The Wasting Away
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koṭiyār koṭumai uraikkun toṭiyoṭu / tolkaviṉ vāṭiya tōḷ.
These arms, their bangles slipped away and their old beauty faded, are themselves speaking aloud the cruelty of that cruel man.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“These wasted arms, the bracelet with their wonted beauty gone, / The cruelty declare of that most cruel one.”
“The arms which have lost their wonted comeliness together with the bracelets that they were wearing, proclaim loudly to the world the cruelty of that cruel one.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கொடியார் கொடுமை உரைக்கும்= கவவுக்கை நெகிழினும் ஆற்றாதாட்கு, இக்கால நீட்டத்து என்னாம் என்று நினையாத கொடியாரது கொடுமையைத் தாமே சொல்லாநின்றன; தொடியொடு தொல்கவின் வாடிய தோள்= வளைகளும் கழன்று, பழைய இயற்கை அழகும் இழந்த இத்தோள்கள், இனி அதனை யாம் மறைக்குமாறு என்னை, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
These arms, with their bangles slipped off and the old natural beauty gone, are themselves speaking the cruelty of that cruel man, Parimelazhagar explains. He is precise about what the cruelty consists of: to a woman for whom even a slackened embrace was more than she could bear, he gave no thought at all to what a stretch of time this long would do. The friend's closing question is the point — how are we to hide it now?