Kertu-Kertu Ceki

On July 19, 2008 at the Poetry Night held by Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) and Consortium for the Teachers of Southeast Asian Languages (COTSEAL) hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Madison, I recited a Javanese poem written by Trim Sutija. The title is "Kertu-Kertu Ceki." It was published in Jaya Baya, No. 38, XXVI, March 27, 1972, and I found it on "Antologi Puisi Jawa Modern 1940 - 1980" by Suripan Sadi Hutomo, published in Surabaya by Sinar Wijaya.

As most of the audience did not speak Javanese, Paul, my husband, wrote an English adaptation of the poem. FYI, Paul has been writing and publishing several poems. He and I believe that merely translating a poem from one language into another will not capture the whole meaning and nuance of the poem. Paul worked on this poem for hours. He does not speak any Javanese. So, I translated the poem word by word. He asked me a lot of questions about the words, their literal and possibly figurative meanings, etc. Then, he did the adaptation. You can see us reciting the poem at youtube.com, and type 'Poetry Night SEASSI 2008' in the search box. Then, click on 'No Dice.' And here it is:

"Kertu-Kertu Ceki"
Dening Trim Sutieja

kertu-kertu ceki iki
aja dirampas maneh saka tanganku
amarga ya mung kari kuwi woding uripku
dalanku tekan sabrang
marang donyaku sing wis ilang ing kasunyatan
marang donyaku, donya khayali
nglipur atiku sing sumendhe ing lintang-lintang
amarga donya kang nyata pranyata dudu darbekku
nanging donyane para brewu sing bisa nuku

kertu-kertu ceki iki
aja dirampas maneh saka tanganku
amarga ya mung karana kuwi aku bisa lali
atise wengi ing ril-ril sepur kuwi
bantaling turuku woding impenku
marang donyaku, donya khayali ing lintang-lintang
amarga saiki
saben toko lan longe kreteg kabeh wis dipageri ruji wesi

mangka aku ngerti
sesuk sore ril-ril sepur kuwi ya mesthi wis dipageri
ora perlu dak-pikir sesuk bengi aku kudu turu ngendi
anggere kok rampas maneh kertu-kertu ceki iki

Jakarta, 1972
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No Dice, or Stepping Stones
(a verse adaptation of Trim Sutija's "Keru-Kertu Ceki")
by Franklin Paul Norris

Don't be conspicuous, my right fist, as the glare drags past;
Sit small, shoulders bent over knees; press yourself to my heart;
Feel the corners dig deep into my palm;

"On your feet, dog!" "On your-he's holding something."
"Got it real tight....Let go you mother-" "There!"
"What is it?" "Just dice." "Take 'em! Gambling's a criminal tendency."

Empty handed, small again,
I hear the voices moving down alley,
Shattering glass and kicking over burdens;
Now how will the numbers dance for me?

The '8s, 11s, 3s, and 5s',
The stepping stones of the universe,
The way across to the other side;

I visit the other side in dreams,
Or I would-I did; but you need stepping stones;
I used to sleep on the railroad tracks,

On the rails; from there, the stars danced
As I leapt from one to the next;
Now there's a towering fence and a watch;

My empty hands can't seem to hold on to anything;
(You want to know why?)
This is not my world; I belong on the other side;

Here, my open palms and uncurling fingers
Can only work with the empty places, the open spaces;
But the park's gated, riverbank's walled;

Rich men's hands can close this world and hold it shut.

About the name Diyan Paran

It took me a while to figure out what might be a good name for this blog. So, I decided on "Diyan Paran." It is Javanese. "Diyan" means light or lattern, and "Paran" means away from home or abroad. Combined together, it means a light from afar. I do hope this blog can be a light for someone out there, as it is difinitely for me.
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Tidak mudah menemukan nama yang cocok untuk blog ini. Setelah cari-cari, ketemu "Diyan Paran." Dalam bahasa Jawa "Diyan" artinya cahaya atau lampu, dan "Paran" berarti jauh dari kampung halaman. Jadi, "Diyan Paran" bisa diartikan sebagai cahaya dari jauh. Mudah-mudahan blog ini bisa menjadi cahaya bagi pembaca.
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Ora gampang golek jeneng sing cocok kanggo blog iki. Sakwise mikir-mikir, aku nemu "Diyan Paran." Muga-muga cahya saka adoh iki bisa migunani.
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Sugeng siang

Siang punika kula damel account wonten blogger punika. Punika kaping sepindah kula gadhah blog. Rencananipun kula badhe masang foto-foto kaliyan tulisan-tulisan kula bab punapa kemawon.
Matur nuwun sanget kagem mbak D. Wulaningsih, ingkang sampun ngrencangi kula damel account punika.
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Siang ini saya coba buat account blogger. Ini pertama kalinya saya punya blog. Rencananya saya mau pasang foto-foto dan tulisan-tulisan saya tentang apa saja.
Terima kasih kepada mbak D. Wulaningsih yang sudah membantu membuat account ini.
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This afternoon I tried to open an account on this blogger. This is my first one. The plan was to have some kind of an on-line journal.
Many thanks to mbak D. Wulaningsih who helped me creating this blog.

Kancil lan Baya

Kancil, a mousedeer, is a cunning character in Indonesian children tales. He does a lot of tricks to get what he wants. One of them, as told in this story, is to cross a wide river to get to Mr. Farmer's cucumber garden. See, he likes cucumbers and in his estimation the garden is now full of them. He deceives Mr. Crocodile to get the other crocodiles lined up across the river. Kancil successfully crosses it by jumping on one crocodile's back to another's.
(I wrote my version of the story in Javanese as it was told by my late grandma when I was little.) So, here it is - Kancil and The Crocodile:

Sakwijining dina ana kancil sing lagi mlaku-mlaku ing alas. Kancil mau tekan kali amba banget. Dheweke pengen nyebrang, amarga ana kebon timune pak Tani ing sebrang kali. Dheweke wis luwe banget, nanging ora ana kreteg kanggo nyebrang.

Ing pinggir kali ana baya sing lagi dhedhe. Kancil weruh baya kuwi, lan duwe akal. Dheweke nyedhaki baya kuwi.

“E, pak Baya,” celuke Kancil.
“Ana apa, Cil,” wangsulane pak Baya setengah kaget.
“Tak kira ing kali iki ora akeh bayane,” swarane Kancil rada ngremehke.
“Sapa kanda? Akeh wae,” pak Baya rada kesinggung.
"Aku ra percaya. Apa kowe bisa mbuktikake?” Kancil nantang.
Pak Baya ora pati pinter, nanging ora gelem kalah, "Isa wae, mung piye carane?”
“Hmmm…,” Kancil ethok-ethok mikir. “Ah ….. undangen kanca-kancamu. Banjur barisa saka pinggir kali kene tekan sebrang kana. Mengko tak etunge.”
“Ya, entenana sedhelok,” pak Baya cepet-cepet nyemplung kali.

Ora suwe, Pak Baya keprungu menehi komando supaya baya-baya liyane padha jejer-jejer ing sak-ambane kali. Bareng kabeh uwis baris, dheweke manggon paling pinggir.

“Wis siap?” pitakone kancil.
“Wis,” bengoke pak Baya.

Kancil wiwit ngetung kanthi napak ana ing gegere pak Baya.
“Siji…..loro….telu….papat….,” karo ngetung Kancil mlompat saka geger baya siji nyang baya jejere nganti dheweke tekan sebrang kali.

“Pak Baya. Kowe bener. Pancen cacahe baya ing kali iki akeh banget.”
Pak Baya seneng, “Kandaku apa. Aja sok ngawur ya kowe.”
“Matur nuwun, Pak.”

Kancil nerusake lakune karo manthuk-manthuk lan mesam-mesem dhewe.