The Rumour
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ūravar kauvai eruvāka vaṉṉaicoṉ / ṉīrāka nīḷumin nōy.
The talk of the town and the scolding at home were meant to end this love. Instead they feed it and water it, and it grows.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“My anguish grows apace: the town's report / Manures it; my mother's word doth water it.”
“The public talk is the manure, and the reproach of mother is the water, that unite to feed and prolong this anguish.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இந்நோய்= இக்காம நோயாகிய பயிர்; ஊரவர் கௌவை எருவாக அன்னைசொல் நீராக நீளும்= இவ்வூரின் மகளிர் எடுக்கின்ற அலர் எருவாக அதுகேட்டு அன்னை வெகுண்டு சொல்லுகின்ற வெஞ்சொல் நீராக, வளராநின்றது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar treats this love-sickness as a standing crop. The gossip raised by the women of the town serves as manure for that crop; the harsh words the heroine's mother speaks in anger, having heard that gossip, serve as its water; and between the two, the crop only keeps growing.