Perihal tukang rumah, tukang kebun dan wanita sebagai mangsa lelaki

Paulo Coelho dalam prologue, novel “Brida” (Paulo Coelhoe: Brida, Harper, 2008) antara lain bercerita begini:

“That’s a risk we’re now going to take together, Brida. An anonymous text from the Traditions says that, in life, each person can take one of the two attitudes: to build or to plant. The builders might take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they are doing. Then they find they’re hemmed in by their own walls. Life loses its meaning when the building stops.

Then they are those who plant. They endure storms and all the many vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest. But, unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the garderner’s constant attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure.

Gardeners always recognise each other, because they know that in the history of each plant lies the growth of the whole World.”

Tentang lelaki dalam kehidupannya, ini yang dialami Brida:

“She’d had several boyfriends and had always believed that she loved each one, only to see love vanish from one moment to the next. Of all the things she had experienced until then, love had been the most difficult. Just then, she was in love with someone slightly older than herself; he was studying physics and had a completely different vision of the world from hers. Once again, she was putting her belief in love, trusting her feelings, but she’d been disappointed so often that she was no longer sure of anything. Nevertheless, this was the great gamble of her life.”

Sementara Pak Samad dalam “Dari Salina ke Langit Petang” (A Samad Said: “Dari Salina ke Langit Petang, Wira Bukit, 2008) menulis begini:

“Kisah yang ketiga ialah tentang kebahagiaan bagi wanita. Seorang watak cuba memulai hidupnya dengan semudah mungkin – mencari seorang lelaki yang sekira-kira dapat menyarainya, dapat membahagiakannya. Sebagai balasnya, dia tidak teragak-agak untuk memberikan apa saja yang ada pada dirinya. Salahnya, dia terlalu mempercayai manusia, dan memberikan dulu upahnya sebelum mendapatkan kebahagiaan yang dicarinya. Peristiwa ini berulang lebih daripada tiga kali, menjadikannya cepat dewasa dan pendendam pula. Sejak itu, dia mencari kebahagiaan dengan caranya sendiri − ... ” (halaman 94 )

Dalam konteks ini, entah kenapa saya jadi teringat akan Sdr Azizi Abdullah, dengan sekian banyak novelnya itu. Adakah watak ‘lelaki baik-baik’nya telah dipermain-mainkan oleh wanita? Tak ada? Ada?

Atau memang benarlah sepertimana yang diungkapkan oleh Suzanna dalam filem, “Bernafas dalam Lumpur” bahawa sesungguhya lelaki itu adalah anjing!?

Ya, menarik juga.