Night of the Scorpion | Nissim Ezekiel | M.C.Q.

About the Poet:

  Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) was an Indian poet, playwright, editor and art-critic. He was an important figure of Indian Writing in English during post-independence era. He was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in 1983 for his collection of poems Latter-Day Psalms. Ezekiel is universally recognized and appreciated as being one of the most notable and accomplished Indian English language poets of the poets of the 20th century.

About the Poem:

  Night of the Scorpion opens with the poet's reminiscence of a childhood experience. It is a strong yet simple statement on the power of self-effacing love. Filled to the brim with Indian-ness, the poet captures snapshots of rural life with all its superstitions and simplicity. The poet dramatizes a battle of ideas fought at night in the lamplight between good and evil between darkness and light, between rationalism and blind faith. And out of this contest, there arises an unexpected winner-the selfless love of a mother.

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>> Summary

Night of the Scorpion

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 paralyze the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
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 god
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 mu mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
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 performs 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.

Multiple Choice Question

1. The mother was stung by a ..

(a) black ant
(b) bee
(c) scorpion
(d) crab

Ans. (c) scorpion

2. The mother was stung on the ..

(a) ankle
(b) foot
(c) toe
(d) calf

Ans. (c) toe

3. The scorpion hid .. in the hut.

a. behind the trunk
b. under the cot
c. behind the sack
d. beneath the sack

Ans. (d) beneath the sack

4. The word diabolic tail means ..

(a) sacred
(b) double edged
(c) devilish
(d) none of these

Ans. (c) devilish

5. The peasants buzzed the name of God ..

(a) to catch the scorpion
(b) to drive away the scorpion
(c) to kill the scorpion
(d) to paralyze the scorpion

Ans. (d) to paralyze the scorpion

6. The poet used candles and lanterns to ..

(a) to light up the hut
(b) to search for the scorpion
(c) to scare away the scorpion
(d) to stop the scorpion from singing again

Ans. (b) to search for the scorpion

7. The peasants believed that the movement of the scorpion is .. for the mother.

(a) bad
(b) good
(c) painful
(d) relief

Ans. (a) bad

8. The peasants call this world as the .. world.

(a) real
(b) unreal
(c) temporary
(d) permanent

Ans. (b) unreal

9. The poison of the scorpion will purify her flesh of ..

(a) sufferings
(b) desire and ambition
(c) hatred and anger
(d) love and bonding

Ans. (b) desire and ambition

10. The father was ..

(a) devoted and loving
(b) caring and rationalist
(c) skeptic and irrationalist
(d) skeptic and rationalist

Ans. (d) skeptic and rationalist