Banchō Sarayashiki, Okiku and the
Plates
There once was a
beautiful girl by the name of Okiku. Okiku worked as a servant girl, either in
Himeji Castle or in the household of a samurai. Her lord was a rather hotheaded
man, prone to violent tendencies.
He was also deeply in
love with her. Often, he would make lewd advances on Okiku, but she did not
return his feelings at all. Time after time, she would brush aside his
propositions, and refused to marry him, let alone sleep with him. It was
then that he came up with a plan to force Okiku to be with him.
One day, Okiku was left
in charge of the residence's ten precious plates. Each one was a priceless
treasure, and treated with the utmost care. It was Okiku's job to carefully
count and wrap each plate, placing them one by one in a lacquered box, and to
carefully transport the set back for safekeeping. After Okiku finished this,
she went back into the main house to continue her work.
It was then that the
lord stole into the room, and opened up one of the boxes containing the ten
treasured plates. He slipped one out from the center, closed and tied the
box back carefully, and took the plate back into his bedchamber, where he hid
it there. Several days later, when the plates were to be brought back out, it
was discovered that one was missing. Okiku, as the last serving girl to
have handled them, was called forth. A serving maid told her the situation,
one of the plates was gone.
To break or lose one of
these plates was no trivial matter. If held responsible, Okiku's punishment
would be death. Hysterical, Okiku ran into the storage room and opened the
boxes wide, running her hands over each plate.
"One... two...
three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... Nine! One,
two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, nine... it can't be!" Okiku
cried, counting them over and over again. Just nine plates were found. Okiku
had no choice but to go to her lord. Still crying, and almost unable to
hold herself upright, she told him that one of the plates was missing, and she
was to blame as the last girl to put them away.
The lord explained the
grave situation to her. The punishment was death. Okiku faltered,
nodding in terrified silence. It was then that the lord spoke to her
reassuringly. He would make the entire nasty situation go away, without
another word. She only had to become his lover.
While Okiku was shocked, she remained as calm as she could. Once more, she refused. The lord flew into a rage. He killed Okiku himself with his sword, and had her body thrown down a well.
Now it was that something strange happened at the bottom of that well. As he wiped the blood off of his sword, he heard a very odd thing. Water dripping, gently moving far away, and an echoing voice that rose from the depths, at once beautifully soft yet also full of malice.
While Okiku was shocked, she remained as calm as she could. Once more, she refused. The lord flew into a rage. He killed Okiku himself with his sword, and had her body thrown down a well.
Now it was that something strange happened at the bottom of that well. As he wiped the blood off of his sword, he heard a very odd thing. Water dripping, gently moving far away, and an echoing voice that rose from the depths, at once beautifully soft yet also full of malice.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three..."
"Four..."
"Five..."
"Six..."
"Seven..."
"Eight..."
"Nine..."
There was a
pause. Silence. Suddenly! Was it from the bottom of the
well? It pierced through his ribcage, it bounced around his head, and it
resonated throughout his entire being. A terrifying shriek sounded out in place
of "Ten." There was no ten, just the screaming.
He turned. Rising from the well, a wraith, an onryō. Yes, the vengeful spirit of a woman, passive and helpless in life, violent in death, turning herself into a ghost seeking revenge. Okiku rose from the darkness, and she looked into his eyes, which were full of fear.
He turned. Rising from the well, a wraith, an onryō. Yes, the vengeful spirit of a woman, passive and helpless in life, violent in death, turning herself into a ghost seeking revenge. Okiku rose from the darkness, and she looked into his eyes, which were full of fear.
"One... two...
three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine..." The End.
Indonesia
Bancho Sarayashiki, Okiku dan Piring Berharga
Dulu ada seorang gadis
cantik bernama Okiku. Okiku bekerja sebagai seorang pelayan di Kastil Himeji dan di rumah seorang samurai. Majikannya seorang yang agak pemarah, dan cenderung bertindak
dengan kekerasan.
Majikannya juga sangat mencintai Okiku. Seringkali, ia mendekati Okiku, tapi Okiku tidak membalas perasaannya sama sekali. Berulang kali, Okiku mengabaikkan
kehadirannya, serta menolak untuk menikahinya, apalagi tidur bersamanya. Demikianlah majikannya merancang sebuah
rencana agar Okiku mau
mengawininya.
Suatu hari, Okiku ditugasi untuk menjaga sepuluh piring berharga milik warga. Piring-piring itu tak ternilai harganya, dan harus dirawat dengan hati-hati. Merupakan pekerjaan Okiku untuk menghitung dengan
hati-hati dan membungkus setiap piring, menempatkannya satu per satu di dalam kotak pernis, dan dengan hati-hati mengangkut tumpukan itu untuk diamankan. Setelah Okiku selesai, ia kembali ke rumah utama untuk melanjutkan
pekerjaannya.
Saat itulah majikkannya diam-diam masuk ke dalam ruangan penyimpanan piring, dan membuka salah satu kotak yang berisi sepuluh piring
berharga. Dia mengambil satu piring dari dalam kotak, lalu menutup dan
mengikat kembali kotak itu dengan perlahan, lalu piring itu dibawa ke dalam
kamar tidurnya untuk disembunyikan.
Beberapa hari kemudian, ketika piring-piring itu hendak dikeluarkan kembali, disadarilah bahwa ada satu yang hilang. Okiku, sebagai pelayan yang mengurusi piring-piring tersebut lalu
dipanggil. Salah
seorang pelayan menceritakan Okiku tentang situasi tersebut bahwa salah satu piring sudah hilang.
Memecahkan
atau mehilangkan salah satu piring bukanlah masalah sepele. Jika harus bertanggung jawab, hukuman bagi Okiku adalah kematian. Karena ketakutan, Okiku berlari ke ruang penyimpanan dan membuka kotak piring dengan lebar, lalu memeriksa jumlah piring.
"Satu ... dua ...
tiga ... empat ... lima ... enam ... tujuh ... delapan ... sembilan ...
Sembilan Satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima, enam!, tujuh, delapan, sembilan ...
tidak mungkin!" Okiku menangis, menghitung piring-piring itu berulang-ulang. Hanya sembilan piring yang ditemukan.
Okiku tidak punya pilihan selain meminta bantuan pada
majikannya. Dengan tangisan, dan tak sanggup menegakkan tubuhnya, ia menceritakan majikannya bahwa salah satu piring hilang, dan dia disalahkan karena dia pelayan terakhir yang mengurus piring-piring
tersebut.
Majikannya menjelaskan situasi yang gawat kepadanya. Hukumannya adalah kematian. Okiku tersendat, mengangguk dalam diam
ketakutannya. Saat itulah sang majikkan mencoba meyakinkannya. Dia akan membalikkan situasi tersebut, tanpa berbasa-basi. Okiku hanya harus menjadi kekasihnya. Sementara Okiku terkejut, dia masih
diam seperti tadi. Namun
sekali lagi, dia menolak. Sang
majikan menjadi murka. Dia
membunuh Okiku dengan pedangnya sendiri, lalu melemparkan tubuhnya ke dalam sumur. Demikianlah sesuatu yang aneh terjadi di dasar sumur itu. Saat sang
majikan menyeka darah dari
pedangnya, dia mendengar hal yang sangat aneh. Air menetes, lembut mengalir jauh, dan suara bergema terdengar dari kedalaman sumur, suara yang merdu namun penuh kedengkian.
"Satu..."
"Dua..."
"Tiga..."
"Empat..."
"Lima..."
"Enam..."
"Tujuh..."
"Delapan..."
"Sembilan..."
Ada jeda. Keheningan. Tiba-tiba! Apakah itu dari dasar sumur? Suara
itu menembus tulang rusuk, terpental
sekitar kepala, dan bergaung sepanjang seluruh tubuh sang majikan. Sebuah jeritan mengerikan terdengar di tempat itu "Sepuluh." Tak ada sepuluh, hanya teriakan. Sang majikan menengok
kebelakang. Muncullah dari dalam sumur, sesosok hantu, hantu onryō. Ya, arwah pendendam seorang wanita, pasif dan tak berdaya dalam hidupnya, mati dengan kekerasan, Okiku berubah menjadi hantu penuh dendam. Okiku bangkit dari kegelapan, dan dia menatap
mata
majikannya, yang penuh dengan
ketakutan.
"Satu ... dua ...
tiga ... empat ... lima ... enam ... tujuh ... delapan ... sembilan ..." Tamat.
No comments:
Post a Comment