"Son, I know what you are going to say. But I have many more words that I must tell you. You survive, even though it is very hard for you. Your life is a grace, that my hope was not in vain. That is your sacrifice to me. And your sacrifice to me is much greater than my sacrifice to you," said Dewi Sokawati.
“Mother, forget all that. I know you love me very much and gave everything for my life. That is enough for me. Right now, I just want to be happy with you," the child said in Dewi Sokawati's lap.
"Yes, son. You are Sukrosono, my beloved son," Dewi Sokawati said as she caressed him.
"What happiness that I actually have a name," said the bajang demon, now knowing that he is Sukrosono. He laughs happily, because he is now a person with a name.
"Yes, son, I wanted you to have a name, even though at that time I did not know if you were still alive. With this name I want you to be treated as a human being, even though you are a demon."
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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (30)
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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (28)
“Mother, I do not care anymore whether I am a human or a demon. I would rather be a demon and have a mother like you, rather than be human but never feel love like the love you have for me. That is what the name Sukrosono means to me," Sukrosono said as he embraced his mother.
In that very warm embrace, Dewi Sokawati feels that she is a tree covered with the tendrils of the gadung (three-leaved yam), immersed in its warmth. Her son releases suddenly himself from the embrace. She sees a tiger approaching from a distance. Her son runs to meet the tiger. As soon as he does, her son throws his arms around the tiger, and the tiger kisses him tenderly. Her son then leads the tiger to Dewi Sokawati, who is surprised to see how familiar her son is with the tiger.
"Mother, this tiger is the one that nursed me," said Sukrosono.
After a while, Sukrosono tells his mother how he met the tigress for the first time.
When he had learned the language of the animals from living in the forest for a long time, the tiger told him: One dark night, at the edge of the forest, there was a terrible cry. The tiger went towards it and found a child lying on the ground. The tiger licked the baby, trying to warm it up. Then the tiger carried the baby in her mouth, taking him to its nest in the middle of the forest. The tiger placed the baby among her three cubs. She had just given birth and was nursing her cubs. So she nursed the baby along with her three cubs. The tigress cared for him with great affection, just as she did with her own cubs. So the baby thrived on the tiger’s milk until he was weaned. The baby thus became kin to the tiger cubs and befriended the other forest animals, living in harmony with them.
Upon hearing the story, Dewi Sokawati again shed tears. "My son, even the animals did not disregard my hope," she said, extremely touched. "Because I abandoned you, even the wild forest was willing to provide a mother for you." She then strokes the tigress's head to express her heart, full of gratitude that the tigress had taken her place to be a mother to her child.
Then she turns to her son. "Son, it turns out that I am not a kind human being, but it is this savage and wild nature that has taught and given you love. Possibly in this savage nature hides a treasure of love that humans have never known about or possessed. Thank goodness you have understood and had it, my son."
The time Dewi Sokawati is allowed to spend with her son passes with grace. The fierce jungle gives them a friendly shade. The savagery disappears from the lions, tigers, rhinoceros and wild boars. Snakes no longer threaten with their venom. The birds chirp melodiously. Even the cataka (cuckoos) do not want to sing their songs of mourning anymore. The flowers bloom, giving off an unfathomable fragrance.
For Sukrosono, the forest has been and is always beautiful every day. But that beauty has been overtaken by the beauty he now feels with his mother. The beauty that now no longer maintains its silence. Love is what he now feels in its beauty. And for his mother, that beauty is the peak where she may reap the fruits of her hope and longing. The days pass in that beauty, until the night comes with the full moon. The night spreads the fragrance of the jangga and champak flowers. This night of the full moon is a door that opens for Dewi Sokawati to reminisce about the time she fulfilled her desire.
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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon-25
> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (24)
"Son, I have told you about the golden banana. Do you remember that story? The golden banana was my desire when I was pregnant. Your father went in search of it with great difficulty. I finally devoured the banana, during my ceremony of the seven months of pregnancy. I ate it, not only the fruit, but also the peel. The fruit was sweet, and the peel was sour. I devoured both," said Dewi Sokawati, recalling her past.
"Why did you eat the peel too, Mother?" Sukrosono asked.
"Because the peel was you, Sukrosono, while the fruit was your brother, Sumantri. When I devoured it, I did not know this. I knew only after I left. That is why I devoured the fruit and the peel and they were delicious, even though I tasted the sour and bitter peel," answered Dewi Sokawati.
"Because you were willing to swallow that bitterness, I exist," interrupted Sukrosono. His words were immeasurably full of emotion.
"Yes, son. That is why I never wanted to throw you away. I could not accept why I had to throw you away. It now turns out that you still live and exist, and I have been reunited with you. All this has strengthened me. I cannot deny that bitterness, even though in the end it has taken the shape of a demon like you."
This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.
