- Nissim Ezekiel -
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the Name of God a hundred
times to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the sun-baked walls
they searched for him; he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement the scorpion made
his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said.
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
Of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the center.
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbors,
more insects and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites
to tame the poison with incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
My mother only said:
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
and spared my children.
Summary
The poem is about the night when the poet's mother is stung by a scorpion, which was hiding behind a sack of rice in his house. The scorpion was sheltering from ten hours of continuous rain, but after biting the poet's mother, it again went out in the rain. The neighbors poured into her hut to offer advice and help. Some were chanting, prayers, some were looking for the scorpion, some were sitting with the mother. All sorts of cures were tried by the neighbors, her husband and the local priest, but it seemed as if only time proved to be the best healer. After twenty hours, the mother's suffering came to an end. Even after all this, the mother thanked God that the scorpion had picked her spared her and spared her children.
कविता उस रात के बारे में है जब कवि की माँ एक बिच्छू द्वारा डंक मारती है, जो अपने घर में चावल की बोरी के पीछे छिपा था। दस घंटे की लगातार बारिश से बिच्छू आश्रय कर रहा था, लेकिन कवि की मां के काटने के बाद, यह फिर से बारिश में निकल गया। पड़ोसियों ने सलाह और मदद की पेशकश करने के लिए उसे अपनी झोपड़ी में डाला। कुछ जप, प्रार्थना कर रहे थे, कुछ बिच्छू की तलाश कर रहे थे, कुछ माँ के साथ बैठे थे। पड़ोसियों, उसके पति और स्थानीय पुजारी द्वारा सभी प्रकार के इलाज की कोशिश की गई थी, लेकिन ऐसा लग रहा था कि केवल समय ही सबसे अच्छा उपचारक साबित हुआ। बीस घंटे के बाद, माँ की पीड़ा समाप्त हो गई। इतना सब होने के बाद भी, माँ ने भगवान को धन्यवाद दिया कि बिच्छू ने उसे बख्श दिया और उसके बच्चों को बख्श दिया।