| SECTION 2j-2 |
*back
to section 2j-1*
(we're now
on page *lām
, continued*)
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10) In some fashion we'll amuse that
youthful beloved
If there would be no 'double-paisa', if there would be no sweets, then
there would be a quarrel/fight
The friends: What can we
say!
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==A 'double-paisa' might be a kind of coin, I'm not sure. The quarrel
might be either the result of a lack of amusement, or itself one more
form of amusement-- or of course both. |
kisī ṣūrat
se bahlā leñge us maʿshūq-e kam-sin ko
ḍabal paisah nah ho revṛī nah ho to gol-gappal ho
[*mīm*]
aḥbāb :: kyā kahnā -
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11) Sometimes he uttered abuse, sometimes
he gave a shoe-beating
The pleasure of domination would come if the beloved would be vile/low
Khan Sahib: It's [poetically]
proper. But it's contrary to your gentility.
Agha Sahib: Sir, who's genteel in this age? |
kabhī
gālī sunā baiṭhe kabhī jūtā lagā baiṭhe
ḥukūmat kā mazā āʾe agar maʿshūq arzal ho
ḳhāñ
ṣāḥib :: durust - magar āp kī sharāfat se baʿīd hai -
āġhā ṣāḥib :: janāb sharīf kaun hai is zamāne meñ -
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12) Thanks to the Lord's grace, there
would hardly have descended from the skies a match
Neither would anyone be as vile/low as I, nor would anyone be as arrogant
(?) as you
Navab Sahib: Fine! But
toward whom does the face of the poetry turn?
Agha Sahib: You yourself can understand very well,
since you're a sharer in the secret.
Khan Sahib: Please give a reply.
Agha Sahib: As if I myself will give a reply! Please
listen to this verse. |
ḳhudā ke
faẓl se utarā thā kyā hī ʿarsh se joṛā
nah mujh sa koʾī gurgā ho nah tum se koʾī shaftal ho
navāb ṣāḥib
:: ḳhūb - magar rū-e suḳhan kis kī t̤araf hai ?
āġhā ṣāḥib :: yih to āp hī ḳhūb samajh sakte haiñ - isliye
kih āp maḥram-e rāz haiñ - [fārsī kā kahāvaṭ]
ḳhāñ ṣāḥib :: āp javāb dījiye -
āġhā ṣāḥib :: āp kyā javāb deñge - yih shiʿr suniye -
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13) We give up our life over the mischievousnesses
of that one of refined style
In whom would be the side-glances of a camel, and the prancings of a
horse
The friends: Bravo-- what
nerve!
Agha Sahib: All right, so it didn't suit you. Please
listen to this one:
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ham
us nāzuk-adā kī shoḳhiyoñ par jān dete haiñ
shutur ke jis meñ ġhamze hoñ faras kī jis meñ chhal-bal ho
aḥbāb
:: vāh rī himmat -
āġhā ṣāḥib :: achchhā nah sahī - yih suniye -
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14) I'll rip apart my heart, if you
arise and leave my side
I'll tear out my eyes, if you vanish from before my eyes
The friends: A fine one. |
maiñ
dil to chīr ḍālūñgā jo tum pahlū se uṭh jāʾo
maiñ āñkheñ phoṛ ḍālūñgā jo tum āñkhoñ se ojhal ho
aḥbāb
:: ḳhūb -
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15) In your simplicity some extraordinary
state/condition emerges
There would be no braid, there would be no comb, there would be no missi,
there would be no kajal
Umrao Jan: Oof! So day
and night he would remain 'head a bush, face a mountain' [=a disheveled
mess]?
Agha Sahib: This very thing is the pleasure of simplicity;
and in addition, there's also less expenditure.
In this joke the pleasure is that Umrao Jan was rather well-known for
being avaricious.
===========
==Missi is a cosmetic mixture used to darken the gums; kajal is a kind
of eye-shadow.
==Umrao Jan uses the masculine verb form because she's following ghazal
convention in always treating the beloved as grammatically masculine--
even when, as in this case, the beloved's accouterments and cosmetics
clearly indicate a feminine beloved. |
tumhārī
sādagī meñ kuchh ʿajab ʿālam nikaltā hai
nah choṭī ho nah kanghī ho nah missī ho nah kājal ho
umrāʾo
jān :: ūhī to kyā din rāt sar jhāṛ muñh pahāṛ baiṭhā rahe
-
āġhā ṣāḥib :: sādagī kā yihī mazā hai - aur dūsre ḳharch
kī bhī kifāyat hai -
is mażāq meñ lut̤f yih hai kih umrāʾo jān kisī qadar ḳhasīs
mashhūr thīñ -
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16) When she would ask us for a coin,
we would give it to her silently
There would be no babbling, there would be no chattering, there would
be no mumbling, there would be no muttering
The friends: What a line
he's composed!
Khan Sahib: He's arranged the above line well alsoo.
That same wordplay about vileness/lowness continues.
Umrao Jan: (laughing so hard she was in fits)
Agha Sahib: All right! So now I won't recite such verses--
my beloved is becoming low/vile.
===========
==I'm correcting chalī jātī hai to chalī
ātī hai , based on later editions and normal usage. |
ṭaka
ham se vuh jab māñgeñ unheñ chupke se ham de deñ
nah bak-bak ho nah jhak-jhak ho nah kach-kach ho nah kal-kal ho
aḥbāb
:: kyā miṣraʿ kahā hai -
khāñ ṣāḥib :: ūpar kā miṣraʿ bhī ḳhūb lagāyā - vuhī
arzal kī riʿāyat chalī ātī hai -
[*nūn*] umrāʾo jān :: hañste
hañste loṭ jātī thīñ -
āġhā ṣāḥib :: achchhā to ab aise shiʿr nah paṛheñ - hamārā
maʿshūq żalīl huʾā jātā hai -
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