Pada
jaman dahulu kala, terdapat seoarang pelajar yang mengembara dari tempat
tinggalnya menuju desa Emmet. Di desa tersebut, terdapat sebuah rumah yang
diyakini warga sekitar , angker. Walaupun dipercaya angker, rumah tersebut
memliki pemandangan yang indah, dan juga memiliki kebun yang cantik. Sang
pelajar tersebut, pun lantas memutuskan untuk menyewa rumah tersebut.
Pada
suatu malam, ketika sang pelajar sedang duduk-duduk membaca bukunya,
segrombolan prajurit datang memasuki ruangan rumahnya. Mere adalah prajurit
yang sangat kecil, dan kuda yang mereka tunggani juga hanya seukuran lalat.
Merak juga mempunya elang dan anjing pemburu yang ukurannya hanya sebesar
nyamuk dank kutu.
Mereka
menuju kasur dang pelajar yang terletak di pojok ruangan, dan di sana mereka
melakukan perburuan, dengan senjata mereka yaitu busur dan anak panah. Mereka
pun menangkap banyak burung dan binatang buruan, dan binatang buruan yang
dimaksud di sini adalah tak lebih dari butiran beras.
Ketika
perburuan selesai, datanglah segerombolan prajurit yang berbaris embawa spanduk
dan panji. Mereka membawa pedang yang mereka sematkan di pinggang dan
menggengam tombak di tangan mereka. Mereka berhenti di arah barat laut kamar.
Ratusan pelayan mengikuti mereka dari belakang. Mereka membawa tenda, panci,
ceret, gelas, piring, meja, dan juga bangku. Sedangkan sebagian dari pelayan
tersebut juga membawa makanan dan minuman , sedangkan sebagian yang lainnya
berlari kearah depan untuk memastikan bahwa wilayah pemberhentian mereka dalam
keadaan aman.
Sang
pelajar ahirnya menyadari keberadaan mereka. Walaupun tubuh mereka yang kecil,
sang pelajar dapat melihat gerakan mereka dengan jelas.
Tak
lama kemudian, banner yang berwarna cerah muncul diantara kerumuna tersebut. Di
belakang kibaran banner tersebut, muncul pimpinan mereka yang memakai topi
berwarna merah tua dan pakaian yang berwarna ungu. Dia dikelilingi oleh
pengawal yang berjumlah ribuan.
Kemudian,
seorang prajurit yang memakai penutup kepala besi dan menggengam kapak emas di
tangannya berteriak dengan suara yang lantang”Yang ulia Raja telah datang, siapkan jamuan!"
Kemudian
pimpinan yang tak lain adalah raja turun dari kuda dan menuju temapt perjamuan
yang terletak di sebelah cawan. Cawan tersebut adalah sebenarnya cawan yang
biasa digunakan oleh sang pelajar untuk menyimpan tinta yang ia gunakan untuk
menulis. Tenda didirikan di samping cawan. Begitupula meja dan kursi, semuanya
di atur untuk perjamuan. Raja kemudian duduk ditempat yang telah disediakan ,
dikuti dengan tamu agung lainnya. Musisi dan penari telah bersiap untuk
memberikan hiburan. Setelah semuanya siap, para penari mulai menari diikuti
oleh suara music yang pelan tetapi melodi music tersebut dapat didengar dengan
jelas. Suara percakpan dapat didengar oleh raja dan para tamu agung, karana
suara music yang tidak terlalu keras.
Setelah
menhabiskan 3 jamuan, sang raja pun berdiri dan merteriak lantang ‘Cepat
siapkan jari dan jalan bagiku. Aku ingin memancing”
Kemudian
para pelayan, menyiapkan jarring dan membuat jalan di sekitar cawan tersebut. Kemusian
sang raja meulai memnacing dan ia mendaptkan lusinan ikan.
Kemudian
ia memerintakan kepala dapur untuk memasakan ikan hasil tangkapannya. Resep
special pun disiapkan, dan ikan mulai dibakar. Aroma ikan pangganpun langsung
memenuhi ruangan.
Kemudian
sang raja mulai menghibur dirinya dengan berkata kepada sang pelajar dengan
nada mengejek “Aku memang tidak tahu bagaimana caranya menulis, aku juga tidak
tahu tentang ilmu pengetahuan, tetapi aku adalah raja yang sangat di hormati.
Sedangkan dirimu, kau adalah pelajar yang menghabiskan sisa hidupmu untuk
dengan buku-bukumu, tetapi kau tetap miskin dank au tidak memiliki apa-apa.
Jika kau mau, kau dapat menjadi pelayanku, dan aku akan memberika makanan
kepadamu”
Sang
pelajar marah mendengar apa yang sang raja katakana. Ia pun mengambil buku dan
melemparkannya ke arah raja dan prajuritnya. Mereka pun tercerai berai,
terseok-seok dan berlari menuju pintu. Sang pelajar mengikuti mereka yang
berlari berhamburan memasuki sebuah lubang. Sang pelajar lantas menggali tanah
dimana lubang tersebut terletak, dan ia menemukan sarang semut yang besar.
Kemudian ia menyalakan api dan mengarahkannya ke sarang semut tersebut. Ratusan
ribu semut berwarna hijau berhamburan meninggalkan sarangnya dan tidak pernah
kembali lagi.
Catatan:
Cerita ini diambil dari Tang Dai Tsung Schu
The original English version of this story is taken from here!
Once
upon a time there was a scholar, who wandered away from his home and went to
Emmet village. There stood a house which was said to be haunted. Yet it was
beautifully situated and surrounded by a lovely garden. So the scholar hired
it. One evening he was sitting over his books, when several hundred knights
suddenly came galloping into the room. They were quite tiny, and their horses
were about the size of flies. They had hunting falcons and dogs about as large
as gnats and fleas.
They
came to his bed in the corner of the room, and there they held a great hunt,
with bows and arrows: one could see it all quite plainly. They caught a
tremendous quantity of birds and game, and all this game was no larger than
little grains of rice.
When
the hunt was over, in came a long procession with banners and standards. They
wore swords at their side and bore spears in their hands, and came to a halt in
the north-west corner of the room. They were followed by several hundred
serving-men. These brought with them curtains and covers, tents and tent-poles,
pots and kettles, cups and plates, tables and chairs. And after them some
hundreds of other servants carried in all sorts of fine dishes, the best that
land and water had to offer. And several hundred more ran to and fro without
stopping, in order to guard the roads and carry messages.
The
scholar gradually accustomed himself to the sight. Although the men were so
very small he could distinguish everything quite clearly.
Before
long, a bright colored banner appeared. Behind it rode a personage wearing a
scarlet hat and garments of purple. He was surrounded by an escort of several
thousands. Before him went runners with whips and rods to clear the way.
Then
a man wearing an iron helmet and with a golden ax in his hand cried out in a
loud voice: “His Highness is graciously pleased to look at the fish in the
Purple Lake!” Whereupon the one who wore the scarlet hat got down from his
horse, and, followed by a retinue of several hundred men, approached the saucer
which the scholar used for his writing-ink. Tents were put up on the edge of
the saucer and a banquet was prepared. A great number of guests sat down to the
table. Musicians and dancers stood ready. There was a bright confusion of
mingled garments of purple and scarlet, crimson and green. Pipes and flutes,
fiddles and cymbals sounded, and the dancers moved in the dance. The music was
very faint, and yet its melodies could be clearly distinguished. All that was
said, too, the table-talk and orders, questions and calls, could be quite
distinctly heard.
After
three courses, he who wore the scarlet hat said: “Quick! Make ready the nets
and lines for fishing!”
And
at once nets were thrown out into the saucer which held the water in which the
scholar dipped his brush. And they caught hundreds of thousands of fishes. The
one with the scarlet hat contented himself with casting a line in the shallow
waters of the saucer, and caught a baker’s dozen of red carp.
Then
he ordered the head cook to cook the fish, and the most varied dishes were
prepared with them. The odor of roasting fat and spices filled the whole room.
And
then the wearer of the scarlet hat in his arrogance, decided to amuse himself
at the scholar’s expense. So he pointed to him and said: “I know nothing at all
about the writings and customs of the saints and wise men, and still I am a
king who is highly honored! Yonder scholar spends his whole life toiling over
his books and yet he remains poor and gets nowhere. If he could make up his
mind to serve me faithfully as one of my officials, I might allow him to
partake of our meal.”
This
angered the scholar, and he took his book and struck at them. And they all
scattered, wriggling and crawling out of the door. He followed them and dug up
the earth in the place where they had disappeared. And there he found an ants’
nest as large as a barrel, in which countless green ants were wriggling around.
So he built a large fire and smoked them out.
Note:
This charming tale is taken from the Tang Dai Tsung Schu.
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