Read Online Twilight in Djakarta by Mochtar Lubis - Free Book Online
Authors: Mochtar Lubis
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he felt at the inspector’s reply. Nevertheless, gathering his courage, he then said,
‘I beg you in all earnestness, sir, to sentence this boy. We are afraid that if he goes free he will kill someone. He even once stabbed me, six months ago. At that time he stole a gold ring from his mother. He sold it in order to gamble. When I got angry at him he fought, fetched the cleaver from the kitchen and attacked me. But his elder brother arrived and so he ran away.’
His father rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and showed a scar.
‘This is the scar!’ said the old man.
‘He doesn’t want to study. If you send him to school he always runs away. His mother is afraid of him. Sir, punish him. He’s not our son any more.’
The old man stood up, walked quickly out of the room, the police inspector called after him to return, but was not heard. The old man walked on rapidly, large tears wetting his cheeks, flowing full and swift, dimming his sight.
1 Bamboo sleeping-bench.
2 Rectangular batik cloth worn as a straight wrap-around skirt, from waist to ankle.
1 From the Dutch knecht = manservant. Here = an assistant to the driver.
2 Oplet = autolette (‘opellette’), a small urban bus.
1 A jacket made of very light material.
1 Republik Rakjat Tionghwa = People’s Republic of China.
2 Originally a court dance, S’rimpi is the classical dance for women in Central Java.
3 Javanese orchestra composed mainly of percussion instruments.
4 Angklung – percussion instrument made of bamboo tubes; ketjapi – a type of lute.
5 Tjakalele – a war dance in the islands of East Indonesia.
6 Pakarene – ritual dances in South Celebes (Sulawesi), esp. in the regions of Makasar.
1 The Five Principles: Belief in God, Nationalism, Humanism, Sovereignty of the People and Social Justice, proclaimed in 1945 by President Sukarno as the basis of the Indonesian state.
1 Merdeka , lit. freedom, is a much used Indonesian slogan and greeting, hence ‘merdeka man’ implies an Indonesian.
1 Familiar form for father, papa.
July
R ADEN KASLAN , director of the Bumi Aju Corporation, member of the Indonesian Party, closed the door of his office in his home and turned to his visitor, Husin Limbara, chairman of the Indonesian Party.
‘Nah,’ he said. ‘Now no one can listen to our conversation. Please sit down.’
Husin Limbara sat down in a dark-brown leather armchair, leaned back comfortably and said,
‘Aduh, my shoulder still hurts. None of the doctors are able to cure it.’
Raden Kaslan picked up the cigar-box from his table, said something in sympathy with Husin Limbara’s shoulder trouble and, as his visitor helped himself to a ‘555’, Raden Kaslan held up to his cigar a silver lighter made by the Jogja silverworks.
Husin Limbara inhaled deeply, puffed the smoke slowly, his eyes steadily fixed on the face of his host. For a moment Raden Kaslan felt uncomfortable, but he dispelled this feeling, after thinking: The party needs money again, and deciding for himself that this time he wasn’t going to give them more than one or two thousand rupiah. Having decided so, he felt at ease again, and said to Husin Limbara,
‘Nah, what’s on your mind? On the telephone it sounded like a very important and pressing matter.’
With a little groan Husin sat up in his chair and said, lowering his voice,
‘The executive council has taken an important decision. As you know, the general elections are very near. Our party needs a lot of money. We must establish a trade organisation to raise as muchmoney as possible. Of all our members we have selected you to prepare a plan, because of your long experience in the business world. We want you, brother, to prepare a plan on a really large scale, to cover all economic activities. You needn’t worry about your own money. It’s not our intention to trade, really. But if some of the arrangements could remain permanent, all the better. Our members who are in positions of
‘I beg you in all earnestness, sir, to sentence this boy. We are afraid that if he goes free he will kill someone. He even once stabbed me, six months ago. At that time he stole a gold ring from his mother. He sold it in order to gamble. When I got angry at him he fought, fetched the cleaver from the kitchen and attacked me. But his elder brother arrived and so he ran away.’
His father rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and showed a scar.
‘This is the scar!’ said the old man.
‘He doesn’t want to study. If you send him to school he always runs away. His mother is afraid of him. Sir, punish him. He’s not our son any more.’
The old man stood up, walked quickly out of the room, the police inspector called after him to return, but was not heard. The old man walked on rapidly, large tears wetting his cheeks, flowing full and swift, dimming his sight.
1 Bamboo sleeping-bench.
2 Rectangular batik cloth worn as a straight wrap-around skirt, from waist to ankle.
1 From the Dutch knecht = manservant. Here = an assistant to the driver.
2 Oplet = autolette (‘opellette’), a small urban bus.
1 A jacket made of very light material.
1 Republik Rakjat Tionghwa = People’s Republic of China.
2 Originally a court dance, S’rimpi is the classical dance for women in Central Java.
3 Javanese orchestra composed mainly of percussion instruments.
4 Angklung – percussion instrument made of bamboo tubes; ketjapi – a type of lute.
5 Tjakalele – a war dance in the islands of East Indonesia.
6 Pakarene – ritual dances in South Celebes (Sulawesi), esp. in the regions of Makasar.
1 The Five Principles: Belief in God, Nationalism, Humanism, Sovereignty of the People and Social Justice, proclaimed in 1945 by President Sukarno as the basis of the Indonesian state.
1 Merdeka , lit. freedom, is a much used Indonesian slogan and greeting, hence ‘merdeka man’ implies an Indonesian.
1 Familiar form for father, papa.
July
R ADEN KASLAN , director of the Bumi Aju Corporation, member of the Indonesian Party, closed the door of his office in his home and turned to his visitor, Husin Limbara, chairman of the Indonesian Party.
‘Nah,’ he said. ‘Now no one can listen to our conversation. Please sit down.’
Husin Limbara sat down in a dark-brown leather armchair, leaned back comfortably and said,
‘Aduh, my shoulder still hurts. None of the doctors are able to cure it.’
Raden Kaslan picked up the cigar-box from his table, said something in sympathy with Husin Limbara’s shoulder trouble and, as his visitor helped himself to a ‘555’, Raden Kaslan held up to his cigar a silver lighter made by the Jogja silverworks.
Husin Limbara inhaled deeply, puffed the smoke slowly, his eyes steadily fixed on the face of his host. For a moment Raden Kaslan felt uncomfortable, but he dispelled this feeling, after thinking: The party needs money again, and deciding for himself that this time he wasn’t going to give them more than one or two thousand rupiah. Having decided so, he felt at ease again, and said to Husin Limbara,
‘Nah, what’s on your mind? On the telephone it sounded like a very important and pressing matter.’
With a little groan Husin sat up in his chair and said, lowering his voice,
‘The executive council has taken an important decision. As you know, the general elections are very near. Our party needs a lot of money. We must establish a trade organisation to raise as muchmoney as possible. Of all our members we have selected you to prepare a plan, because of your long experience in the business world. We want you, brother, to prepare a plan on a really large scale, to cover all economic activities. You needn’t worry about your own money. It’s not our intention to trade, really. But if some of the arrangements could remain permanent, all the better. Our members who are in positions of
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