Cerita Malin Kundang menjadi salah satu contoh soal dari narrative text. Dalam soal itu, para siswa di minta untuk menganalisis cerita fiktif, berupa dongeng, mitos, legenda, maupun fabel.
Ada sebuah cerita legenda dari Sumatera Barat yang sangat terkenal, yakni Malin Kundang. Saking terkenalnya, cerita Malin Kundang bahkan di terjemahkan dalam Bahasa Inggris.
Berikut cerita Malin Kundang dalam Bahasa Inggris dan terjemahan singkat:
1. Cerita dalam Bahasa Inggris
Dikutip dari buku ‘American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales’ karya Christopher R dan Jeffrey B Webb berikut cerita Malin Kudang dalam Bahasa Inggris,
Once upon a time, on the north coast of Sumatera lived a poor woman and his son, who called Malin Kundang. His Father eventually died, and his mother lived alone as a poverty-stricken old woman.
Malin Kundang grew up as a skillful young boy. He always helps his mother to earn some money. One day, Malin Kundang decide going to overseas and promise to come back.
After several years had gone by, Malin Kudang finally decide to return to his village. He arrived wearing fine clothes and traveling on one of his ships. Someone arriving in such splendor was uncommon to the villagers, so many of them went down to the harbor to view the sight.
One of the villagers recognized Malin Kundang form a scar that he had received while playing as a child. Upon recognizing the mark, the villager went to tell Malin Kundang’s mother that her son had returned. Excitedly, she went to the shore and recognized her son the minute her eyes fell on him.
When the older woman called him her son, he refused to believe that he head such an old woman as a mother. His disbelief was heightened when his wife questioned why he had not told her that he had an elderly, poor mother.
In an alternate translation
Malin Kundang was on the ship with just his crew. When his mother attempted to embrace him, he was too embarrassed by her ragged appearance to acknowledge her and instead, had one of them carry her away.
Distraught and finally realizing he son’s wickedness, Malin Kundang’s mother gave up on her son’s acknowledging her and prayed to her god to punish her son for his behavior.
The day after his mother’s prayer, Malin Kudang sailed out of the village. Shortly thereafter, the ships was met by a violent storm. Malin Kundang believed the storm was his god’s and nature’s ways of punishing him for his mistreatment of his mother.
He felt guilty about his behavior towards her, asked for forgiveness, and began to pray. However, his repentance was too late, for the ship was destroyed at sea. But, in some translations of the tale, Malin Kundang was turned into coral. In other, the ship, the crew, and he become rock formations that are still standing.
2. Terjemahan
Terjemahan singkat cerita Malin Kundang dalam Bahasa Inggris, sebagai berikut,
Pada zaman dahulu, di kisahkan hidup seorang ibu dan anaknya bernama Malin Kundang. Ayahnya telah meninggal dunia sehingga Malin Kundang dan ibunya harus mencari uang.
Malin Kundang pun tumbuh menjadi seorang remaja yang pintar mencari uang. Ia selalu membantu ibunya. Suatu hari, ia memutuskan untuk merantau demi mencari uang dan berjanji untuk kembali.
Setelah beberapa tahun pergi, Malin Kundang kembali dengan kapal miliknya dan pakaian bagus. Ibunya pun datang menemuinya. Namun, Malin Kundang tak mengakui bahwa wanita tua tersebut adalah ibunya.
Sang Ibu pun akhirnya berdoa kepada tuhan agar Malin Kundang di berikan hukuman atas perbuatannya. Singkat cerita, kapalnya di terpa badai ganas dan mengubah Malin Kudang, kapal, serta awak kapalnya menjadi batu.
Ibunya percaya bahwa itu adalah hukuman dari tuhan yang Maha Esa kepada Malin Kundang. Saat ini, batu Malin Kundang masih berdiri di pantai di Sumatera Barat.
3. Kesimpulan
Makna cerita Malin Kundang dalam Bahasa Inggris mengingatkan kita agar tidak melupakan kebaikan seorang ibu, bagai kacang lupa akan kulitnya. Terlebih, tujuan cerita ini agar setiap anak menghormati orang tua dan tidak durhaka kepadanya, karena kesuksesan dan kekayaan tidak bernilai di bandingkan kasih sayang dari orang tua.