[646]
Just as one searching for pith in a plantain tree does not find it,
even so, though searching, we have not found the answer to that question.
Just as one searching for pith in a silk-cotton tree does not find it,
even so, though searching, we have not found the answer to that question.
Alas, in no fit place have we dwelt — like elephants in a waterless land —
in the company of evil men, of fools who understand nothing.
My heart trembles and my mouth is utterly parched;
I find no relief (nibbuti), like one scorched by fire out in the blazing sun.
Just as a smiths' forge burns within and not without,
even so my heart burns within and not without.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.