• Parabaas
    Parabaas : পরবাস : বাংলা ভাষা, সাহিত্য ও সংস্কৃতি
  • পরবাস | Rabindranath Tagore | Poem
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  • Bug Logic : Rabindranath Tagore
    translated from Bengali to English by Palash Baran Pal

    Bug Logic

    A bug entered the Mahabharatam
    And chewed to dust the mighty tome.
    The scholar saw it, smote his forehead,
    And said, "What a mess that you have made!
    So many things lay 'long your track
    To sharpen your teeth and fill your stomach."
    The bug said, "What's wrong? Why shout and bark?
    It contained nothing but scattered black marks.
    What I don't understand I consider a flop
    And chew it all up, from bottom to top."

    Kanika: Kiter Bichar (কণিকা: কীটের বিচার)
    1899
    Translator's Note

    1. The original poem is part of the Bengali book Kanikā (কণিকা). All poems in this collection, like the present one, have a fable-like structure.
    2. I have tried to maintain a metre of the original text and used full or half rhymes.
    3. The "Mahabharatam" (or "Mahabharat" as in the original text) is an epic literary text from ancient India, which is still widely read, mainly through translations or adaptations.
    4. I am indebted to Carolyn B. Brown for making critical comments on an earlier version of the translation.
  • Three Poems | Where the mind knows no fear | When I don't see you | Bug Logic
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