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In this episode, we perceive many variations of sulking, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 81 to 90, situated in the ‘Marutham’ or ‘Farmlands landscape’ and penned by the poet Orambokiyar.
Here goes the Ninth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Speaking of Sulking
81 Leftover Lover
குருகு உடைத்து உண்ட வெள் அகட்டு யாமை
அரிப்பறை வினைஞர் அல்குமிசைக் கூட்டும்,
மலர் அணி வாயில் பொய்கை ஊர! நீ
என்னை ‘நயந்தனென்’ என்றி; நின்
மனையோள் கேட்கின், வருந்துவள் பெரிதே.
A stork breaks open and feeds on a white-bellied turtle. The leftovers enhance the meal of those ‘ari’ harvest drummers in the fields. Such is your town, O lord, adorned with beautiful flowers on the river shores. You say to me, ’I seek you with desire’. If your wife were to hear, great would be her grief!
82 Bond of the bees
வெகுண்டனள் என்ப, பாண! நின் தலைமகள்
‘மகிழ்நன் மார்பின் அவிழ் இணர் நறுந் தார்த்
தாது உண் பறவை வந்து, எம்
போது ஆர் கூந்தல் இருந்தன’ எனவே.
They say she was furious, O bard! That chief of yours, when she heard the words, ’The pollen-eating bees, on the fragrant garland, with fully bloomed flowers, lying on the chest of the lord, flew away and came to rest on my flower-filled tresses’.
83 His woman
மணந்தனை அருளாய் ஆயினும், பைபயத்
தணந்தனை ஆகி, உய்ம்மோ நும் ஊர்
ஒண் தொடி முன் கை ஆயமும்
தண் துறை ஊரன் பெண்டு எனப்படற்கே.
Even though you render not the graces due after marriage, at least leave me only little by little, so that the young women in your town, wearing glowing bangles on their forearms, learn that I’m the wife of the lord of the town with cool shores.
84 A Public Pond
செவியின் கேட்பினும் சொல் இறந்து வெகுள்வோள்,
கண்ணின் காணின், என் ஆகுவள்கொல்
நறு வீ ஐம்பால் மகளிர் ஆடும்
தைஇத் தண் கயம் போல,
பலர் படிந்து உண்ணும் நின் பரத்தை மார்பே?
She gets so angry when words about that fall on her ears. What would become of her if she sees before her eyes, a sight, akin to the cool pond, where women, wearing fragrant tresses and five-layered braids, bathe and play, the sight of your chest that has been in the company of courtesans, embraced and relished by many?
85 Childish Behaviour
வெண் நுதல் கம்புள் அரிக் குரல் பேடை
தண் நறும் பழனத்துக் கிளையோடு ஆலும்
மறு இல் யாணர் மலி கேழ் ஊர! நீ
சிறுவரின் இனைய செய்தி;
நகாரோ பெரும! நிற் கண்டிசினோரே?
The sharp voice of the female coot with a white forehead rings aloud in the cool and fragrant common spaces of your flawless town, brimming with prosperity, O lord! You seem to act like a small child! Won’t they laugh with mockery when they see you?
86 Call of the Child
வெண் தலைக் குருகின் மென் பறை விளிக் குரல்
நீள் வயல் நண்ணி இமிழும் ஊர!
எம் இவண் நல்குதல் அரிது;
நும் மனை மடந்தையொடு தலைப்பெய்தீமே.
The voice of the delicate young one of the white-headed bird reaches and resounds in the vast fields of your town, O lord! It appears to be difficult for you to render your graces here. Please go live a happy life with the woman at your home!
87 Sugarcane sticks and sweet mangoes
பகன்றைக் கண்ணி பல் ஆன் கோவலர்
கரும்பு குணிலா மாங்கனி உதிர்க்கும்
யாணர் ஊர! நின் மனையோள்
யாரையும் புலக்கும்; எம்மை மற்று எவனோ?
The cowherds, who adorn themselves with head garlands, woven with rattlepod flowers, use sugarcane sticks to knock down sweet mango fruits in your prosperous town, O lord! Your wife is one who sulks with everyone! How would she spare me alone?
88 What she says is true
வண் துறை நயவரும் வள மலர்ப் பொய்கைத்
தண் துறை ஊரனை, எவ்வை எம் வயின்
வருதல் வேண்டுதும் என்பது
ஒல்லேம் போல், யாம் அது வேண்டுதுமே.
In the town of the lord of the cool shores, bees buzz around and desire the lush flowers in the ponds. Sister says that I want him to come to me. Even though I act as if it’s not true, that’s exactly what I want.
89 The Title of ‘Wife’
அம்ம வாழி, பாண! எவ்வைக்கு
எவன் பெரிது அளிக்கும் என்ப பழனத்து
வண்டு தாது ஊதும் ஊரன்
பெண்டு என விரும்பின்று, அவள்தன் பண்பே.
Listen, may you live long, O bard! Why does he render all his graces to sister, as they say? The lord of the town, where bees feed on pollen in the common spaces, does this not because he loves her but just because she is his wife.
90 Lord of the Bees
மகிழ்நன் மாண்குணம் வண்டு கொண்டனகொல்?
வண்டின் மாண்குணம் மகிழ்நன் கொண்டான்கொல்?
அன்னது ஆகலும் அறியாள்,
எம்மொடு புலக்கும், அவன் புதல்வன் தாயே.
Did the bees steal the fine nature of our lord? Or, did our lord steal the fine nature of the bees? Whichever may be true, she does not understand this, for she keeps sulking at us, the mother of his son!
And so concludes Ainkurunooru 81-90. All these songs are situated in the context of the man’s love quarrels with the lady, after marriage, owing to his courting of courtesans. The unifying theme in this section is the act of sulking with the man. This attitude is shown both by the man’s wife as well as his courtesan, and in one instance, the lady’s confidante speaks for the lady too.
The first verse opens in the perspective of the courtesan who says to the man, who in turn was trying to win her affection with sweet words, that the man’s wife would feel so sad if she were to hear these words of the man to the courtesan. Though the courtesan pretends concern for the lady, she actually wants to disturb the lady and says this in the presence of the lady’s friend. This made me wonder does the lady and the courtesan have spies in each other’s camp to report the man’s doings and sayings, for that matter! Much ado about a man indeed!
In the second, the wife takes over and says to the man, while the courtesan’s friends are listening around, that the courtesan is going to feel real angry when she hears about how the bees on the man’s garland jumped ship and started buzzing around the flowers on the lady’s head, which is a sure-fire sign of the lady’s intimacy with the man. In the third too, the lady speaks but in a somewhat mellow, broken hearted tone telling the man, ‘Hey, you married me, brought me here, and then forgot about me. You seem to be seeking courtesans already. Wait a while! I’m not asking you to not go. But go little by little so that at least they recognise me as the woman of your home’. So much acceptance and sorrow seems to hide behind these words.
In the fourth, the lady’s confidante takes over and tells the man, ‘As it is, she gets so mad if anyone talks about you and the courtesans. What do you think she’s going to do if she sees you standing there, with your chest bearing clear signs of having been with the courtesans, as if it were a public pond where many women take a dip’. In the fifth, it’s back to the lady, who scolds the man for behaving so childishly in his seeking pleasures, without seeing what was the right thing to do, and ends with a question, ‘Won’t the town laugh at your silly behaviour?’
From the fifth to the tenth, it’s the voice of the courtesan. In this series, she gets angry with the distracted man at her place and asks him to return to his wife; declares the lady always gets into fights with everyone and how would the courtesan be an exception; pronounces whatever the lady says about the courtesan wanting the man to remain away from his wife was perfectly true; makes a judgement that the man stays away from her and showers his attention on his wife not because he has love for her but he is duty-bound to do that for his wife; and in the last verse, she wonders whether the bees stole the nature of the lord or the lord stole the nature of the bees, and whichever may be the answer, the truth remains that it’s the man who keeps seeking the courtesans like how a bee jumps from flower to flower, and without knowing this, the wife turns her anger towards the courtesan. A nuanced element in some of these renditions is how the courtesan calls the lady ‘her sister’.
Turning to the metaphorical elements, let’s focus on the first verse. Here, we see the stork breaking open the turtle and feeding on its flesh, then leaving it half-eaten when it hears the drum beats of those who come to harvest the fields. This half-eaten turtle later adds to the meal of those field workers. This is a metaphor for how the lady can only relish the leftovers of the man, after the courtesan had been with him. Words that intend to hurt the lady! Setting aside the cruelty in these words, if we were to focus instead on why those harvesters were beating on their drums, we will see an ancient instance of kindness to wildlife. It was the tradition of Sangam people coming to harvest the fields to beat on drums so as to scare away birds and other life, which no doubt would have taken residence in that lush spot. ‘Save lives few and then chop your crops’ seems to have been the motto of these ancient Tamil farmers.
In the verse with the bird call of a young one, that’s a metaphor for the man’s child sending messages to the man, while he was in the courtesan’s house, and owing to that, the man gets an urge to return home to his family. Also, another intricate metaphor occurs in the scene, where cowherds use sugarcane sticks to knock down sweet mangoes. The way the cowherds suck the sweetness of the cane and then use the same to knock down another fruit is a parallel for how the man relishes the company of courtesans, and then later, speaks disparagingly of them, so as to win the fruit of his wife’s affections.
Yet another set of verses that makes me wonder how did these ancients have the time and patience to observe and record these minute expressions of emotions. At the core, it’s just two women fighting over a man and all this importance to ‘She says this, she says that’ leaves me amazed. Were these verses entertainment for the public or was it a way of transferring lessons on psychology? Questions that only time-travel can answer, I suppose!
