Night of the Scorpion is a poem written by Indian poet and actor, Nissim Ezekiel. The poem was originally published on 1965. The story of poem revolves around a painful night in which author’s mother was stung by a poisonous scorpion.
Night of the Scorpion By Nissim Ezekiel
Summary of Night of the Scorpion By Nissim Ezekiel
In the first stanza of poem, author is remembering a night when he was a small child and his mother was stung by a scorpion. Due to 10 hours constant rain that scorpion came beneath the sack of their rice. The scorpion stung poet’s mother and parted with his poison tail.
The poison of scorpion tail spread everywhere in the body of poet’s mother. The scorpion knows that he stung someone and his life is in danger. Therefore, he risked again to go in rain.
A lots farmer came in poet’s home and those farmers chanted the name of God like a flies. The farmers came with candles and lanterns to throw scorpion out of poet’s home but he was not found to any of them. The farmers were saying that with each and every movement of scorpion, its poison is moving in poet’s mother’s body. They pray to god to make scorpion sit as the more scorpion will move, the more it will hurt to poet’s mother.
The farmers says to poet’s mother that the sins of your previous birth be burned away tonight with this pain. At the moment, farmers are giving console to poet’s mother. The pain you are facing now will be decreases the pain of your second birth. May your next birth will be full of blessing.
The farmers are praying to god for poet’s mother to decreases the ratio of her pain due to pain you are facing now. May the poison of scorpion purify your body with desire and gives you an energy of ambition.
They all were sitting on the floor of poet’s house around his mother while feeling the pain of his mother with sadness on their face. The more and more people were coming at poet’s home with more candles and more lanterns. As it was raining outside constantly, more insects and pests were coming at his house. The poet’s mother was agonizing on floor with endless pain.
The poet’s sceptic father was trying everything he can to cure the pain of his mother. He tried power, herb and mixture as well to treat his wife. The poet’s father even burn the toe of his mother to cure her body pain but nothing changed as his mother was still feeling pain.
The author watched holy man who trying to control the pain with his tame. After 20 long hours, the pain of poet’s mother starting to go away. As soon as the poet’s mother came into consciousness, she only said, Thank god the scorpion bites her rather than her loving children. The poet’s mother thanked scorpion for sparing her children’s life.
After 20 hours of endless pain, the poet’s mother thought only one thing if scorpion would have stung her children rather than her, then how much pain they would suffer. Therefore, after coming into consciousness she thanked the God first.
RECOMMENDED READING