(Cont) The Century Carver by Oka Rusmini

Vocabularies

•      Aroma (n): A smell

•      Trepidation (n): A state of hesitation or concern

•      Caste (n): any of heredity, social classes and subclasses

     •      There are four Balinese castes. The four castes of Bali are: 
     •      Brahman - caste of the priests and the teachers 
     •      Ksatria- the warrior caste, it also included some nobility and kings 
     •      Vaisya- the caste of merchants and administrative officials 
     •      Shudra - lower caste of peasants and craftsmen.

 

•      Carve (v): to shape to sculptural effect

•      Timber (n): tree in a forest regarded as a source of wood

•      Curse (n): a prayer or imprecation that harm may befall someone

•      Commoner (n): a member of the common people who holds no title or rank

•      Karma (n): the concept of “action” or “deed” in Indian religion understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect

•      Sarong (n): a garment made of a length of printed cloth wrapped about the waist that is commonly worn by men and women in Malaysia, Indonesia, India.

•                           Balian (n): indigenous medical practitioner

Main Characters

•      Kopag is blind man and become the main actor in this story.

•      Srengi is Kopag’s servant who is very ugly with the skin like a bark but she is very loyal and diligent, therefore Kopag want to merry her

•      Gubreg is Kopag’s family assistant and he is the one who raise Kopag from child.

•      Jero Melati/Ni Luh Putu Sari is Kopag’s sister in law. She is very beautiful but she has a bad attitude

•      Kopag’s Father is the important person in his compound. He left Kopag since he was kid. He has a bad manner who always chance and sleep with many women until he has a lot of dept.

Summary

•      This short story told us about the blind carver named Ida Bagus Made Kopag, called Kopag,  who really wanted to know how the woman look like. Kopag was the second son of the richest family in his compound and belonged to high level caste named Brahmana in Bali.

•      His mother was died since she born Kopag and his father leaved his family because of the debt and a bad behavior. His father was a highly respected man who held important government position and also owned dozen of painting and sculpture galleries. However, his father was well known as the Don Juan who had many girls and moved from one girls to others for the sake of his desire and happiness. Therefore, his behavior made the family’s business bankrupt and owned a lot of debt until he left his family.   It was then his grandfather who raised Kopag since he was kid helped by the loyal servant named Gubreg. His grandfather was the one who touch Kopag to be a professional and well known carver before he died. His grandfather also taught that Kopag’s blind was due to pay the sins of his father. Furthermore, Kopag is the one who recovered his family business from the debt what’ more his curving were interested both local and overseas collector until the gallery received funding support from Germany and France.

•      Kopags’ objects as the sculpture for his curving mostly were a man because he always interacted only with a man in his daily life and he rarely met women. The only woman that he met in his family was Ni Luh Putu Sari, a girl who married his brother and came from the lowest caste (Sudra) in Bali. Because she became a member of Brahmana’s family she changed her name into Jero  Melati. Jero Melati was very beautiful, tall with a white skin, she also became the flower in the compound and the adorable woman for all man because of her beauty and people though that his brother was the luckiest one in the compound since he could marry her. However, Kopag viewed about Jero Melati was different with common people who always saw a woman physically. For him, Jero Melati was the rotting corpse, she was the real playactor in their family with elegant speak from the foul mouth. Before Kopag could produce money Jero Melati always did a bad thing to him and when Kopag became famous she stop nagging at him cause she was at a liberty to spend Kopag’s money. That’s make him curious about the criteria of a beautiful woman and always asked Gubreg, the old man who raised him since he was a child, about how the beautiful woman look like.

•      His mother was died since she born Kopag and his father leaved his family because of the debt and a bad behavior. His father was a highly respected man who held important government position and also owned dozen of painting and sculpture galleries. However, his father was well known as the Don Juan who had many girls and moved from one girls to others for the sake of his desire and happiness. Therefore, his behavior made the family’s business bankrupt and owned a lot of debt until he left his family.   It was then his grandfather who raised Kopag since he was kid helped by the loyal servant named Gubreg. His grandfather was the one who touch Kopag to be a professional and well known carver before he died. His grandfather also taught that Kopag’s blind was due to pay the sins of his father. Furthermore, Kopag is the one who recovered his family business from the debt what’ more his curving were interested both local and overseas collector until the gallery received funding support from Germany and France.

•      Gubreg had a different view of a beautiful woman as an ordinary people think. For him Jero Melati is the perfect example of beautiful woman and he convinced it to Kopag. However, Kopag insisted in his opinion that she didn’t belong to his criteria as a beautiful woman. In spite of this, Kopag saw the beauty from his servant called Srengi who always served him patiently with her sincerity. That made Gubreg shock, because physically Srengy is the worst person in their compound. Her skin is dark and barks and her smell was not good. However, this bark skin and her smell are successfully bring him in making the woman sculpture in which some French like it and saw it as the perfect natural sculpture of woman. For him Srengi’s voice seemed to be full of honesty, compassion and sincerity.

•      Gubreg thought that Kopag’s curiosity of beautiful woman was because he wanted to have a wife as his companion of his life and he asked Jero Melati to find it for him. Surprisingly, Jero Melati proposed her sister who was a wild and wicked woman and also rumors said that she sold her own body because of poverty. Her chosen made him aware that Kopag’s view about Jero Melati was right. A view of beautiful body was enveloped by an evil force. More surprisingly for him, when he asked Kopag whether he had chosen a wife and Kopag’s answer was Srengi.

Most Striking Part

•      But are people born complete with all their senses capable of capturing all the secrets of this life—secrets that are held onto and kept hidden by nature? Would it be wrong if Kopag were suddenly to encounter extraordinary beauty in Srenggi? A beauty that he could see with his thoughts and feelings? Would that be wrong?Kopag had reinvented the idea of artistic endeavor. He didn't just carve wood; he carved his thoughts, his brain, and his dreams as well.

Connection in The Real World

•      Many people only see the beauty of women from their physical condition such as the skin, face, performance, etc. However, only a few see the beauty from attitude

•      In this worlds there are many people who always want to fulfill their desire and happiness without seeing the effect from their behavior. The case such Kopag’s Father who is actually had a position in his compound but always change a women when he likes it is a common phenomenon in current life. The impact of his bad behavior was felt by his family member who life in misery

•      Women from low level social economic status nowadays have a dream to become a rich one and do everything to get it. Jero Melati for instance seek his husband who has high status using her beauty to get her desire and her sister sold her body only for money