Category: Dongeng Bahasa Inggris

A merchant had done well at the fair. He had sold all his wares, and filled his moneybag with gold and silver. He now wanted to make his way toward home, and to be in his own house before nightfall. So he loaded his duffel bag with the money onto his horse, and rode away.

Seorang pedagang telah sukses berjualan di Pekan Raya. Dia berhasil menjual semua barang dagangannya, dan kini kantong uangnya penuh terisi oleh emas dan perak. Sekarang, dia ingin bergegas pulang agar bisa sampai di rumah sebelum malam hari tiba. Dia pun menaikkan tas nya yang berisi uang ke punggung kudanya, dan memulai perjalanannya.

At noon made a rest stop in a town. When he was about to continue on his way, a servant brought him his horse and said, “Sir, a nail is missing from the shoe on his left hind hoof.”

Saat siang tiba, dia beristirahat di sebuah kota. Saat dia akan melanjutkan perjalanannya, seorang pelayan yang membawakan kudanya berkata “Pak, paku dari sepatu kuda anda yang sebelah kiri belakang ada yang hilang.”

“Let it be,” answered the merchant. “The shoe will certainly stay on for the six hours that I still have to ride. I am in a hurry.”

“Biarkan saja,” jawab si pedagang. Sepatu kuda itu tidak akan lepas setidaknya untuk 6 jam perjalanan yang akan aku tempuh. Aku sedang terburu-buru.”

That afternoon, when he dismounted once again and had his horse fed, a servant came into the inn and said, “Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse’s left hind hoof. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?”

Saat sore tiba, si pedagang beristirahat lagi di sebuah kota, dan kudanya pun diberi makan. Kemudian, seorang pelayan masuk ke penginapan tempat dia beristirahat dan berkata, “Pak, sepatu kuda anda yang sebelah kiri belakang hilang. Perlukah saya bawa ke pandai besi?”

“Let it be,” answered the man. “The horse can manage for the few hours that I still have to ride. I am in a hurry.”

“Biarkan saja,” jawab si pedagang. “Kuda itu tetap dapat berjalan sampai beberapa jam lagi. Aku sedang terburu-buru.”

He rode on, but before long the horse began to limp. It did not limp long before it began to stumble, and it did not stumble long before it fell down and broke a leg. The merchant had to leave the horse where it was, and unbuckle the duffel bag, load it onto his shoulder, and walk home on foot, not arriving there until very late that night.

Si pedagang kemudian melanjutkan perjalanannya. Tidak lama kemudian, kudanya pun mulai pincang, dan terjatuh. Kaki kuda itu pun patah. Si pedagang terpaksa meninggalkan kudanya dan berjalan sambil memanggul tasnya yang berat. Si pedagang baru sampai di rumahnya saat sudah larut malam.

“All this bad luck,” he said to himself, “was caused by that cursed nail.”

“Semua ini adalah kesialan,” kata si pedagang kepada dirinya sendiri. “Ini karena paku yang terkutuk itu.”

Haste makes waste.

Tergesa-gesa dapat mengakibatkan segalanya jadi runyam/sia-sia.

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By : Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Source : http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm184.html

Once upon a time down on an old farm, lived a duck family, and Mother Duck had been sitting on a clutch of new eggs. One day, the eggs hatched and out popped six chirpy ducklings. But one egg was bigger than the others, and it didn’t hatch. Mother Duck couldn’t remember laying that seventh egg. “How did it get there?” Mother Duck wondered. TOCK! TOCK! The little prisoner was pecking inside his shell.

“Did I count the eggs wrongly?” Mother Duck wondered. But before she had time to think about it, the last egg finally hatched and a strange looking duckling with gray feathers that should have been yellow gazed at a worried mother. The ducklings grew quickly, but Mother Duck had a secret worry.

“I can’t understand how this ugly duckling can be one of mine!” she said to herself. She shook her head as she looked at her last born duckling. Well, the gray duckling certainly wasn’t pretty. He also ate much more than his brothers and growing faster than them. As the days went by, the poor ugly duckling became more and more unhappy. His brothers didn’t want to play with him because he was so clumsy, and all the farmyard folks simply laughed at him. He felt sad and lonely, while Mother Duck did her best to console him. “Poor little ugly duckling!” she would say. “Why are you so different from the others?” And the ugly duckling felt worse than ever. He secretly wept at night. He felt nobody wanted him. “Nobody loves me, they all tease me! Why am I different from my brothers?”

Then one day, at sunrise, the poor ugly duckling ran away from the farmyard. He stopped at a pond and began to question all the other birds. “Do you know of any ducklings with gray feathers like mine?” But everyone shook their heads in scorn. “We don’t know anyone as ugly as you.” The ugly duckling did not lose heart, however, and kept on making inquiries. He went to another pond, where a pair of large geese gave him the same answer to his question. What’s more, they warned him: “Don’t stay here! Go away! It’s dangerous. There are men with guns around here!” The duckling was sorry he had ever left the farmyard.

Then one day, the poor ugly duckling arrived at an old countrywoman’s cottage. Thinking he was a stray goose, she caught him. “I’ll put this in a hutch. I hope it’s a female and lays plenty of eggs!” said the old woman, whose eyesight was poor. But of course, the ugly duckling did not lay a single egg. The hen kept frightening him. “Just wait! If you don’t lay eggs, the old woman will wring your neck and pop you into the pot!” And the cat chipped in: “Hee! Hee! I hope the woman cooks you, then I can gnaw at your bones!” The poor ugly duckling was so scared that he lost his appetite, though the old woman kept stuffing him with food and grumbling: “If you won’t lay eggs, at least hurry up and get plump!”

“Oh, dear me!” moaned the now terrified duckling. “I’ll die of fright first! And I did so hope someone would love me!”

Then one night, the old woman left the hutch door ajar, and the poor ugly duckling escaped. Once again he was all alone. He fled as far away as he could, and at dawn, he found himself in a thick bed of reeds. “If nobody wants me, I’ll hide here forever.” There was plenty of food there, and the poor ugly duckling began to feel a little happier, even though he was lonely. One day at sunrise, he saw a group of beautiful birds flying overhead. White, with long slender necks, yellow beaks and large wings, they were migrating south.

“If only I could look like them, just for a day!” said the duckling, admiringly. Winter came and the water in the reed bed froze. The poor duckling left home to seek food in the snow. He dropped exhausted to the ground, but a farmer found him and put him in his big jacket pocket. “I’ll take him home to my children. They’ll look after him. Poor thing, he’s frozen!” The duckling was showered with kindly care at the farmer’s house. In this way, the ugly duckling was able to survive the bitterly cold winter.

However, by springtime, he had grown so big that the farmer decided: “I’ll set him free by the pond!” That was when the duckling saw himself mirrored in the water. “Goodness! How I’ve changed! I hardly recognize myself!” The flight of swans winged north again and glided on to the pond. When the duckling saw them, he realized that he was one of their kind and they made friends.

“We’re swans like you!” they said, warmly. “Where have you been hiding?”

“It’s a long story,” replied the young swan, still astounded. Now, he swam majestically with his fellow swans. One day, he heard children on the river bank exclaim: “Look at that young swan! He’s the finest of them all!”

And he almost burst with happiness.

[A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen]
Picture taken from http://www.robartstudio.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=11142243