Ainkurunooru 271-280: Tales of the mountain monkey

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Thus soars the Twenty Eighth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Tales of the mountain monkey

271 Anything for her
அவரை அருந்த மந்தி பகர்வர்
பக்கின் தோன்றும் நாடன் வேண்டின்
பசுப்போல் பெண்டிரும் பெறுகுவன்;
தொல் கேள் ஆகலின், நல்குமால் இவட்கே.

After eating field beans, the monkey looks like a bag belonging to a trader in the land of the lord. If he so desires, he would get many women with the good nature of cows. Since it’s a long and old relationship, close to his heart, he will render everything possible just for her!

272 Mother’s hallucination
கரு விரல் மந்திக் கல்லா வன் பறழ்
அரு வரைத் தீம் தேன் எடுப்பி, அயலது
உரு கெழு நெடுஞ் சினைப் பாயும் நாடன்
இரவின் வருதல் அறியான்;
‘வரும் வரும்’ என்ப தோழி! யாயே.

The black-fingered monkey’s foolish young one, wanting to take sweet honey from the formidable mountain cleft, disturbs the comb and then leaps with fear onto the tall branch in the land of the lord. He does not know to come at night. While that is so, my friend, mother keeps saying, ‘He was here!’, ‘He was here!’.

273 More tears
அத்தச் செயலைத் துப்பு உறழ் ஒண் தளிர்
புன் தலை மந்தி வன் பறழ் ஆரும்
நல் மலை நாட! நீ செலின்,
நின் நயந்து உறைவி என்னினும் கலிழ்மே.

The shining leaves of the Ashoka tree on the path appear akin to coral and is fed upon by the soft-haired female monkey’s strong infant in your fine mountains, O lord! If you leave, the one who loves you will shed much more tears than me!

274 Parted with beauty mine
மந்திக் கணவன் கல்லாக் கடுவன்,
ஒண் கேழ் வயப்புலி குழுமலின், விரைந்து, உடன்
குன்று உயர் அடுக்கம் கொள்ளும் நாடன்
சென்றனன் வாழி, தோழி! என்
மென் தோள் கவினும், பாயலும், கொண்டே.

The lover of the female monkey is an unskilled male. Hearing the roar of the shining and strong male tiger, hurrying, the male monkey immediately rushes to the soaring high mountain ranges to hide in the land of the lord. He has left, my friend, taking along with him, the beauty of my delicate arms and my sleep as well!

275 If you love her
குரங்கின் தலைவன் குரு மயிர்க் கடுவன்
சூரல்அம் சிறு கோல் கொண்டு, வியல் அறை
மாரி மொக்குள் புடைக்கும் நாட!
யாம் நின் நயந்தனம் எனினும், எம்
ஆய்நலம் வாடுமோ அருளுதி எனினே?

The leader of the monkeys is a male with shimmering hair. Taking a small cane stick, it tries to hit the rain cloud in those wide mountain spaces of your land, O lord! Yes, she does love you and if you too love her and render your grace, will her fine beauty fade?

276 Wife of the mountain lord
மந்திக் காதலன் முறி மேய் கடுவன்
தண் கமழ் நறைக் கொடி கொண்டு, வியல் அறைப்
பொங்கல் இள மழை புடைக்கும் நாட!
நயவாய்ஆயினும் வரைந்தனை சென்மோ
கல் முகை வேங்கை மலரும்
நல் மலை நாடன் பெண்டு எனப் படுத்தே!

The lover of the female monkey is the male, who grazes on tender shoots. Taking the cool and fragrant ‘narai’ vine in its hand, it tries to hit the brimming, young clouds in the wide spaces of your land, O lord! Whether you love her or not, please seek her hand so that she will be known as ‘wife of the leader of the fine land, where blooms the ‘Kino’ flowers in the mountain clefts’.

277 Spreader of pallor
குறவர் முன்றில் மா தீண்டு துறுகல்
கல்லா மந்தி கடுவனோடு உகளும்
குன்ற நாட! நின் மொழிவல்; என்றும்,
பயப்ப நீத்தல் என் இவள்
கயத்து வளர் குவளையின் அமர்த்த கண்ணே.

On the scratching stone pillar in the front yards of mountain dwellers’ homes, along with the naive female monkey, the male too delights in your peak-filled land, O lord! I wish to ask you something: Why do you part away so often, making her eyes, akin to a blue lily blooming in the pond, spread with pallor?

278 Renderer of affliction
சிலம்பின் வெதிரத்துக் கண்விடு கழைக்கோல்
குரங்கின் வன் பறழ் பாய்ந்தென, இலஞ்சி
மீன் எறி தூண்டிலின் நிவக்கும் நாடன்
உற்றோர் மறவா நோய் தந்து,
கண்டோர் தண்டா நலம் கொண்டனனே!

As a monkey’s strong infant leaps on it, a bamboo with nodes that blooms in the mountain slopes, bends and appears akin to a fishing rod in the land of the lord. To those who love him, he has given an unrelenting affliction and taken away their flawless beauty.

279 Danger and slander awaits
கல் இவர் இற்றி புல்லுவன ஏறிக்
குளவி மேய்ந்த மந்தி துணையொடு
வரைமிசை உகளும் நாட! நீ வரின்,
கல் அகத்தது எம் ஊரே;
அம்பல் சேரி அலர் ஆங்கட்டே.

The roots of the ‘White fig’ tree spreads around the rocks and climbing upon this, the female monkey that fed on the wild jasmine plays along with its mate in your land, O lord! If you plan on coming, know that our town is amidst the rocky mountains and close to spaces, where slander and gossip spreads!

280 Good tidings to mother
கரு விரல் மந்திக் கல்லா வன் பார்ப்பு
இரு வெதிர் ஈர்ங் கழை ஏறி, சிறு கோல்
மதி புடைப்பது போல் தோன்றும் நாட!
வரைந்தனை நீ எனக் கேட்டு யான்
உரைத்தனென் அல்லெனோ அஃது என் யாய்க்கே?

The black fingered female monkey’s foolish little child, climbs on the huge bamboo’s moist stalk, and appears as if it’s trying to hit the moon in your land, O lord! On learning that you had wed her, I have already informed this to mother, haven’t I?

So concludes Ainkurunooru 271-280. All the verses except the last one are set in the context of a man’s love relationship with a lady, prior to marriage, whereas the exception is set after marriage, but does not involve the usual courtesan trouble. The unifying theme of all these verses is the presence of the monkey and how it reflects the relationship between the man and the lady. The verses are said either by the confidante or the lady, sometimes to each other, or to the man, and in most cases, for the benefit of the man, listening nearby.

First, let’s take in the different depictions of the mountain monkey. In the very first one, we see a female monkey feeding on the ‘avarai’ or ‘field beans’ and looking like a trader’s bag, implying that the monkey’s belly had swollen with its food of plenty. In another, it’s the young one of the female in the spotlight and this monkey, not so smart, but full of desire for the sweet honey, disturbs the honeycomb and is soon chased by angry bees, making it leap to another branch. After that rather comic depiction, the little monkey is seen eating the leaves of the Ashoka tree, said to be as radiant as coral. Though interpreters have mentioned it as coral, considering the rich green of the Ashoka tree, shouldn’t it be jade? Whereas, if it’s indeed coral, did the leaves of the Ashoka tree turn red then or are they talking about a different tree? We’ll hold on to these questions and follow the monkey. Now, it’s the turn of the male monkey, which hearing the roar of a tiger rushes to the high mountain ranges. In the next too, we get a glimpse of the male monkey, said to have shimmering hair, and we observe how this male takes a cane stick in hand and tries to hit a raincloud up above. The hitting action continues in the next scene, where the monkey takes a ‘narai’ vine and pretends to beat the raincloud. Next, we get to see a pillar in front of a mountain dweller’s home and this is said to be installed there, so that animals can relieve their itch on the same. And here, leaping on that pillar, the male monkey delights with the female out in the open. A monkey infant appears in the next scene and as it jumps on a bamboo, that bends like a fishing rod. In the next, the female monkey, after eating white jasmine, climbs on the roots of the fig tree spreading around the rocks and plays with the male. In the final one, the naive monkey infant appears as if it’s hitting the moon atop the bamboo stalk.

Turning from these lively depictions, let’s focus our attention on the intent of the speakers. In the first, the confidante reveals the lady’s relationship to the lady’s family, when they plan on refusing the man, saying to them that the man can get any woman he wants, and curiously a good woman is referred to as ‘cow-like’ in this instance! Could this be because the male is often referred to as a ‘bull’? Moving on, the confidante tells the lady’s family that because the man loves the lady, he would give a lot of offerings to win her over. In the next, the lady complains to the confidante, while the man listens nearby saying that the man doesn’t ever come to tryst with her at night, but mother seems to keep on harping about how the man has come. This is to warn the man that the lady will be confined to the house soon. In the third, the confidante tells the man, when he conveys his intent to part away to seek wealth for their marriage saying that it’s the lady who will shed tears plenty. It’s back to the lady in the fourth as she laments about how the man has taken away her sleep and beauty when he parted away to gather wealth.

The confidante addresses the man in the next four instances, in a situation when the man’s only interested in trysting and does not seem to be taking steps towards his marriage with the lady. In the fifth, the confidante questions the man’s love and asks if he had truly loved the lady, would he let her beauty suffer. In the sixth, she follows the same approach and declares even if he does not love the lady, he should at least claim her hand to endow her the title of ‘wife’. By questioning his love, the confidante intends to shock the man and nudge him in the right path. In the seventh, she asks the man why he parts away after trysting and makes the lady’s eyes spread with pallor. In the eighth, the confidante makes a generic statement that the man seems to have the nature of inflicting a deep affliction to those who love him.

The ninth sees the confidante refusing the man when he intends to tryst with the lady at night, saying theirs is a rocky place and surrounded by townsfolk known to spread slander. Through this, she’s nudging the man to marry the lady soon. In the final one, the man seems to have eloped with the lady and married her in his village. The confidante visits there and the man says you must tell this to the lady’s mother. Hearing this, the confidante replies with happiness that she already has informed the lady’s mother about the lady’s happy marriage with the man.

Looking at the metaphorical elements, in the image of the monkey eating the beans and looking like a trader’s bag, that’s a metaphor for the man’s wealth and prosperity, as the confidante argues to the lady’s family that they must marry the lady to such a man. In the one with the little monkey and the honey comb, the lady places a metaphor for how the man seems to be interested only in seeking the pleasure of trysting, and seems to run away like the monkey chased by the bees, in fear of the lady’s family’s ire. In the one where the monkey eats the Ashoka tree leaves, that’s a metaphor for the man destroying the lady’s beauty by delaying seeking her hand. The image of the male monkey running to the mountains after hearing the tiger’s roar is a metaphor for how the man had run to gather wealth, fearing that the lady will be put on guard by the lady’s family. In the images, where the monkey tries to hit a rain cloud with a cane or narai vine, that’s a metaphor for the man destroying the lady’s health and beauty by delaying the seeking of her hand. In the final one, where the monkey infant appears as if it’s hitting the moon as it sits on the bamboo stem, that’s a metaphor for how the man’s eloping with the lady seems as if it’s something that harms the lady’s family, but not truly so, since the man had married the lady and brought honour to their love relationship. Thus, we see how in the movements of a wild monkey, the nature of a man’s love for his lady is traced in these mountains of the past!