The Pleasures of Temporary Estrangement
ஊடல் காதலுக்கு உப்பு போன்றது; ஊடலின் முடிவில் கூடும் கூடலே வாழ்வின் உச்ச இன்பம் என நிறைவுறுதல். — The grand finale: Sulking is the salt of love; the embrace that follows is the zenith of human bliss.
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ūṭaliṟ ṟōṉṟuñ ciṟutuṉi nallaḷi / vāṭiṉum pāṭu peṟum.
“My 'anger feigned' gives but a little pain; / And when affection droops, it makes it bloom again.”
“Though the tenderness of the beloved hath to wait a little, there is a charm in the pinprick that we feel in being pettish.”
By the small distress that rises out of a lovers' sulk, the good tenderness they show us gains a greatness of its own — even if that tenderness has withered.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
ஊடலில் தோன்றும் சிறுதுனி= ஊடல் ஏதுவாக நம்கண் தோன்றுகின்ற சிறிய துனி தன்னால்; நல்லளி வாடினும் பாடுபெறும்= காதலர் செய்யும் நல்ல தலையளி வாடுமாயினும் பெருமை எய்தும் எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Though the brief petulance of sulking may momentarily cool the show of love, in the end it raises his tenderness to a rarer and greater height.
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