The Rumour
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kaḷittoṟuṅ kaḷḷuṇṭal vēṭṭaṟṟāṟ kāmam / veḷippaṭun tōṟu miṉitu.
Every time the town says our names together, the love gets sweeter, not smaller. It is the way a drinker finds the next cup better than the last.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The more man drinks, the more he ever drunk would be; / The more my love's revealed, the sweeter 'tis to me!”
“Even as every cup that is drunk but maketh the drunkard thirst for more, even so doth every discovery of his passion by others but increase its sweetness for the lover.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
களித்தொறும் கள் உண்டல் வேட்டற்று= கள்உண்பார்க்குக் களிக்குந்தொறும் கள்ளுண்டல் இனிதாமாறுபோல; காமம் வெளிப்படுந்தோறும் இனிது= எனக்குக் காமம் அலராந்தோறும் இனிதாகாநின்றது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The speaker of this couplet is the woman in love. Parimelazhagar explains it so: just as, for those who drink, every fresh rush of intoxication makes drinking again sweet, so for her, her love turns sweet each time the town's talk brings it out into the open.