Mahfil, vol. 1, no. 2 9 Come, come closer, Be not nervous!" But "both the fish ran away,.. Disappeared into the deep waters of the holy confluence, The sage's sermon remains Incomplete. (Trans. by P. Machwe) Prabhakar Machwe (1917-) HIS PETS He brought a puppy first; It grew up bold and ran away. He then had a few cats But gave them to friends, Then he kept some goldfish; They died in the bowlo Next a pair of parrots; one flew away The other got picked up by the neighbor's cat. But this habit of keeping pets Was so strong It wasn't lessened. I hear nowadays he keeps a few men As pets. Mere epithets. What will happen to them? (The neighbor's big bombs may kill a few) Yet they will never lessen in number. (Trans» by the poet)