The Rich Pemulung
I imagined his immense treasure in his cart for old junk as it carried a sleeping girl and he hummed:
With you beside me,
Living, sleeping in my cart;
Right there’s my palace, my paradise.
With you beside me,
The richest man seems poor to me.
The girl is mumbling in her sleep:
With you beside me,
Am I honored as a queen of queens.
With you beside me,
Hell doesn’t terrify me,
Nor do I wish to go to heaven
Save with you.
They haven’t the means to buy themselves a marriage certificate, to wear shoes, even slippers. More over for a glittering feast in a grand hotel, for hundreds of guests to be invited to witness their marriage. Yet, the moon smiled, million stars watched and rejoiced, witnessing their marriage celebration: as they sat, eat together from the same banana leaf with their fingers, drinking together out of the same old aqua bottle. Was there ever a warmer couch than sleeping together in each other’s arms?
That was some years ago. Recently I met them again. Perhaps they were the same couple, maybe another. The rich pemulung became still richer as he was blessed with three little kids and a baby. The eldest was walking with his mother, his younger brothers and the baby were in a big carton box like little pandas with shining eyes in his cart.
Oh, no, certainly not a cart but his marriage coach when he carried his princess, his bride home.
“Going to the public health clinic” he cheerfully waved at me. Though he only earned his living with gathering, collecting used carton boxes from garbage bins, he has a cart, that cart was his business capital, his wedding carriage, his wedding couch, remember, he’s an entrepreneur, he’s his own boss. “Better be the head of a chicken, rather than be the tail of an ox, ha, ha.” he thought.
Some day when his children are grown up, perhaps they proudly would say, ”true, my parents were called poor pemulungs and lived from collecting old junk, yet they were very rich in feelings, loving, happiness and succeeded to raise us to be graduates, business owners, ….”
Bisnis Indonesia, December 27, 1991
I imagined his immense treasure in his cart for old junk as it carried a sleeping girl and he hummed:
With you beside me,
Living, sleeping in my cart;
Right there’s my palace, my paradise.
With you beside me,
The richest man seems poor to me.
The girl is mumbling in her sleep:
With you beside me,
Am I honored as a queen of queens.
With you beside me,
Hell doesn’t terrify me,
Nor do I wish to go to heaven
Save with you.
They haven’t the means to buy themselves a marriage certificate, to wear shoes, even slippers. More over for a glittering feast in a grand hotel, for hundreds of guests to be invited to witness their marriage. Yet, the moon smiled, million stars watched and rejoiced, witnessing their marriage celebration: as they sat, eat together from the same banana leaf with their fingers, drinking together out of the same old aqua bottle. Was there ever a warmer couch than sleeping together in each other’s arms?
That was some years ago. Recently I met them again. Perhaps they were the same couple, maybe another. The rich pemulung became still richer as he was blessed with three little kids and a baby. The eldest was walking with his mother, his younger brothers and the baby were in a big carton box like little pandas with shining eyes in his cart.
Oh, no, certainly not a cart but his marriage coach when he carried his princess, his bride home.
“Going to the public health clinic” he cheerfully waved at me. Though he only earned his living with gathering, collecting used carton boxes from garbage bins, he has a cart, that cart was his business capital, his wedding carriage, his wedding couch, remember, he’s an entrepreneur, he’s his own boss. “Better be the head of a chicken, rather than be the tail of an ox, ha, ha.” he thought.
Some day when his children are grown up, perhaps they proudly would say, ”true, my parents were called poor pemulungs and lived from collecting old junk, yet they were very rich in feelings, loving, happiness and succeeded to raise us to be graduates, business owners, ….”
Bisnis Indonesia, December 27, 1991
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