Ahad, 26 Disember 2010

The Complete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll

Buku yang melebihi 900 halaman ini mengandungi pelbagai cerita termasuk Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Juga terdapat beberapa koleksi puisi seperti Stanzas for Music, Stolen Waters, FarAway dan banyak lagi.

Selasa, 7 Disember 2010

The Complete Illustrated Works of The Brothers Grimm


....197 cerita setebal 852 halaman


This delightful book contains almost 200 traditional stories, translated from the great fairy tale collection compiled by Jacob and Weilhelm Grimm. First published in Great Britain 1853 by George Routledge &Sons Ltd under the title Grimm's Household Strories.


"The Frog King" (Iron Heinrich /Brothers Grimm fairytales early 1800)

Brothers Grimm - Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm

The Complete Illustrated Works of Hans Christian Andersen


Buku di atas memaparkan sebanyak 137 buah cerita setebal 948 halaman. First published in Great Britain in 1889 by George Routeledge & Sons under the title Stories for the Household. Sebahagian catatan di belakang buku tersebut adalah seperti berikut:   all the classic fairy tales appear in this book, as well as over 100 other stories, accounts of Andersen's travels and his short autobiography 'The Story of My Life' - 137 stories in total. More than 200 original engravings capture the special enchantment of the tales.
Antara senarai cerita yang sangat saya minati sejak dari kecil ialah:
i.    The Story of a Mother
ii.   The Little Match Girl
iii.  The Little Sea Maid
iv.  TheWild Swans 

TheLittle Sea Maid (Little Mermaid)
Dalam versi bahasa Melayu yang pernah saya baca cerita ini bertajuk Puteri Bongsu. Peminat fairy tales sedia mengetahui kisah yang berkisar tentang 7 puteri duyung yang tinggal di laut dalam dan perjuangan puteri duyung yang bongsu untuk menjadi seorang manusia dengan mempertaruhkan suaranya (lidahnya) dipotong oleh tukang sihir bagi merealisasikan impiannya menukar ekor menjadi sepasang kaki. Namun kisah ini berakhir dengan kesedihan.... dan petikan yang sangat menyayat hati saya antaranya ialah:

......when it grew dark, coloured lamps were lighted and the sailors danced merry dance on deck. the little sea maid thought of the first time when she had risen up out of the sea, and beheld a similar scene of splendour and joy; and she joined in the whirling dance, and flitted on as she swallow flits away when he is persued; and all shouted and admired her, for she had danced so prettily. Her delicate feet were cut as if with knives, but she did not feel it, for her heart was wounded far more painfully. She knew this was the last evening on which she should see him for whom she had left, her friends and her home,and had given up her beautiful voice, and had suffered unheard-on pains every day, while he was utterly unconscious off all. It was the last evening she should breathe the same air with him, and behold the starry aky and the deep sea; and everlasting night without thought or dream awited her, for she had no soul, and could win none. And everything was merriment and gladness on the ship tillpast midnight, and she laughed and danced with thoughts of death in her heart....



The Little Mermaid End Of The Story

Ahad, 5 Disember 2010

The Secret World of Fairies

Setiap suku kaum pelbagai bangsa di dunia ini mempunyai cerita dongeng masing-masing. Kewujudan makhluk yang sangat unik ini sama ada dipercayai atau sebaliknya, bersama ceritanya yang tersendiri hanyalah dianggap sebagai hiburan semata-mata. Bagaimanapun hasil kesusasteraan ini merupakan gambaran atau pancaran budaya atau 'way of life'  masyarakat pada zaman itu. Di dalamnya terkandung pelbagai nilai dan pengajaran untuk para pendengar yang terdiri daripada masyarakat yang menghasilkan versi tersebut. Saya pernah terbaca dalam sebuah buku tentang 'The Secret Wold of Fairies' yang kononnya.......

.....when the most beautiful flowers are blomming, the fairies are in charge of making sure they are looked after. They fly around the flowers, telling themhow pretty they are and that one day they too will be fairies. When the petals fall and thistledown grows in their place, the fairies tickle and tug the fluffy down until itlets go and floats up into the sky. This is how fairies are born. How you ever wondered how fairies get such beautiful wings?


Saya juga pernah terbaca puisi tentang asal usul makhluk ini. Antaranya ialah:

Where do you come from?
You really want to know,
And are they very tiny,
Or do they something grow?





Terdapat pelbagai jenis seperti dalam puisi berikut:

They are many kinds of fairies,
And most you'll never see,
They hide in secret place,
Like a plant or nest or tree.
Ia turut digambarkan seperti berikut:

In the Secret World of Fairies,
You will have a special treat,
Because some very special fairies,
Are have for you to meet.

Rainbow and Sunny Fairies,
Have gathered on the ground,
With Rainy and Snowy Fairies,
The play and fly around.

About Fairy and Fairy Tales

Berdasarkan minat dan hasil pembacaan serta rujukan-rujukan tertentu, saya ingin berkongsi dengan rakan-rakan maya berkenaan dengan 'fairy' dan 'fairy tales'
Fairy is a tiny imaginary being human form, depitched as clever, mischievous, insect -like wings , playful and magical powers. They can be either good or bad. The word 'fairy' is derived from the place they come from: faerie.

Mengikut sumber yang dipetik dari http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/fairy :

Fairy, in folklore, one of a variety of supernatural beings endowed with the powers of magic and enchantment. Belief in fairies has existed from earliest times, and literatures all over the world have tales of fairies and their relations with humans. Some Christians have said that fairies were the ancestors of the ancient pagan gods, who, having been replaced by newer deities, were therefore hostile. Others thought that fairies were nature deities, similar to the Greek nymphs nymph , in Greek mythology, female divinity associated with various natural objects. It is uncertain whether they were immortal or merely long-lived. There was an infinite variety of nymphs. Some represented various localities, e.g.
Still others identified fairies with the souls of the dead, particularly the unbaptized, or with fallen angels angel , [Gr.,=messenger], bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions. Angels appear frequently in the Bible, often in critical roles, e.g.
Among their many guises, fairies have been described as tiny, wizen-faced old men, like the Irish leprechaun leprechaun , Irish fairy represented as a tiny old man. Leprechauns are mischievous and elusive creatures, said to possess buried crocks of gold, the location of which they will reveal if forced.
As beautiful enchantresses who wooed men to their deaths, like Morgan le Fay and the Lorelei Lorelei , cliff, 433 ft (132 m) high, on the right bank of the Rhine River, near St. Goarshausen, W Germany, about midway between Koblenz and Bingen. There the Rhine forms a dangerous narrows, and in German legend a fairy similar to the Greek Sirens lived on the rock
And as hideous, man-eating giants, like the ogre.
Fairies were frequently supposed to reside in a kingdom of their own—which might be underground, e.g., gnomes gnome , in folklore, tiny subterranean creature associated with mines and quarries. Usually represented as misshapen, frequently as hunchbacked, gnomes are said to be guardians of hidden treasures.

In the sea, e.g., mermaids mermaid, in folklore, sea-dwelling creature commonly represented as having the head and body of a woman and a fishtail instead of legs. Belief in mermaids, and in their counterpart, mermen, has existed since earliest times.
In an enchanted part of the forest; or in some far land. Sometimes they were ruled by a king or queen, as were the trolls in Ibsen's Peer Gynt and the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Although fairies were usually represented as mischievous, capricious, and even demonic, they could also be loving and bountiful, as the fairy godmother in Cinderella, heroine of one of the most famous folktales in the world. She is rescued from a life of drudgery by her fairy godmother and eventually marries a handsome prince.
Sometimes fairies entered into love affairs with mortals, but usually such liaisons involved some restriction or compact and frequently ended in calamity, as did those of Melusine and Undine.
Various peoples have emphasized particular kinds of fairies in their folklore, such as the Arabic jinni jinni , feminine jinniyah , plural jinn , in Arabic and Islamic folklore, spirit or demon endowed with supernatural power. In ancient belief the jinn were associated with the destructive forces of nature.
Scandinavian troll , in Scandinavian folklore, dwarfish or gigantic creature of caves and hills. Variously friendly or malicious, trolls toiled as smiths. The mountain king in Ibsen's Peer Gynt is a troll.
Germanic elf, in Germanic mythology, a type of fairy. Usually represented as tiny people, elves are said to dwell in forests, in the sea, and in the air. Although they can be friendly to man, they are more frequently vengeful and mischievous.
And English pixie, in English folklore, spirit or fairy. The pixie is commonly represented as a mischievous imp who delights in flustering young maidens and leading travelers astray.
Among the great adapters of fairy lore into popular fairy tales were Charles Perrault, Charles , 1628–1703, French poet. His collections of eight fairy tales, Histoires ou contes du temps passé [stories or tales of olden times] (1697) gave classic form to the traditional stories of Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella.
The brothers Grimm Grimm, Jakob , 1785–1863, German philologist and folklorist, a founder of comparative philology. His interest in the relationship among Germanic languages led to his formulation of Grimm's law.
And Hans Christian Andersen Andersen, Hans Christian, 1805–75, Danish poet, novelist, and writer of fairy tales. Reared in poverty, he left Odense at 14 for Copenhagen. He failed as an actor, but his poetry won him generous patrons including King Frederick VI.
Other notable contributors were Andrew Lang Lang, Andrew, 1844–1912, English scholar and man of letters, b. Scotland. His poetry, much of it written in the forms of ballades, triolets, and rondeaux, appeared in such volumes as his Ballads in Blue China (2 vol., 1880–81).
And James Stephens Stephens, James, 1882–1950, Irish poet and fiction writer, b. Dublin. One of the leading figures of the Irish literary renaissance, Stephens is best known for his fanciful and highly colored prose writings—The Crock of Gold (1912), The Demi.

Sabtu, 4 Disember 2010

Sekuntum Bunga Kenangan



Walaupun zaman kanak-kanak telah berlalu, namun cerita-cerita dongeng yang pernah dibaca masih kekal dalam ingatan. Bermula dari bangku sekolah rendah, setelah menguasai asas membaca, memang saya tidak pernah melepaskan peluang meminjam satu demi satu buku cerita di perpustakaan. Rasanya habis semua buku di perpustakaan Sekolah Kebangsaan Dato Maharaja Lela, Jeram, Selangor telah dibaca. Tidak cukup dengan buku-buku yang tersedia di situ, kesempatan diambil untuk menjadi ahli perpustakaan bergerak pula.


Siang malam saya membaca pelbagai buku cerita termasuk siri penyiasatan Lima Sekawan, Tujuh Perisik oleh Enid Blyton, Siri Hardy Boys, Siri Salma, Siri Nancy Drew, cerita-cerita dongeng dari seluruh dunia dan selagi ia bernama buku cerita, memang itulah makanan utama saya.


Saya sanggup berjalan di bawah panas terik sejauh 4 batu semata-mata untuk meminjam dan memulangkan buku di perpustakaan. Apabila lampu kehabisan minyak, saya tetap meneruskan bacaan di bawah cahaya bulan yang suram....oh...bayangkan pada masa tersebut, media pandang dengar seperti televisyen belum menguasai kehidupan awal saya kerana keluarga tidak mempunyai kemampuan untuk membelinya. Jadi, tidak hairanlah sekiranya bahan bacaan menjadi tumpuan utama. Walaupun masih di peringkat sekolah rendah tetapi saya mampu menghabiskan bahan bacaan kesusasteraan peringkat SPM milik kakak saya. Setelah dewasa barulah saya menyedari bahawa membaca bukan sahaja untuk menimba ilmu pengetahun malah dapat merangsang imaginasi  dan otak kita mampu meneroka ke alam lain selain alam kenyataan yang sedang dilalui.
Sebuah kenangan paling indah yang tidak mungkin dapat saya lupakan berlaku pada tahun 1979. Ketika itu  saya berada di dalam darjah 5 Kuning. Guru kelas saya bernama Cikgu Rosman. Beliau mengumumkan dalam kelas bahawa satu pertandingan bercerita akan diadakan sempena Minggu Perpustakaan sekolah kami. Dua orang murid dari kelas kami dipilih untuk menyertai pertandingan tersebut. Malangnya saya tidak terpilih. Saya hanya memendam rasa rendah diri dan malu untuk menyatakannya kepada Cikgu Rosman. Tiba pada hari pertandingan, salah seorang peserta dari kelas saya menarik diri kerana kurang bersedia. Cikgu Rosman kelihatan sangat kecewa. Seorang demi seorang dalam kalangan kami ditanya oleh Cikgu Rosman....semuanya menyatakan tidak sanggup. Apabila soalan diajukan kepada saya.... saya terus menyetujuinya dengan rasa penuh yakin walaupun tanpa sebarang persediaan dan pertandingan akan dimulakan dalam tempoh setengah jam. Cikgu Rosman meminta Saripah, rakan baik saya menemani saya ke bilik pertandingan. Berbekalkan keyakinan dan memang sudah tersimpan pelbagai cerita di dalam kotak fikir saya, saya hanya memilih sahaja cerita yang benar-benar menarik pada perkiraan saya. Saya masih ingat lagi, seramai 30 orang peserta menyertai pertandingan tersebut dan dengan tangan terketar-ketar menggigil sejuk ketakutan saya mencabut undi...ah .. tempat ke 11.
Saya menyaksikan 10 peserta telah menyampaikan cerita dengan gaya persembahan yang baik dan menarik. Rasa gugup kian terasa kerana menjadi 'bidan terjun'.

Bismillah...saya melangkah ke tengah gelanggang...... pada zaman dahulu, terdapat seorang raja........dan sebenarnya cerita tersebut saya beri tajuk sendiri, kisah bercampuraduk menjadi versi terbaru bertajuk Puteri Cempaka. Wah....sungguh saya tidak sangka, Cikgu Rosman pun tidak menduga,  apabila saya diumumkan sebagai pemenang tempat pertama! Saya pulang ke rumah dengan penuh debaran... menunjukkan kepada emak dan ayah, sebuah buku bertajuk Hayatnya Tinggal Sepuluh Minit Sahaja tulisan Syahidan Mohd.Noh...  hadiah saya sebagai pemenang pertandingan bercerita.... dan saya mengharapkan emak dan ayah tidak lagi memarahi saya kerana kata mereka saya membuang masa dengan sia-sia membaca buku cerita....