Beggar
Jibanananda Das
Translated from the Bangla by
Clinton B. Seely
I got one pice at Ahiritola,
I got one pice at Badur Bagan.
If I could just get one more,
I'd walk away with dignity
—he said, stretching out his hand in the dark.
It was as if a blind man yearned with all his being to weave cloth,
But his efforts become as the conch-shell craftsman's saw in crippled hands.
I got one pice while roaming through the parks,
I got one pice at Pathuria Ghata.
If I could just get one more,
I'd have some rice husked
—he said, extending his neck till the light from the gas lamp fell upon his face.
But in the crowd—on Harrison Road—was a deeper sadness.
A world's mistake: a beggar ignored. A failure of the world.
ভিখিরী
একটি পয়সা আমি পেয়ে গেছি আহিরীটোলায়,
একটি পয়সা আমি পেয়ে গেছি বাদুড়বাগানে,
একটি পয়সা যদি পাওয়া যায় আরো—
তবে আমি হেঁটে চ'লে যাবো মানে-মানে।
—ব'লে সে বাড়ায়ে দিলো অন্ধকারে হাত।
আগাগোড়া শরীরটা নিয়ে এক কানা যেন বুনে যেতে চেয়েছিলো তাঁত;
তবুও তা নুলো শাঁখারীর হাতে হয়েছে করাত।
একটি পয়সা আমি পেয়ে গেছি মাঠকোটা ঘুরে,
একটি পয়সা আমি পেয়ে গেছি পাথুরিয়াঘাটা,
একটি পয়সা যদি পাওয়া যায় আরো—
তা হ'লে ঢেঁকির চাল হবে কলে ছাঁটা।
—ব'লে সে বাড়ায়ে দিলো হাত গ্যাসলাইটে মুখ।
ভিড়ের ভিতরে তবু—হ্যারিসন রোডে—আরো এক গভীর অসুখ,
এক পৃথিবীর ভুল; ভিখিরীর ভুলে: এক পৃথিবীর ভুলচুক।
Notes:
"ভিখিরী"/"Beggar," published in Nirukta ("Categorically Stated," নিরুক্ত), December, 1940; included in Jibanananda Das' Best Poems. Since the publication of this poem, Kolikata has undergone inevitable growth and change, including change of its name and that of many of its streets. Harrison Road, a prominent thoroughfare in north Kolikata, now goes by the name of Mahatma Gandhi Road. The other place names have, as far as I know, remained what they were in Jibanananda's time. The saw used on conch shells has teeth that cut both when the saw is pushed and pulled, making it a difficult tool to handle.
Illustrated by Ananya Das. Ananya, author of several children's books, has been illustrating regularly for Parabaas. She is based in Pennsylvania.
Translation published in Parabaas: December, 2012
