Words of Wisdom / Kata-kata Bijak

69 The Monkey Girl (Dwi Bahasa)

The Monkey Girl

There was once a little girl who was captured and kidnapped by a group of monkeys. She was taken from her home and brought by the monkeys to the forest. She was at first rejected by the monkeys, except for one who took a real liking to her. So, the little girl was nurtured by the said monkey for years. She lived with them contentedly. Living with the monkeys, she learned the monkey ways. So, even though she was human, she acted like a monkey.

One day, looking down from the treetop, she saw a group of creatures at the foot of the forest, who resembled her, so she thought. Wanting to make sure, she went to the river and looked at her reflection. She was flabbergasted because she looked just like the creatures did. So, upon seeing them the second time, she followed them to their encampment. There, she showed herself to them and so was rescued.

The girl was taken and now living in the society of humans, where she belonged. But, even as she was human, she still acted like a monkey. She had no other experience than that of monkey way of living. She ate like monkeys ate. She walked like monkeys walked. She slept like monkeys slept. She was human and yet she acted like a monkey.

Are we not sometimes like the little girl? We are supposed to behave like decent human beings, but we act nothing like humans. We do things, we think, we have our being in no way nothing like a human does. We originate from cultured and civilized society and yet we are ignorant, we are rude, we are unrefined. It is time to behave like a decent human being!

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Si Gadis Monyet

Pernah hidup seorang gadis kecil yang ditangkap dan diculik oleh sekelompok monyet. Dia dibawa dari rumahnya oleh sekumpulan monyet ke dalam hutan. Awalnya dia ditolak oleh monyet-monyet itu, kecuali seekor monyet yang sangat menyukainya. Jadi, gadis kecil itu dipelihara oleh monyet tersebut selama bertahun-tahun. Dia tinggal dengan mereka dan hidup baik-baik. Tinggal bersama monyet, dia belajar cara monyet hidup. Jadi, meski dia manusia, dia bertingkah seperti monyet.

Suatu hari, melihat ke bawah dari puncak pohon, dia memperhatikan ada sekelompok makhluk di kaki hutan, yang mirip dengan dia, begitulah pikirnya. Ia ingin memastikan, dia lantas pergi ke sungai dan melihat pantulannya pada air. Dia terperangah karena dia terlihat seperti makhluk-makhluk itu. Jadi, setelah melihat mereka untuk kedua kalinya, dia mengikuti mereka ke perkemahan. Di sana, dia menunjukkan diri mereka dan akhirnya diselamatkan.

Jadi, gadis itu dibawa dan sekarang tinggal di masyarakat manusia. Tapi, meski dia manusia, dia tetap bertingkah seperti monyet. Dia tidak memiliki pengalaman lain selain cara hidup monyet. Dia makan seperti yang dilakukan monyet. Dia berjalan seperti monyet berjalan. Dia tidur seperti monyet yang tidur. Dia adalah manusia namun dia bertingkah seperti monyet.

Apakah kita terkadang tidak seperti gadis kecil itu? Kita seharusnya berperilaku seperti manusia beradab, tapi kita tak bertindak selayaknya. Kita tidak bertindak, kita tidak berpikir, kita tidak memiliki keberadaan, sepantasnya seorang manusia. Kita berasal dari masyarakat berbudaya dan beradab namun kita bodoh, kita tidak sopan, tingkah kita memalukan. Sudah saatnya berperilaku layaknya manusia!