The Drawing in the Hut Guestbook

Bianka walked up to a mountain hut on a sunny Saturday. She was tired, so she sat inside and drank hot tea. On the table was the guestbook. She opened it for fun.

Bianka berjalan mendaki ke sebuah pondok gunung pada suatu hari Sabtu yang cerah. Ia lelah, jadi ia duduk di dalam dan meminum teh hangat. Di atas meja ada buku tamu. Ia membukanya iseng-iseng.

On one page, she saw a small fox. Under it was a date from ten years ago. She turned the page. A year later, she found the same fox again.

Di satu halaman, ia melihat seekor rubah kecil. Di bawahnya ada tanggal sepuluh tahun lalu. Ia membalik halaman. Setahun kemudian, ia menemukan rubah yang sama lagi.

She read the whole book. Every summer, someone drew one little fox, always in the same corner. It never had a name.

Ia membaca seluruh buku itu. Setiap musim panas, seseorang menggambar seekor rubah kecil, selalu di sudut yang sama. Tidak pernah ada namanya.

"Who draws these?" she asked the woman at the hut.

"Siapa yang menggambar ini?" tanyanya kepada wanita penjaga pondok.

The woman smiled. "I do not know," she said. "The fox comes every summer. We never see who draws it."

Wanita itu tersenyum. "Saya tidak tahu," katanya. "Rubah itu datang setiap musim panas. Kami tidak pernah melihat siapa yang menggambarnya."

Bianka took a photo of the page. Then she said goodbye and started down the trail.

Bianka memotret halaman itu. Lalu ia berpamitan dan mulai menuruni jalur.

Halfway down, she met an old man. He sat on a rock and looked at the valley. A pencil stayed behind his ear. A small notebook lay on his knee.

Di tengah jalan turun, ia bertemu seorang lelaki tua. Ia duduk di atas batu dan memandangi lembah. Sebatang pensil terselip di belakang telinganya. Sebuah buku catatan kecil tergeletak di lututnya.

Bianka stopped. "Hello," she said. "This is a strange question. Do you draw foxes?"

Bianka berhenti. "Halo," katanya. "Ini pertanyaan yang aneh. Apakah Bapak menggambar rubah?"

The old man looked at her and laughed. "Yes," he said. "How do you know?"

Lelaki tua itu memandangnya dan tertawa. "Ya," katanya. "Bagaimana kamu tahu?"

"I read your guestbook. I saw ten of them."

"Saya membaca buku tamu Bapak. Saya melihat sepuluh gambarnya."

"I come here every year on my birthday," he said. "I walk up, I draw one fox, and I walk down. Nobody asks me anything."

"Saya datang ke sini setiap tahun pada hari ulang tahun saya," katanya. "Saya mendaki, saya menggambar seekor rubah, dan saya turun. Tidak ada yang menanyai saya apa-apa."

"Then happy birthday," Bianka said.

"Kalau begitu selamat ulang tahun," kata Bianka.

He smiled and opened his notebook. He drew a tiny fox on a clean page. He tore it out and gave it to her.

Ia tersenyum dan membuka buku catatannya. Ia menggambar seekor rubah mungil di halaman yang bersih. Ia merobeknya dan memberikannya kepada Bianka.