Pining and Complaint
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maṟaippēṉmaṉ yāṉiḵtō nōyai yiṟaippavark / kūṟṟunīr pōla mikum.
I do keep this sickness hidden, for all the good it does. It only rises higher, the way the water in a spring rises for the people who keep baling it out.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“I would my pain conceal, but see! it surging swells, / As streams to those that draw from ever-springing wells.”
“I smother my grief within me, but behold! it only welleth up more and more even as the water of the spring to those who are draining it.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நோயை யான் மறைப்பேன்= இந்நோயைப் பிறர் அறிதல் நாணி யான் மறையாநின்றேன்; இஃதோ இறைப்பவர்க்கு ஊற்றுநீர் போல மிகும்= நிற்பவும், இஃது அந்நாள்வரை நில்லாது நீர் வேண்டும் என்று இறைப்பவர்க்கு ஊற்றுநீர் மிகுமாறு போல் மிகாநின்றது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Ashamed that others should come to know of it, the woman says, she keeps this sickness hidden. Parimelazhagar's point is that it does not stay put under the concealment: it grows. His image is a spring being emptied. To those who bale water out of it, the spring gives more water, and the more she hides this, the more of it there is. The comparison itself is the argument that hiding does not reduce a thing.