Di sebuah desa, ada seorang wanita muda yang tinggal di rumah kayu yang kecil, bernama Wati. Sehari-hari dia membuat roti dan menjualnya ke pasar. Terkadang rotinya tidak habis terjual, namun ia tidak pernah mengeluh sama sekali.
In a village, there was a young woman who lived in a small wooden house, named Wati. Every day she makes bread and sells it to the market. Sometimes her breads didn ‘t sell out, but she never complained at all.
Pada suatu hari, saat sedang berjualan roti di pasar, Wati melihat seekor kucing kotor dan kurus mengeong meminta makanan. Banyak orang menendang dan mengusir kucing malang tersebut, tetapi Wati merasa kasihan dan memberinya sepotong roti. Kucing tersebut memakannya dengan lahap. Lalu Wati membawa pulang kucing tersebut untuk tinggal bersamanya.
One day, while selling the bread at the market, Wati saw a dirty and skinny cat asking for food. Many people kicked and chased the poor cat, but Wati felt sorry and gave it a piece of bread. The cat ate it hungrily. Then Wati brought the cat home to live with her.
Wati merawat kucing itu dengan baik hingga kucing tersebut kembali sehat dan gemuk. Ia menamai kucing itu ‘Manis’. Wati sering menyisihkan uang untuk membeli makanan untuk kucing tersebut, walau terkadang ia pun hanya makan seadanya.
Wati took good care of the cat until the cat was healthy and fat again. She named the cat ‘Manis’. Wati frequently set aside her money for buying some food for the cat, even though she ate modestly.
Satu bulan berlalu. Di pasar, Wati melihat selembar kertas pengumuman di dinding tentang seseorang yang mencari kucing yang hilang dan ada gambar Manis di pengumuman itu. Wati sangat senang karena Manis mempunyai pemilik, tetapi dia juga sedih karena harus berpisah dengan kucing tersebut.
A month passed. At the market, Wati saw a piece of paper on the wall about someone looking for a lost cat and there was a picture of Manis on the announcement. Wati was very happy that Manis had an owner, but she was also sad because she had to separate with the cat.
Keesokan harinya, Wati membawa Manis kepada pemiliknya yang ternyata adalah seorang wanita tua bernama Nyi Kasmirah dan tinggal di rumah yang sangat besar. Nyi Kasmirah memberikan Wati sekantong emas sebagai imbalan. Wati menolaknya, lalu berpamitan. Manis terus mengeong seperti tidak ingin berpisah dengan Wati.
The next day, Wati brought Manis to its owner who apparently was an old woman named Nyi Kasmirah and lived in a very large house. Nyi Kasmirah gave Wati a bag of gold in return. Wati refused, then said goodbye. Manis kept meowing as if it didn’t want to separate with Wati.
Dua hari kemudian, Wati yang sedang duduk di depan rumahnya terkejut atas kehadiran Nyi Kasmirah dan Manis. Nyi Kasmirah sangat sedih melihat keadaan rumah Wati yang sangat kecil dengan dinding kayu yang sudah usang.
Two days later, Wati who was sitting in front of her house was surprised by the presence of Nyi Kasmirah and Manis. Nyi Kasmirah was very sad to see the condition of Wati’ s very small house with
worn wooden walls.
Nyi Kasmirah sangat ingin membantu Wati tetapi ia tahu bahwa Wati pasti tidak akan menerima uang maupun emas darinya. Tapi Nyi Kasmirah tidak kehabisan akal, lalu ia mengatakan bahwa ia membutuhkan seseorang untuk merawat kucing-kucingnya di rumah.
Nyi Kasmirah really wanted to help Wati but she knew that Wati definitely would not accept money or gold from her. But Nyi Kasmirah was not at her wits end, so she said that she needed someone to take care of her cats at home.
Wati sangat senang mendengarnya, karena dia akan punya uang untuk membeli makanan dan pakaian dan akhirnya dia akan bertemu Manis lagi dan merawatnya.
Wati was very happy to hear it, because she would has money to buy food and clothes and finally she would meet Manis again and took care of it.
