Three Days Without a Sale

Nobody bought anything from Yasmin's stall for three days.

Selama tiga hari tak seorang pun membeli apa pun dari lapak Yasmin.

Yasmin sold scales and weights at the edge of the market. Her stall was small. It had a wooden table and a blue cloth. On the cloth sat a row of shiny brass weights. Behind the table stood a tall iron scale. She used it to test every weight she sold.

Yasmin menjual timbangan dan anak timbangan di tepi pasar. Lapaknya kecil. Isinya sebuah meja kayu dan kain biru. Di atas kain itu berderet anak timbangan kuningan yang mengilap. Di belakang meja berdiri sebuah timbangan besi yang tinggi. Ia memakainya untuk menguji setiap anak timbangan yang ia jual.

On the first day, Yasmin blamed the crowd. On the second day, she blamed the new fruit stall. On the third day, she sat on her stool. She looked up at her price board.

Pada hari pertama, Yasmin menyalahkan keramaian. Pada hari kedua, ia menyalahkan lapak buah yang baru. Pada hari ketiga, ia duduk di bangkunya. Ia menengadah ke papan harganya.

The board was new. Her friend Clara made it on Monday. Clara painted signs for half the market. She wrote the prices in black ink on a long white board. Then she hung it over the table.

Papan itu baru. Temannya, Clara, membuatnya hari Senin. Clara melukis papan nama untuk separuh pasar. Ia menulis harga-harga dengan tinta hitam di papan putih yang panjang. Lalu ia menggantungnya di atas meja.

Yasmin read it slowly. Small brass weight, 11 coins. Big brass weight, 21 coins. Pocket scale, 31 coins. The prices looked fair to her. They were the same as last year.

Yasmin membacanya pelan-pelan. Anak timbangan kuningan kecil, 11 koin. Anak timbangan kuningan besar, 21 koin. Timbangan saku, 31 koin. Harga-harganya tampak wajar baginya. Sama seperti tahun lalu.

"So why does nobody buy?" Yasmin asked the scale.

"Lalu kenapa tak ada yang membeli?" tanya Yasmin kepada timbangan itu.

The scale did not answer. Scales never do. But Yasmin loved a good puzzle. She decided to solve this one before the market closed.

Timbangan itu tidak menjawab. Timbangan memang tidak pernah menjawab. Tetapi Yasmin suka teka-teki yang bagus. Ia memutuskan memecahkan yang satu ini sebelum pasar tutup.

She started with a memory. On Tuesday, a woman stopped at the stall. The woman looked up at the board, and her eyebrows jumped.

Ia mulai dari sebuah ingatan. Pada hari Selasa, seorang perempuan berhenti di lapak itu. Perempuan itu menengadah ke papan, dan alisnya terangkat tinggi.

"Seventy-seven coins for that tiny thing?" the woman said.

"Tujuh puluh tujuh koin untuk benda sekecil itu?" kata perempuan itu.

Then she laughed and walked away. At the time, Yasmin thought it was a joke. Now she was not so sure. Her small weight cost eleven coins. Why did the woman say seventy-seven?

Lalu ia tertawa dan berjalan pergi. Waktu itu, Yasmin mengira itu lelucon. Sekarang ia tidak begitu yakin. Anak timbangan kecilnya harganya sebelas koin. Kenapa perempuan itu bilang tujuh puluh tujuh?

That was the first clue.

Itulah petunjuk pertama.

For the second clue, Yasmin closed the stall early. She crossed the lane to the fish seller. He had a loud voice and very good eyes.

Untuk petunjuk kedua, Yasmin menutup lapaknya lebih awal. Ia menyeberangi gang ke penjual ikan. Penjual ikan itu bersuara keras dan bermata sangat tajam.

"Read my board for me," she said. "Read it from here."

"Bacakan papanku untukku," katanya. "Bacalah dari sini."

The fish seller looked up from his fish. He moved his lips. "Small weight, seventy-seven coins," he said. "Big weight, twenty-seven. Pocket scale, thirty-seven."

Penjual ikan itu mengangkat pandangan dari ikannya. Bibirnya bergerak. "Anak timbangan kecil, tujuh puluh tujuh koin," katanya. "Yang besar, dua puluh tujuh. Timbangan saku, tiga puluh tujuh."

"Now come closer," said Yasmin.

"Sekarang mendekatlah," kata Yasmin.

He walked to her stall and tipped his head back. He looked at the board for a long time.

Penjual ikan itu berjalan ke lapaknya dan mendongakkan kepala. Ia menatap papan itu lama sekali.

"Eleven," he said slowly. "Twenty-one. Thirty-one." He scratched his neck. "Your board tells me two different things. From far away, it says one thing. Close up, it says another."

"Sebelas," katanya pelan. "Dua puluh satu. Tiga puluh satu." Ia menggaruk lehernya. "Papanmu mengatakan dua hal yang berbeda kepadaku. Dari jauh, bunyinya satu hal. Dari dekat, hal lain."

"Thank you," said Yasmin. "That is very useful."

"Terima kasih," kata Yasmin. "Itu sangat berguna."

It was useful, but it was not an answer. She sat on a crate and thought hard. The board was the same board. The ink was the same ink. Only the distance changed what people saw.

Itu berguna, tetapi bukan jawaban. Ia duduk di atas peti dan berpikir keras. Papannya sama. Tintanya sama. Hanya jaraklah yang mengubah apa yang dilihat orang.

Yasmin looked at the lane. People walked past her stall in both directions. Each of them looked up at the board from far away. Each of them saw something silly. Then they walked on, and nobody asked her why.

Yasmin memandang gang itu. Orang-orang berjalan melewati lapaknya dari kedua arah. Masing-masing menengadah ke papan dari kejauhan. Masing-masing melihat sesuatu yang konyol. Lalu mereka berjalan terus, dan tak seorang pun bertanya kepadanya kenapa.

For the third clue, Yasmin walked to Clara's workshop. It was in a narrow street behind the market. The door stood open. Boards and paint pots covered every table.

Untuk petunjuk ketiga, Yasmin berjalan ke bengkel Clara. Letaknya di jalan sempit di belakang pasar. Pintunya terbuka. Papan-papan dan kaleng-kaleng cat memenuhi setiap meja.

Clara looked up from a half-painted sign. "Yasmin! Does the new board bring you many customers?"

Clara mengangkat wajah dari papan nama yang setengah jadi. "Yasmin! Apakah papan baru itu membawa banyak pembeli?"

"No customers at all," Yasmin said. "That is why I am here."

"Tidak ada pembeli sama sekali," kata Yasmin. "Itu sebabnya aku di sini."

"Oh dear," said Clara. "Sit down. I will find some water for you."

"Aduh," kata Clara. "Duduklah. Aku carikan air untukmu."

While Clara looked, Yasmin looked around. On a shelf stood a big glass jar. It was full to the top with nails. A small paper list lay next to it.

Selagi Clara mencari, Yasmin memandang sekeliling. Di sebuah rak berdiri toples kaca besar. Toples itu penuh sampai ke atas dengan paku. Selembar daftar kertas kecil tergeletak di sebelahnya.

"Why do you have so many nails?" she asked.

"Kenapa kamu punya begitu banyak paku?" tanyanya.

Clara sighed. "It is a silly story. Last week, I wrote a list for the hardware shop. I needed eleven nails. The shop man gave me seventy-seven. He showed me my list. He said, 'It says seventy-seven.'" She pointed at the jar. "Now I must use all of them. I put extra nails in every sign I make."

Clara mendesah. "Ceritanya konyol. Minggu lalu, aku menulis daftar untuk toko perkakas. Aku butuh sebelas paku. Penjaga toko memberiku tujuh puluh tujuh. Dia menunjukkan daftarku. Katanya, 'Di sini tertulis tujuh puluh tujuh.'" Ia menunjuk toples itu. "Sekarang aku harus memakai semuanya. Aku memasukkan paku ekstra ke setiap papan yang kubuat."

Yasmin took the list from the shelf. She held it far from her face. Then she held it close to her nose. Then she started to laugh.

Yasmin mengambil daftar itu dari rak. Ia memegangnya jauh dari wajahnya. Lalu ia memegangnya dekat ke hidungnya. Lalu ia mulai tertawa.

"Clara," she said. "How do you write the number one?"

"Clara," katanya. "Bagaimana kamu menulis angka satu?"

"Like this." Clara picked up a pencil and drew on a piece of wood. It was a tall line with a long flag on top.

"Begini." Clara mengambil pensil dan menggambar di sepotong kayu. Sebuah garis tinggi dengan bendera panjang di atasnya.

"That is a seven," said Yasmin.

"Itu angka tujuh," kata Yasmin.

"No, a seven has a little line across the middle," said Clara. "Mine is a one. My teacher showed me."

"Bukan, angka tujuh punya garis kecil melintang di tengah," kata Clara. "Punyaku angka satu. Guruku yang mengajarkan."

"From far away, nobody sees the little line."

"Dari jauh, tak ada yang melihat garis kecil itu."

Clara stared at the wood. She stared at the list. She stared at the jar of nails. Her mouth fell open.

Clara menatap kayu itu. Ia menatap daftar itu. Ia menatap toples paku itu. Mulutnya ternganga.

"Seventy-seven nails," she whispered. "And seventy-seven coins."

"Tujuh puluh tujuh paku," bisiknya. "Dan tujuh puluh tujuh koin."

They laughed until they had to sit on the floor. The whole workshop shook with it. Outside, a man stopped in the street and looked in. Then he walked on, shaking his head.

Mereka tertawa sampai harus duduk di lantai. Seluruh bengkel berguncang karenanya. Di luar, seorang pria berhenti di jalan dan menengok ke dalam. Lalu ia berjalan terus sambil menggeleng.

When they could speak again, Clara found a clean board. "I will write the prices in words," she said. "Eleven coins. Twenty-one coins. And from now on, every number one will be a plain stick. No flag. No hat."

Ketika mereka bisa bicara lagi, Clara mencari papan yang bersih. "Aku akan menulis harga dengan kata-kata," katanya. "Sebelas koin. Dua puluh satu koin. Dan mulai sekarang, setiap angka satu akan berupa tongkat polos. Tanpa bendera. Tanpa topi."

She worked by lamp until midnight. Yasmin held the lamp. She told Clara about the woman with the jumping eyebrows. Clara laughed so hard that she had to stop painting twice.

Ia bekerja dengan lampu sampai tengah malam. Yasmin memegangi lampunya. Ia menceritakan kepada Clara soal perempuan dengan alis melompat itu. Clara tertawa begitu keras sampai dua kali harus berhenti melukis.

Early the next morning, Yasmin hung the new board over her table. The market was still half asleep. A boy stopped to look at it. He read it with his finger, one word at a time.

Pagi-pagi keesokan harinya, Yasmin menggantung papan baru itu di atas mejanya. Pasar masih setengah tidur. Seorang anak laki-laki berhenti untuk melihatnya. Ia membacanya dengan jarinya, satu kata demi satu kata.

"Eleven coins," he said. "That is cheap."

"Sebelas koin," katanya. "Murah."

He put his coins on the table. He chose the smallest brass weight. Yasmin set it on the iron scale. The long arm swung once, then twice. Then it stood perfectly still, level, in the early light.

Ia menaruh koinnya di meja. Ia memilih anak timbangan kuningan yang paling kecil. Yasmin meletakkannya di timbangan besi. Lengan panjangnya berayun sekali, lalu dua kali. Lalu diam sama sekali, rata, dalam cahaya pagi.