Syair Rabindranath Tagore
Bayangkan, ibu, bayangkan engkau tinggal di rumah,
dan aku bepergian jauh nun ke negeri-negeri asing.
Bayangkanlah, ibu, perahuku siap tambat sarat muat.
Dan sekarang coba sungguh pikirkan, ibu apa yang
engkau hendak aku bawakan bila kelak aku datang.
Ibu, maukah engkau kuberi emas bertimbun-timbun?
Di sana, di tepi arus sungai keemasan, ada ladang
penuh tumbuh, tanaman memberi panenan emas.
Dan di teduh jalan setapak, di tengah hutan, juga
ada bunga champa keemasan ke dasar berjatuhan.
Hendak kukumpulkan untukmu bunga itu, kubawa
dalam beratus-ratus keranjang. Ibu, maukah engkau
mutiara, butirnya bagai tetes-tetes hujan musim semi?
Lalu kuarungi lagi latu, ke pantai pulau mutiara. Di pagi
yang teramat awal, gigil cahaya mutiara di bunga-bunga
padang rumput, ada butir yang jatuh, ada butir berkilauan
di pasir, direnjis percik ombak dari yang tak hendak jinak.
Sepasang kuda bersayap, saudaraku kelak punya,
agar kami bisa menembus terbang di antara mega.
Dan untuk ayah, kubawakan pena ajaib untuknya
pena yang bisa menulis sendiri, tanpa setahunya.
Dan untukmu, ibu, aku mesti membawakanmu
berpeti-peti permata, senilai kekayaan tujuh raja.
* Syair ke-23 dari rangkaian 40 syair The Crescent Moon.
THE MERCHANT
Imagine, mother, that you are to stay at home and I am to travel
into strange lands.
Imagine that my boat is ready at the landing fully laden.
Now think well, mother, before you say what I shall bring for you
when I come back.
Mother, do you want heaps and heaps of gold?
There, by the banks of golden streams, fields are full of golden
harvest.
And in the shade of the forest path the golden champa
flowers drop on the ground.
I will gather them all for you in many hundred baskets.
Mother, do you want pearls big as the raindrops of autumn?
I shall cross to the pearl island shore. There in the early
morning light pearls tremble on the meadow flowers, pearls drop
on the grass, and pearls are scattered on the sand in spray by
the wild sea-waves.
My brother shall have a pair of horses with wings to fly among
the clouds.
For father I shall bring a magic pen that, without his knowing,
will write of itself.
For you, mother, I must have the casket and jewel that cost seven
kings their kingdoms.
