A poor farmer had a small plot of land where he grew turnips. The farmer was diligent and never grew tired of working to serve his land, until his crop yielded a good harvest that matched his hard work. Among the crops, he found a giant turnip, the likes of which he had never seen before. He thought of gifting it to the village governor. When he presented it to him, the governor accepted it, pleased with the farmer's diligence, and rewarded him with two pounds as encouragement for his work.
A greedy, wealthy farmer in the same village heard about this. He envied the poor man for what he had received and said to himself, "If I present my best ewe to the governor, he will surely give me a generous reward for it, and I will profit many times more than its value."
He brought the ewe to the governor and begged him to accept the gift, but the governor refused, knowing the man’s selfishness and greed. However, the man insisted and pleaded with him to accept it. The governor said, "Since you insist that I accept your gift, I will accept it, provided that I give you something I spent twice the value of your ewe on." The man’s eyes sparkled with joy at these kind words, and he thought that the gift would compensate him with much more than what he had spent.
Then, the governor gifted him the turnip. The man’s joy turned into sorrow; he took it and left, regretting the loss of his ewe.
***
Sang Petani dan Lobak
Seorang petani miskin memiliki sebidang tanah kecil tempat ia menanam lobak. Petani itu sangat rajin dan tidak pernah bosan bekerja mengurus tanahnya, hingga tanamannya membuahkan hasil yang bagus sesuai dengan kerja kerasnya. Ia menemukan sebutir lobak raksasa di antaranya yang belum pernah ia lihat sebelumnya, lalu ia berpikir untuk menghadiahkannya kepada gubernur desa. Ketika ia mempersembahkannya, gubernur menerimanya dengan senang hati atas ketekunannya, dan memberinya imbalan dua pound sebagai dorongan semangat untuk bekerja.
Seorang petani kaya yang tamak di desa yang sama mendengar hal itu. Ia iri kepada si miskin atas pemberian yang didapatnya, lalu ia berkata dalam hatinya: "Jika aku memberikan domba betinaku yang terbaik kepada gubernur, niscaya ia akan memberiku imbalan yang berlimpah, sehingga aku akan untung berkali-kali lipat dari harganya."
Ia pun membawanya kepada gubernur dan memohon agar gubernur menerima hadiah itu, tetapi gubernur menolak karena mengetahui sifat egois dan tamak pria itu. Namun, pria itu terus memaksa dan memohon agar gubernur menerimanya. Gubernur berkata: "Karena kamu terus memaksaku menerima hadiahmu, aku akan menerimanya, dengan syarat aku akan memberimu sesuatu yang harganya dua kali lipat dari harga dombamu." Mata pria itu bersinar karena gembira mendengar kata-kata manis tersebut, dan ia mengira hadiah itu akan menggantinya lebih dari apa yang telah ia korbankan.
Kemudian, gubernur memberinya lobak tadi sebagai hadiah. Seketika itu pula kegembiraannya berubah menjadi kesedihan; ia mengambilnya dan pergi dengan menyesali hilangnya domba miliknya.
Vocabulary / Kosakata
English | Indonesian |
Turnip | Lobak |
Service / Cultivation | Perbaikan tanah / Mengurus |
To offer / To present | Memberikan / Mempersembahkan |
To get bored / To tire | Jemu / Bosan |
To reward | Membalas (jasa/pemberian) |
To compensate | Mengganti |
Greedy | Tamak |
Generous / Abundant | Melimpah / Memberi banyak |
Sorrow / Sadness | Kesedihan |
To refuse / To decline | Menolak / Enggan |
Selfishness | Egois |
To insist / To press | Memaksa / Menekan |
Sparkled / Shone | Bersinar |
Pound (Currency) | Pound (Mata uang) |
Gift / Offering | Pemberian |
