Melville Island

Jilarringa – Penyu Laut

As told by Pauline (Jedda) Puruntatameri.

Long time ago there was no seawater. There were some people hunting for sugar bag (sweet honey). They found some swarming bees going in and out of the branch. So they chopped down the tree with a stone axe.

Jilarringa ate the wild honey. Because the honey tasted so sweet she ate more than everyone else. The people got real thirsty and drank all the water.

When Jilarringa became thirsty she went to have a drink of water but there was none. She left and went looking for water.

Her husband told her that there was a river not far from where they were. She heard the water splashing against the rocks and thought to herself, ‘I’ll just dive in the water, swim and drink at the same time’. The water was so cold and refreshing.

She forgot what the old people had told her and dived deeper and deeper until she came across a large rock and slept beside it.Her husband waited and waited but there was no sign of her so he dived into the water to look for her. She had gone.

Late that night her husband went back to see whether her body was washed up on the beach. It was full moon and he could see clearly. There she was swimming in the moonlight leaving a trail of glowworms like lights. He called out to her but she kept swimming surfacing for air and enjoying every minute of it. He cried on the seashore then went home. Every day the husband would go and look for his wife. He turned into a white bird (an egret) and today you can still see this bird standing on the sandbar.

It was because she urinated in the river it became salty, she turned into a sea turtle and still lives there today.

Images L-R Donna Burak, Cecilia Helen Kerinauia Marlene Minniecom (pictured with her children)

Jilarringa – Penyu Laut

Ini sebuah dongeng suku Aborijin diceritakan oleh Pauline (Jedda) Puruntatameri, dari Pulau Melville.

Pada jaman dahulu kala, belum ada air laut di dunia ini. Pada suatu hari, ada orang mencari madu. Mereka menemukan sekawan lebah masuk keluar sebuah pohon, maka pohon itu ditebang, pakai sebuah kapak batu.

Jilarringa mengambil madu itu dan makannya. Oleh karena rasanya manis sekali, dia makan lebih banyak dari temannya. Lalu, semua temannya merasa haus, sehingga mereka menghabiskan semua air minum. Tidak ada air minum lagi untuk Jilarringa. Dia pergi mencari air minum. Suaminya bilang ada sungai tidak jauh dari tempat itu. Dia mendengar suara pukulan air pada batu, maka dia berpikir “saya akan berenang, dan minum sambil menyelam.”

Air itu begitu dingin dan menyegarkan, sehingga dia melupakan pantangan nenek moyang. Dia menyelam semakin dalam, akhirnya dia sampai di sebuah batu yang besar dan tertidur di samping batu itu. Suaminya menunggu lama sekali, sehingga dia kuatir, kemudian dia juga berkecimpung kedalam sungai, untuk mencari isterinya, tetapi tidak bisa menemukannya.

Kemudian, malam itu, suaminya kembali untuk melihat kalau tubuhnya terdampar ke pantai. Sa’at itu bulan purnama, maka dia bisa melihat dengan jelas. Di sanalah Jilarringa berenang di bawah sinar bulan, diikuti jejak seperti ulat kelip-kelip di belakangnya. Dia teriak, tetapi Jilarringa hanya terus asyik berenang, muncul ke permukaan air sewaktu-waktu untuk bernafas. Suaminya menangis, lalu dia pulang.Setiap hari, dia kembali untuk mencari Jilarringa. Dia berubah menjadi burung bangau putih yang masih terlihat sampai sekarang ini, berdiri di tumpukan pasir di muara sungai.

Oleh karena Jilarringa kencing di sungai itu, airnya berubah menjadi asin. Dia berubah menjadi penyu laut, dan masih hidup di sana sampai sekarang.

Lukisan kiri ke kanan: Donna Burak, Cecilia Helen Kerinauia, Marlene Minniecom (foto dengan anaknya)