ErichEko ⟹⭐ May 21, 2012:

Prihatin could be self inflicting Hidup prihatin is not necessarily imposed by external factors. Even if she was cast out by her husband, you should check first whether hidup prihatin was by choice (like a prince cast out by a witch; he chose to live as a peasant to gather strength/resources for fighting back later rather than raised arms and fought back - a common fairy tale) or not.

Many Javanese are used to live prihatin to obtain a big gain later. Some does "puasa mutih" for example, eating only rice for breakfast and lunch. This lelakon/laku (pious practice) is believed to be favored by God, so He'll give the doer a blessing.

Budi Suryadi- May 21, 2012:

Kalau dulu saya tak dalam (keadaan) prihatin If I were not under duress at the time ... (dalam keadaan prihatin = to be under duress)

Catherine Muir (asker) May 21, 2012:

Hikmat, thank you for your rephrasing... Combining your suggestion and Helmy's, I have come up with the following (taking a bit of poetic license at the end): "If only I had not been in such desperate circumstances, I would not have needed to work as a houseboy and then as a maid at the Simpang Inn in Surabaya, and if only Anton Esobier had not so closely resembled my own son who had just died, I might not have become so attached to him, and if only I had not made a promise to his dying mother when she was undergoing treatment in Surabaya... Yes, Sondari, it's easy now for me to say 'if only', but at the time, I had no choice."

Perhaps one of you would submit an answer along the lines of 'were not in such desperate circumstances', I can award some points for your efforts.

Hikmat Gumilar May 21, 2012:

Paraphrase Seandainya saja dulu hidup saya tidak susah, saya tidak perlu harus jadi pesuruh dan pembantu di losmen Simpang Surabaya, seandainya saja wajah sinyo Anton Esobier tidak serupa dengan anak saya yang baru meninggal, saya mungkin tidak akan sayang padanya, seandainya saja saya tidak berjanji pada nyonya Esobier, mungkin yang dibedah di Surabaya adalah Sondari itu... mudah mengatakannya tapi berat melakukannya.

that sounds logical to me.. CMIIW

Catherine Muir (asker) May 21, 2012:

Helmy, I think you are correct... Here is the complete sentence: "Kalau dulu saya tak dalam prihatin, sampai menyamar jadi jongos kemudian jadi babu di losmen “Simpang” Surabaya, kalau pada ketika itu saya tak sayang pada sinyo Anton Esobier, yang hampir serupa dengan anak saya yang baru meninggal, kalau waktu itu tiada berjanji pada nyonya Esobier, yang dibedah di Surabaya, ya, Sondari . . . . ya mudah mengatakan, berat merasakan."
I think she is saying 'If I hadn't been in desperate straits...' Please submit your suggestion as an answer.

ria ulfah ardhiyani May 21, 2012:

I agree with Pak Helmy, it is a conditional sentence

Helmy Ismail Sani May 21, 2012:

Conditional sentence I think it is a conditional sentence (type 2). So, it should be "If I were not in hot water..."

Wiyanto Suroso May 21, 2012:

A complete sentence Could you kindly give a complete sentence containing the phrase 'tak dalam prihatin'?

Catherine Muir (asker) May 21, 2012:

seems counter-intutive... The word 'tak' here is confusing to me. Clearly, she is referring to a time when she WAS in a difficult situation/in 'hot water'/in strife. I wonder why she says 'TAK dalam prihatin', rather than 'dalam prihatin'. Any ideas?