The Sagacious Woody

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Behold! The old beardy hunches over his pot – He licks up, in broad daylight, his damp woods stewed hot! He shakes his head, keeps muttering hymns like a mage – From his ways, you would think he’s no less than a sage! Blabbers all day long – you’d wonder from where they stem – “The sky’s full of cobwebs, so woods have holes in them.” He raises his bald head and beads of sweat run down, “Nobody can fathom its gravity –” he’d frown, “These foolish dunderheads, to such matters purblind, Don’t seem to take in – always wrangling in their mind. Which wood has more essence – blind to facts such simple – Why on eleventh lunar days, woods get dimple.” Scribbled around all o’er, in fact, is his account Of cracked woods and notched woods – he loses not a count! Which hole tastes delicious, and which hole’s insipid, Which crack gives off fragrance, and which one smells horrid. Clunk! Clank! Clackety-rattle! He knocks wood with wood, And says, “I know which wood in what way gets subdued. Paying a...
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Shack of the Hag

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With a huffed mouth full of puffed rice – smiling,
The old hag lives in a shakey shack piling.
Inky-stinky mats, kinky-curly hair,
Hunch on the back and a bunch o' dusty glare.
Gum betwixt walls, affixed by needles of knit—
Sewed up house with threads, glued up with her spit.
Lean on the wall, the house might fall and crash; 
Cough with a rack — shakes up the shack in a flash!
‘Squonk’ calls the hawker, and ‘honk’ goes the cart—
Framework trembles, ’n’ house dissembles apart!
Inclined are the rooms, you'll find ’em empty,
As you sweep, chunks of wood heap in plenty.
Pours down the sky, hangs down then her drenched dome,
With sticks the crone, sticks up alone her home. 
All day repair, with extra care and knack—
Rickety old hag and her ramshackle shack.

(Bengali original: Burir Bari)
Translated by Arkajyoti Banerjee

বুড়ীর বাড়ী (Burir Bari)


গালভরা হাসিমুখে চালভাজা মুড়ি,
ঝুরঝুরে প'ড়ো ঘরে থুর্‌থুরে বুড়ী ৷
কাঁথাভরা ঝুলকালি, মাথাভরা ধুলো,
মিট্‌মিটে ঘোলা চোখ, পিট খানা কুলো ৷
কাঁটা দিয়ে আঁটা ঘর—আঠা দিয়ে সেঁটে,
সূতো দিয়ে বেঁধে রাখে থুতু দিয়ে চেটে ৷
ভর দিতে ভয় হয় ঘর বুঝি পড়ে,
খক্‌ খক্ কাশি দিলে ঠক্ ঠক্ নড়ে৷
ডাকে যদি ফিরিওয়ালা, হাঁকে যদি গাড়ী,
খসে পড়ে কড়িকাঠ ধসে পড়ে বাড়ী ৷
বাঁকাচোরা ঘরদোর ফাঁকা ফাঁকা কত,
ঝাঁট দিলে ঝরে প'ড়ে কাঠকুটো যত ৷
ছাদগুলো ঝুলে পড়ে বাদ্‌লায় ভিজে,
একা বুড়ী কাঠি গুঁজে ঠেকা দেয় নিজে ৷
মেরামত দিনরাত কেরামত ভারি,
থুর্‌থুরে বুড়ী তার ঝুর্‌ঝুরে বাড়ী ৷৷
By Sukumar Ray

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