekerja pada perusahaan penerbangan perancis. Sebelumnya ia bekerja di berbagai bidang seperti pariwisata dan kewartawanan sebelum akhirnya meninggalkan Jakarta selama 16 tahun mendampingi suaminya yang ditugaskan di Batam, Lhokseumawe dan Dumai. Setelah suaminya pensiun dan anak-anaknya sudah dewasa, ia memikirkan kegiatan apa yang bisa dilakukan untuk mengisi waktu luang dan mendapat penghasilan. Ia mengikuti pelatihan penerjemahan dan menjadi penerjemah bersumpah, kemudian ikut pelatihan kejurubahasaan dan sejak itu menjadi penerjemah dan juru bahasa lepas waktu.

Indra bisa dihubungi di: indabhurip@gmail.com

 

 

The Midnight Intruder

 

The gaunt old man wore a sarong and a peci, headdress. He entered Aryo’s front yard in the late afternoon rain, limping. It was just past afternoon prayer, and the old man seemed anxious, as if he were trying to hide his nervousness. Even though they were not acquainted with each other, he expected Aryo to have the solution to his problem. The man was cross-eyed and could not focus on Aryo’s face. He extended his right hand, and they shook hands in a warm and friendly manner.

The old man smiled, and said, “It is you who I’ve been looking for.” Refusing to sit in a chair, the old man chose to sit cross-legged on the floor.

Aryo tried to guess why the man had come to his house, and why he had such a humble demeanor.

“Please buy my land, son,” the cross-eyed old man pleaded.

“I have no intention to buy any land,” Aryo replied gently, looking at the raindrops still visible on the old man’s shabby peci.

The old man had placed his hope in Aryo, seeking strength from outside himself. His eyes filled with emotion, he pleaded sincerely.

“Please reconsider, my son. You might be interested. I will sell you my land at a very cheap price. You have the money I need.” The frail old man mentioned a sum.

Aryo was startled by how cheap it was.

“The money is to pay for my wife’s medical expenses,” the old man explained.

Aryo was taken aback, feeling very small indeed. Trying to control his trembling body, he did not dare return the old man’s look. The man’s eyes were a dark pool of bleakness.

“Come back at noon, tomorrow,” Aryo said. “I will pay you the price for your plot in full.”

The old man shook Aryo’s hand, nervously. He then walked away. The drizzle continued to wet his peci as he limped away from the house.

***

As dusk approached, Aryo walked down a dirt path not far from his home and arrived at the plot of land he had purchased from the old man wearing the peci. The lot was located in a valley surrounded by hills. It was enclosed by a bamboo fence, and on it stood a wooden surau, a prayer hut.

Located not far from a row of village houses that had been leveled by bulldozers, the surau, standing in the light rain, seemed to perpetuate silence. The terrain there had been leveled and was now a vast expanse of brownish-red earth, where trunks of trees, felled by chainsaws, lay in disarray, and night moths swarmed the desolate and fragile land. All that was left standing on the parcel was the old man’s house and the centuries-old wooden surau that Aryo had bought.

The old man’s raspy voice called out the azan, the call to evening prayer. He was alone in the surau. Under his sarong, he raised the heel of his right foot and shifted his weight onto the toes of his clubfoot for balance.

He turned when he heard footsteps and gave Aryo a sincere smile.

After the prayer, the old man shook Aryo’s hand and asked, “Now do you know why I sold you this land?”

“No, not really.”

“Look around. All the villagers have left their homes. They sold their land and houses. I’m the only one left. They are going to build a housing complex here. I sold the land to you, because this surau was built by my ancestors. I know that you will preserve it.”

“How do you know me?”

“Your daughter, the little girl, Salsa, likes to play in my field. She and her friends often wait for me to roast some yam or corn and eat them hot. I once took her to your home when it was raining and saw you.”

“So why are you handing this land over to me?”

The old man smiled as if he were laughing at Aryo. There was a calm acceptance in his smile. “I want you to preserve this surau. Don’t sell it,” he said quietly and gave Aryo a penetrating look. “This is the surau of my ancestors.”

***

At dusk-aged, well-dressed man came to Aryo’s house. He waited in the living room for Aryo to come home. When Aryo arrived, the stranger greeted him politely and approached him in a friendly manner. He said, “I came with an offer to buy the field in the center of the housing complex we are building.”

“I have no intention of selling it to anyone. There’s a surau there that I want to preserve.”

“That prayer hut has been abandoned. All the villagers have sold their land.”

“Did the old man do the same?”

“He has sold his land and house and moved to another village.” The middle-aged guest straightened his tie, smugly. “Yours is the only parcel that hasn’t been sold. We’re willing to offer a high price for it. This may be the highest price we’ve ever offered.”

Aryo was astounded at the very high price the well-dressed man was offering. He had just bought the land from the old man and now the price had multiplied many times. He felt guilty—the land had been so cheap. And now, he could no longer hold on to it.

***

Evening prayer was over. Kiai Najib had led the prayer in his almost-deserted surau. There were only four people who had joined Kiai Najib for the evening prayers. Kiai Najib, whose body was beginning to weaken, shook hands with three of the people who had participated in his prayers.

Aryo understood the anxiety in the kiai’s eyes.

“Don’t go home yet,” Kiai Najib said. “There’s something I need to talk to you about. This is a very old surau. We need to build a better one so people will want to worship here.”

“Kiai, don’t worry. I will build a better one with the money I received from selling my new land.”

Kiai Najib’s eyes widened.

Aryo nodded to convince the kiai.

***

The old man’s eyes gleamed with anger. Intense anger. Fury emanated from his crossed eyes.

Aryo had not expected the old man to come to his house that afternoon.

Aryo forced a smile. He had no desire to fight the anger of the cross-eyed old man. He was not surprised by the man’s discontent.

“I didn’t give you the land so you could sell it to the developer!” said the cross-eyed old man.

“I could not hold on to it after all the villagers had sold their homes,” responded Aryo. “Yes, I have sold the land, but all the money I received from the sale, I donated to build a surau in this housing complex.”

The fire in the old man’s eyes was extinguished. His thin chest no longer heaved. His shoulders dropped, his face fell. He shook Aryo’s hand and took his leave.

Aryo followed him as he walked away. They halted at the parcel where the new surau was being built.

The cross-eyed old man looked at the construction site for a long time. Smiling, he kept nodding his head. Finally, the frail old man limped away.

Aryo had forgotten to ask where the old crossed-eyed man now lived.

***

Midnight blanketed the newly-constructed surau in darkness. All the rooms were pitch black when a man limped to the front of the surau. He turned on the tap for the ablution water. The water flowed more strongly than the drizzle falling on the guava leaves. Sitting cross-legged, he performed the ritual of midnight prayer. He recited zikr, the short prayers, for a very long time. He was still at it at the break of dawn.

When Kiai Najib entered the dark surau to perform the ritual of his morning prayer, he was shocked to find a stranger. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a sharp tone of voice.

The old man remained quietly engrossed in his zikr.

The kiai’s suspicion of the stranger mounted. No one had ever come into the surau after midnight to worship. “You can’t just do as you please in this surau!”

Remaining seated, cross-legged, the old man did not respond to the kiai’s reprimand; he simply continued his zikr. When he rose, he took the kiai’s hand, smiling. He kissed it, then very calmly limped out of the surau and disappeared into the drizzle. He never looked back.

 After the dawn prayer, Kiai Najib approached Aryo and whispered, “Earlier this morning, I found a stubborn man praying in this surau. Since I didn’t know him, I sent him away. He walked with a limp.”

“It was in his name that I donated all the money from the sale of my land to build our surau!” Aryo exclaimed.

“Oh, no. I sent away the wrong person,” Kiai Najib said with remorse.

***

After that, Kiai Najib no longer officiated the prayers in the surau. He was laid up with an illness.

Aryo never imagined that the kiai would fall ill, just when there were more people coming to the previously quiet surau. When Aryo went to visit Kiai Najib in his room, he found the priest lying exhausted on his bed. Yet his voice was clear, “Please convey my apology to that old man,” he said. “I sinned by speaking so roughly to him.”

“I will convey your apology to him, Kiai,” replied Aryo.

***

Every midnight, the limping old man entered the surau with an expression of peace on his face and a serene look in his crossed eyes. Immersed in the silence of his solitude he recited his zikr.

But Aryo, who very much wanted to meet him, never saw him.

***