Legend of Human transformed into Animal in Yapen Waropen Papua

INDONESIA

Legenda Manusia menjelma menjadi Hewan di Yapen Waropen Papua

Pada zaman dahulu di pulau Yapen dan pulau-pulau di sekelilingnya tidak dihuni oleh seorangpun. Dari mana asal dan datangnya penduduk yang ada pada dewasa ini, dikatakan bahwa dulunya mereka bertempat tinggal di gunung Tonater di daerah Waropen. Pada waktu itu mereka hanya memiliki satu bahasa.

Pada suatu hari penduduk gunung Tonater ini berniat untuk membuat sebuah menara yang tingginya dapat mencapai bulan. Adapun maksud pembuatan menara ini adalah supaya mereka boleh naik ke bulan, untuk menemui para bidadari yang berada di bulan. Menara tersebut dibuat dengan bambu dan diberi tangga. Dari hari ke hari mereka sibuk mengerjakannya agar rencana mereka terwujud.

Pada suatu hari sementara mereka sibuk memasang rangka, tiba-tiba menara itu goyah lalu rubuh bersama orang-orangnya yang menyebabkan kematian dan bahasa persatuan merekapun hilang. Orang-orang yang meninggal kemudian menjelma menjadi hewan. Ada yang menjadi kasuari, ular, babi, burung-burung dan ada pula yang menjadi ikan seperti : ikan paus, hiu dan sebagainya.

Hewan-hewan ini kemudian mengadakan musyawarah dan telah bermufakat untuk meninggalkan gunung Tonater, karena tempat ini membawa aib bagi mereka. Oleh sebab itu mereka akan menyebar dan mendiami pulau Papua. Ada yang mengungsi ke ujung Timur Papua, ada pula yang ke Barat, ke Utara maupun ke Selatan. Selain di tanah besar ada juga yang menyebar ke pulau-pulaul, seperti: Pulau Yapen, Pulau Biak, Pulau-pulau Moor, Raja Ampat dan lain sebagainya.

Keesokan hari sebelum fajar menyingsing, sebuah perahu sudah siap tertambat di muara kali Demba. Hewan-hewan yang hendak ikut semuanya telah siap di perahu. Saat itu mereka merasa bahagia, karena yang dicita-citakan telah tercapai.

Kini tibalah waktunya untuk bertolak, maka perahu pun dilepas kemudian meluncur dipermukaan air meninggalkan muara kali Demba, menuju selat Saireri yang tenang dan kebiru-biruan. Keadaan cuaca di selat Saireri pada pagi itu sangat cerah. Perahu pun terasa makin lama semakin laju, seperti menggunakan motor tempel layaknya. Sebentar-sebentar terlihat oleh mereka, sebuah titik yang makin lama makin membesar dan berbentuk sebuah hulu perang. Itulah barisan gunung di pulau Yapen yang membentang dari ujung timur ke sebelah Barat. Karena si Kasuari senang lalu ia berdiri untuk meyakinkan penglihatannya, namun ia tidak menyadari keadaan, sehingga kakinya yang runcing telah menembus dasar perahu.

Akibat perahu berlubang, air laut masuk dan hampir-hampir saja mereka tenggelam. Mereka berusaha sekuat tenaga untuk mengeluarkan air, ternyata usaha mereka inipun tidak menolong juga. Terpaksa Tikus tanah berusaha menutupi lubang perahu dengan moncongnya yang besar dan lebar. Dengan cara ini mereka tertolong, namun sewaktu-waktu moncongnya kemasukan air terpaksa dikeluarkannya untuk bernapas sebentar.

Demikianlah dilakukannya berulang-ulang sehingga mereka tiba dipantai pulau Yapen. Tempat pendaratan mereka ialah pasir putih Arareni di Randawaya. Setiba didaratan, mereka menghembuskan napasnya dengan berlapang dada serta berterimakasih kepada sang pencipta, karena telah tiba dengan selamat. Saat itu juga Kasuari meninggalkan teman-temannya lalu menghilang ke dalam hutan. Ditelitinya keadaan hutan, apakah dapat menjamin ketentraman hidup mereka atau tidak. Sudah beberapa hari ia meninggalkan teman-temannya,tetapi belum muncul juga.

Pada suatu hari Kasuari kembali lagi dengan membawa berita yang sangat menyenangkan bagi kawan-kawannya. Sejak itu mereka berpisah satu sama lain dan menyebar ke seluruh pelosok pulau Yapen dan mendiaminya hingga hari ini. Selain itu karena mereka berasal dari keturunan hewan, maka bagi keluarga yang bersangkutan pantang memakan daging jenis hewan tersebut. Dalam hal ini misalkan fam Karubaba pantang untuk memakan daging anjing, sedangkan fam Mansai pantang makan daging kasuari. Akibat keruntuhan menara Kebulan, menimbulkan penyebaran penduduk sehingga menyebabkan penggunaan bahasa didaerah Yapen Waropen banyak ragamnya.

ENGLISH

Legend of Human transformed into Animal in Yapen Waropen Papua

In ancient times Yapen Island and the surrounding islands were not inhabited by human. So where the populaces, who nowadays occupy in there, originated and came from. Some say that they were once inhabited in mountain Tonater in Waropen. At that time they only had one language.

One day the mountain Tonater residents intended to make a tower which height could reach the moon. The purpose of the building of these towers was that they could climb up to the moon, to meet the angels who settled in there. The tower was made of bamboo with ladder. From day to day they were busy working on their plans to be settled.

One day while they were busy arranging the framework, the tower suddenly faltered and collapsed with the workers and caused the death, and they also lost the language of unity. The people who died later transformed into animals. There were cassowaries, snakes, pigs, birds and some were into fish such as whales, sharks and so on.

Those animals then held a meeting and had agreed to leave the mountain Tonater, because that place brought disgrace to them. Therefore, they spread out and populated the island of Papua. Some moved to the eastern landfill of Papua, some went to the West, to the North and to the South. In addition, in the great land, some settled to several islands, such as: Yapen Island, Biak Island, Moor islands, Raja Ampat and others.

The next day before dawn, a boat was ready to depart in mouth of Demba River. The animals that participated were already on the boat. At that time they were cheerful, because their aspiration were about to come true.

Time to leave began, the boat removed and glided on water surface, leaving the estuary of Demba River, heading to the quiet and bluish Saireri strait. The weather in the strait that morning was very bright. The boat felt more and more speed, as if it used engines. Occasionally, they saw a point that more and more enlarged and shaped an upstream battle. That was the line of the mountain on the Yapen Island which stretched from the east to the west. Since the Cassowary was glad then it stood up to convince its eyesight, but it was not aware of the situation, so that its sharp feet had penetrated the bottom of the boat.

As the boat was perforated, the sea water fulfilled in and they almost drowned. They struggled to drain the water, but the effort did not help as well. The Mole had to patch up the hole with its big and wide snout. They survived for a moment, but any time the Mole could release its snout to breathe for a while.

So it did it repeatedly, and they arrived in Yapen Island shore. They berthed on the white sand of Arareni in Randawaya. Arriving on land, they were gratefully breathing with charitable and thanked to the One, as they had arrived safely. By that time, the Cassowary had left its friends and then disappeared into the woods. It inspected the condition of the forest, whether it could ensure the tranquility of their life or not. For several days the Cassowary had left its friends and had not come back.

One day, the Cassowary returned with exciting news for its friends. Since then they had diverged from each other and spread to all corners of the Yapen Island and resided there to this day. Moreover, as they were the offspring of animals, for the relevant families had to refrain from eating the meat of the animal. In this case, for example, let Karubaba family were abstinence to eat dog meat, while Mansai family were abstinence to eat cassowary meat. Due to the collapse of Kebulan tower, the population was spread and the languages were varied.