Pining and Complaint
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
karattalu māṟṟēṉin nōyainōy ceytārk / kuraittalu nāṇut tarum.
I have not the strength left to hide this sickness. And telling it to the man who caused it brings its own restraint down on me. Both doors are shut.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“I cannot hide this pain of mine, yet shame restrains / When I would tell it out to him who caused my pains.”
“To conceal my grief is now beyond me: but as to disclosing it, I should feel it a shame to speak of it even to him that caused it.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இந்நோயைக் கரத்தலும் ஆற்றேன்= இந்நோயை ஈண்டையார் அறியாமல் மறைத்தலும் வல்லேன் ஆகின்றிலேன்; நோய் செய்தவர்க்கு உரைத்தலும் நாணுத்தரும்= ஆகாக்கால், நோய்செய்தார்க்கு உரைக்கவெனின், அதுவும் எனக்கு நாணினைத் தாராநின்றது, இனி என்செய்கோ?
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The woman describes a position with both exits closed. She has not the strength, she says, to keep this sickness from the people around her. If instead she were to tell the man who caused it, that brings நாண் down on her. Parimelazhagar finishes her sentence for her with இனி என் செய்கோ, what am I to do now. She can neither hide it nor say it.