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LORNA KEE TALASH |
The search for Lorna |
 |
Daisy Hamilton ek
khufiya jaasoos thee. |
Daisy Hamilton
was a Private Detective. |
 |
Voh tees saal kee
thee aur pichhlay do saal se Jaasoosi kar rahee thee. |
She was thirty
years old and had been a detective for the past two years. |
 |
har roz subha voh phone ka intizar
karne apnay daftar jaatee, yaa upnee khidmaat kay khahish-mand
muakkilon ko darvza kholtee. |
Every morning she
went to her office to wait for phone calls or open the door to
clients needing her services. |
 |
Daisy filhaal ziyada mashhoor naheen
hui thee laykin waqtan fawaqtan maqami akhbar maen uskay diyay
hooe ishtehaar (kee waja) se logg use phone kar lete the. |
Daisy wasn't very
well known yet but occasionally people telephoned her from the
advertisement she had put in the local newspaper. |
 |
Ek subha tuqreebun gyaarah
bajay kisee ne uske daftar kaa darvaazaa khatkhataayaa.
|
One morning at
about eleven o'clock someone knocked on her office door. |
 |
woh ek furba
khatoon thee jo apnee gurdan ke gird fur lapaete hooay thee. |
It was a fat lady
who wore a fur around her neck. |
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"Hello,
kyaa main aapkee madad kar saktee hoon?"
Daisy ne khatton se poochhaa. "
Brae mehrbani, aaie aurbaithie." |
"Hello, can I
help you?" Daisy asked the lady. "Please come and sit down." |
 |
"Jee haan,
bilaa shuba,
mujhe aapkee madad kee sukht zaroorat hai."
|
"Oh yes indeed! I
need your help desperately. |
 |
"Lorna, mayree chhotee ghaib
ho gaee hai. Samajh men naheen aataa ki main kyaa karoon".
|
Lorna, my little
one has disappeared. I don't know what to do." |
 |
Daisy ne furba khatoon ko ek
piyalee instant coffee pesh kee aur tafseelaat kaa intazaar
karne lagee. |
Daisy offered the
fat lady a cup of instant coffee and awaited the details. |
 |
Furba khatoon dhamm say baeth
gaee aur usne laal chamRay kaa apnaa bhaaree bharkam handbag
Daisy kee mez par rakh diyaa.
|
The fat lady sat
down heavily and put her large red leather handbag on Daisy's
desk. |
 |
"barae mehrbanee mujhe sab kuchh
bataaye - Begum ...?" |
"Please tell me
everything-Mrs. ...?" |
 |
Meraa naam begum
Edwina Humphries hai. Mujhay pareshanee hai keh who mujhsay
taawaan maangen ge –mujhay parayshanee hai ke Lorna ko ighwa
kiyaa gayaa hai!” |
"Mrs. Edwina
Humphries is my name. I am afraid they will ask me for money-
I'm afraid Lorna has been kidnapped!' |
 |
"Bohut buraa
huaa, begum Humphries. Kya Humphries sahab ka bhee khyaal hai ki
Lorna ko ighwa kiyaa gayaa hai?" |
"That's terrible,
Mrs. Humphries. Does Mr. Humphries, too, think Lorna has been
kidnapped?' |
 |
"Mayray shohar ko koee
dilchaspee naheen ki Lorna kaa ighwa kiyaa gayaa hai, yaa
naheen"! |
"My husband is
not interested if Lorna has been kidnapped or not!" |
 |
"kiya waqaee
begum Humphries? Lekin, kyaa aapke shohar Lorna ke sage baap
hain?" |
"Really, Mrs.
Humphries? But is your husband Lorna's real father?" |
 |
"main aapkaa
matlab samjhee naheen. Lorna ko ham ne milkar khareeda thaa,"
Begum Humphries nay javaab diyaa. |
I don't know what
you mean. We bought Lorna together," replied Mrs. Humphries. |
 |
"Khareeda thaa...
begum Humphries, aap jaantee haen keh yeh ghaer qaanoonee hae."
|
"You
bought...........Mrs. Humphries, that's illegal, you know." |
 |
"naheen, aesaa
naheen hae, Bhaarat maen naheen"! |
"No it isn't, not
in India!" |
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"aapnay Lorna ko
Bhaarat maen khareeda thaa?" |
"You bought Lorna
in India?" |
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"Haan, bila
shuba! Aur aap ko ma’loom hae keh woh hamayshaa hee mujhay
behtareen sohbat daytee hae.” |
Yes indeed! And
she always keeps me great company, you know." |
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Begum Humphries nay rumaal
nikaalnay kay liyay chamRe ka apna baRa bag kholaa.
|
Mrs. Humphries
opened her huge leather bag to pull out a handkerchief. |
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Khof-zada Daisy nay aek reengtay
huay jandaar ko oss bag say baahir nikaltay dekhaa. |
With horror Daisy
saw a wiggling creature come out of the bag.
|
 |
"Begum Humphries
- ossay fauran door hataaey!" Daisy chillaee.
|
"Mrs. Humphries-
move that away immediately!" screamed Daisy. |
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"Kyaa? Aray Lorna
- aakhirkar maenay tujhay dhoondh hee liyaa!" Begum Humphries
nay kahaa. "shareer laRkee! too mayray bag mae chhup gaee
thee" |
"What? Oh Lorna -
I've found you at last!" said Mrs. Humphries."You hid in my bag
- you naughty girl!" |
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"Begum Humphries!
yeh Lorna hae?" |
"Mrs. Humphries.
This is Lorna?" |
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"haan,
hamaaree Bangaalee daryaee saanpun.
Oh, mayree pyaaree
aapka shurriya. |
"Yes, our Bengali
swamp snake. Oh thank you my dear. |
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Nahin, maen
naheen samajhtee keh mujhay aapkee khidmaat kee aur zaroorat
hogee." |
No, I don't think
I need your services any longer!" |
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Jaesay hee Daisy nay begum
Humphries kay janay kay ba’ad darvaaza band kiyaa, Uskay zehn
maen yeh baat aaee keh ishtehaar maen yeh likhnaa hae: na
jaanvar, na saanp. |
As Daisy shut the
door after Mrs. Humphries, she made a mental note to write in
the advertisement: no animals, no snakes. |