Kannada original: Democritus-na Sebu ದೆಮಾಕ್ರಿತೂಸ್-ನ ಸೇಬು
Poet: H. S. Shiva Prakash
Translated into English by S. Jayasrinivasa Rao
DEMOCRITUS’ APPLE
B. C. 600 – in the island of Ionia
Born-philosopher Democritus
held an apple in his hand
and contemplated it unremittingly,
“How many pieces can be made out of this apple?
What could be the number of these pieces?
Would that number be finite or infinite?”
He went on searching for a solution
to this inestimable problem.
He failed to find a solution
and when he died, he hadn’t
tasted any fruit at all.
His story continues – in the court of Zeus in Olympus
Immersed in this problem
as Democritus arrived there,
the thunderbolt-wielding Zeus shouted –
“Throw this fool out!”
To the philosopher who was so stunned
that he couldn’t even ask why,
Zeus again thundered:
“You fool, the apple is not for contemplation,
it is for eating.”
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