The Fortune-Tellers
A free B2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A fraudulent fortune-teller becomes wealthy by fooling people who want to hear comforting lies — and her reputation proves so powerful that her successor profits too.
Reputations may be made by the merest chances, and yet reputations control the fashions. That is a little prologue that would fit the case of all sorts of people. Everywhere around one sees prejudices, scheming, and obtuseness; but little or no justice. Nothing can be done to stem this torrent of evil. It must run its course. It always has been and always will be.
Reputasi bisa dibangun oleh kebetulan belaka, namun reputasi mengendalikan tren yang berlaku. Itulah sedikit pembuka yang cocok untuk kasus segala jenis orang. Di mana-mana orang melihat prasangka, tipu daya, dan kebodohan; tetapi sedikit atau bahkan tak ada keadilan. Tak ada yang bisa dilakukan untuk membendung banjir kejahatan ini. Ia harus mengalir hingga selesai. Selalu begitu dan akan selalu begitu.
A woman in Paris once made it her profession to tell fortunes. She became very popular and had great success. Did anybody lose a bit of finery; had any one a sweetheart; had any wife a husband she was tired of; any husband a jealous wife, to the prophetess such would run simply to be told the thing that it was comforting to hear.
Seorang wanita di Paris pernah menjadikan meramal nasib sebagai profesinya. Ia menjadi sangat populer dan meraih kesuksesan besar. Apakah seseorang kehilangan perhiasan; apakah seseorang punya kekasih; apakah seorang istri punya suami yang membuatnya bosan; apakah seorang suami punya istri yang cemburu, kepada sang peramal semua orang itu datang, hanya untuk diberi tahu hal yang menenangkan untuk didengar.
The stock-in-trade of this fortune-teller consisted merely of a convincing manner, a few words of scientific jargon, a great deal of impudence, and much good luck. All these things together so impressed the people that as often as not they would cry, "Miraculous!" In short, although the woman's ignorance was quite twenty-three carat she passed for a veritable oracle.
Modal utama peramal nasib ini hanyalah sikap meyakinkan, beberapa kata jargon ilmiah, banyak kelancangan, dan banyak keberuntungan. Semua hal ini bersama-sama begitu memukau orang-orang sehingga mereka sering berseru, "Ajaib!" Singkatnya, meski kebodohan wanita itu sungguh nyata seratus persen, ia dianggap sebagai peramal sejati.
Notwithstanding the fact that this oracle only lived in a garret, she found so many ready to pay her well for her shams that she soon grew rich enough to improve the position of her husband, to rent an office, and buy a house.
Meski demikian, peramal ini hanya tinggal di sebuah loteng, ia menemukan begitu banyak orang yang bersedia membayarnya mahal untuk tipuannya sehingga ia segera menjadi cukup kaya untuk memperbaiki kedudukan suaminya, menyewa kantor, dan membeli rumah.
The garret being left empty was shortly tenanted by another woman to whom all the town—women, girls, valets, fine gentlemen—everybody in fact swarmed, as before, to consult their destiny. The former tenant had built up such a reputation that the garret was still a sibyl's den, in spite of the fact that quite a different creature dwelt in it.
Loteng yang ditinggalkannya kosong itu segera ditempati oleh wanita lain, yang kepadanya seluruh kota—para wanita, gadis-gadis, pelayan, pria-pria terhormat—semua orang berbondong-bondong datang, seperti sebelumnya, untuk berkonsultasi tentang nasib mereka. Penghuni sebelumnya telah membangun reputasi sedemikian rupa sehingga loteng itu tetap menjadi sarang peramal, meski yang tinggal di dalamnya adalah makhluk yang sama sekali berbeda.
"I tell fortunes? Surely you're joking! Why, gentlemen, I cannot read, and as for writing, I never learnt more than to make my mark." But these disclaimers were useless. People insisted on having their fortunes told, and she had to do it. In consequence, she put by plenty of money, being able to earn, in spite of herself, quite as much as two lawyers could. The poverty of her home was a help rather than a hindrance. Four broken chairs and a broom-handle savoured of a witch's frolic.
"Aku meramal nasib? Pasti kau bercanda! Tuan-tuan, aku bahkan tak bisa membaca, dan soal menulis, aku hanya belajar membubuhkan tanda tanganku." Tetapi penyangkalan ini sia-sia. Orang-orang bersikeras ingin diramal nasibnya, dan ia pun harus melakukannya. Akibatnya, ia menyimpan banyak uang, mampu menghasilkan, meski tanpa ia kehendaki, sebanyak yang bisa dihasilkan dua orang pengacara. Kemiskinan rumahnya justru menjadi bantuan, bukan halangan. Empat kursi patah dan sebatang gagang sapu terasa seperti perlengkapan pesta penyihir.
If this woman had told the truth in a room well-furnished she would have been scorned. The fashion for a garret had set in, and garret it must be.
Jika wanita ini mengatakan kebenaran di ruangan yang serba mewah, ia pasti akan dihina. Tren loteng sudah terlanjur populer, dan loteng itu harus tetap ada.
In her new chambers the first fortune-teller waited in vain; for it was the outward sign alone that brought customers, and the sign was poverty.
Di ruangan barunya, peramal pertama menunggu dengan sia-sia; sebab hanya tanda lahiriah yang menarik pelanggan, dan tandanya adalah kemiskinan.
I have seen in a palace a robe worn awry win much distinction and success, such crowds of followers and adherents did it draw. You may well ask me why!
Aku pernah melihat di sebuah istana, sehelai jubah yang dikenakan secara sembarangan justru meraih kekaguman dan kesuksesan besar, begitu banyak pengikut dan penggemar yang ditariknya. Kau boleh saja bertanya mengapa!
