Yet more utter nonsense

Regular readers of this blog may know that, from time time, I try my hand at translating from Bengali one of those marvellous nonsense poems written by Sukumar Ray, in his collection Abol Tabol. So far, I have put up two of them on this blog (here, and here). And now, here’s a third.

“Good to see you, Jaga Mohan! Great to see you round!
“Do you know where Adya’s mother’s brother can be found?
“You don’t know who Adya is? You do know Khagen’s mother?
“Sam Bagchi (that’s his name!) ‘s her second cousin’s brother.
“Sam has a nephew, Kesto, and the landlord of his house –
“God knows what his name is! – but this landlord’s sister’s spouse –
“His maternal uncle-in-law is Adya – now you know!
“His mother’s brother I must find, please tell me where to go!”

“Go straight to Amratala Cross, and facing west you’ll find
“Two roads stretching north and south, a third one just behind,
“Take one of these and walk straight on while bearing to your right,
“Go round the bend, and other roads will come into your sight –
“You turn into the first of these, and veering to one side,
“The third but one will bring you to the first one that you tried,
“Turn left, step right, cut back again, spin round, and then you’ll see
“You’re back where you had started – now for God’s sake, let me be!”