Making the Signs Known
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
toṭinōkki meṉṟōḷu nōkki yaṭinōkki / yaḵtāṇ ṭavaḷcey tatu.
She looked at her bangle, then at her soft shoulders, then at her feet. That was what she did there - and that was the message.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“She viewed her tender arms, she viewed the armlets from them slid; / She viewed her feet: all this the lady did.”
“She looked at her bracelet and her tender arm and then she looked at her feet: these are the signs that she made to me.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தொடி நோக்கி= (யானது தெளிவித்தவழித் தெளியாது) அவர் பிரிய யான் ஈண்டிருப்பின் இவை நில்லாவெனத் தன் தொடியை நோக்கி; மென் தோளும் நோக்கி= அதற்கு ஏதுவாக இவை மெலியும் எனத் தன்மென் தோள்களையும் நோக்கி; அடி நோக்கி= பின் இவ்விரண்டும் நிகழாமல்நீர் நடந்து காத்தல் வேண்டும் எனத் தன் அடியையும் நோக்கி; ஆண்டு அவள் செய்தது அஃது= அங்ஙனம் அவள் செய்த குறிப்பு உடன்போக்காயிருந்தது, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar begins by noting that she had been reassured about the parting and was not reassured by it; the commentary does not name who gave that reassurance. Looking at her bangle, she means that if he leaves and she stays behind, these will not stay on her wrist. Looking at her soft shoulders, she means that they will waste for the same reason. Looking at her feet, she means that so neither of those things happens, he must walk and so protect her - that is, take her with him. The sign she made there, the commentary concludes, was the request to go along with him. What is worth noticing is that he gives each of the three glances its own separate reason: they are not three movements of one mood but three steps that stand on one another.