The Pleasures of Temporary Estrangement
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
ūṭaliṟ ṟōṟṟavar veṉṟā ratumaṉṉum / kūṭaliṟ kāṇap paṭum.
In a lovers' sulk the one who loses is the one who has won; and that is a thing seen in the coming together afterwards.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“In lovers' quarrels, 'tis the one that first gives way, / That in re-union's joy is seen to win the day.”
“It is the one who yieldeth first who is the winner in lovers’ quarrels: thou canst see it indeed at the hour of reconciliation.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
காம நுகர்தற்குரிய இருவருள் ஊடலின்கண் தோற்றவர் வென்றார் ஆவர்; அது கூடலில் காணப்படும்= அஃது அப்பொழுது அறியப் படாதாயினும், பின்னைப் புணர்ச்சியன்கண் அவரால் அறியப்படும், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads the first half like this: of the two to whom this pleasure belongs, the one beaten in the sulk is the one who has won. On அது கூடலில் காணப்படும் he says the winning is not known at the time, and comes to be known by them later, in the union that follows. The clause he adds on his own, அஃது அப்பொழுது அறியப்படாதாயினும், though it is not known then, is the one that matters most. It means the reunion does not produce the victory. The victory is already there at the moment of giving way, and the reunion is where it becomes knowable. He also treats both endings as places, writing ஊடலின்கண் and கூடலில். This is a paraphrase; his verbatim commentary is carried separately and unaltered.