Terjemahan The Locked Room dari The Looked Room and Other Horror Stories karya M. R. James yang diceritakan ulang oleh Piers Sandford dalam The Looked Room and Other Horror Stories (Penguin Readers Level 4.)
Kamar yang Terkunci
(dari Rats)
Kisah ini terjadi di Suffolk, dekat pantai. Terdapat sebuah rumah merah yang tinggi di sana, kemungkinan dibangun sekitar tahun 1770. Rumah itu punya sebuah kebun kecil berantakan di belakangnya dan dari jendela-jendela depan kamu bisa melihat laut. Pepohonan tinggi yang gelap berdiri di sekitar rumah sunyi ini. Di dekat pintu depan ada sebuah tanda yang menunjukkan bahwa rumah ini dulunya penginapan, di mana para pelancong bisa berhenti untuk makan dan beristirahat.
Disuatu hari yang indah dimusim semi, seorang mahasiswa muda Universitas Cambridge bernama Thomson tiba di rumah ini. Dia ingin menghabiskan waktu di sebuah tempat tenang dan nyaman di mana dia bisa membaca dan belajar. Saat itu tak seorang pun sedang menginap di sana. Mr dan Mrs Betts, yang mengurus rumah itu, menyambut dan membuatnya merasa sangat nyaman. Mereka memberinya sebuah kamar yang luas di lantai pertama dengan pemandangan yang indah dari jendela. Thomson menghabiskan hari-harinya dengan sangat tenang dan tentram. Setiap pagi dia bekerja, siang hari berjalan di pedesaan, dan pada malam hari sebelum tidur dia biasanya minum-minum dengan beberapa penduduk setempat di bar. Dia senang untuk melanjutkan hidupnya seperti ini selama mungkin. Dia berencana untuk tinggal selama sebulan.
Disuatu siang, Thomson berjalan di sepanjang jalan yang berbeda dari yang biasanya dan di kejauhan dia melihat sebuah benda besar putih. Dia berjalan menujunya dan mendapati bahwa benda itu adalah sebuah batu persegi besar dengan sebuah lubang persegi di tengahnya. Diperiksanya batu itu, lalu dia melihat pemandangan untuk sejenak—laut, gereja-gereja di kejauhan, jendela-jendela dari satu atau dua rumah yang bercahaya di sini dan di sana di matahari—lalu dia melanjutkan perjalanannya.
Malam itu di bar, dia bertanya mengapa batu putih itu ada di sana. “Itu sudah ada di sana untuk waktu yang lama, nyatanya sejak sebelum beberapa dari kami lahir,” kata Mr Betts.
“Orang-orang biasanya bilang itu membawa sial … sial untuk memancing,” kata pria lainnya.
“Kenapa?” tanya Thomson, tapi orang-orang di bar menjadi diam dan secara jelas tak ingin membicarakan tentang batu itu lagi. Thomson bingung.
Beberapa hari kemudian, dia memutuskan berdiam di rumah untuk belajar pada siang hari. Thomson tak ingin pergi keluar untuk berjalan-jalan, tapi sekitar pukul tiga dia butuh istirahat. Dia memutuskan untuk menghabiskan lima menit melihat-lihat ke kamar lain dari rumah itu yang ada di lantainya—pria itu tertarik untuk tahu seperti apa kamar-kamar itu. Dia bangkit dan diam-diam keluar dari kamarnya, ke koridor. Tak seorang pun ada di rumah. “Sekarang mereka semua mungkin ada di pasar,” pikirnya. Rumah itu hening dan sunyi, kecuali lalat. Matahari sedang bersinar dan sangat panas. Thomson masuk ke tiga kamar di dekat kamar tidurnya; masing-masing cantik dan bersih. Lalu dia mencoba pintu di kamar bagian barat daya, namun mendapati bahwa kamar itu terkunci. Hal ini membuat Thomson ingin tahu kenapa kamar itu terkunci dan apa yang ada di dalamnya, dan dia mengambil kunci-kunci dari seluruh pintu lain di lantai itu untuk coba membukanya. Dia akhirnya berhasil, pintu itu terbuka, dia masuk ke dalam dan melihat ke sekelilingnya.
Kamar itu punya dua jendela yang menghadap ke selatan dan barat, jadi kamar itu begitu terang dan panas. Tak ada karpet dan gambar, hanya sebuah ranjang, sendirian di pojok. Ini bukan kamar yang menarik, tapi tiba-tiba … Thomson berbalik dan berlari dari kamar itu, menutup pintu di belakangnya dengan berisik.
“Seseorang ada di sana, di ranjang!” Dia hampir berteriak. Terdapat selimut pada tubuh di atas ranjang, tapi tak mati, karena tubuh itu bergerak. Dia tak sedang bermimpi, Thomson tahu: lagipula, ini di tengah hari yang terang, cerah. Dia tak tahu apa yang harus dilakukan.
Pertama-tama, tentu saja, dia harus mengunci pintu itu lagi, tapi sebelum melakukannya, dia mendengarkan. Segala sesuatunya hening di dalam kamar itu. Dia menaruh kunci di selot dan memutarnya sepelan yang dia bisa, tapi masih saja menghasilkan bunyi. Tiba-tiba Thomson berhenti: seseorang sedang berjalan ke arah pintu itu! Dia berbalik dan berlari di sepanjang koridor menuju kamarnya, menutup pintu dan mengunci di belakangnya secepat yang dia bisa. Dia menunggu dan mendengarkan. “Mungkinkah orang ini bisa berjalan melewati pintu dan dinding?” Dia berbisik pada dirinya sendiri. Tak ada yang terjadi.
“Sekarang apa?” pikirnya. Ide pertamanya adalah untuk meninggalkan rumah itu secepat mungkin, namun jika dia mengubah rencana, Mr dan Mrs Betts akan tahu bahwa ada yang salah. Lagipula, jika mereka sudah tahu tentang orang di dalam kamar yang terkunci tapi mereka tetap tinggal di rumah itu, maka tentu saja tak ada yang harus dia takutkan. Mungkin lebih baik bertahan dan tak mengatakan apa pun. Inilah hal termudah yang dapat dilakukan. Thomson tinggal di sana selama seminggu lagi dan, meskipun dia tidak pernah pergi ke dekat pintu itu lagi, dia sering berhenti di koridor dan mendengarkan, tapi yang ada hanya keheningan. Dia tak bertanya pada siapa pun di desa tentang kamar yang terkunci karena dia terlalu takut, tapi menjelang akhir minggu itu dia mulai berpikir lagi dan lagi tentang orang di kamar yang terkunci itu dan pada akhirnya dia memutuskan untuk menyelidiki lebih banyak sebelum pergi. Dia membuat sebuah rencana—dia akan pergi pada pukul empat dengan kereta api dihari berikutnya, sementara kudanya menunggu di luar dengan tas-tasnya, dia akan naik ke lantai atas dan lekas melihat ke dalam kamar itu untuk yang terakhir kalinya.
Inilah yang terjadi. Dia membayar Mr Betts, menaruh tas-tas di atas kuda, berterimakasih pada Mrs Betts dan mengatakan, “Saya cuma mau lihat terakhir kalinya ke atas untuk memastikan kalau saya sudah membawa semua barang-barang saya.” Dia lalu berlari menaiki tangga dan membuka pintu ke kamar itu sepelan mungkin. Dia hampir saja tertawa. “Ini bukan orang sungguhan. Bodohnya aku! Ini cuma setumpuk pakaian tua,” pikirnya. Dia berbalik untuk pergi, tapi tiba-tiba sesuatu bergerak di belakangnya. Dia berputar dengan cepat dan melihat tumpukan pakaian tua itu berjalan ke arahnya, dengan sebuah pisau tertancap ke bagian depan jaket dan darah kering menuruni pakaian itu. Dia menarik pintu, bergegas keluar kamar dan menuruni tangga. Kemudian dia terjatuh dan segalanya menjadi hitam.
Ketika dia membuka matanya, Mr Betts sedang berdiri di atasnya dengan minuman keras di dalam gelas. Dia tampak terganggu. “Kau seharusnya nggak melakukan itu, Mr Thomson. Itu hal yang bodoh untuk dilakukan setelah kami bersikap baik padamu. Kenapa kau ingin melihat ke dalam kamar itu? Nggak seorang pun yang akan mau tinggal di rumah ini lagi jika kau bilang pada orang-orang tentang apa yang telah kau lihat,” katanya.
“Maafkan saya. Saya cuma ingin tahu, itu saja.” kata Thomson. “Saya nggak akan bilang pada siapa pun, saya janji.” Jadi sebelum dia pergi, Mr dan Mrs Betts menceritakan padanya apa yang mereka ketahui.
“Orang-orang bilang dulu ada seorang pria kaya yang pernah tinggal di sini. Suatu malam, dia keluar berjalan-jalan di desa, saat segerombol pria menyerangnya. Mereka ingin mencuri uangnya. Mereka menahannya di batu putih besar yang kau lihat saat jalan-jalan beberapa hari yang lalu dan mereka membunuhnya dengan pisau. Lalu mereka melempar tubuhnya ke laut. Setelahnya beberapa orang dari desa memindahkan batu itu jauh-jauh dari desa; mereka bilang ikan di sepanjang bagian pantai nggak mau datang kemana pun yang dekat dengan batu itu. Para nelayan nggak menangkap apa pun, kau lihat. Orang-orang yang tinggal di rumah ini sebelum kami bilang pada kami untuk mengunci kamar tidur itu tapi harus meninggalkan sebuah ranjang di dalamnya. Karena hantu pria itu barangkali ingin kembali dan tidur di rumah ini lagi. Kaulah orang pertama yang melihatnya sejak kami ada di sini. Dia nggak pernah jadi masalah buat kami. Tapi tolong jangan bilang siapa-siapa.” ulang mereka. “Kami nggak ingin orang-orang bercerita tentang hantu di rumah ini.”
Selama bertahun-tahun, Thomson tak mengatakan satu patah kata pun tentang apa yang terjadi di rumah Betts di Suffolk, dan aku hanya tahu cerita ini karena, bertahun-tahun setelahnya, ketika dia datang untuk tinggal dengan keluargaku, akulah orang yang mengantarkan dia ke kamar tidurnya. Ketika dia mencapai pintu kamar tidur itu, dia membukanya dengan sangat keras dan berhenti di luar. Dia berdiri di sana selama semenit dan dengan hati-hati memeriksa setiap sudut dari kamar itu sebelum masuk ke dalamnya. Lalu dia ingat bahwa aku berdiri di sana dan berkata, “Oh, maafkan aku, sayang, tapi sesuatu yang sangat aneh pernah terjadi padaku.”
Dan dia menceritakan padaku cerita yang baru saja kuceritakan padamu.
---
The Locked Room
(from Rats)
It happened in Suffolk, near the coast. There is a tall, red house there, built in about 1770, perhaps. It has a small, untidy garden behind it and from the front windows you can see the sea. Tall, dark trees stand around this lonely house. Near the front door there is a sign which shows that this was once a public house, where travelers could stop to eat and sleep.
One fine spring day, a young Cambridge University student called Thomson arrived at this house. He wanted to spend some time in a quiet and pleasant place where he could read and study. No one else was staying there at the time and Mr and Mrs Betts, who managed the house, welcomed him and made him feel very comfortable. They gave him a large room on the first floor with a good view from the window. He spent his days very calmly and quietly Every morning he worked, he walked in the country in the afternoon, and he usually had a drink with some of the local people in the bar in the evening before going to bed. He was very happy to continue his life like this for as long as possible. He planned to stay for a whole month.
One afternoon, Thomson walked along a different road from the usual one and in the distance he saw a large white object. He walked towards it and discovered that it was a large square stone with a square hole in the middle. He examined the stone, then he looked at the view for a moment - the sea, the churches in the distance, the windows of one or two houses shining here and there in the sun - and he continued his walk.
That evening in the bar, he asked why the white stone was there. ‘It’s been there for a very long time, since before any of us were born, in fact,’ said Mr Betts.
‘People used to say that it brought bad luck ... that it was unlucky for fishing,’ said another man.
‘Why?’ asked Thomson, but the people in the bar became silent and clearly didn’t want to talk about the stone any more. Thomson was puzzled.
A few days later, he decided to stay at home to study in the afternoon. He didn’t feel like going out for a walk, but at about three o’clock he needed a break. He decided to spend five minutes looking at the other rooms on his floor of the house - he was interested to know what they were like. He got up and went quietly out of his room, into the corridor. Nobody else was at home. ‘They are all probably at market today,’ he thought. The house was still and silent, except for the flies. The sun was shining and it was very hot. He went into the three rooms near his own bedroom; each one was pretty and clean. Then he tried the door of the south-west room, but found that it was locked. This made Thomson want to know why it was locked and what was inside it, and he took the keys of all the other doors on the floor to try to open it. He finally succeeded, the door opened, he went in and looked around him.
The room had two windows looking south and west, so it was very bright and hot. There were no carpets and no pictures, only a bed, alone in the corner. It was not a very interesting room, but suddenly ... Thomson turned and ran out of the room, closing the door behind him noisily.
‘Someone was in there, in the bed!’ he almost shouted. There were covers over the whole body on the bed, but it was not dead, because it moved. He was not dreaming, Thomson knew: this was the middle of a bright, sunny day, after all. He didn’t know what to do.
First, of course, he had to lock the door again but, before he did this, he listened. Everything was silent inside the room. He put the key into the lock and turned it as quietly as he could, but he still made some noise. Suddenly he stopped: someone was walking towards the door! He turned and ran along the corridor to his room, closed the door and locked it behind him as fast as he could. He waited and listened. ‘Perhaps this person can walk through doors and walls?’ he whispered to himself. Nothing happened.
‘Now what?’ he thought. His first idea was to leave the house as soon as he could, but if he changed his plans, Mr and Mrs Betts would know that something was wrong. Also, if they already knew about the person in the locked room but they still lived in the house, then there was surely nothing for him to be afraid of. Maybe it would be better to stay and say nothing. This was the easiest thing to do. Thomson stayed there for another week and, although he never went near the door again, he often stopped in the corridor and listened, but there was only silence. He didn’t ask anyone in the village about the locked room because he was too afraid, but near the end of the week he started to think more and more about the person in the locked room and he eventually decided to find out more before he left. He made a plan - he would leave on the four o’clock train the next day and, while the horse waited outside with his bags, he would go upstairs and take one last, quick look into the room.
This is what happened. He paid Mr Betts, put the bags on the horse, thanked Mrs Betts and said, ‘I’ll just take a last look upstairs to be sure that I have all my things.’ He then ran up the stairs and opened the door to the room as quietly as possible. He almost laughed. ‘It’s not a real person at all. How silly of me! It’s just a pile of old clothes,’ he thought. He turned to go, but suddenly something moved behind him. He turned quickly and saw the pile of old clothes walking towards him, with a knife stuck into the front of its jacket and dried blood all down its shirt. He pulled open the door and rushed out of the room and down the stairs. Then he fell and everything went black.
When he opened his eyes. Mr Betts was standing over him with a strong drink in a glass. He looked annoyed. ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Mr Thomson, sir. It was a stupid thing to do after we’ve been so good to you. Why did you want to look in that room? Nobody will want to stay in this house any more if you tell people what you’ve seen,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry. I just wanted to know, that’s all.’ said Thomson. ‘I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’ So, before he left, Mr and Mrs Betts told him what they knew.
‘People say that a rich gentleman lived here a long time ago. One evening, he was out walking in the village, when a group of men attacked him. They wanted to steal his money. They held him down on that big, white stone which you saw when you were out walking the other day and they killed him with a knife. Then they threw his body into the sea. Later some people from the village moved the stone away from the village; they said the fish along this part of the coast would not come anywhere near it. The fishermen were not catching anything, you see. The people who lived in this house before us told us to lock that bedroom but to leave the bed in it. because the gentleman’s ghost might want to come back and sleep in the house again. You’re the first person to see him since we’ve been here. He’s never been a problem to us. But please don’t tell anyone.’ they repeated. ‘We don’t want people talking about ghosts in this house.’
For many years, Thomson didn’t say a word to anyone about what happened in the Betts’s house in Suffolk, and I only know his story because, years later, when he came to stay with my family, I was the person who showed him to his bedroom. When we reached the bedroom door, he opened it very loudly and stopped outside. He stood there for a minute and carefully inspected every corner of the room before he went in. Then he remembered that I was standing there and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, my dear, but something very odd happened to me once.’
And he told me the story I have just told you.
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