A Legend of the Northland
Phoebe Cary
This poem narrates
the legend of an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed.
यह कविता एक बुजुर्ग
महिला की कहानी सुनाती है, जिसने अपनी लालच के कारण सेंट पीटर को नाराज़ कर दिया।
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
Explanation- In the first stanza of the poem, the poet describes Northland,
saying that the days are very short, and in winter, the nights are so long that
people cannot spend them just by sleeping.
कविता के पहले पद में कवी नॉर्थलैंड के बारे में बताते हुए
कहता है कि वहां दिन बहुत छोटे
होते हैं और सर्दी में रातें इतनी लम्बी होती हैं कि लोग इन्हें सोकर नहीं गुजार
सकते ।
Where they harness the swift
reindeer
To the
sledges, when it snows;
And the
children look like bear's cubs
In their
funny, furry clothes:
Explanation- When it snows there, the people tie reindeer (a large, brown
animal found in northern cold regions) to sledges (vehicles without wheels that
move on snow) and drive them. The children of Northland look like little bear
cubs in their thick, fur-lined clothes.
जब वहां हिमपात होता है,
तो वहाँ के लोग रेनडियर
(उत्तरी ठंडे प्रदेशों में पाया जाने वाला हिरण जैसा बड़ा भूरा-सा पशु) को स्लेज (बर्फ पर
चलने वाली बिना पहियों की गाडी ) से बांधकर चलाते हैं। और वहाँ के बच्चे अपने मोटे, फर वाले कपड़ों में ऐसे दिखते हैं जैसे छोटे-छोटे भालू के
बच्चे।
They tell them a curious
story
I don't
believe 'tis true;
And yet
you may learn a lesson
If I tell
the tale to you.
Explanation-The poet says that the people of Northland
tell a strange story to the children. The poet does not believe that the story
is true, but even so, if the poet tells this story, the reader might learn a
lesson.
कवी कहता है कि वहां लोग एक विचित्र कहानी बच्चों को सुनाते हैं | कवी
को विश्वास नहीं कि यह कहानी सच्ची है और फिर भी अगर कवी यह कहानी सुनाते है तो
पाठक को एक शिक्षा मील सकती है।
Once, when the good Saint
Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know,
Explanation-In this stanza, the poet says that the
story is from the time when Saint Peter used to live in the world and went
around, giving religious lectures to the people..
इस पंक्ति में कवी
कहता है कि यह कहानी उस समय की बात है जब सैंट पीटर इस संसार में रहते थे और वह घूम-घूम कर लोगों को धर्म का उपदेश दिया करते थे ।
He came to the door of a
cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
Explanation-In this stanza, the poet says that when Saint Peter was traveling around
the world giving religious lectures, he reached the door of a small cottage where
a small woman was making a cake and baking it in the fireplace.
इस पंक्ति में कवी
कहता है कि जब सैंट पीटर दुनिया भर में घूम रहे थे और लोगों को धार्मिक उपदेश दे
रहे थे तो वे एक झोपड़ी के दरवाजे पर पहुंचे जहाँ एक छोटी सी महिला केक बना रही थी
और केक को चूल्हे पर सेंक रही थी ।
And being faint with fasting,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
For the day was almost done,
To give him a single one.
Explanation-Saint Peter had not
eaten anything the entire day because he was fasting, which made him very
hungry and weak. Therefore, Saint Peter went to the woman and asked her for a cake
to eat.
सैन पीटर दिन भर कुछ न खाए थे क्योंकि वह उपवास थे जिसकरण वह बहुत
भूखे और कमजोर हो रहे थे | इसलिए सैंट पीटर उस महिला के पास गए और उनसे एक केक खाने
के लिए माँगा।
So she made a very little
cake,
But as it baking lay.
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.
Explanation-The woman was very
selfish, so she did not give any cake from her stock. Instead, she started
making a very small cake for Saint Peter. However, when she placed the cake to
bake, she looked at it and thought that the cake was too big to give anyone.
वह महिला बहुत स्वार्थी थी इसलिए वह अपने भंडार
से केक नहीं दिया | इसके बदले, उसने सैंट पीटर के लिए एक बहुत ही छोटा केक बनाना
शुरू किया | लेकिन जब उसने केक को पकाने के लिए रखा, तो उसने उसे देखा और सोचा कि
यह केक किसी को देने के लिए बहुत बड़ा है|
Therefore she kneaded
another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
Explanation-Then, she began to make another small cake, which was even smaller than the
first one. When she looked at that cake, she again felt that it was just as big
as the previous one.
फिर, उसने एक और
छोटा केक बनाना शुरू की जो पहले से भी छोटा था | जब उसने उस केक को देखा तो उसे
फिर से लगा कि यह पहले वाले जितना ही बड़ा है|
Then she took a tiny scrap of
dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat:
And baked it thin as a wafer-
But she couldn't part with that.
Explanation-Then, she took a small piece of wet dough and started rolling it, rolling
it until it became as thin as a papad, and then she cooked it. But she was so
greedy that she could not even give that thin piece to the saint.
फिर, उसने गीले आटे का छोटा-सा टुकड़ा लिया और इसे बेलना शुरू की
और बेल-बेलकर पापड़ जैसे पतला बना दिया और फिर उसे पकाया | लेकिन वह इतना लालची थी
कि वह उस पतले टुकड़े को भी संत को नहीं दे सकी |
For she said, "My cakes
that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away."
So she put them on the shelf.
Explanation-She did this because she felt that the cakes seemed small when she ate them
herself, but they appeared much larger when she intended to give them as
donations. Therefore, instead of giving the cake to Saint Peter, she kept it on
the shelf.
वह औरत ऐसा इसलिए की
क्योंकि उसे लगता है कि जब वह अपने केक खुद खाती है तो वे छोटे लगते हैं लेकिन जब
वह इन्हें दान देने लगती तो ये बहुत बड़े लगते हैं | इसलिए वह इस को सैंट पीटर को न दे कर, अलमारी में रख दिया।
Then good Saint Peter grew
angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
Explanation-Then, good Saint Peter became angry because he was growing hungrier and
weaker. The woman's behavior was enough to enrage any saint.
फिर अच्छे सेंट पीटर
को गुस्सा आ गया क्योंकि वे भूखे थे और कमजोर होते ज रहे थे । उस महिला का व्यवहार
किसी भी संत को क्रुद्ध करने के लिए काफी था ।
And he said, "You are
far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
And fire to keep you warm.
Explanation-Then Saint Peter said,
'You are so selfish that you do not deserve to live as a human. God has given
you food to eat, a home to stay in, and fire to keep warm. Yet, you do not want
to share anything with anyone.
फिर सैंट पीटर ने कहा,
'तुम इतनी स्वार्थी
हो कि तुम्हें यह अधिकार नहीं कि तुम मानवी रूप में रहो, इश्वर ने तुम्हें खाने के लिए
खाना रहने के लिए घर और गरम रखने के लिए आग दिया है । फिर तुम किसी को कुछ देना
नहीं चाहती हो|
Now, you shall build as the
birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring,
All day in the hard, dry wood."
Explanation-Then Saint Peter
cursed the woman, declaring that she would now become a bird and build a nest
like one. She would have to spend her days pecking at the bark of harsh, dry
trees to find her food.
अब सैंट पीटर उस औरत को श्राप देते है कि वह अब
पक्षी बन जाएगी और पक्षी के जैसे अपना घोसला बनाएगी | और सारा दिन कठोर, सूखे वृक्षों की छाल में छेद करते खने के पश्चात् अपना भोजन प्राप्त करोगी ।
Then up she went through the
chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.
Explanation-Then, without saying a word, she went into the chimney and flew out as a
woodpecker from the top, for Saint Peter's curse had transformed her into a
bird.
फिर बिना एक शब्द
बोले वह चिमनी में घुस गई और ऊपर चिमनी से एक कठफोड़वा के रूप में बाहर उड़ गई क्योंकि
सैंट पीटर के श्राप ने उस महिला को एक पक्षी में बदल दिया था ।
She had a scarlet cap on her
head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.
Explanation-Before turning into a bird, she had a bright red cap on her head, which
remained the same. However, all her clothes were burned black like coal.
पक्षी के रूप में
बदलने से पहले उसके सिर पर एक चमकीले लाल रंग की टोपी थी और वह वैसी ही रही । लेकिन
उसके सारे कपड़े कोयले की तरह जल कर काले हो गये ।
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.
Explanation-And all the boys who go to school in the that area have seen such a bird in
that forest, where it still pecks at trees and keeps making holes in them for
food.
और ग्रामीण क्षेत्र
में स्कूल जाने वाले सभी लड़के ने उस जंगल में इस तरह के पक्षी को देखा है, जहाँ वह आज भी पेड़ों पर खाती है और भोजन के लिए उनमें छेद
करती रहती है ।
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