The words of the cataka bird bring Sukrosono for a moment back to his life in the Jatirasa forest. He realizes that the life he spent there was actually darkness. Is it worth it, if his life at that time was extremely unpleasant. He often felt heavy. He even felt cheerless frequently, even though his friends in the jungle, animals, trees and other plants gave him joyfulness. But he also often wonders, he can still survive there. It is only now clear to him why he can be so strong in survival. Thanks to the cataka bird he knows, the darkness turns out to be the cloud that holds hope. It is his hope that makes him strong, even though everything is still dark. And now he is happy, because now he is allowed to feel his desire which is slowly manifesting into reality.
"Cataka ...," before Sukrosono can continue, the cataka bird has flown away. Its wings flap strongly, its eyes are no longer hazy. There is no longer any lingering sadness, all its gloom is gone, even though the sky is covered with dark clouds. The cataka bird flies away, embracing the dark cloud tightly. And the rain falls, without any signal, becoming a waterfall from the sky that pours down very heavily. Hope turns out to be able to disentangle the rain, piercing the clouds with an arrow of longing, and the water overflows in the midst of the drought. This is the time for the cataka bird to be in love with the rain, its long-awaited lover. Its lust excitement and joy overflow into nature. All thirst is gone, when the rain finishes generously watering the earth.
The flowers bloom, the wind seems impatient to immediately caress them, making the flower strands fall to the ground, spreading fragrance everywhere. The birds also take part to be in love with each other. The parijata tree blooms with dark red flowers. Under its shade, the peacock flaps its wings showing its beautiful colors, then makes love to its mate. Sukrosono says in his heart, like me, nature should say thank you to the cataka bird. Because of hoping for the rain, and having the gut to live amidst the darkness of the clouds, nature can burst with its colorful beauty. "And I also enjoy it. This is a sign that my hope, without knowing what it may be, may come true,” Sukrosono mumbled to himself, smelling the scent of jasmine flowers that just come to his nose.
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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (32)
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For days Sukrosono walks in happiness. It seems as though he has left the darkness of the Jatirasa forest for a long time. The joy during the journey makes him forget how long he has left the darkness. An asana flower is blooming nearby, its color is yellowish, its fragrance fills the sky. Is the sky also a field where the beauty of the asana flowers grows? Sukrosono tilts his head to the sky. He sees the cranes flying. Their wings flap. Meanwhile, their long legs stay silent. How happy it would be if I could fly like the cranes, Sukrosono deeply thinks in his heart. Unfortunately, I do not have wings. All I have are legs.
Even though the legs cannot be used to fly, only the wings that can carry the cranes flying. At a time when he is thinking about this, a crane comes down to approach him.
“Why do you think your legs are useless. You can fly with your legs, even though you don't have wings like I do," said the crane.
Sukrosono does not understand at all what the crane is saying. However, before having the chance to ask, the crane has flown away from him. Sukrosono is walking with the question, how is it possible for me to fly with my legs, while I just think, I will be able to fly if there is a pair of wings on me. On his journey he frequently looks up into the sky, and sees cranes flying there. In any part of the sky, it is clear to his eyes that the cranes fly not with their legs, but with their wings. Their wings are flapping and swaying, while their legs just stand still. It is the wings that make the birds fly, their legs just fly with them.
The rain has stopped when Sukrosono arrives at a plain land. Due to the heavy rain, water puddles on the plain. The water is so clear, reflecting the shadows of the trees around it. Even the blueness of the sky is reflected from the puddles. It even looks as though the sky is upside down, immersed in its clarity. Sukrosono is surprised to see cranes roaming and playing in the puddles. They walk gracefully, and some of them peck their beaks into the ground, as though there are fish to eat there. Every now and then their wings flap, and the water also shows the flaps of their wings at once. Indeed, the clearness of the puddles seems to suck the horizon of the sky into it, so that the cranes are seen as though they are flying in the sky, even though their legs are clearly stepping on the ground.
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> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon-25
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"Now I really see the cranes flying afloat with their feet, and not with their wings," Sukrosono thinks. He becomes relieved, because what he wants to see, is now happening in front of his eyes. However, he still does not know why this happens so.
"Doesn't it happen because the cranes come down from the sky to the earth, and set foot on this land?" Sukrosono asks again. While asking that, Sukrosono's legs tremble. The earth seems to be pulling him downward powerfully. Therefore all desire to fly in the sky is lost. All the desires that bind him are also gone. He goes back to the limitations of his body. It is at that time that he feels he could fly with his legs, despite the absence of wings on his body. At that time there comes the crane, who once said to him, “don’t think that your legs are useless, because you can fly with your legs, even though you don't have wings like me”.
"You can fly like me high in the sky, because your legs want to step on this earth. However you may not fully understand it, if you don't understand, how the sky and all its content can be immersed in this earth," said the crane.
“How can I understand it?” asked Sukrosono.
"Just ask, why the sky which is immersed on the earth can happen," replied the crane.
This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.
