Wealth Without Benefit
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naccap paṭāatavaṉ celva naṭuvūru / ṇaccu marampaḻut taṟṟu.
The wealth of a man nobody looks to is like a poison tree standing in the middle of town, heavy with fruit.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“When he whom no man loves exults in great prosperity, / 'Tis as when fruits in midmost of the town some poisonous tree.”
“The fortune of the man that is not loved of men is like the fruiting of the poison tree in the midst of the village.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நச்சப் படாதவன் செல்வம்= வறியார்க்கு அணியனாய் இருந்தும் ஒன்றும் கொடாமையின் அவரான் நச்சப்படாதவன் செல்வம் எய்துதல்; ஊர் நடுவுள் நச்சுமரம் பழுத்தற்று= ஊரிடை நிற்பதோர் நச்சுமரம் பழுத்தாற்போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Though he is near to those who have nothing, he gives them nothing, and so they no longer look to him. What his coming into wealth is like, Parimelazhagar says, is a poison tree standing in the middle of a town and bearing fruit. His word அணியனாய் — near — carries the picture: the man is not remote, and neither is the tree. That is the whole difficulty of the image.