Ni

ghtoft
heScor
pion

- Ni
ssi
m Ezeki
el
Iremembert heni ghtmymot herwasst ungbyascor pi on.
Tenhour sofst eadyr ainhaddr ivenhi mt ocr awl beneat hasackofr ice.
Parti
ngwi thhi spoi sonf lashofdi abolict ailinthedar kr oom-her i
skedt her ainagai
n.
Thepeasant scamel ikeswar m off liesandbuzzedt henameofGod
ahundr edt imest opar al yset heEv i
l one.
Wi t
hcandl esandwi thl ant ernst hrowi nggi antscor pionshadowsont hesun- bakedwall
s
Theysear chedf orhi m: hewasnotf ound.
Theycl i
ckedt hei rtongues.
Wi t
hev erymov ementt hatt hescor pionmadehi spoi sonmov edinMot her’sblood,t
hey
said.
Mayhesi tst il
l;theysai d.
Mayt hesi nsofhi spr ev i
ousbi rthbebur nedawayt onight ,theysaid.
Mayy oursuf feringdecr easet hemi sfortunesofy ournextbi rt
h,theysai d.
Mayt hesum ofev i
lbal ancedi nt hisunr eal worldagai nstt hesum ofgood
becomedi mi nishedbyy ourpai n.
Mayt hepoi sonpur ifyy ourf l
eshofdesi re, andy ourspi ri
tofambi tion,theysai d,
andt heysatar oundont hef loorwi thmymot herint hecent re,
thepeaceofunder standi ngoneachf ace.
Mor ecandl es, mor elant er ns, mor enei ghbour s,mor ei nsect sandt heendl essr ai
n.
Mymot hert wi stedt hr oughandt hroughgr oani ngonamat .
Myf at her,scept ic,rational ist,try
ingev erycur seandbl essing,
powder ,mi xture, her bandhy bri
d.
Heev enpour edal i
ttl
epar affinupont hebi tt
ent oeandputamat cht oit.
Iwat cht hehol ymanper f
or m hi sr i
test ot amet hepoi sonwi thani ncantation.
Aftert went yhour sitlosti tsst ing.
Mymot heronl ysai d
ThankGodt hescor pionpi ckedonme
andspar edmychi l
dren.

“
Nightoft heScor pion”publi
shedi n‘TheExactName’ ,1965,isoneoft hefinest
poemsofNi ssim Ezeki
elandhasbeenuni versall
yadmi red,forit
sadmi r
abledepiction
ofacommonI ndi
ansi t
uat i
on,fori
t svi
vi
dandf orcefuli
mager y,f
oritsbri
ngingtogether
ofopposites,fori
tsironiccontrasts,andforthewar mt hofhumanl oveandaf f
ecti
on.It
showst hatEzekielisav eryIndianpoet,rootedi ntheIndiansoil,andacutelyawareof
thecommonhumansi t
uationsofdayt odayI ndianli
fe.

‘
Ni ghtoftheScorpi
on’i
sabr i
l
liantnar r
ati
vepoem withoutanybr eakordiv
isioninto
stanzas,exceptf
orthelastthreel i
neswhi chstandapart.Thespeakermightbet he
poethimselforanimagi
nedper sonwhospeaksi nthefi
rstperson.Wearetol
dt hathis
mot herwasstungbyascorpi
ononer ai
nynight
.Ithadbeenrai
ningconti
nuouslyforten
hour sandduri
ngthi
sti
met hescor pionhadbeenconcealedbehi ndasackofrice,such
asdoprovidehi
dingplacesforallsor
tsofv ermininatypi
calIndianhome.Butitchose
tocomeouti nt
ot her ainonceagaintodi schargethepoisoni nit
stai
l.Itstunghis
mother
.‘Fl
ashofdiabolictai
linadarkroom’ i
sasy mbolofev i
l,apowerf
ul,
v i
vi
di mage
ofevi
lwhichlur
ksi ndar kpl
aceshiddenfrom theeye.Itdoesi t
swor ki
naf lash,and
thenr
etr
eats.

Themot her ,ofcourse, i

nallIndi anhomesi st hebelovedofal l
,andsoal lar
eanxi oust o
bri
ngherqui ckrel
ief.Thepeasant s,theirneighbours,comei nl argenumber s,andpr ay
forher.Theycomel ike‘swar msoff l
ies’andlikefli
esthey‘buzz’ thenameofGod.They
aresimple,wel l
-meani ngpeopl e,andt heybel i
eveintheefficacyofpr ayer
,t hatprayer
can‘paralyze’ormakei neffectiv ethehar m causedbyt hescor pion,withlanternsand
candles,throwinggi antscor pi onl ikeshadowsont hewal l
s.Theyar eignor antand
supersti
ti
ouspeopl ewhobel iev edt hati fthescorpionmov ed,i tsposi t
ionwoul dal so
mov einthebl oodoft hemot her .Butifitremai nsstil
l
,thepoi sonal sowoul dnotf low.
So,theyareeagert oki llt
heev ilone, andmakehect i
ceffor
tst osear chitout.Whent hey
fai
l,“
theyclicktheirtongues”i nt heirdisappointment.

Theyprayf ortheheal thandwel l

-beingoft hemot her,andEzeki el
’sverseheregr ows
i
ncantator
yandmant ricinkeepingwi ththerequirement soft houghtandemot ion.They
sitar
oundhi smot her,mut ter
ingtheirprayers,cast i
ngt heirspell
s,with“thepeaceof
underst
anding”,say st hepoeti r
onicall
y,ont heirfaces.Theyar ewisemenwhoknow
how toexerciseev ilspiri
tsandbr i
ngsol ace.Thi swi sdom isr ef
lect
edint hepeaceof
thei
rfaces.Nei ghbour scont i
nuet opouri n,raincont inuesunabat ed,therearemor e
i
nsectsandmor elant ernsandcandl esast hemot hercont inuestowr i
thandgr oanwi t
h
painonthemati nthecent re.Thesenseofswi ftandcont inuousmov ementi sconveyed
bytheswiftpaceofv ersif
icati
on:

Mor ecandl es,mor elant erns,

mor enei ghbour s, mor ei nsectsandt heendlessr ain.
Mymot hert wistedt hroughandt hrough
groaningonamat .”
Ther epet it
ionofmor econv eyst hei deaofex cessivenumber s.Thewor l
dofmagi c,
superstiti
onandi rrati
onal i
tyandbl indf ai
th,i
snowj uxtaposedwi ththewor ldofscience,
rati
onality and scept i
cism.The wor l
d ofsci ence i sr epresented by t he sceptic,
rati
onalisticfather ,who,i ncont radi sti
ncti
ont ot hehol yman,t r
ies“ powder ,mixture,
herbandhy br
id.”Heev enpour sal it
tleparaffi
nupont hebi tt
entoe,andbur nsi tt
obur n
outthepoi son,andt hesonwat chest hef l
amewi thinterest.Whilet hefathertri
est o
tamet hepoi soni nhi sownsci ent i
f i
cway ,thesuper stit
iousneighbour scont i
nuet o
chantt heirincant ati
ons,hav ingf ullfait
hi ntheireffi
cacy .Buttheironyi sthatbotht he
tradi
ti
onal ,superst i
ti
ouswaysandt hemoder nscientif
icway sareequal l
yfuti
leandv ain.
Themot hersuf fersi ntenseagonyf orf ul
ltwent yhour s,andt hent heagonyceases,
whetheri ti
st reatedornot .Butwe,i nallourwi sdom,r efuset orecogniset hissimple
t
rut
h.

Thel astthreel i
nesofthepoem f orm ani r
oniccont rasttothewhole.Whileallthe
otherswer eeagert obri
ngr el
ieftot hesuffer
ingmot herinonewayort heother,the
mot herherselfismor econcernedf orherchil
drenanddoesnott hi
nkofherownsel for
herownsuf fering.Sheisrat
hergl adoft hefactt hatitwasshewhowast hetargetof
theev i
lone,andnotanyoneofherchi l
dren.I
twoul dhav ebeenarealt
ragedyforher,i
f
anyoneofherdearonehadbeenst ung.Thus, t
hesel f-
effaci
ngl
oveoftheIndi
anmot her
hasbeenhi ghl i
ghted.I
tisav eryI ndi
anpoem deal i
ngwi thacommonpl aceIndian
sit
uation,andr adiat
ingt
hewar mt hofhumanaf fecti
ons.

Throughoutt hepoem,Ezeki eldel

i
beratel
ywi t
hholdshisownemot ionalcolour
ingso
thatwhilereadi
ngt hepoem wemaybeawar eofat r
adi
tionalworl
dofsuper sti
ti
onsas
againstanotherofscepti
cism andrat
ional
ism.Thepoet’spersonaldetachmentletsthe
sit
uationspeakdirectl
ytous.Theentirepoem isbuil
tonironywhichreachesitscli
max
i
nt helastl
ines:

Mymot heronlysai
d
ThankGodt heScorpionpi
ckedonme
andsparedmychi l
dren.

Thei mageryi
sv i
vi
dandsensitivewithmor ethanusualclari
ty.Iti
sani nt
eresti
ngand
veryval
idpoem,containi
ngafascinati
ngtensionbetweenper sonalcri
sisandmocki ng
socialobserv
ati
on,butt hediscrepanci
esoff orm confusethet onewhi ch swings
betweent henat
uralandcoll
oquialrepor
ti
ngofexper ienceandmor eremov edli
terar
y
for
mal i
ty.Andyet
,forallt
heproblems,ar ealvoicei
shear di
nt hispoem,wi thi
tsown
rhyt
hmsandcadences.

*
***
***
***
***
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***
***

Pal
l
aviMi
shr
a Asst Pr
of Gov
t P G Col
l
ege Doi
wal
a
Dehr
adun.