Perihal Seekor Bangau..

...dan seekor ikan, dan rumpt, dan seekor kerbau, perut kerbau, nasi mentah, api, kayu api, hujan, seekor katak, dan seekor ular.

Bangau oh Bangau. We've all heard and sang this popular traditional Malay folk song sometime during our childhood years right? It's a wonderful song, no doubt, but the message? Herm... Let's just say that here's my interpretation of this song.


bangau oh bangau,
kenapa engkau kurus?
macam-mana aku tak kurus,
ikan tak mahu timbul - ikan tak mahu timbul

Boy,what a lame excuse. And what a lazy bangau for that matter. Even a duck would stick their short necks and beak into the water to catch fish. This bangau, however, with it's long narrow neck and beak would rather wait for fish to come out of the water.

kan oh ikan,
kenapa engkau tak timbul?
macam-mana aku nak timbul,
rumput panjang sangat - rumput panjang sangat

The fish was probably just giving a stupid answer to a stupid question. Now why in the world would the fish purposely show itself for the stork to eat?

rumput oh rumput,
kenapa engkau panjang?
macam-mana aku tak panjang,
kerbau tak makan aku - kerbau tak makan aku

I would accept that excuse. It's not like grass can shorten by itself.

kerbau oh kerbau,
kenapa tak makan rumput?
macam-mana aku nak makan,
perut aku sakit - perut aku sakit

perut oh perut,
kenapa engkau sakit?
macam-mana aku tak sakit,
makan nasi mentah - makan nasi mentah

Now that's not good. Blaming other's for their own short comings. The kerbau was stupid enough to eat uncooked rice in the first place, and then goes about blaming it on it's stomach.

nasi oh nasi,
kenapa engkau mentah?

macam-mana aku tak mentah,
api tak mahu menyala - api tak mahu menyala

api oh api,
kenapa engkau tak mahu menyala?

macam-mana aku nak menyala,
kayu api basah - kayu api basah

kayu oh kayu,
kenapa engkau basah?

macam-mana aku tak basah,
hujan timpa aku - hujan timpa aku

hujan oh hujan,
kenapa timpa kayu?

macam-mana aku tak timpa,
katak panggil aku - katak panggil aku

katak oh katak,
kenapa panggil hujan?

macam-mana aku tak panggil,
ular nak makan aku - ular nak makan aku

ular oh ular,
kenapa nak makan katak?

macam-mana aku tak makan,
memang makanan aku - memang makanan aku!!!

I could more or less accept these other excuses. If you think otherwise, let's share!