Hungry Stones - 2 Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

(A poetic translation of a story by Rabindranath Tagore, kśhdhārto pāśhāņa, Hungry Stones, for convenience split in 13 parts) . It is set in blank verse with stanzas that rhymed in between.


II

Collecting land duties on cotton
As Nabob I changed from Junagarh to Nizam,
But the change of job robbed me of my calm,
Plus, a haunted place held as if a pointed gun.
And what a secluded place, lovely though!
Deserted now, once a palace retreat,
A river flowed close by in olden days,
Tales of woe writ on every single pebble,
Each narrating of a dancing damsel,
Of their woes forgetful in many ways,
Etched in mind still the flight of a plenum
Of hundred fifty steps to a river,
And a solitary marble palace, plumb
Along the river, treasured as ever
In my mind, all amid sprawling foothills,
No soul around to whisper of its ills!

The palace, two and half centuries old,
Built was by a ruler of Muslim mould,
For his pleasures in luxuries enrolled:
Jets of rose water from mountains spurting
To cool rooms amply made of marbles cold,
With young Persian nymphets entertaining,
Emperor Mohammad too tired and blasé,
Arab maids dishevelled before bathing,
Their soft naked feet ‘pon water splashing,
Singing to please him in many a ways,
Whilst ample wine poured forth as if water,
But more tears poured forth from a lost daughter.

Fountains no more now flow and songs have ceased,
And snow white feet no more gracefully step
Upon snowy marbles that remain cold,
The vast halls filled now with cess collectors,
And atmosphere oppressed with solitude,
Deprived of warmth surrounding neighbourhood;
An old office clerk, grey hair, did warn me,
‘Pass days should you so like, not nights so bare',
Remember, I waved him off with a laugh,
Recall, servants worked only until dark,
But I ignored; a tusk as does dog's bark.

And this house of ills was left lone by thieves—
Like a nightmare, I stayed out all the day,
Worked hard on long hours till day turned deep grey,
And returned at night too jaded and tired,
Thinking of bed to get unto sleep mired!
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Translations | 02.03.13 |