The Rumour
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alareḻa vāruyir niṟku mataṉaip / palaraṟiyār pākkiyat tāl.
The town's gossip about us is the one thing keeping me standing — it gives me, in public, what I have not yet been given in private. And by pure luck, the people spreading it have no idea that is what they are doing; if they knew, they would stop.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“By this same rumour's rise, my precious life stands fast; / Good fortune grant the many know this not!”
“As the outcry riseth in the village my life cometh back to me: it is my good luck that many do not know this secret.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
அலர் எழ ஆருயிர் நிற்கும்= மடந்தையொடு எம்மிடை நட்பு ஊரின்கண் அலராய் எழுதலான் அவளைப் பெறாது வருந்தும் என் அரிய உயிர் பெற்றது போன்று நிலைபெறும்; அதனைப் பாக்கியத்தால் பலர் அறியார்= அந்நிலைபேற்றைத் தெய்வத்தால் யானே அறிவதல்லது கூறுகின்ற பலரும் அறியார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads this as the hero speaking. His closeness to the woman he loves has risen as rumour in the town; and his rare life, which was wasting away for not having obtained her, now stands fast through that rumour as though it had obtained her. By divine good fortune, he alone knows this: the many who spread the talk have no idea what their talk is doing.