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Night of The Scorpion: Nizzim Ezekiel Warm Up

1. The poem describes a night when the narrator's mother was stung by a scorpion that had taken shelter from the rain under a sack of rice in their home. 2. After the scorpion stung the mother, the local peasants came to help and performed rituals and prayers to try and reduce the effects of the poison, sitting with the mother for 20 hours as the poison worked through her body. 3. Despite being in pain, once the poison had lost its sting, the mother expressed gratitude that the scorpion had stung her and not her children.

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VINODKUMAR S KURUP
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95 views

Night of The Scorpion: Nizzim Ezekiel Warm Up

1. The poem describes a night when the narrator's mother was stung by a scorpion that had taken shelter from the rain under a sack of rice in their home. 2. After the scorpion stung the mother, the local peasants came to help and performed rituals and prayers to try and reduce the effects of the poison, sitting with the mother for 20 hours as the poison worked through her body. 3. Despite being in pain, once the poison had lost its sting, the mother expressed gratitude that the scorpion had stung her and not her children.

Uploaded by

VINODKUMAR S KURUP
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

NIGHT OF THE SCORPION


Nizzim Ezekiel

WARM UP

a. With a partner discuss what would you consider the most


dangerous creatures in the world?
b. List them out and state your reasons.

GLOSSARY

1. Scorpion[n]: a dangerous creature with a poisonous sting at


its jointed tail
2. Diabolic[adj]: dreadful
3. Peasants[n]: poor farmers of low social status who owns or
rents a small piece of land for cultivation
4. Swarm of flies[cn]: huge number of flies
5. Paralyse[v]: to bring to a stand still
6. Diminished[adj]: cut down
7. Groaning[v]: make a deep moaning sound in response to pain
or despair
8. Sceptic[adj]: a person who questions and doubts accepted
opinions
9. Rationalist[adj]: a person who bases their opinions and
actions on reason and knowledge rather than on religious
belief or emotional response.
10. Hybrid[n]: a thing made by combining two different elements;
a mixture
11. Paraffin[n]: a colorless, flammable, oily liquid used as fuel,
especially kerosene.
12. Incantation[n]: the use of words as a magic spell or charm.

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TEXT

I 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.

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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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nissim Ezekiel was an Indian Jewish poet,


playwright, editor and art-critic. Ezekiel was born on
16 December 1924 in Bombay (Maharashtra ‘Night
of the Scorpion’ is about an incident that the poet
has not forgotten in his life. It was a night when a
scorpion bit his mother. The poem also exposes the
superstitious beliefs of the Indian people and the motherhood of
a lady who even thinks of her children in the worst condition.

A. COMPREHENSION

I. Answer in a single sentence.


1. Where did the poet and the family live?
2. What happened to the poet’s mother?
3. Who helped the poet’s mother?
4. What type of man was the father?
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