Ainkurunooru 251-260: Portrait of a mountain man

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Thus soars the Twenty Sixth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Portrait of a mountain man

251 Roars and Tears
குன்றக் குறவன் ஆர்ப்பின், எழிலி
நுண் பல் அழி துளி பொழியும் நாட!
நெடு வரைப் படப்பை நும் ஊர்க்
கடு வரல் அருவி காணினும் அழுமே.

When the mountain man cries aloud, clouds pour tiny drops abundantly in your country, O lord! Even if she sees gushing waterfalls that pour in the fields of your town, descending from those tall mountains, she would shed tears!

252 Before time torments
குன்றக் குறவன் புல் வேய் குரம்பை
மன்று ஆடு இள மழை மறைக்கும் நாடன்
புரையோன் வாழி, தோழி! விரை பெயல்
அரும் பனி அளைஇய கூதிர்ப்
பெருந் தண் வாடையின் முந்து வந்தனனே.

The grass-woven thatched roof in the mountain man’s hut hides the young rainclouds that traverse the village centre in the country of the matchless lord! Before the great and cool northern winds could bring the early winter season with heavy rains and tormenting cold, he arrived here!

253 Mother’s decision
குன்றக் குறவன் சாந்த நறும் புகை
தேம் கமழ் சிலம்பின் வரையகம் கமழும்
கானக நாடன் வரையின்,
மன்றலும் உடையள்கொல் தோழி! யாயே?

The fragrant smoke from the mountain man’s sandalwood wafts all around the honey-scented mountain slopes in the land of the lord, filled with forests. If he seeks my hand, will mother decide to marry me to him, O friend?

254 Leave along
குன்றக் குறவன் ஆரம் அறுத்தென,
நறும் புகை சூழ்ந்து காந்தள் நாறும்
வண்டு இமிர் சுடர் நுதல் குறுமகள்!
கொண்டனர், செல்வர் தம் குன்று கெழு நாட்டே.

As the mountain man chopped the sandalwood, fragrant smoke spreads around the flame-lily, O young maiden, around whose glowing forehead bees buzz! He will take you along and leave to his mountain-filled country.

255 All about her
குன்றக் குறவன் காதல் மட மகள்
வரையர மகளிர்ப் புரையும் சாயலள்;
ஐயள்; அரும்பிய முலையள்;
செய்ய வாயினள்; மார்பினள், சுணங்கே.

The naive and loveable daughter of the mountain man has the resemblance of mountain goddesses. She is the epitome of beauty; A maiden with a blooming bosom; She has a red mouth and pallor spots on her chest;

256 More about her
குன்றக் குறவன் காதல் மட மகள்
வண்டு படு கூந்தல் தண் தழைக் கொடிச்சி;
வளையள்; முளை வாள் எயிற்றள்;
இளையள் ஆயினும், ஆர் அணங்கினளே.

The naive and loveable daughter of the mountain man has tresses around which bees buzz; A maiden of the hills wearing a cool leaf attire, clad in bangles and having sharp teeth. Though she is young, she subdues me with her power!

257 Boon of the mountain man
குன்றக் குறவன் கடவுள் பேணி,
இரந்தனன் பெற்ற எல் வளைக் குறுமகள்
ஆய் அரி நெடுங் கண் கலிழ,
சேயதால் தெய்ய நீ பிரியும் நாடே.

She is the young daughter of a mountain man, who was blessed with her after his pleading penance to his god. The eyes of that maiden, clad in shining bangles, fill with tears, since faraway is the country you part away to!

258 Refuse not
குன்றக் குறவன் காதல் மட மகள்
அணி மயில் அன்ன அசை நடைக் கொடிச்சியைப்
பெரு வரை நாடன் வரையும் ஆயின்,
கொடுத்தனெம் ஆயினோ நன்றே
இன்னும் ஆனாது, நன்னுதல் துயரே.

The naive and loveable daughter of the mountain man is one who has a swaying gait like a beautiful peacock. When the lord of the mountains seeks the hand of this mountain maiden, it is better if she’s granted to him. If not, unceasing it will remain, the sorrow of this maiden with a fine forehead!

259 Some more about her
குன்ற குறவன் காதல் மட மகள்
மன்ற வேங்கை மலர் சில கொண்டு,
மலை உறை கடவுள் குலமுதல் வழுத்தி,
தேம் பலிச் செய்த ஈர் நறுங் கையள்;
மலர்ந்த காந்தள் நாறிக்
கலிழ்ந்த கண்ணள் எம் அணங்கியோளே.

The naive and loveable daughter of the mountain man, taking the ‘Kino’ flowers in the town centre, praises the god living in the mountains and the ancestors of their tribe, and gives sweet ritual offerings with her moist and fragrant hands. Her eyes, with the fragrance of a fully blossomed flame-lily, shed tears; She’s the one who has afflicted me with her beauty!

260 Time for the harvest
குன்றக் குறவன் காதல் மட மகள்,
மென் தோள் கொடிச்சியைப் பெறற்கு அரிது தில்ல
பைம் புறப் படு கிளி ஓப்பலர்;
புன்புல மயக்கத்து விளைந்தன தினையே!

The naive and loveable daughter of the mountain man, that hill woman with slender arms will be unattainable henceforth, for she will not come to chase away the parrots in the millet fields, for the crops in the water-scarce fields are ready for harvest!

So concludes Ainkurunooru 251 to 260. All the songs are set in the context of a man’s love relationship with a lady, prior to marriage. The verses are spoken either by the lady’s confidante, the lady or the man. The unifying theme of all the verses is the phrase indicating a mountain dweller, who happens to be either a generic person living there, as in the case of the first four, or the father of the lady, as in the rest.

In the first, the mountain man is captured in a moment when he roars aloud and as if hearing his command, the rains pour down in the man’s country. In the second, the thatched roof of his hut hides the rainclouds. Fragrance fills the air in the third as this mountain man burns sandalwood. In the next one, this sandalwood smoke kindled by the mountain man’s burning swirls around a flame-lily. In all the rest of the verses, the mountain man is mentioned only to refer to his daughter, the female protagonist of these verses. Her beauty and adornments is described for the most part, and in one instance, it’s mentioned how she was granted as a boon to her father after much penance to his god, so precious is that lady. In another, we see this daughter of the mountain man praying to the god of the mountains and her ancestors, and endowing ritual offerings with her moist hands. In the final one, we glimpse a characteristic of mountain maiden that we have seen often, their work of chasing away parrots from their father’s millet fields.

Moving on to the intent of the speakers, in the first, the confidante speaks to the man saying how the mere sight of the cascades descending from the man’s country makes the lady cry, thus nudging the man to marry the lady. In the second, the confidante with much joy relays the news that the man has arrived ahead of the tormenting early winter season with its cold winds and harsh dew. In the third, the lady is the one who speaks, and wonders aloud to her confidante, if mother will accept the man’s proposal. In the fourth, the confidante nudges the lady to elope with the man, revealing his plan to take the lady along to his country.

In the fifth and the sixth, the man describes the lady in glowing words to his friend and the confidante respectively. It’s a sure-fire sign of a Sangam man who has fallen in love. In the seventh, the confidante replies to the man when he says that he will part to gather wealth for the wedding saying to him that the lady would suffer much, and thereby urging him to be quick about it. In the eighth, the confidante says these words to the lady’s family, who intend to refuse the man, dissuading them from doing it, saying it’s better if they say yes; If not, endless will be the lady’s suffering. In the ninth, it’s back to the man’s praise about the lady, as he says those glowing words about her, deciding that he’s going to marry her soon. In the final one, the confidante nudges the man to marry the lady by stating how the crops have matured and the lady won’t come to the fields to tryst with him anymore.

As for metaphorical elements, in the image of the mountain man’s thatched roof hiding the rain clouds, the confidante places it as a metaphor for the man’s arrival to seek the lady’s hand and how it has kept away the lady’s sorrow. In the one, where the fragrant sandalwood smoke spreads all around the mountains, that’s a metaphor for the man’s offerings to the lady’s family spreading joy in their home. In the final element of fragrant sandalwood smoke fusing with the flame-lily, that’s a metaphor for the happy married life of the man and lady, about to unfold soon, when the lady decides to elope with the man. A section which shows us how the sensory elements of the land speak for the love between the man and the lady!