Reading the Signs
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
irunōk kivaḷuṇka ṇuḷḷa torunōkku / nōynōkkoṉ ṟannōy maruntu.
One person's glance can do two opposite things to you — unsettle you and then settle you again — sometimes within the same hour. The chapter on reading the unspoken opens here, with a face saying two things before a word is exchanged.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“A double witchery have glances of her liquid eye; / One glance is glance that brings me pain; the other heals again.”
“Two are the looks of her eye: one of them tortureth the heart, but the other is the balm that healeth it.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இவள் உண்கண் உள்ளது இரு நோக்கு= இவளுடைய உண்கண் அகத்ததாய நோக்கு இதுபொழுது என்மேல் இரண்டு நோக்காயிற்று; ஒருநோக்கு நோய் நோக்கு ஒன்று அந்நோய் மருந்து= அவற்றுள் ஒருநோக்கு என்கண் நோய்செய்யும் நோக்கு, ஏனையது அந்நோய்க்கு மருந்தாய நோக்கு.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that the hero is speaking about the woman he loves: the look held within her kohl-darkened eyes has now become, where he is concerned, two distinct looks. One of those looks is the look that inflicts the affliction on him, and the other is the look that serves as the medicine for that very affliction.