English Version
He
went through a hedge that separated the Westerhazys’ land from the Grahams’,
walked under some flowering apple trees, passed the shed that housed their pump
and filter, and came out at the Grahams’ pool. “Why, Neddy,” Mrs. Graham said,
“what a marvelous surprise. I’ve been trying to get you on the phone all
morning. Here, let me get you a drink.” He saw then, like any explorer, that
the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled
with diplomacy if he was ever going to reach his destination. He did not want
to mystify or seem rude to the Grahams nor did he have the time to linger
there. He swam the length of their pool and joined them in the sun and was
rescued, a few minutes later, by the arrival of two carloads of friends from Connecticut.
During the uproarious reunions he was able to slip away. He went down by the
front of the Grahams’ house, stepped over a thorny hedge, and crossed a vacant
lot to the Hammers’. Mrs. Hammer, looking up from her roses, saw him swim by
although she wasn’t quite sure who it was. The Lears heard him splashing past
the open windows of their living room. The Howlands and the Crosscups were
away. After leaving the Howlands’ he crossed Ditmar Street and started for the
Bunkers’, where he could hear, even at that distance, the noise of a party.
The water refracted the sounds of voices and
laughter and seemed to suspend it in midair. The Bunkers’ pool was on a rise
and he climbed some stairs to a terrace where twenty-five or thirty men and
women were drinking. The only person in the water was Rusty Towers, who floated
there on a rubber raft. Oh, how bonny and lush were the banks of the Lucinda
River. Prosperous men and women gathered by the sapphire-colored waters while
caterer’s men in white coats passed them cold gin. Overhead a red de Haviland
trainer was circling around and around and around in the sky with something
like the glee of a child in a swing. Ned felt a passing affection for the
scene, a tenderness for the gathering, as if it was something he might touch.
In the distance he heard thunder. As soon as Enid Bunker saw him she began to
scream: “Oh, look who’s here! What a marvelous surprise! When Lucinda said you
couldn’t come I thought I’d die.” She made her way to him through the crowd,
and then they had finished kissing she led him to the bar, a progress that was
slowed by the fact that he stopped to kiss eight or ten other women and shake
the hands of as many men. A smiling bartender he had seen at a hundred parties
gave him a gin and tonic and he stood by the bar for a moment, anxious not to
get stuck in any conversation that would delay his voyage. When he seemed about
to be surrounded he dove in and swam close to the side to avoid colliding with
Rusty’s raft. At the far end of the pool he bypassed the Tomlinsons with a
broad smile and jogged up the garden path. The gravel cut his feet but this was
the only unpleasantness. The party was confined to the pool, and as he went
toward the house he heard the brilliant, watery sound of voices fade, heard the
noise of a radio from the Bunkers’ kitchen, where someone was listening to a
ball game Sunday afternoon. He made his way through the parked cars and down
the grassy border of their driveway to Alewives Lane. He did not want to be
seen on the road in his bathing trunks but there was no traffic and he made the
short distance to the Levys’ driveway, marked with a PRIVATE PROPERTY sign and
a green tube for The New York Times.
All the doors and windows of the big house were open but there were no signs of
life; not even a dog barked. He went around the side of the house to the pool
and saw that the Levys had only recently left. Glasses and bottles and dishes
of nuts were on a table at the deep end, where there was a bathhouse or gazebo,
hung with Japanese lanterns. After swimming the pool he got himself a glass and
poured a drink. It was his fourth or fifth drink and he had swum nearly half
the length of the Lucinda River. He felt tired, clean, and pleased at that
moment to be alone; pleased with everything.
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Bahasa Indonesia
Dia
pergi melewati pagar tanaman yang
membatasi tanah keluarga Westerhazy dengan keluarga Graham. Neddy berjalan di
bawah pohon apel yang sedang berbunga, melewati lumbung yang menyimpan pompa
dan alat penyaring, dan tiba di kolam milik keluarga Graham. “Wow, Neddy,”
Nyonya Graham berkata, “kebetulan sekali. Aku tadi sudah berusaha menelponmu
sepanjang pagi ini. Sini, kusiapkan minuman ya.” Neddy lalu melihat seperti
petualang lainnya, bahwa tradisi dan kebiasaan keramahtamahan penduduk lokal
harus ditangani dengan diplomasi jika dia belum tiba di tempat tujuan. Dia
tidak ingin membuat Ny. Graham salah paham dan berlaku kasar padanya walaupun dia
tidak punya waktu yang banyak untuk singgah di tempat ini. Neddy berenang di
dalam kolam sebentar dan kemudian dia terselamatkan, ketika beberapa menit
kemudian ada dua mobil yang berisi banyak teman keluarga Graham dari
Connecticut. Ketika reuni yang meriah berlangsung, dia bisa meninggalkan rumah
keluarga Graham. Dia keluar rumah dan melewati pagar tanaman yang berduri, lalu
melintasi tanah lapang menuju ke rumah keluarga Hammer. Ny. Hammer, melihat
Neddy berenang di kolam renang dibalik rimbunnya bunga mawar miliknya. Tapi Ny.
Hammer tidak begitu yakin bahwa itu Neddy. Keluarga Lear mendengar suara
percikan air di kolam renang melalui jendela yang terbuka dekat ruang tengah.
Keluarga Howland dan Crosscup sedang bepergian. Ketika dia meninggalkan rumah keluarga
Howland, Neddy melintasi Jalan Ditmar dan mulai menuju rumah keluarga Bunker,
dimana dia bisa mendengar suara meriahnya pesta dari kejauhan.
Air membiaskan suara tawa dan seolah menghilang
di udara. Kolam renang keluarga Bunker sudah terlihat dan Neddy pun menaiki
anak tangga menuju teras dimana ada sekitar 30-35 pria dan wanita sedang
minum-minum. Satu-satunya orang yang ada di kolam adalah Rusty Towers, yang
sedang mengapung di atas rakit karet. Oh, betapa subur dan cantiknya tepi
sungai Lucinda ini. Para lelaki dan wanita kaya berpesta di pinggir sungai yang
airnya berwarna seperti batu safir sementara beberapa pelayan berpakaian jas
putih menghidangkan gin dingin kepada mereka. Diatas kepala terlihat pesawat
latihan de Haviland merah berputar-putar di udara seperti keriangan anak kecil
di atas ayunan. Ned merasakan cinta kasih yang terlihat dihadapannya,
kelembutan pesta, seolah-olah hal tersebut adalah sesuatu yang bisa ia sentuh.
Dari kejauhan ia mendengar suara gemuruh guntur. Begitu Enid Bunker melihat
Neddy, spontan ia langsung menjerit: “Wow, siapa tuh disitu! Benar-benar
kejutan yang luar biasa. Ketika Lucinda bilang kamu tidak bisa datang kupikir
aku akan mati.” Dia langsung mendekati Neddy melewati kerumunan, dan begitu
mereka selesai saling cium pipi ia lalu mengarahkan Neddy ke bar, dimana Neddy
harus terhenti sebentar untuk mencium pipi beberapa wanita dan bersalaman
dengan beberapa pria dalam pesta. Seorang bartender yang selalu tersenyum yang
sering ia lihat dalam beberapa ratusan pesta menawarinya gin dan tonik dan ia
pun berdiri di dekat bar untuk sementara waktu, dan berpendirian teguh untuk
tidak terlibat dalam percakapan yang akan menunda waktu petualangannya. Ketika
dia merasa akan dikepung oleh beberapa orang dalam pesta, Neddy pun lalu
menceburkan diri ke dalam kolam dan berenang menuju pinggir kolam untuk
menghindari tabrakan dengan rakit karet Rusty. Ketika sampai di ujung kolam,
Neddy pun melewati keluarga Tomlinson dengan senyum lebar dan bergerak menuju
jalan setapak di kebun. Kerikil kecil sedikit melukainya tapi hanya itulah
kemalangannya. Pestanya hanya ada di kolam renang, begitu ia menuju rumah
sebelah ia mendengar suara berisiknya radio di dapur keluarga Bunker, dan suara
gemericik air perlahan lenyap, dimana seseorang sedang mendengarkan siaran
langsung pertandingan bola Minggu siang. Neddy lanjut melewati mobil yang
terparkir dan melintasi Jalan Alewives. Dia tidak ingin terlihat di jalanan
hanya mengenakan celana kolor tapi hari itu jalanan sepi dan dia langsung ambil
jalan pintas menuju rumah keluarga Levy, dimana di depan rumahnya terpampang
tulisan DILARANG MASUK SEMBARANGAN dan satu kotak khusus untuk menampung koran
The New York Times. Semua pintu dan jendela di rumah itu terbuka tetapi tidak
ada tanda-tanda kehidupan, bahkan tidak ada anjing yang menggonggong. Neddy
mengitari rumah tersebut menuju kolam renang dan melihat keluarga Levy baru
saja pergi. Gelas dan botol, dan piring berisi kacang tergeletak di meja di
ujung kolam, dimana ada gazebo dihiasi lentera Jepang. Setelah berenang, Neddy
pun menuangkan air ke dalam gelas. Ini adalah gelas keempat atau kelimanya di
siang ini dan ia telah berenang hampir separuh Sungai Lucinda. Neddy merasa
kelelahan tapi ia puas akan momen kesendiriannya ini, puas dengan segalanya.
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