"Anjing Yang Nakal"
Hari ini saya membaca sebuah cerita. Ada seekor anjing di sebuah desa. Anjing itu sangat nakal dan jelek. Jadi, masternya mengikat dia dengan tali dan balok kayu. Tapi, di cerita itu, tidak diceritakan kenapa anjing itu nakal. Terus, waktu anjing lain melihat dia, mereka tidak suka dengan dia. Pasan moral dari ceritanya adalah "Terkenal karena kebaikkan berbeda dengan terkenal karena kejahatan."
Translation: "Bad Dog"
I read a story today. There was a dog in a village. The dog was very bad and evil. So, the master tied the dog to the ground with a chain and wooden block. But, the story did not say why the dog was bad. When other dogs see the bad dog, they don't like him. The story's message is there is a difference for attaining fame through good behavior versus bad behavior.
Clearly, I have written a crude summary of the story. Nevertheless, I thought the story was particularly interesting and pertinent to my cultural posts. First, in Indonesian fable stories, dogs are used as a "platform" to deliver the message, which highlights their value (or lack thereof) in the society. Moreover, the "master" (when translated into English -- a pejorative term in Indonesian I am told) chained the dog to the ground and placed a wooden block around its neck to ensure it won't move around. This, I believe, condones such treatment of animals in general and dogs in particular.
In other words, the short story not only highlights the subtle ways in which dogs are portrayed in society -- their value, dignity, and so on; it opens a window on how dogs are viewed, and through the repetitive discourse relayed through children's stories, these views are embedded into successive generations.
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