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In this episode, we perceive a portrait of a naive maiden, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 121-130, situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ and penned by the poet Ammoovanaar.
Here goes the Thirteenth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Image of Innocence
121 Soaking the garland
கண்டிகும் அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
முண்டகக் கோதை நனைய,
தெண் திரைப் பௌவம் பாய்ந்து நின்றோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who drenching her water-thorn garland, leaped into the clear waves of the ocean!
122 Questioning the bird
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
ஒள் இழை உயர் மணல் வீழ்ந்தென,
வெள்ளாங் குருகை வினவுவோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who losing her glowing jewels in the soaring sands, questioned the white seabird about it!
123 Cheered by Friends
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
ஒண் நுதல் ஆயம் ஆர்ப்ப,
தண்ணென் பெருங்கடல் திரை பாய்வோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who hearing the shouts of her playmates with radiant foreheads, jumped into the waves of the huge, cool sea!
124 Angered by the Sea
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
வண்டற் பாவை வௌவலின்,
நுண் பொடி அளைஇக் கடல் தூர்ப்போளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who seeing the sea snatch her mud doll, in a fit of fury, threw fine sand at the sea!
125 Crying for a doll
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
தெண் திரை பாவை வௌவ,
உண்கண் சிவப்ப அழுது நின்றோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who seeing the clear waves snatch her doll, stood crying, making her kohl-streaked eyes redden.
126 Buzzed by bees
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
உண்கண் வண்டினம் மொய்ப்ப,
தெண் கடல் பெருந் திரை மூழ்குவோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who feeling the bees buzz around her kohl-streaked eyes, dipped into the huge waves of the clear sea!
127 Blocked in embrace
கண்டிகும்அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
தும்பை மாலை இள முலை
நுண் பூண் ஆகம் விலங்குவோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who blocked you from embracing her young breasts, adorned with spiny gourd flowers and intricate jewels.
128 Suckling a doll
கண்டிகும் அல்லமோ, கொண்க! நின் கேளே?
உறாஅ வறு முலை மடாஅ,
உண்ணாப் பாவையை ஊட்டுவோளே!
We saw your dearest, didn’t we, O lord? The one, who tried to suckle her lifeless doll on her empty, milk-less breast!
129
(Lost)
130
(Lost)
Thus concludes Ainkurunooru 121-130, with the last two verses lost in time. All these songs are set in the context of a man’s married relationship with the lady and around the theme of a quarrel involving a courtesan. Though this theme is more commonly found in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’, since these verses have aspects of the sea, these have been placed under ‘Neythal’ category. The unifying theme of all these verses is that these words are said to the man about an immature maiden. Interpreters offer two possibilities with regard to who is speaking these words and about whom. One is the case, wherein the courtesan, wanting to prevent the man from leaving her, describes the man’s young wife so, so as to mock the lady’s lack of maturity. The other is the case when the lady’s confidante says these words to the man, who denies having a relationship with any courtesan, making the confidante says that she has indeed seen the man’s courtesan and says these words mocking the courtesan’s immature nature. For the sake of simplicity and because I see the words ‘Nin Kele’, which means ‘someone connected to you in a familial relationship’, used in every verse, I prefer to see this as the courtesan’s words of derision about the lady’s lack of maturity. All the verses have a rather simple structure, starting with a statement that the lady has been spotted, and then goes on to portray that one thing that reveals her innocence or immaturity.
In the first, the lady, as sketched by the courtesan, is leaping in and drenching her water-thorn garland. Why is this a mark of immaturity? Maybe the lady is expected to remove her garland before she takes a dip. In the second, after losing her jewels that she had left on the sands, the lady is seen interrogating a bird about those missing jewels. A question put forth to a speechless bird is being mocked here. This reminded me of the Ainkurunooru verse we saw in the Marutham landscape wherein a buffalo helps the lady find her jewels lost in the sands. Returning, next we see the lady surrounded by her playmates and to their shouts, she dives into the waves of the cool sea. Is this a mark of immaturity because the lady is playing games in the company of her friends?
Following these, in the fourth, we see the lady getting angry because the sea nabs and destroys her mud doll, and as if she’s scolding the sea, she throws fine sand at it. What foolishness to throw sand at the huge sea, which has the power to break sand dunes on the shore, seems to be the statement of the courtesan! In the fifth too, since the lady loses her mud doll to the sea, she stands there with flowing tears and reddened eyes.
In the sixth, unable to bear the bees buzzing around her eyes, which is another way of saying her eyes are like flowers, the lady jumps into the sea, says the courtesan. How this is mocking I don’t know. This is high praise for the beauty of the young maiden, isn’t it? In the seventh one, the courtesan notices a micro-emotion between the lady and man and says the lady blocked the man when he tried to embrace her young breasts, and in that action, sees immaturity in the lady for not accepting the man. In the eighth and final one that has been found, we see the lady pretending to feed her doll on her empty breast, a sharp instance of her naive nature, as etched by the courtesan to the man.
Being so sparse in words, these verses lack any metaphorical elements. The verses in this section render a feeling of a montage introduction song, with scene after scene depicting a rather childish lady. We have to understand that this is the portrait of one woman by another and is prone to exaggeration to convey the effect of mockery. And here, youth and innocence is not presented in glowing terms but rather in a negative way, implying the lack of suitability for a relationship. What interested me the most in this section is how this young lady is so comfortable, leaping, diving and dipping into the sea! These matter-of-fact portraits stand testimony to the excellent swimming skills of the lady, and no doubt, this comes from a life of playing with abandon in the waves of the roaring seas!
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