Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 2. 1937

Letter ID: 1945

Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar

May 20, 1937

How is today’s poem? Not very successful, perhaps.

Miraculously successful, sir, except for one ornithological detail.

It sounds rather big.

Not only sounds, but is.

Oh yes, you didn’t understand my “vessels”? Because you forgot, Sir, that I am a medical poet. Vessels are not for cooking only – there are also blood vessels; and you should have made it out as blood was also there.

Let me point out to you that vessels of gold can only mean pots and things, not blood vessels. If you say “golden vessels”, it might be otherwise provided you put a footnote “N.B.: physiological metaphor”. For non-medical poetry veins would be better and not puzzle the layman.

... Why the devil does A write all these things to you? Are you prescribing or are we? and what the devil is the use of his knowing the medicines and doses, pray? He could have asked me.

Well, what about the free Englishman’s right to grumble? This is not London and there is no “Times” to write to, so he writes a letter to me, instead of to the “Times”.

Surely, there is a twist somewhere.

There is always a twist, sir, always.

And, didn’t I tell him and report to you that it is his chronic liver trouble – liver enlarged? He has forgotten it evidently!

I knew it was liver, but I had myself forgotten about the enlargement.

Anyway, I won’t fume.

Don’t. Losing one’s hair is always a useless operation. Keep your hair on..

Only tell him, please, that he ought to let us know instead of sending a boy with an empty bottle, if he doesn’t want to present his honourship himself, or shall I tell him myself?

Dear Sir, tell him yourself, tell him yourself. I will pat you on the back in silence from a safe distance.

A servant boy has hookworm; we suggest Eucalyptus + castor oil mixture. So?

Right you are. Go for him, give him castor and pollux.