Translation Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk

A pair of cranes flew high in circles in the sky. Without flapping their wings, they
stayed afloat in the air for hours. Their high-pitched voices sounded like a long
sigh. These birds have flown over hundreds of miles trying to find a puddle of
water. Not long after, they started to miss the land where they hunted for their
prey: frogs, fishes, shrimps or other water insects.

However, the summer has not ended yet. The rice fields that measured up to
thousands of hectares surrounding Dukuh Paruk had been dry and brittle for
seven months. The cranes will not be able to find even a puddle that is as wide as
a foot print. The rice fields have turned into dry gray fields. The only patches of
green were contributed by the existence of kerokot, a type of cactus.

On the other side of the sky, a sparrow is trying to hold on to his dear life. It flew
like a stone that has just released by a slingshot. Behind it, an alap-alap, a
predator bird was chasing the little sparrow at the speed of lightning. Moments
later, screeches coming from the sparrow could be heard. The alap-alap had
bitten into the sparrow’s head. Soft feathers were scattered all around. A quiet
murder had just occurred above the skies of Dukuh Paruk.

The southeast winds blow. Dry. The shoots of the trees swayed. Yellow leaves,
along with dry branches fell. The rustling of bamboo groves. Kites made out of
gadung leaves slid high.

The hot air drying all kinds of seeds have been lingering around the village for
months. Buah randu have turned black, splitting into three sections. The strong
winds unraveled lumps from kapok trees. Each lump contained plantable seeds.
thus the wisdom of nature regulates the kapok tree so that it does not grow close
to the source of the seed.

The Dadap tree chose a similar way to spread. Old Dadap seeds will use the skin
of its pod to fly in a propeller-like motion. When the wind blows, it looks like
hundreds of butterflies flying following the direction of the wind, leaving the
dadap tree. If not disturbed by the kids of Dukuh Paruk, the dadap seeds would be
able to grow far from its mother. Dukuh Paruk created its own life.

From its place, the two cranes looked down upon Dukuh Paruk and saw it as a tiny
dot in the middle of a wide field. To the nearest residential area, Dukuh Paruk was
only connected by a two-kiloometer paddy cutting network. Dukuh paruk was
small and isolated. Dukuh Paruk created its own life.

There were twenty-three houses located in the nearest residential area, inhabited
by the descendants. Ki Secamenggala was the ancestor of every single one of
Dukuh Paruh’s inhabitants. He wanted to settle in the most quiet place to spend
the rest of his life. In Dukuh Paruh, Ki Secamanggala finally left his ancestry.

Every single person in Dukuh Paruk is aware of Ki Secamenggala, their ancestor,

who was the enemy of people’s lives. But they still praised him. Ki
Secamenggala’s grave was located on the ridge of a small valley in the middle of
Dukuh Paruk. Lumps of grey incense could be found in Ki Secamanggala’s
headstone proves the mysticism of Dukuh Paruk’s inhabitants.

On the edge of the village, three boys were struggling to pluck out one cassava
plant. However, three of them were still too weak to fight the roots buried in lime
soil, dry and gravelly. They were exhausted, and finally gave up.

“Find a lever”, said Rasus to his two friends. “Without any type of lever, it would be
impossible for us to pull out this cassava.

“It’ll be useless. Only a crowbar would be able to go through the hard base of the
stem”, said Warta. “It would be better for us to find water. We should just flush the
stem of this cassava plant. Only then would we be able to pluck out this cassava
plant.”

“Water?” teased Darsun, the third kid. “Where would you find that?”
Not long after, Rasus, Warta and Darsun faced each other. The three of them
wiped their palms. With their last piece of hope, they will try to pluck out the stem
of that cassava plant for the last time.

Their small veins stiffened up. They were finally able to pull the cassava plant out,
along with its roots. It turned out that the cassava plant was only as big as their
thumb. Soon after, they were fighting over it.

Rasus and Warta took two, while Darsun only got one. No one protested. The three
of them were then busy peeling of the top parts of the cassava with their teeths.

While cleaning his mouth with the back of his arm, Rasus asked his two friends to
check on the sheep that they were herding. Confident that their sheep would not
be destroying any plants, the three of them walked to the place where they often
played together. Under the jackfruit tree, they saw Srintil who was having fun
playing alone. That little girl was trying to make a crown out of jackfruit leaves.

Because Dukuh Paruk was located in the middle of a large field, the dawn could
be seen clearly from there. The wind blew lightly. Lumps of dry grass rolled
around and stopped because of an obstacle.

The disappearance of the sunlight has been awaited by the bats. One at a time,
the bats flew out of their nests in the hallowed wood, decorated with coconut
leaves and the buds of banana leaves. Summer was not liked by those bats. They
could not find any fruits or insects to eat. At that moment, microbats were forced
to eat waru in order to keep their population thriving.

Lights were turned on. From miles away, the flickering lights proved the existence
of life in the muted village of Dukuh Paruk. The elongated moon looked like it
nearly touched the tip of the sky. It’s light produces a blurry shadow on top of
Dukuh Paruk’s lime soil. It’s presence in the sky was not blocked by the clouds.
The sky was clear.

The hot summer air slowly disappeared and turned cold as the sky turned dark. A
friendly nature show for kids. The yard, which turned very dry made it fun for kids
to play in. The moonlight created a sense of intimacy between mankind and the
scope of nature’s beauty. Children, innocent creatures, were present in the yard
that was decorated with the moonlight. It was appropriate for them to play catch
and flourish. They better be aware that their childhood is a heaven that will only
come once.