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“Pak Sastro Tingklong”

In the days when men adhered strictly to the rules and custom that guided society, there lived a man who was filled with the urge to make a difference. Sastro Tingklong believed that he knew more about life than any other man in the society and he went on to raise his family in the manner he thought fit regardless of what societal norms suggested. He encouraged his wife to do things that only men were allowed to do, and encouraged his only son to engage in senior jokes and games even before he was anything close to the required age.

Very soon, his wife was sniffing traditional grinded-tobacco (powdered tobacco), an exclusive pleasure of the men shared only with elderly women who needed to take the herbal powder for medicinal and analgesic purposes such as toothache relief, and extinction of bacteria from the cavities in the head, and a clearer eyesight. His son joined the elders to cross the dreaded “Laut Kidul” during “pasaran” (market days). Other members of the society did not appreciate Sastro Tingklong's dereliction from stated customs, yet none could say it to his face because he was a very wealthy and powerful man.

One day, when Sastro Tingklong was on a trip to a foreign land, his wife took their son with her on her way to a major market across the “Laut Kidul”. Other elders in the boat complained that bringing a child along with the merchants on a boat across the “Laut Kidul” could mean a bad omen, and may bring some mishap upon the merchant/voyagers. They therefore requested Sastro Tingklong's wife to leave the child behind but she refused and rather threatened the complainants' with Sastro Tingklong's name and wealth.

By the time the merchants' boat got to the heart of the sea, Sastro Tingklong's wife had already expended her bottle of tobacco. Being an addict, she was in dire need of some tobacco to sniff. Because of the way she treated the other merchant voyagers at the beginning of the trip, none of them agreed to offer Sastro Tingklong's wife their tobacco-bottle or a pinch of grounded tobacco to quell her urges. The boat was now midway into the sea and would not turn back, while it was still a long way before they would touch the shore on the other land. 

While other merchants were resting, Sastro Tingklong's wife went to an isolated part of the big boat to strike a deal with the spirit of the “Laut Kidul”. She could not control her urge any longer. "Dear spirit of the “Laut Kidul”," she said. "Please give me a bottle of tobacco and I will give you my child," Sastro Tingklong's wife pleaded. The spirit of the “Laut Kidul” quickly agreed to the deal. A life for a bottle of tobacco is definitely a good deal, the spirit thought. Sastro Tingklong's wife then tossed her sleeping child overboard. "I am a woman, and I can always have another child rather than miss this tobacco," she said to herself.

The spirit of the “Laut Kidul” kept its promise and tossed a bottle of tobacco at Sastro Tingklong's wife. Quickly, she opened the bottle and sniffed from the supply. "Since I was born, I have never had such sweet tobacco," she said. "If you give me another child, you will get an even better quality," the spirit suggested. "This will do for now," Sastro Tingklong's wife replied as she continued to sniff and relish in the wonderful tobacco.

After she finished enjoying her tobacco, she raised an alarm that her child had drowned by himself. It is said that bitterness does not extend to issues of death. Therefore, the other merchants decided to put their grudges aside and then set up a search party for the dead child. After the spirit had used what it wanted, it gave up the corpse of the child, and the merchants then collected the child's corpse and took it home to Sastro Tingklong.

Despite several inquiries by Sastro Tingklong as to what happened, his wife kept denying the fact that she had anything to do with the death of their only son. "If I know anything about what killed our child, may the spirits take me," she swore in her attempt to convince Sastro Tingklong that she was innocent. After the burial ceremony, Sastro Tingklong managed to leave to complete some business he had suspended when he learnt of his son's death. "I will be back this night," Sastro Tingklong assured his wife who appeared very touched and disheveled by the loss of their son.

Email; jati@apkasi.or.id
gumawang@paskal8.com
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