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THE LEAST I COULD DO

Long long ago, an old mother had a son who has disobeyed the then ruler. The ruler was so angry that had sentenced her son to death. The son was supposed to be hanged in the village center in front of all the villagers. On his last night in jail, his mother went to see him for the last time. She talked to him very patiently trying to give him confidence. At the end she said, "Tomorrow morning, I'll go up the old building adjacent to the village square. Just have a look at me up there. If I'm wearing black the soldiers will hang you up. But if I'm wearing white they will not kill you. It means that I have changed the ruler's decision and the ruler is just going to scare the people. You don't need to be worry then."

The next day the soldiers took the son to the village center. Lots of onlookers there. The son looked for his mother on the top of the old building. All of a sudden, his mother appeared there wearing white. He therefore relaxed and went toward the hanged rope. People were looking. The soldiers put the rope around his neck. A few seconds passed. Then one of the soldiers kicked the old chair from under his feet, He struggled a little in vain. A moment later he was no more.
The villagers started blaming the old mother on and on. "Why did you cheat your only son miserably?" They asked, "How could you do that? You are not a real mother."

"I tried my best to save his life. Nobody helped me. I couldn't get the ruler's forgiveness either. Therefore the only thing I could do for my son was to make him happy during the last moments of his life," said the poor woman still crying deeply as walked away alone.

INI SAJA SAYA MAMPU LAKUKAN

Pada suatu ketika dahulu, seorang ibu mempunyai seorang anak lelaki telah melanggar perintah Raja. Raja menjadi sangat murka lalu memerintahkan pemuda itu dihukum gantung. Pemuda itu akan digantung di tengah-tengah kampung di hadapan penduduk kampung. Pada malam terakhir di dalam penjara, ibunya pergi menemui anaknya buat kali terakhir. Ibunya bercakap dengan anaknya dengan penuh kesabaran serta cuba memberikan keyakinan padanya. Akhirnya, ibunya berkata, "Pagi esok saya akan naik ke atas bangunan bersebelahan tengah kampung. Lihat saya di atas bungunan. Jika saya memakai pakaian berwarna hitam, tentera raja akan menggantung kamu tetapi jika saya memakai pakaian berwarna putih, mereka tidak akan membunuh kamu. Ini bermakna saya telah berjaya menukar perintah Raja dan Baginda cuma ingin menakutkan orang kampung dan kamu tidak boleh risau lagi."

Pada keesokkan pagi, para tentera Raja membawa pemuda itu ke tengah kampung. Ramai orang berada di situ. Pemuda itu mencari ibunya di atas bangunan lama. Tiba-tiba, ibunya muncul dengan memakai pakaian berwarna putih. Anaknya menjadi tenang dan berjalan ke arah tali gantung sambil dilihat oleh penduduk kampung. Para tentera mengikat tali gantung pada leher pemuda itu. Beberapa minit kemudian berlalu dan salah seorang tentera menendang kerusi yang digunakan oleh pemuda itu untuk berdiri. Pemuda bergerak sedikit dalam kesakitan dan kemudian dia pun mati.

Penduduk kampung mula menyalahkan ibu pemuda itu. "Kenapa kamu tipu anak kamu?" Mereka bertanya, "Sampai hati kamu membuat begini. Kamu bukan seorang ibu."

"Saya telah cuba sedaya upaya untuk menyelamatkan nyawanya. Tiada sesiapa pun yang menolong saya. Saya tidak dapat memohon pada Raja agar memaafkan anak saya. Jadi, apa yang saya mampu lakukan adalah membuatnya gembira pada saat-saat terakhir hidupnya." kata ibu pemuda itu sambil menangis teresak-esak dan berjalan balik seorang diri.

Diterjemah oleh : Teratai Melur
E-mel : terataigenius@gmail.com


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