I bought this book for Rp.10.000,- from a bookstore in Pasar Festival. It was published in 1966, and the previous owner name -as handwritten in the upper right corner of the first page- was Oey Tek Sian, 8-11-66.

As the title says, it is a story of a girl named Emilia. She was beautiful but poor. Emi and her mother lived in a poor shack they rented for Rp.50,-/month. Emi’s boyfriend, Herman, was not rich, but he was a hard worker and often helped the family by giving them money from his petite salary. Herman loved Emi very much and always tried his best to make her happy.

‘Karena hari itu adalah hari minggu, maka penonton jang mengundjungi bioskop Kramat ramai sekali. Kelas tiga dan dua telah habis terdjual. Herman membeli kartjis kelas satu dua helai.
"Sebaiknja tak kau beli kartjis itu, sebab harganya mahal benar."
"Bukannja aku kelewat boros, tapi sekali-kali boleh-kan kita menonton dikelas satu."
Emi tidak berkata lagi.’

After her high school graduation, Emi got acquainted with Rasjid, a very rich man who promised to give her a job in his father’s company. In their first meeting, Rasjid took her for a lunch in a fancy restaurant.

‘Si-pemuda lantas memesan makanan banjak sekali.
Baru pertama kali Emi makan masakan mahal, dirasakannja lezat sekali, hingga ia makan tjukup banjak.
Djumlah seluruhnya jang dimakan adalah seribu rupiah lebih.’

Turned that Rasjid had fallen in love with her. He rented a small house for Emi and her mother for Rp.12.500,-/month. Emi’s mother refused to go with her to the new house. After Emi left, the mother fainted and then died of disappointment. Herman took care of all the arrangement.

A few months after that, Emi came back for her mother, only to find that she was already died. The sadness and guilty feeling made her turn to alcohol. She drank and went clubbing every night till dawn.

When she found out that she was pregnant, Rasjid left her a note, telling that he had to leave her to marry Miss Elly Sjarif, the daughter of his father’s business partner. For her expenses, Rasjid left her Rp.10.000,-.

Emi fainted after reading the letter and she got miscarriage. Left without any source of income, Emi met another girl, Lusi, who intruded her to the world of bar girls. Thus, Emilia became a bar girl.

Years went by, and she was getting old. Once she was the most sought-after bar girl, but then she was just one of the old bar girls. Until one night she met Herman, who had become a rich businessman in such a young age. Emi asked Herman to take her to his house.

‘Rumah Herman mewah sekali, mereka duduk diatas ruang tamu jang prabotnya serba lux.’

Emi apologized for leaving Herman years ago. To her surprise, Heman told her that he had never hated her, that he still loved her the whole time. They hold each other and went to bed together.

"Tidak, aku tak pertjaja kau bisa mentjintai seorang wanita perokok, peminum, pendjudi, dan jang pernah mengadakan hubungan sex dengan ratusan laki2 hingga beberapa kali ia harus menggugurkan kandungannja!"

The next day Herman woke up to find that Emi had gone. She had left a note, saying that she’d be already dead when Herman read the note. Emi said that she felt relieved after the forgiveness, but she was not good for Herman.

Herman was trying to look for Emi when a paperboy announced the news of an unknown woman found dead because of suicide near djalan Gadjahmada. It was Emilia the bar girl.

‘Sesuai dengan permintaan Emi, djenazahnya dikubur disamping makam ibunja.
Herman berdjalan pulang dengan langkah lesu.’

The moral lesson of this story is stated by the author in the introduction:

‘Harapan penulis, semoga kisah ini mendjadi bahan renungan bagi laki2 beruang, djanganlah kau merusak kehidupn seorang gadis jang masih sutji bersih hanja untuk kesenangan pribadimu. Bagi wanita, terutama para gadis, djangan sampai terkena rajuan manis serta dibikin silau oleh harta benda sampai anda lupa diri dan memaserahkan diri pada si-hidung belang/bandot dengan begitu sadja. Dalam hal ini pengawasan orang tua djuga amat diperlukan dalam memberikan nasehat dan bimbingan !’

Oh I had such a hilarious time reading this, though I’m sure that the writer didn’t meant it to be that way.

TAMAT