Cerita Terjemahan - How I Met Myself

Terjemahan How I Met Myself karya David A. Hill.

Bagaimana Kutemui Diriku Sendiri

oleh David A. Hill

Bab 1

Pertemuan Ganjil

Pada suatu malam dibulan Januari aku sedang berjalan menuju rumah dari kantorku. Saat itu hari senin. Cuacanya begitu dingin, dan beberapa awan rendah terlihat mengelilingi puncak-puncak bangunan. Sekali kutinggalkan jalan utama, tak banyak orang yang berada di jalan sempit gelap di distrik 13 Budapest. Segalanya begitu sunyi. Seolah-olah kota ini sedang menanti sesuatu.

Sembari berjalan aku memikirkan tentang apa yang telah terjadi di tempat kerja. Aku tadi berdebat dengan orang Hungaria yang bekerja denganku. Itulah masalah serius pertama sejak aku tiba. Aku coba memikirkan apa yang harus kulakukan tentang hal itu, dan aku juga berharap istriku, Andrea, bakal membuatkan sup panas untuk makan malam.

Sekitar lima menit kemudian salju turun dengan lebat, sehingga seluruh jalanan segera berwarna putih. Ketika aku berjalan di sepanjang bagian paling gelap di salah satu jalan ada bunyi pintu yang ditutup dengan keras dari dalam sebuah bangunan. Kemudian aku mendengar suara seseorang sedang berlari.

Tiba-tiba, pintu di jalanan itu terbuka, seorang pria keluar dari dalamnya dan berlari lurus ke arahku. Aku terjatuh ke atas salju, meneriakkan sesuatu seperti, 'Hei, lihat-lihat dong jalanmu!' — kata-kataku terdengar nyaring di jalanan yang kosong. Pria itu berbalik untuk melihatku sekilas. 'Maaf,' katanya dengan suara yang sangat pelan, dalam bahasa Hungaria, sebelum ia menjauh dengan cepat.

Apa yang telah aku lihat disaat itu, di kegelapan jalan bersalju sangatlah ganjil, dan aku merasa sangat ketakutan. Karena yang kulihat adalah diriku sendiri. Wajahku sendiri yang melihat ke arahku. Mulutku sendiri yang mengatakan maaf.

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Chapter 1

A Strange Meeting

I was walking home from my office one January evening. It was a Monday. The weather was very cold, and there were some low clouds around the tops of the buildings. Once I'd left the main road, there weren't many people in the dark, narrow streets of Budapest's Thirteenth District. Everything was very quiet. It felt as if the city was waiting for something.

As I walked I thought about what had happened at work. I had argued with one of the Hungarians I worked with. It was the first serious problem since I'd arrived. I was trying to think what to do about it, and I was also hoping that my wife, Andrea, had made one of her nice hot soups for dinner.

After about five minutes it started to snow heavily, so that the streets were soon completely white. As I was walking along a very dark part of one street there was the noise of a door shutting loudly inside a building. Then I heard the sound of someone running.

Suddenly, the street door opened and a man came out of it and ran straight into me. I fell over into the snow, shouting something like, 'Hey, watch where you're going!' — my words were loud in the empty street. The man turned to look at me for a moment. 'Sorry,' he said very quietly, in Hungarian, before walking quickly away.

What I saw at that moment, in that dark winter street was very strange, and I felt very afraid. Because what I saw was me. My face looking down at me. My mouth saying sorry.