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Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel
About Author
Nissim Ezekiel was born on 16th December 1924 in Mumbai. His father, Moses Ezekiel taught Botany at Wilson College while his mother was a principal of her own school. The family belonged to the ‘Bene Israel’ community, a Marathi- speaking Jewish community in Mumbai. Ezekiel completed his BA in English literature in 1947 from Wilson College, University of Mumbai and thereafter he taught literature and published several literary articles. Ezekiel then studied philosophy at Birbeck College, London after sailing to England in 1948. Ezekiel joined The Illustrated Weekly of India in the post of an assistant editor in 1953 where he worked for two years. He has also worked as a broadcaster on art and literature in All India Radio. Nissim Ezekiel married Daisy Jacob in the year 1952. He was the head of the department of English from 1961 to 1972 at Mithibai College in Bombay. His next collection of poetry is The Deadly Man in 1960, followed by The Exact Name in 1965. Ezekiel was also a visiting professor at University of Leeds in 1964 and University of Pondicherry in 1967. Later in 1967 in collaboration with Vrinda Nabar, Ezekiel translated poems of Jawaharlal Nehru from Marathi. One of his famous poems ‘The Night of the Scorpion’ which has a taste of Indianness is included in the course material of schools as well as colleges.
Summary
The poem Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel is about an incident that the poet has not forgotten in his life. It was a night when a scorpion bit his mother and all the superstitious villagers did irrational things rather than helping her.T he poem exposes the superstitions that dominate the minds of Indians and also the motherhood of a lady who just only of her children even in the worst condition. The poem has no rhyme scheme. It has eight stanzas with a different number of lines in each.
Stanza 1
In stanza 1, the poet says that he remembers well that night when her mother was stung by a scorpion. The poet is of the views that the heavy rain, which lasted for 10 hours, made the scorpion crawl beneath a sack of rice. The last phrase shows the poet’s sympathy towards the scorpion.
Stanza 2
In stanza 2, the poet says that after biting his mother with its monstrous tail, the scorpion went back to rain outside again. The poet here shows sympathy as well as anger towards the scorpion. He is angry when he talks about its biting and sympathetic when he talks about its going to rain again.
Stanza 3
Hearing about the incident, the villagers rush to the poet’s home. However, he is not happy with them and calls them swarms of flies who buzz the name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.
Stanza 4
The poet then explains how the villagers searched for the scorpion. According to him, the villagers began searching for the scorpion and their shadows themselves seemed to be like a giant scorpion on the mud-baked walls. The villagers begin searching for the scorpion because they believe that the poison spreads across the body with the movement of scorpion so if the latter is stopped and paralysed, the poison effect can also be controlled. This is a superstition knows that well. This is why he hates the coming of villagers to his home.
Stanza 5
Having failed in finding the scorpion, they begin giving their own interpretation to the biting of the scorpion. Some of them said that his mother’s sins, which she committed in her previous birth (as believed in Hinduism), have been forgiven. The others assumed that she is going to die and said that the pain that she is suffering from will decrease the troubles in her next birth. Some others put forward that her good deeds will be balanced against her bad deeds because of the bite of the scorpion.
Stanza 6
Some others said that the poison will purify and refresh her flesh of desire and her spirit of ambition. All of them seemed to be in peace because of their thoughts.
Stanza 7
More and more people come with candles & lanterns. His mother is however crying and rolling on the mat with severe pain but nobody cares for her except for his father who is a sceptic, rationalist. He leaves no stone unturned to cure her. He uses powder, mixture, herb and hybrid to help her recover from the pain. He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and then fires it up. The poet watches the flames of fire burning on the skin of his mother. He also watches the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation. The phrase again refers to superstitious people of his village who believe in irrational measures to cure a person. His mother ultimately recovers from the poison after 24 hours.
Stanza 8
The last line is quite emotional and heart touching. It reflects the motherhood of a lady. The poet says that after recovering from the poison, his mother’s words were Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children. Even in such condition, his mother remains more concerned about the safety and health of her children.
सरांश नेपालीमा
निसिम इजेकिएलको कविता नाइट अफ द स्कर्पियन कविले आफ्नो जीवनमा नबिर्सेको घटनाको बारेमा हो। एक रात बिच्छीले टोकेको थियो र सबै अन्धविश्वासी गाउँलेहरूले उनलाई सहयोग गर्नुको सट्टा तर्कहीन कामहरू गरे।कविताले भारतीयहरूको मनमा हावी हुने अन्धविश्वास र सबैभन्दा खराब अवस्थामा पनि आफ्ना बच्चाहरूमध्ये एक मात्र भएकी महिलाको मातृत्वलाई उजागर गरेको छ। कवितामा कुनै ताल योजना छैन। यसमा आठ श्लोकहरू छन् जसमा प्रत्येकमा फरक संख्याको हरफहरू छन्।
श्लोक १
श्लोक १ मा, कवि भन्छन् कि उनको आमालाई बिच्छीले डसेको त्यो रात राम्रोसँग याद छ। १० घण्टासम्म परेको भीषण वर्षाले बिच्छीलाई धानको बोरामुनि सर्ने गरेको कविको धारणा छ । अन्तिम वाक्यांशले बिच्छीप्रति कविको सहानुभूति देखाउँछ।
श्लोक २
श्लोक २ मा, कवि भन्छन् कि आमालाई आफ्नो राक्षसी पुच्छरले टोकेपछि बिच्छी फेरि बाहिर पानीमा गयो। यहाँ कविले बिच्छीप्रति सहानुभूति र क्रोध पनि देखाउँछन्। आफ्नो टोक्ने कुरा गर्दा उनी रिसाउँछन् र फेरि पानी पर्ने कुरा गर्दा सहानुभूति दिन्छन्।
श्लोक ३
घटनाको खबर सुनेर गाउँलेहरु कविको घरमा पुगेका थिए । तथापि, उहाँ तिनीहरूसँग खुसी हुनुहुन्न र तिनीहरूलाई झिंगाको झुण्ड भनेर बोलाउनुहुन्छ जसले शैतानलाई हलचन नगर्नको लागि सयौं पटक परमेश्वरको नाम जप्छन ।
श्लोक ४
त्यसपछि कविले गाउँलेहरूले बिच्छीलाई कसरी खोजे भनेर वर्णन गर्छन्। उनका अनुसार गाउँलेहरूले बिच्छी खोज्न थालेपछि माटोको भित्तामा ठुलो बिच्छी जस्तो छांया जस्तो देखिन्थियो । बिच्छीको चलखेलले शरीरभरि विष फैलन्छ त्यसैले बिच्छीलाई रोकेर पक्षाघात भएमा विषको प्रभावलाई पनि नियन्त्रण गर्न सकिन्छ भन्ने विश्वास भएकाले गाउँले बिच्छी खोज्न थालेका छन् । यो एक अन्धविश्वास हो जुन राम्रोसँग थाहा छ। यही कारणले उनलाई गाउँलेहरु घरमा आएको मन पर्दैन ।
श्लोक ५
बिच्छी भेट्टाउन नसकेपछि उनीहरु बिच्छीले टोक्ने कुराको आफ्नै व्याख्या दिन थाल्छन् । तिनीहरूमध्ये कतिपयले भने कि उनकी आमाको पाप, जुन उनले आफ्नो अघिल्लो जन्ममा गरे (हिन्दू धर्ममा अनुसार) माफ भएको छ। अरुले मर्नै लागेको ठानेर आफुले भोगिरहेको पीडाले अर्को जन्ममा दुःख कम हुने बताए । कतिपयले भने बिच्छीको टोकाइका कारण उसको नराम्रो कामको विरुद्धमा उसको राम्रो काम सन्तुलित हुने बताए ।
श्लोक ६
कतिपयले भने कि विषले उनको शरीरको इच्छा र महत्वाकांक्षाको भावनालाई शुद्ध र ताजा बनाउँछ। सबैले आ-आफ्ना विचारले शान्ति पाएको देखिन्थ्यो।
श्लोक ७
धेरै भन्दा धेरै मानिसहरू मैनबत्ती र लालटेन लिएर आउँछन्। उनकी आमा तैपनि बेस्सरी पीडाले चटाइमा लड्दै रोइरहेकी छिन् तर शंकास्पद, तर्कवादी बुबा बाहेक उनको कसैले वास्ता गर्दैनन्। उनलाई निको पार्न उनले कुनै कसर बाँकी राख्दैनन् । उनले पीडाबाट निको हुन मद्दत गर्न पाउडर, मिश्रण, जडीबुटी प्रयोग गर्छन्। उसले काटेको खुट्टामा अलिकति प्याराफिन खन्यायो र त्यसपछि आगो लगाइयो। कविले आफ्नी आमाको छालामा बलिरहेको आगोको ज्वाला हेर्नुहुन्छ। उनले मन्त्रद्वारा विषलाई वशमा पार्न पवित्र मानिसले आफ्नो संस्कार गरेको पनि हेर्छन्। यो वाक्यांशले फेरि आफ्नो गाउँका अन्धविश्वासी मानिसहरूलाई जनाउँछ जो व्यक्तिलाई निको पार्ने तर्कहीन उपायहरूमा विश्वास गर्छन्। उनकी आमा २४ घण्टापछि विषबाट निको हुन्छिन् ।
श्लोक ८
अन्तिम पङ्क्ति धेरै भावुक र हृदय छुने छ। यसले महिलाको मातृत्व झल्काउँछ। कवि भन्छन्, विषबाट निको भइसकेपछि आमाको भनाइ थियो भगवानलाई धन्यवाद बिच्छीले मलाई टोक्यो र छोराछोरीलाई बचायो । यस्तो अवस्थामा पनि उनकी आमा आफ्ना छोराछोरीको सुरक्षा र स्वास्थ्यप्रति बढी चिन्तित रहन्छिन् ।
Read the poem again and answer the following questions.
a) What had forced the scorpion to come in hiding?
= The regular rain for the hours had forced the scorpion to come in hiding.
b) Describe the situation in which the narrator’s mother was stung by the scorpion.
= It was a rainy night; therefore, due to rain, a scorpion entered the house and hid itself in the sack of the rice. As the mother went near the sack, it stung her toe and she had to bear terrible pain of its poison.
c) The poem presents a lively surrounding of the people. What kind of people came there to save the narrator’s mother?
= This poem presents a lively surrounding of the people who came to the narrator’s house they were conservative but simple and helpful.
d) How do people console themselves when the scorpion bite takes the life of a mother?
= People consoled themselves when the scorpion bite took the life of a mother by telling that her sin of the previous life was wiped out, her body got purified by the poison and her sin of her next birth would balance.
e) The narrator’s father is introduced as a sceptic man. What actions or words of him proved that he was sceptic? Justify.
= The narrator’s father is introduced as a sceptic man because he was rationalist and tried to judge the effects of curses, and blessing.
f) The rural setting and the ignorant people resemble with those of Nepal. What pictures will you quote to justify the answer?
= The rural setting and the ignorant people resemble the rural status of Nepal. It is reflected in the poem through the expressions such as ‘the scorpion hid itself under the sack of rice, people went to the narrator’s house with candles and lanterns, people seem to be conservative and performed some rites to avoid the effect of the poison of the scorpion.
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