The Hum Before Dinner

Frida was fifteen, and she hated waiting.

Frida berusia lima belas tahun, dan ia benci menunggu.

She hated slow phones. She hated slow friends. Most of all, she hated the lift at Hillside Zoo.

Ia benci ponsel yang lambat. Ia benci teman yang lambat. Yang paling ia benci adalah lift di Kebun Binatang Hillside.

The zoo was small. It sat on a hill, and it had three levels. The kitchen was at the bottom. The lemur garden was at the top. Between them was one old lift for food carts.

Kebun binatang itu kecil. Letaknya di atas bukit, dan punya tiga tingkat. Dapurnya ada di bawah. Taman lemur ada di atas. Di antara keduanya ada satu lift tua untuk kereta makanan.

The lift took four whole minutes to go up. It made a low, sleepy hum all the way. Nothing else in the zoo moved so slowly.

Lift itu butuh empat menit penuh untuk naik. Sepanjang jalan ia mengeluarkan dengung rendah yang mengantuk. Tidak ada hal lain di kebun binatang itu yang bergerak selambat itu.

Frida came every Saturday to help. Her job was to wash buckets. She washed forty buckets each week. Then she stood by the lift and watched the numbers crawl.

Frida datang setiap hari Sabtu untuk membantu. Tugasnya mencuci ember. Ia mencuci empat puluh ember setiap minggu. Lalu ia berdiri di dekat lift dan memperhatikan angka-angkanya merayap.

Dina, the head keeper, wore big boots and a green cap. She had a calm voice. She never ran, and she never shouted.

Dina, kepala penjaga, memakai sepatu bot besar dan topi hijau. Suaranya tenang. Ia tidak pernah berlari, dan tidak pernah berteriak.

One Saturday, Frida could not wait any more.

Pada suatu hari Sabtu, Frida tidak tahan menunggu lagi.

"Dina, please fix this lift," she said. "It is so slow. My wish is a fast lift."

"Bu Dina, tolong perbaiki lift ini," katanya. "Lambat sekali. Permintaanku, lift yang cepat."

Dina laughed. "You wish for a lot of things."

Dina tertawa. "Kamu meminta banyak hal."

"My second wish is to feed the animals," said Frida. "I am tired of buckets."

"Permintaan keduaku, memberi makan hewan-hewan," kata Frida. "Aku sudah bosan dengan ember."

"One wish at a time," Dina said. "I will call the repair man. We will talk about the feeding later."

"Satu permintaan sekali," kata Dina. "Aku akan memanggil tukang reparasi. Soal memberi makan, kita bicarakan nanti."

On Monday, the repair man came with a heavy bag. He worked all day. He changed a part and oiled a wheel. By evening, the old lift was ready.

Pada hari Senin, tukang reparasi datang dengan tas berat. Ia bekerja sepanjang hari. Ia mengganti satu suku cadang dan melumasi sebuah roda. Menjelang malam, lift tua itu siap.

The next Saturday, Frida ran into the kitchen. The lift stood open and shiny. She pushed the food cart inside and pressed the button.

Pada hari Sabtu berikutnya, Frida berlari ke dapur. Lift itu terbuka dan mengilap. Ia mendorong kereta makanan ke dalam dan menekan tombolnya.

Whoosh! The lift flew up. It took only forty seconds.

Wuss! Lift itu melesat naik. Hanya butuh empat puluh detik.

"Yes!" Frida shouted. "At last!"

"Yes!" teriak Frida. "Akhirnya!"

The doors opened at the top. Dina stood there with a smile. Frida pushed the cart into the lemur garden and looked around.

Pintunya terbuka di atas. Dina berdiri di sana sambil tersenyum. Frida mendorong kereta ke taman lemur dan melihat sekeliling.

The garden was empty.

Taman itu kosong.

There were no lemurs at the fence. There were no black and white tails on the rocks. The grapes sat in the bowls, and nobody came.

Tidak ada lemur di pagar. Tidak ada ekor hitam putih di atas batu-batu. Anggur-anggur tergeletak di mangkuk, dan tidak ada yang datang.

"Where are they?" Frida asked.

"Di mana mereka?" tanya Frida.

"Let us wait," said Dina.

"Kita tunggu saja," kata Dina.

They waited five minutes. Nothing moved. Then Frida saw them. The lemurs sat high in the big tree. They stayed far from the food.

Mereka menunggu lima menit. Tidak ada yang bergerak. Lalu Frida melihat mereka. Para lemur duduk tinggi di pohon besar. Mereka menjauh dari makanan.

The youngest one was Biscuit. He looked down at the cart and made a small, worried noise. Then he looked at the lift.

Yang paling muda bernama Biscuit. Ia memandang ke bawah ke arah kereta dan mengeluarkan bunyi kecil yang cemas. Lalu ia memandang lift itu.

"Are they sick?" Frida asked.

"Mereka sakit?" tanya Frida.

"No," said Dina. "They are confused."

"Tidak," kata Dina. "Mereka bingung."

"Why?"

"Kenapa?"

Dina sat on a box by the gate. "Tell me about the old lift," she said. "What did it do?"

Dina duduk di atas sebuah kotak dekat gerbang. "Ceritakan padaku tentang lift yang lama," katanya. "Apa yang dilakukannya?"

"It was slow," Frida said. "It hummed."

"Lambat," kata Frida. "Dan berdengung."

"And what did the lemurs do when it hummed?"

"Dan apa yang dilakukan para lemur ketika lift itu berdengung?"

Frida opened her mouth. Then she closed it again. She remembered the old Saturdays. First the hum began. Then, one by one, the lemurs came down from the trees. By the time the lift arrived, they all sat at the fence. They waited like a small, hungry crowd.

Frida membuka mulutnya. Lalu ia menutupnya lagi. Ia teringat hari-hari Sabtu yang lalu. Pertama dengung itu dimulai. Lalu, satu per satu, para lemur turun dari pohon. Pada saat lift tiba, mereka semua sudah duduk di pagar. Mereka menunggu seperti kerumunan kecil yang lapar.

"The hum was a bell," Frida said slowly. "The hum told them: dinner is coming."

"Dengung itu seperti bel," kata Frida pelan. "Dengung itu memberi tahu mereka: makan malam akan datang."

"And the four minutes gave them time to come," Dina said.

"Dan empat menit itu memberi mereka waktu untuk datang," kata Dina.

Frida looked at the shiny lift. It was quiet now. It had no hum and no warning. Food just appeared, and the lemurs did not trust it.

Frida memandang lift yang mengilap itu. Sekarang ia senyap. Tidak ada dengung dan tidak ada peringatan. Makanan muncul begitu saja, dan para lemur tidak memercayainya.

"I made it worse," she said.

"Aku membuatnya lebih buruk," katanya.

"You made it faster," Dina said. "That is not the same."

"Kamu membuatnya lebih cepat," kata Dina. "Itu tidak sama."

Frida felt her stomach go cold. "Can the repair man put the old part back?"

Frida merasakan perutnya menjadi dingin. "Bisakah tukang reparasi memasang kembali suku cadang yang lama?"

"He kept it in his van. But he cannot come until Monday."

"Dia menyimpannya di vannya. Tapi dia baru bisa datang hari Senin."

"Then what do we do today?"

"Lalu apa yang kita lakukan hari ini?"

Dina shrugged. "You tell me. You wanted to feed the animals."

Dina mengangkat bahu. "Kamu yang bilang. Kamu ingin memberi makan hewan-hewan."

Frida looked at the tree. Biscuit looked back at her. His hungry eyes went from the grapes to the lift.

Frida memandang pohon itu. Biscuit memandang balik padanya. Mata laparnya bergerak dari anggur ke lift.

She thought for a long time. Then she walked to the gate and stood very still. She took a slow breath.

Ia berpikir lama. Lalu ia berjalan ke gerbang dan berdiri sangat diam. Ia menarik napas pelan.

Then she began to hum.

Lalu ia mulai berdengung.

It was a low note, deep in her chest. It was not pretty. It was not a song. It was only a long, sleepy sound, just like the old lift.

Itu nada rendah, dalam di dadanya. Tidak merdu. Itu bukan lagu. Itu hanya bunyi panjang yang mengantuk, persis seperti lift tua itu.

Nothing happened for one minute. Her face felt silly. She kept humming.

Tidak ada yang terjadi selama satu menit. Wajahnya terasa konyol. Ia terus berdengung.

After two minutes, a branch moved. A lemur climbed down and sat on a rock.

Setelah dua menit, sebuah dahan bergerak. Seekor lemur turun dan duduk di atas batu.

After three minutes, there were four of them. They watched her with their orange eyes. Their tails curled over their backs like question marks.

Setelah tiga menit, ada empat ekor. Mereka mengamatinya dengan mata oranye mereka. Ekor mereka melengkung di atas punggung seperti tanda tanya.

Frida wanted to stop. Her throat was dry. She wanted to run and put the grapes down. But she remembered Dina's calm voice. So she took another breath and hummed on.

Frida ingin berhenti. Tenggorokannya kering. Ia ingin berlari dan meletakkan anggur-anggur itu. Tetapi ia teringat suara tenang Dina. Maka ia menarik napas lagi dan terus berdengung.

After four minutes, the whole group sat at the fence. Biscuit came last. He walked along the wall, and he stopped at her feet.

Setelah empat menit, seluruh kelompok duduk di pagar. Biscuit datang terakhir. Ia berjalan menyusuri tembok, dan berhenti di kaki Frida.

Frida stopped humming. Her heart beat fast. Slowly, she put a grape in the little hand.

Frida berhenti berdengung. Jantungnya berdetak cepat. Perlahan, ia meletakkan sebutir anggur di tangan kecil itu.

Dina stood up and put a bucket in Frida's arms. "That is your wish, then," she said. "Every Saturday at four o'clock. Do not be late."

Dina berdiri dan menaruh seember penuh di lengan Frida. "Kalau begitu, itu permintaanmu," katanya. "Setiap Sabtu pukul empat. Jangan terlambat."

"But on Monday the old lift will come back," Frida said.

"Tapi hari Senin lift yang lama akan kembali," kata Frida.

"Yes. And on Monday, you can ride it with me." Dina smiled. "But today, somebody had to be the lift."

"Ya. Dan pada hari Senin, kamu boleh naik bersamaku." Dina tersenyum. "Tapi hari ini, seseorang harus jadi lift."

Frida laughed. She turned back to the fence, where forty bright eyes watched her. She gave out the grapes one at a time.

Frida tertawa. Ia berbalik ke pagar, tempat empat puluh mata cerah memperhatikannya. Ia membagikan anggur-anggur itu satu per satu.

"Mmm," she hummed, and waited for the next one.

"Mmm," dengungnya, dan menunggu yang berikutnya.