The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon

The light is enough to illuminate the darkness that is blanketing the Jatirasa forest. With the light of the stick, the young animals run away, ahead of the others, returning to their own mothers.nara

DOKUMEN SUSILO BUDI

Susilo Budi\'s work entitled Tiwikromo is an illustration of the story of the series Anak Bajang Swinging the Moon.

Amid the dim light of the late afternoon, when the sunshine is about to disappear, the convoy of young animals stops in front of a cave. In this cave, the tiny demon will spend the night. He walks through the herd of the young animals. As soon as he arrives at the mouth of the cave, he turns around, swinging his (lidi jantan) stick. The young animals know it is time for them to separate from the tiny demon, their beloved friend. In fact, they are reluctant to go home because they still want to keep playing with the tiny demon. But night is approaching. Like it or not, they have to part with the tiny demon. Darkness really arrives. The only light is the ray of the stick that the tiny demon is swinging. The light is enough to illuminate the darkness that is blanketing the Jatirasa forest. With the light of the stick, the young animals run away, ahead of the others, returning to their own mothers.

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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon

The tiny demon stops his steps. He decides not to enter the cave. In the moonlight, the light is dim, hiding the silence. He stares at the river under the cliff of the cave, the water is flowing slowly, humming the emptiness. He feels again the existing sound of the kalangkyang bird, in sharp shrill that deeply pierces the heart. Being in such an atmosphere, the tiny demon is suddenly gripped by an unbearable sense of loneliness. He is immersed in an unspeakable state of being alone. Hasn\'t he just felt the happiness and excitement of being together with his friends, the young animals? Isn’t there no day that goes by when he always greets and plays with them? He never feels lonely, even though he lives in a lonely forest. Why does he now feel gripped by a very suffocating sense of loneliness? He looks up at the sky, and his loneliness is felt as wide as interstellar space. He feels as if he stands in an expanse of deserted horizon, whose emptiness pierces the silence.

He just wants a little warmth, but to plunge into the existing silence, he does not even have the guts. Why is the silence so horrible?

The silence is scary. But the silence gives the feeling of holding a very beautiful warmth. Gripped by the silence, the tiny demon shakes involuntarily with cold. He wants to reach for the warmth and blanket himself with it. However, to get that blanket of warmth, like it or not he has to plunge into that silence. The tiny demon wants to sink into the silence, but at the same time, he does not have the courage at all to jump into it. He just wants a little warmth, but to plunge into the existing silence, he does not even have the guts. Why is the silence so horrible?

Darkness is not unfamiliar to the tiny demon. In this deserted forest, he experiences the darkness every day during the night. And when the darkness comes, he never feels to be in a state of hysteria. He is not afraid of the darkness because no matter how dark it is, he still has hope. He is confident the darkness will drive away, and a beautiful dawn breaks out the next day. With its weak rays, the sun will wake up the roosters to make their crowing, which brings the morning to immediately bloom the flowers. Near the cave, campaka and kanaka flowers stretch the leaves, challenging the morning to drip their fresh dew. Not far from them, the pidada and nagasari flowers hastily open their petals, as they are envious to see the morning which seems to prefer to bathe the campaka and kanaka flowers. Morning arrives with the abundant warmth of the sun. And the forest is cheerful with the sound of the young animals racing to the cave, where the tiny demon lives. The time for playing has arrived and the tiny demon happily greets them, going to bathe in the Sulendra lake which is scented because the rajasa flowers are blooming to seduce the beetles to fondle them.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Sindhunata

Morning is always concealed in the night. And light is contained in darkness. That is what is experienced by the tiny demon every time before he closes his eyes in the quiet night. But apparently this time is not so. Darkness fully engulfs him without leaving the slightest hope of rising light. The night surrounds him without giving him room for the longing for the morning that usually arrives. He feels that he will no longer hear the crowing of roosters at dawn, flowers will no longer bloom, and he will no longer be able to have fun playing with the young animals. And that is precisely what happens: The tiny demon is swallowed up in the night which is swallowed up by the night, in the darkness which is swallowed up by the darkness. For him, night at present is no longer bordered by morning, and darkness is no longer bordered by light. The tiny demon is drowned in the ocean of the night, where the morning no longer becomes its beach.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).