Tales of '1001 Nights' enliven Ramadhan nights

Tales of '1001 Nights' enliven Ramadhan nights

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Almost every night during the month of Ramadhan,
The Stage presented storytelling sessions by various artists and
writers of The Tales of 1001 Nights.

The tales are said to have originated during the reign of the
Sasaniah -- a Persian dynasty dating from 226-641 A.D. After
being betrayed by his unfaithful queen, the ruler of the area
King Syahrayar vowed not to be disappointed ever again. In order
to ensure loyalty, he ends every subsequent relationship by
killing his lover after the first night.

This continued until Syahrayar falls in love with Syahrazad,
the daughter of a state official. Knowing of the king's intention
to kill her, Syahrazad offered to tell him a tale. Her
storytelling did not end that night and had to be continued the
next night. King Syahrayar's curiosity, making him want to hear
the end of Syahrazad's never ending tale, ultimately spared her
from the king's selfish plight of revenge.

Most of the tales told were based on an Indonesian version of
the text edited by Muhsin Mahdi published by Penerbit Mizan. The
tale of The Hunchback seems to be the most popular among the
stories told. While The Merchant and The Genie is the first tale
in the text, the storytelling sessions opened with members of the
Didi-Sena mime troupe giving a witty and entertaining
interpretation of The Hunchback, interspersed with a comical
performance of the genies from the first tale by two mimes.

A handful of other performers also recited the story of The
Hunchback, including Ratna Sarumpaet and her Satu Merah Panggung
theater company.

After 25 nights, the storytelling sessions finally ended last
night, with another unique repertoire of The Hunchback (nights
101-105 of the tales) conceived by Henri Chambert-Loir.

Chambert-Loir is a noted scholar of the Malay language. His
interests range from Classical Malay (Melayu Kuno), High Malay
(Melayu Tinggi) that emerged in Indonesia around the turn of the
century, Market Malay (Melayu Pasar), the Betawi dialect of
Jakarta, and even to the Prokem slang of Jakarta. His dictionary
of the Prokem language was published by the 1980s and is perhaps
the most popular of his works.

Chambert-Loir observes that there are many variations in the
Indonesian language used today. "The newspapers even have
different languages. In one paper you can even sense different
voices. The formal language of the writings in page 4 of Kompas
(daily) is quite distinct from the language used in page 1 and
the other pages." he adds.

Fascinated by the many variations of Malay, he devised a
storytelling session including different varieties of the Malay
language to indicate social positions -- in lieu of ethnic
identities -- of the characters presented in the original text.

Last night's performance started with Syahrazad (played by
Baby Jim Aditya of the Satu Merah Panggung teater company)
commencing the narration, in High Malay, of how the tailor
accidentally killed the hunchback.

The story abruptly shifts to the execution site, where an
executioner gets ready to hang the merchant accused of killing
the hunchback. The hangman, in the Prokem slang of Jakarta, tells
the story of how the drunken merchant attacked the corpse of the
hunchback thinking that it was a thief, got caught by the market
guard, and was sentenced to death.

As the merchant is about to be hung, a servant steps forward,
and tells -- in the Betawi dialect -- how he found the body of
the hunchback in his house. Also thinking it was an intruding
thief, he hit the hunchback. After that he realized his assailant
was in fact a corpse, he took the body outside and leaned it
against a wall.

The accusation of being the murderer shifted to the servant.
As he was about to be hung, a doctor appeared. The doctor
testifies in a bureaucratic voice that he bumped into the corpse
in his own house. Because he thought that he had killed the
hunchback, he moved the corpse down to the servant's house.

Then it became the doctor's turn to be accused. As the doctor
awaits execution by hanging, again in High Malay, Syahrazad
closes the story by reciting how the tailor leaves the corpse in
the doctor's house. Finally, a palace treasurer rushes to
announce the King's decree to cancel the execution.

Syahrazad was played by Baby Jim Aditya of the Satu Merah
Panggung teater company. Poet Remmy Novaris DM acted as the
hangman, while his colleague, poet Radhar Panca Dahana played the
role of the servant. Radhar's most recent anthology was launched
at the end of last year. The doctor was characterized by Tetet
Sriwidhi, narrator and choreographer of unconventional dances
performed Friday nights at the end of the month at the Hilton's
Sriwedari Garden. All performers had appeared in previous 1001
Nights storytelling sessions.

The end of The Hunchback tale last night also ended this
year's storytelling sessions held at The Stage throughout the
fasting month of Ramadhan. However, the creative spirit that has
sparked sessions as unique as this will continue to produce more
interesting performances next year, like Syahrazad's endless
tales. And, just as Syahrayar awaits Syahrazad's storytelling the
following evening, we remain and look forward to the coming of
next Ramadhan.