The Husband Who Was to Mind the House

Once on a time there was a man, so surly and cross, he never thought his wife did anything right in the house. So, one evening, in hay-making time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and showing his teeth and making a dust.

Pada suatu masa hiduplah seorang laki-laki yang begitu cemberut dan pemarah, ia tidak pernah merasa istrinya melakukan apa pun dengan benar di rumah. Maka, pada suatu petang, saat musim menyabit rumput, ia pulang sambil memarahi dan mengumpat, memperlihatkan giginya dan membuat kehebohan.

“Dear love, don’t be so angry; there’s a good man”, said his goody; “to-morrow let’s change our work. I’ll go out with the mowers and mow, and you shall mind the house at home.”

"Sayangku, jangan marah begitu; kau kan orang baik," kata istrinya; "besok mari kita tukar pekerjaan. Aku akan pergi keluar bersama para penyabit dan menyabit rumput, dan kau yang menjaga rumah di rumah."

Yes! the husband thought that would do very well. He was quite willing, he said.

Baiklah! Sang suami merasa itu ide yang bagus. Ia sangat setuju, katanya.

So, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over her neck, and went out into the hay-field with the mowers, and began to mow; but the man was to mind the house, and do the work at home.

Maka, keesokan paginya, istrinya membawa sabit di lehernya, dan pergi ke ladang jerami bersama para penyabit, lalu mulai menyabit; sementara sang suami tinggal menjaga rumah dan mengerjakan pekerjaan di dalam.

First of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when he had churned a while, he got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to tap a barrel of ale. So, just when he had knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap into the cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen.

Pertama-tama, ia hendak mengaduk mentega; tetapi setelah mengaduk sebentar, ia merasa haus, dan turun ke ruang bawah tanah untuk membuka keran tong bir. Maka, tepat ketika ia baru saja memukul sumbat tong dan sedang memasang keran ke dalam tong itu, ia mendengar dari atas babi masuk ke dapur.

Then off he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his hand, as fast as he could, to look after the pig, lest it should upset the churn; but when he got up, and saw the pig had already knocked the churn over, and stood there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was running all over the floor, he got so wild with rage that he quite forgot the ale-barrel, and ran at the pig as hard as he could. He caught it, too, just as it ran out of doors, and gave it such a kick, that piggy lay for dead on the spot.

Maka ia pun berlari naik menaiki tangga ruang bawah tanah, dengan keran masih di tangannya, secepat mungkin, untuk mengurus babi itu, khawatir kalau-kalau babi itu menjatuhkan alat pengaduk mentega; tetapi ketika ia sampai di atas, dan melihat babi itu sudah menjatuhkan alat pengaduk itu, dan berdiri di sana, menggerogoti dan mendengus di antara krim yang mengalir ke seluruh lantai, ia menjadi begitu murka sehingga sama sekali melupakan tong bir itu, dan berlari mengejar babi itu sekuat tenaga. Ia berhasil menangkapnya juga, tepat ketika babi itu berlari keluar pintu, dan menendangnya begitu keras, hingga babi itu terkapar seolah mati di tempat.

Then all at once he remembered he had the tap in his hand; but when he got down to the cellar, every drop of ale had run out of the cask.

Kemudian tiba-tiba ia teringat bahwa keran masih ada di tangannya; tetapi ketika ia turun ke ruang bawah tanah, setiap tetes bir telah habis mengalir keluar dari tong.

Then he went into the dairy and found enough cream left to fill the churn again, and so he began to churn, for butter they must have at dinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their milking cow was still shut up in the byre, and hadn’t had a bit to eat or a drop to drink all the morning, though the sun was high.

Lalu ia pergi ke ruang susu dan menemukan cukup krim tersisa untuk mengisi alat pengaduk lagi, maka ia pun mulai mengaduk, sebab mereka harus punya mentega untuk makan siang. Setelah mengaduk sebentar, ia teringat bahwa sapi perah mereka masih terkurung di kandang, dan belum diberi makan atau minum sedikit pun sepanjang pagi, padahal matahari sudah tinggi.

Then all at once he thought ’twas too far to take her down to the meadow, so he’d just get her up on the house-top—for the house, you must know, was thatched with sods, and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now their house lay close up against a steep down, and he thought if he laid a plank across to the thatch at the back he’d easily get the cow up.

Maka tiba-tiba ia berpikir bahwa terlalu jauh untuk membawanya turun ke padang rumput, jadi ia akan menaikkannya saja ke atap rumah—sebab rumah itu, perlu diketahui, beratapkan rumput, dan tumbuh rumput yang lebat di sana. Kebetulan rumah mereka terletak persis di samping lereng curam, dan ia berpikir jika ia memasang papan melintang ke atap bagian belakang, ia bisa dengan mudah menaikkan sapi itu.

But still he couldn’t leave the churn, for there was his little babe crawling about on the floor, and “if I leave it”, he thought, “the child is safe to upset it”. So he took the churn on his back, and went out with it; but then he thought he’d better first water the cow before he turned her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw water out of the well; but, as he stooped down at the well’s brink, all the cream ran out of the churn over his shoulders, and so down into the well.

Tetapi ia tetap tidak bisa meninggalkan alat pengaduk itu, sebab bayi kecil mereka sedang merangkak di lantai, dan "kalau kutinggalkan ini," pikirnya, "anak ini pasti akan menumpahkannya." Maka ia menggendong alat pengaduk itu di punggungnya, dan keluar membawanya; tetapi kemudian ia berpikir sebaiknya ia memberi minum sapi itu dulu sebelum menaikkannya ke atap; jadi ia mengambil ember untuk menimba air dari sumur; tetapi, saat ia membungkuk di tepi sumur, seluruh krim dari alat pengaduk itu tumpah melewati bahunya, dan jatuh ke dalam sumur.

Now it was near dinner-time, and he hadn’t even got the butter yet; so he thought he’d best boil the porridge, and filled the pot with water, and hung it over the fire. When he had done that, he thought the cow might perhaps fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So he got up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope he made fast to the cow’s neck and the other he slipped down the chimney and tied round his own thigh; and he had to make haste, for the water now began to boil in the pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal.

Kini sudah hampir waktu makan siang, dan ia bahkan belum mendapatkan mentega itu; maka ia berpikir sebaiknya ia merebus bubur, dan mengisi panci dengan air, lalu menggantungkannya di atas api. Setelah melakukan itu, ia berpikir sapi itu mungkin bisa jatuh dari atap dan mematahkan kaki atau lehernya. Maka ia naik ke atap untuk mengikatnya. Satu ujung tali ia ikatkan kuat-kuat ke leher sapi itu, dan ujung lainnya ia turunkan lewat cerobong asap dan ikatkan ke paha sendiri; dan ia harus bergegas, sebab air kini mulai mendidih di dalam panci, dan ia masih harus menggiling gandum.

So he began to grind away; but while he was hard at it, down fell the cow off the house-top after all, and as she fell, she dragged the man up the chimney by the rope. There he stuck fast; and as for the cow, she hung half-way down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth, for she could neither get down nor up.

Maka ia mulai menggiling; tetapi ketika ia sedang sibuk mengerjakannya, sapi itu akhirnya jatuh dari atas atap, dan saat jatuh, sapi itu menyeret sang suami naik melalui cerobong asap lewat tali itu. Di sanalah ia tersangkut; sementara sapi itu tergantung setengah jalan di dinding, terayun-ayun antara langit dan bumi, sebab ia tidak bisa turun maupun naik.

And now the goody had waited seven lengths and seven breadths for her husband to come and call them home to dinner; but never a call they had. At last she thought she’d waited long enough, and went home. But when she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly place, she ran up and cut the rope in two with her scythe. But as she did this, down came her husband out of the chimney; and so when his old dame came inside the kitchen, there she found him standing on his head in the porridge pot.

Dan kini sang istri telah menunggu berlama-lama untuk suaminya datang memanggil mereka pulang makan siang; tetapi tidak ada panggilan sama sekali yang datang. Akhirnya ia berpikir sudah cukup lama menunggu, dan pulang ke rumah. Tetapi ketika ia tiba di sana dan melihat sapi itu tergantung di tempat yang begitu mengerikan, ia berlari naik dan memotong tali itu jadi dua dengan sabitnya. Namun begitu ia melakukan itu, suaminya jatuh dari cerobong asap; dan ketika istrinya yang tua itu masuk ke dapur, ia mendapati suaminya berdiri terbalik dengan kepala di dalam panci bubur.