Satyajit Ray (1921-1992), through his life, philosophy and works offered a unique aesthetic sensibility, which took our cinema, art and literature to a new height. Ray, an ace designer, music composer, illustrator and a gifted writer, gave us the iconic Feluda and Professor Shonku, loved and revered by millions of readers.
Celebrating his centenary birth anniversary, Three Rays: Stories from Satyajit Ray, the first book in ‘The Penguin Ray Library’ series, opens a window to the brilliance of this Renaissance man . With more than forty previously unpublished stories, autobiographical writings and illustrations by Ray, this volume opens a window to the Master’s creative genius.
The following are excerpts from the book.
Stew Much!
Originally published in Sandesh (January 1915 as Khichuri. Later, it was revised when published in the book Abol Tabol (U. Ray & Sons, 1923). The English translation by Satyajit Ray was published in Nonsense Rhymes by Sukumar Ray (Writers Workshop, India, 1970). The illustrations in the poem are by Sukumar Ray.
A duck once met a porcupine; they formed a corporation
Which called itself a Porcuduck (a beastly conjugation!).
A stork to a turtle said, ‘Let’s put my head upon your torso;
We who are so pretty now, as Stortle would be more so!
The lizard with the parrot’s head thought: Taking to the chilli
After years of eating worms is absolutely silly.
A prancing goat–one wonders why–was driven by a need
To bequeath its upper portion to a crawling centipede.
The giraffe with grasshopper’s limbs reflected: Why should I
Go for walks in grassy fields, now that I can fly?
The nice contented cow will doubtless get a frightful shock
On finding that its lower limbs belong to a fighting cock.
It’s obvious the Whalephant is not a happy notion:
The head goes for the jungle, while the tail turns to the ocean.
The lion’s lack of horns distressed him greatly, so
He teamed up with a deer-now watch his antlers grow!
[…]
The Bent Old Woman
First published in the book Tuntunir Boi (U. Ray & Sons, 1910) as Knujo Burir Katha. The English translation by Satyajit Ray was published in Target (October 1985). The illustrations in the story are by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. The endpiece illustration is a decorative woodblock bought by Satyajit Ray from Banaras.
There was once an old woman who was quite bent with age. She could only walk with the aid of a stick. When she walked, her legs wobbled, and with her legs, her head wobbled too. She had two pet dogs called Ronga and Bonga.
The old woman was about to go visiting her granddaughter. So, she called her two dogs and said, ‘Stay at home and keep watch while I’m away’.
Ronga and Bonga said, ‘Very well’.
Then the old woman set off, rapping her stick on the ground. While she walked. her legs wobbled, and with her legs her head wobbled too.
She had gone some way when a jackal saw her. ‘There goes the old hag’, said the jackal. ‘Old hag, I’m going to eat you up.’
The old woman said, ‘Wait till I come back from my granddaughter’s. She’ll feed me well and I’ll grow fat. I’m only skin-and-bones now.’
The jackal went away saying, ‘All right, I’ll come back and eat you when you’re fat.’
The old woman wobbled on, and her head wobbled too.
When she had gone some way further, a tiger saw her and said, ‘There goes that old hag. Old hag, I’m going to eat you up.’
The old woman said, ‘I’m off to my granddaughter’s to grow fat. Eat me when I come back. I’m only skin-and-bones now.’
‘All right’, said the tiger. ‘I’ll wait till you come back fat.’
The old woman wobbled on, and her head wobbled too.
Further on, she met a bear. The bear said, ‘Old hag, I’m going to eat you up.’
‘I’m off to my granddaughter’s to grow fat,’ said the old woman. ‘Eat me when I come back. I’m only skin-and-bones now.’
The bear said, ‘Very well, I’ll wait for you to grow fat.’
The bear went off.
Soon the old woman reached her granddaughter’s place. There she grew so fat on curd and cream that if she had grown any fatter she would have burst like a balloon.
One day the old woman said to her granddaughter, ‘It’s time for me to go back home. But I’m so fat that I can’t walk. I’ll have to go back rolling like a ball. The trouble is–the jackal, the tiger and the bear are all waiting for me. They’ll surely not spare me this time, so tell me what I should do.’
The granddaughter said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll put you inside an empty pumpkin and send you rolling. No one will know you’re inside, so you’ll reach home safe.’
So, the granddaughter put the old woman inside an empty pumpkin, gave her some rice and pickles to eat on the way, and set the pumpkin rolling with a big push.
The pumpkin rolled on, while the old woman sang:
Pumpkin, pumpkin, roll along
Keep on rolling all the way
Eat your pickles, sing your song–
Skin and bones is miles away.
The bear stood in the middle of the road, waiting to eat up the old woman. But there was no old woman to be seen. All he saw was a pumpkin come rolling down. He stopped the pumpkin, sniffed it, and felt it with his paws. Then he decided that it was neither the old woman nor anything worth eating. What’s more, a voice from inside the pumpkin kept saying ‘skin-and-bones is miles away’, so he thought the old woman must have gone. Grunting, he gave the pumpkin a kick which sent it rolling again like a carriage on wheels.
The pumpkin rolled on, and the woman sang–
Pumpkin, pumpkin, roll along
Keep on rolling all the way
Eat your pickles, sing your song–
Skin and bones is miles away.
Now there was the tiger waiting to eat up the old woman. He saw something coming down, but it was not the old woman, only a rolling pumpkin. He stopped it and pawed it, and heard a voice from inside saying, ‘skin-and-bones is miles away’. So he thought the old woman must have gone. Growling, he gave the pumpkin a push which sent it rolling.
A little further on, in the middle of the road, sat the jackal. He took one look at the pumpkin and said, ‘H’m… whoever heard of a singing pumpkin? I must find out what’s inside the shell.’ He gave the shell a hefty blow which split it open, and there was the old woman curled up inside. ‘Well, old hag,’ said the jackal, ‘I’m going to eat you up now.’
The old woman said, ‘Of course! That’s what I’m here for. But won’t you let me sing you a song first?’
The jackal said, ‘That’s not a bad idea. I’m something of a singer myself.’
The old woman said. ‘Very well, then. Let’s get on top of that mound and sing.’
So they climbed the mound, and the old woman sang out: ‘Come, Ronga, come, Bonga–come, come!’
And the two dogs came bounding from her house. One grabbed the jackal’s neck and the other his waist. One pulled one way and the other pulled the other way. And they pulled and pulled and pulled till all the jackal’s bones were broken and his tongue hung out and he was quite dead.
