The painter
In a village,
a painter at night,
underneath
the only street lamp post
crowded with flies,
was painting a beehive.
Bengali translation by the author
চিত্রশিল্পী
রাত্রে, এক গ্রামে
ঘুরঘুর করা
শ্যামা পোকায় ঘেরা
ল্যাম্প পোস্টের আলোয়,
নীচে বসে এক চিত্রশিল্পী
আঁকছেন
মৌমাছির ঝাঁক।
Greek translation by Nic
Σ’ ένα χωριό
ένας ζωγράφος μες τη νύχτα,
κάτω απο το μοναδικο φανοστάτη
γεμάτο από μύγες,
ζωγράφιζε μία κυψέλη.
French translation by the author
Le peintre
La nuit
dans un village,
un peintre,
sous le seul
lampadaire urbain
encombré de mouches,
peignait une ruche.
Translation in Swedish by Gothicman
Konstnären
I en by,
en konstnär, på natten,
under gatans enda lyktstolpe
surrande med flugor,
målade en bikupe.
Translation in German by Alfie Shoyger
Der Maler
In einem Dorf,
in der Nacht,
unter der einzigen
von Fliegen umgebenen Straßenlaterne,
malte ein Maler
einen Bienenstock.
Flies are daytime insects. So yours is a very cryptic poem. Could it be you are talking about the third eye ( only street lamp post ) the painter was painting a beehive ( just means he is painting the reality his other ‘normal’ eyes see and recreate by imprinting holographically impressions on his canvas /brain ) ?
Thank you for reading and commenting. English is not my first language and I do feel guilty sometimes, especially on times like this! In Bengal, there are these insects that appear before and during Kaali puja. Kali is also known as Shyama (শ্যামা), hence the name weed insects (শ্যামা পোকা)… it should have been weed insects and not flies… the poem is talking about particular time and space. The painter, a village painter, dares to paint beehive sitting right under a lampost where he sees those insects… whether the painter sees or not is not clear though, but one can… Read more »
whether the painter sees or not is not clear I almost wrote earlier but backspaced that I feel the painter is a blind person your using flies instead of the other weed insects may be more correct at least on biological attributes or a better translation but i am sure your mind for some other reason wanted to see ‘flies’ daytime insects — you want the only street lamp post to be the eternal sunshine of your reality and your many thoughts/flies to appear and infest that’s why you used the beehive later, you wish to make these thoughts as… Read more »
in fact the reason i kept coming back to this poem was the combination of the only street lamp post the fact that it was not daytime and there were flies it had an eerie feeling like imminent doom which is exactly the feeling before a huge personal revelation when you manage to open your third eye you see the things that infest your mind this plethora of dangerously trivial obsessions that you will have to change into something productive it is in the afterlife one has the opportunity to truly expand his mind shining eternally in this lifetime, with… Read more »
Absolutely
Σ’ ένα χωριό
ένας ζωγράφος μες τη νύχτα,
κάτω απο το μοναδικο φανοστάτη
γεμάτο από μύγες,
ζωγράφιζε μία κυψέλη.
there, now you have it in Greek too! but the first version. I refuse to translate this one. sorry.
Thank you! I changed it to the earlier version, please have a look dear Nic!
infested was too aggressive, crowded is much better, yep i think it’s finished! and it’s one of your best
Has it occurred to anyone that the street lamp may be covered with dead flies?
Just a thought.
A pertinent thought.
different meaning though that’s interesting too!
I find the image of dead flies relevant because flies come near the light to sacrifice their lives, so the image of death is on top; but the painter is painting about life, about beehive.
I wish I could copy-paste the Greek version in the main text.
it supports Greek language you can copy it if you want – it’s yours now.
I’m not able to copy it somehow…if it’s not a bother, I can copy it from my email… the address is
supratiksen1@gmail.com
I’m very happy to know that the editor of UKAuthors supports Bengali script, now I see it supports Greek too, that’s really being inclusive. I haven’t seen this in many Indian sites promoting writing, they support only English.
Blessings.
Lovely verse full of imagery and intrigue, leaving much to one’s imagination! Enjoyed and enlightened by the comments. Will settle with the final one by poet himself, Supratik. Good to see the poem in three languages, Bangla, English and Greek, a first if its kind here, I think.. More from your pen.. Supratik!! PS: When small, have seen flies fallen dead.. drunk on honey at our village ancestral house. Was reminded of that scene, while the poet draws a virtual beehive, maybe the flies have mistaken it to be real, woken up from sleep, awaiting to have a go at… Read more »
Thank you for reading and commenting so beautifully Gomathi. Your book is very well accepted here in Kolkata’s libraries.
Reading your poems is a real pleasure for a reader, Supratik! Always something more to it than meets the eye.
That is wonderful news. Thankyou for facilitating and accomodating them in Kolkata libraries.. A city that reads