remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven
him to crawl beneath a sack of rice. Parting with his poison - flash of diabolic tail in the dark
room - he risked the rain again. The peasants came like swarms of flies and buzzed the name
of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One. With candles and with lanterns throwing giant
scorpion shadows on the mud-baked walls they searched for him: he was not found. They
clicked their tongues. With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in
Mother’s blood, they said. May he sit still, they said May the sins of your previous birth be
burned away tonight, they said. May your suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth,
they said. May the sum of all evil balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good become
diminished by your pain. May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around on the floor with my mother in the centre, the peace of
understanding on each face. Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) was an Indian Jewish poet, actor,
playwright, editor and art-critic. He was a foundational figure in post-colonial India’s literary
history, specifically for Indian writings of a wider range. The poet depicts the selfless love of a
mother who is stung by a scorpion. l diabolic : having the qualities of devil or wicked l paralyse :
to stop an activity u Whom does the word ‘him’ refer to in line no.3? u What does the phrase ‘to
paralyse the evil mean in stanza 3? u Who are ‘they’ in stanza 4? u Why does the poem begin
with the poet’s remembering the night? u What forced the scorpion to take shelter in the poet’s
house? l diminished : to lessen; reduce102 More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
more insects, and the endless rain. My mother twisted through and through, groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and put a match to it. I watched the flame
feeding on my mother. I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an
incantation. After twenty hours it lost its sting. My mother only said Thank God the scorpion
picked on me And spared my children.
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id on deletion bbye
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Answer:
this poem is The night of the Scorpion.
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Thik hai bhabi bhot busy hai yr Bhabi
Bhabi badi hoke enginer bnegi
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