Child of All Nations (49 page)
Some of the people who were peering in through the windows withdrew from view. Perhaps they wanted to hear what May was crying about. Soon the village people began to gather around the front of the house, men and women, children too, swarming around everywhere. Several women were being shooed out of the back parlor by Minem’s mother. Maysoroh’s crying wasn’t as loud as a minute ago. Coming from not far behind us we could hear her weeping, interspersed with Javanese: “That’s him, yes, that’s the one, he killed Sis Annelies! That’s the one who did it, him!”
The women pushed forward, closer to the door that led from the back to the front parlor. Engineer Mellema lifted his head to look at them. He stood up. But before he could go, Nyai quickly spoke again: “So when do we have to get out of here?”
“I’ve already appointed someone to manage the business.”
“So when do we have to leave?”
“I’ve decided on a postponement.”
“Good. A postponement. And what about this child? Rono Mellema?”
Maurits Mellema looked at the baby. His eyes blinked: “Who is Rono Mellema?”
“You had better take the child with you now. The baby will be easier to kill. If you don’t, you’ll get a smaller inheritance. You couldn’t possibly let him live. The child has never cried. Perhaps he has been mute since birth.”
People began to push closer to the door, both at the front and into the back parlor.
Mama held out the baby to him: “Take this baby with you, your own nephew, Robert Mellema’s child, also a Mellema heir.”
Maurits Mellema looked confused.
“Don’t think of him as a rival, Tuan Mellema,” said Jean
Marais in Malay, in a clear voice so that everyone could understand. “And don’t murder him—for the Netherlands.”
“You can’t even bring yourself to touch your own nephew,” added Kommer. “He too has property, Tuan; you’re not going to give up his wealth, are you?”
“Why do you hesitate?” pressed Mama, “Take the baby. We believe you’ll be a good guardian.”
The guest didn’t know what to do.
It was then that Maysoroh ran back into the front parlor. Her eyes were red and wet. Crying out, weeping uncontrollably, she lifted her little hand to point at Engineer Mellema: “Yes, here he is, Engineer Maurits Mellema. He stole Sis Annelies. He killed her!”
May lost control of herself. She ran up to the big marine engineer and threw her little punches onto his thighs and stomach. “Give Annelies back! Give her back!”
Some of the women behind us could now also be heard crying and sobbing. Then somebody asked in Javanese: “Miss Annelies is dead? He killed her?”
“He killed her.” Maysoroh pointed accusingly, exhausted from her punching.
“Why is Darsam doing nothing?” someone whispered.
“I will not throw you out, Tuan Mellema, because this house is your property,” said Nyai. “Go now, before there’s a riot. They know how to feel sorrow, they are all sorrowful and angry.”
“Give her back, give her back!” cried Maysoroh, panting.
Engineer Maurits Mellema pointed to the parcel at his feet, but no voice came from his mouth. The tip of his finger trembled. He turned his back to us and strode heavily out of the room. His left hand gripped his scabbard.
We remained seated.
Maysoroh followed him, pulling at his trousers and groaning, “Give back Sis Annelies! Sis Annelies! Sis Annelies!”
Mellema did not look back. His two arms did not swing. His body was stooped as he descended the front stops. He looked like a frog lost among a crowd of humans. He looked small, insignificant.
The crowd parted to make way for him. You could hear them buzzing beneath the shouts of Maysoroh, who was still tugging at him: “Murderer! Murderer of your own half-sister!”
Darsam jumped up, pulled out his machete, and began swinging it about: “Animal! Evil, filthy animal!” he roared.
“Miss Annelies, oh Nyai, we didn’t realize.” The people expressed the sorrow they shared.
Mama didn’t answer. She gave Rono to one of the women and opened the parcel the guest had left behind. In it was an old tin suitcase, dented and rusty. She opened it. There were a few sets of Annelies’s clothes.
“Good,” she sighed, and stood up.
For only the second time ever, I saw Mama shed tears. She could not bear the sight of her daughter’s clothes, packed in the suitcase she herself had taken with her when first she was sold to Herman Mellema.
She quickly wiped away the tears.
“Just as we will always remember this day, he too will be haunted by it, all his life and into the grave.”
“Yes, Ma, we fought back, Ma, even though only with our mouths.”
Buru Island Prison Camp, spoken 1973 written 1975
LOSSARY
| Acehnese | the people of Aceh, the northernmost province of Sumatra, well known at the time for its militant Islamic sentiments |
| arak | Javanese liquor |
| assistant resident | for each regency there was a Dutch assistant resident in whose hands power over local affairs ultimately resided |
| azan | the call to prayer at the mosque |
| babah | a term referring to Chinese shop-owners, which also has connotations of boss |
| Babad Tanah Jawi | a classical Javanese literary work, claiming to trace the history of the rulers of Java |
| bahu | a measure of area equivalent to 7096.5 square meters |
| bang | older brother, comrade—friendly but respectful |
| Banowati | a character in wayang, a queen renowned for her beauty |
| Bapak | literally Father, used to indicate respect |
| Batara Kala | Hindu god of death |
| batik | a process for decorating cloth by using wax to prevent some areas from absorbing dye |
| Betawi | the Malay name for Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies, now Jakarta |
| Bharatayuddha | a famous Hindu epic, depicting a great war between two families of nobles |
| biawak | iguana |
| blangkon | traditional Javenese headdress made from batik and worn mainly by the nobility, or those with pretensions to an elite status |
| boerderij (Dutch) | firm, company |
| Boerderij Buitenzorg | the Buitenzorg Agricultural Company, the name of Nyai Ontosoroh’s late husband’s firm, which Nyai had always managed |
| bupati | the title of the Native Javanese official appointed by the Dutch to administer a region; most bupatis could lay some claim to noble blood |
| camat | the title of the native official in charge of several villages |
| carambol | a kind of billiards |
| Chinese officer | a member of the Chinese community appointed by the colonial government to supervise tax collection within that community |
| chiu | Chinese wine |
| Culture System | This was a system of forced cultivation of certain crops enforced by the colonial authorities; under this system, Javanese peasants had to grow export crops such as coffee and sell them to the Dutch authorities at extremely low prices. |
| Daendels | Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies, 1807–1811 |
| dalang | the puppet-master of Javanese shadow puppetry |
| destar | an East Javanese form of headdress; a kind of headband |
| dukun | traditional Javanese magician and/or healer |
| Dutch East Indies Company (VOC); the Company | Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie , United (Dutch) East Indies Company |
| Eighty Years’ War | a sixteenth- and seventeenth-century war between Holland and Spain, ending in the Peace of the Hague in 1648 |
| Roorda van Eysinga | a writer (1825–1887) expelled from the Indies in 1864 because his writings were regarded as harmful to the colonial government |
| forum privilegiatum | the right to appear before the court for Europeans |
| G. Francis | Eurasian author of the early Malay-language novel Nyai Dasima |
| gamelan | traditional Javanese percussion orchestra |
| gapit | the stick, made usually from buffalo horn, that keeps the leather shadow puppet rigid |
| garuda | the mythical magical bird upon whom the gods rode |
| Gatotkaca | a character from wayang stories who had the ability to fly |
| gus | a term of affection used among the families of the Javanese aristocratic elite by parents towards their male children |
| haji | the pilgrimage to Mecca or someone who has made the pilgrimage |
| Hanchou | a city regarded by the Chinese as one of the most beautiful in the world |
| harvest-time fever | an illness induced by extreme expectations and hyperactivity prior to harvest |
| H.B.S. | the prestigious Dutch-language senior high school |
| Dr. Snouck Hurgronje | a Dutch scholar who was an influential adviser on Native Affairs to the colonial government |
| Indisch | a Dutch term referring to racially mixed persons or cultures |
| Indische Bond | Founded in 1898, this was an association of Indies Eurasians demanding an end to discrimination against them by the Dutch colonial elite. |
| Indo | a term used to refer to Dutch-Indonesian Mixed-Bloods (See also Indisch ) |
| Japanese gardens | houses of prostitution |
| Java Doctor | someone trained in the Dutch-run special medical school set up exclusively for Indies Natives |
| kabupaten | the formal local term for the administrative area that an assistant resident (through the bupati) administers |
| kain | traditional dress worn by Javanese women; a kind of sarong wrapped tightly around the waist and legs |
| kain wulung | a blue-black head-cloth usually worn by Moslem students |
| Kartini | Most famous woman in modern Indonesian history, regarded as a pioneer of women’s emancipation and forerunner of Indonesian nationalism. Best known for the letters that were collected under the title Door Duisternis tot Licht ( Through Darkness to Light ). |
| Katasura, Court of | The court of the sultanate of Mataram. In 1740 a rebellion by the Chinese population, backed by a sultan of Madura, attacked Katasura and annihilated the Dutch East Indies Company troops guarding the court. |
| kebaya | a Javanese woman’s traditional blouse, worn always in combination with a sarong |
| keris | traditional curved-blade Javanese dagger |
| kliwon | one of the days of the Javanese five-day week |
| kowe | familiar form of you in low Javanese, considered an insult if used by a lower-class person to a member of the elite |
| KPM | the Dutch shipping company operating in the Netherlands Indies |
| kris | see keris |
| Kyai | Moslem scholar or religious leader |
| lasting | a kind of plain material |
| legi | one of the days of the Javanese five-day week |
| Marechausee | the elite troops of the colonial army in the Netherlands Indies |
| mas | Javanese term of address literally meaning “older brother.” Used by a young woman towards a man, it indicates an especially close, respectful affection. It can also be used between men, indicating respectful friendship; by a sister to her older brother; and also by a wife to her husband. |
| Max Havelaar | novel by Eduard Douwes Dekker (Multatuli) |
| mevrouw | Dutch for “Madam” or “Mrs.” |
| Multatuli | pseudonym of Eduard Douwes Dekker, an outspoken humanist critic of Dutch colonialism and author of Saidja and Adinda and the anticolonial novel Max Havelaar |
| Mylord | (English) a luxuriously outfitted horse-drawn carriage |
| ndoro | an honorific used by a lower-class person when speaking to someone in the feudal class or of similar status |
| noni | miss |
| nyai | the Native concubine of a Dutch man in the Indies |
| Nyai Dasima | the heroine of G. Francis’s popular Malay-language novel |
| nyo | abbreviated form of sinyo |
| Oranje Vrijstaat | small Boer (overseas Dutch) states in South Africa |
| Oriental status | inhabitants of the Netherlands East Indies were divided into three categories: European, Oriental, and Native. European and Oriental status conferred special privileges on those concerned; included in the Oriental category were Chinese, Jews, and, for a time, Japanese. |
| pak | short for bapak , literally father, used to indicate respect |
| Panji stories | a collection of stories of knightly heroism, based on the legendary activities of an eleventh-century Javanese prince |
| patih | the chief executive assistant of a bupati |
| peci | small black velvet cap, originally a sign of Islam |
| perak | a Malay term for one rupiah (100 cents) |
| plikemboh | a nickname, slang for ugly, disgusting penis |
| priyayi | members of the Javanese aristocracy who often became the salaried administrators of the Dutch |
| raden ayu | title for aristocratic Javanese woman, especially the first wife of a bupati |
| raden mas | raden and mas were titles held by the mass of the middle-ranking members of the Javanese aristocracy; raden mas is the highest |
| ringgit | 2 1 ⁄ 2 rupiah or 2 1 ⁄ 2 perak |
| rupiah | basic unit of currency (100 cents) |
| sausing | Chinese wine |
| SIBA | high school to train Native boys for the civil service |
| sinkeh | term used to refer to a Chinese immigrant |
| sinyo | form of address for young Dutch and Eurasian men or Europeanized Native young men, from the Portuguese senor |
| Speceraria | the name of Nyai Ontosoroh’s new spice-trading business |
| talen or tali | Dutch East Indies currency, a quarter of a rupiah |
| thau-cang | the traditional long braid worn by Chinese men |
| Tong | Chinese secret societies |
| tricolor | the Dutch flag |
| Trunajaya | A prince of the island of Madura who led a successful rebellion against the Javanese nobility in the late seventeenth century. The nobles of the Javanese sultanate of Mataram only succeeded in defeating Trunajaya when Dutch military might was thrown against him. |
| tuan | Malay word meaning master or sir |
| Tuan Besar Kuasa | Great Powerful Master, a term used for a Dutch administrator or other powerful official |
| Tuan Raden Mas | the title of nobility of lesser rank |
| TVK | abbreviation for Tijdeman and Van Kerchem, the company that owned the sugar mills in Tulangan, Tjandi, and Krembong in the Sidoarjo area; called Te-pe-ka by the Madurese |
| VOC | Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie: Dutch East Indies Company, the major power in the Indies until 1798, when it was taken over by the Dutch government |
| Vorstenlanden | the region covered by the kingdom of Surakarta and Jogjakarta in central Java |
| Vrizinnige Democraat | a liberal democratic party whose members were known as radicals because its first name had been Radicale Bond (Radical League) |
| wayang | shadow puppets |