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In this episode, we listen to the narration of a curious incident involving many layers, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 248, penned by Kabilar. The verse is situated amidst the bustle of hunting in the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain landscape’ and etches a dynamic moment of human-animal interaction.
நகை நீ கேளாய் தோழி! அல்கல்
வய நாய் எறிந்து, வன் பறழ் தழீஇ,
இளையர் எய்துதல் மடக்கி, கிளையொடு
நால்முலைப் பிணவல் சொலிய கான் ஒழிந்து,
அரும் புழை முடுக்கர் ஆள் குறித்து நின்ற
தறுகட் பன்றி நோக்கி, கானவன்
குறுகினன் தொடுத்த கூர்வாய்ப் பகழி
மடை செலல் முன்பின் தன் படை செலச் செல்லாது,
‘அரு வழி விலக்கும் எம் பெருவிறல் போன்ம்’ என,
எய்யாது பெயரும் குன்ற நாடன்
செறி அரில் துடக்கலின், பரீஇப் புரி அவிழ்ந்து,
ஏந்து குவவு மொய்ம்பின் பூச் சோர் மாலை,
ஏற்று இமிற் கயிற்றின், எழில் வந்து துயல்வர,
இல் வந்து நின்றோற் கண்டனள், அன்னை;
வல்லே என் முகம் நோக்கி,
‘நல்லை மன்!’ என நகூஉப் பெயர்ந்தோளே.
Striking scenes await us in this trip to the mountains, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the lady, pretending not to notice the man, who has arrived for his nightly tryst, but making sure he was in earshot:
“Listen to this funny thing that happened last night, my friend! Chasing away strong hunting dogs, embracing its piglets, and blocking hunters from nearing, a female boar with four sagging teats then flees into the forest, along with its family. At this time, in the formidable, narrow mountain path, facing the men ahead, a brave male boar stood there. Seeing it, the leader of the hunters came near it, with his sharp-tipped arrow aimed at it. Then saying, ‘It seems to possess a great courage like me, of standing in the path of enemies and blocking them, without running away, even though the army with immense strength has retreated’, he left without shooting his arrow in the peaks of our lord of the mountains! Tugged by thick bushes, with knots severed and loosened, upon his upraised, strong shoulders, lay a garland, devoid of flowers, appearing akin to the thick rope around the hump of a bull, swaying with beauty. Seeing him come and stand near our home, mother suddenly turned to look at me, and left from there saying with a sarcastic smile, ‘What a good girl you are!’”
Time to start on that hunting expedition in this rugged terrain. The confidante starts by calling her friend’s attention to something that had happened the previous night, something that was tickling her. Without saying what that is, she launches into a description of the man’s mountain country, and to do that, she first presents an image of a female boar protecting its piglets from the advancing hunters and escaping into the forest. Then she turns her attention to the mate, the male boar, which was standing in that mountain path, and with a fierce look, facing the hunters ahead. At this time, the head of the hunters comes close, with an arrow ready to be shot, and says, ‘Here’s a creature that’s just like me, refusing to retreat even when the entire army has’. Then, that hunter seems to have lowered his bow and left without harming the boar. After that intense scene from the man’s mountain country, the confidante talks about the man, and his appearance, as he arrived at their home the previous night. She talks about how his garland was tugged by the bushes in his path, and had lost the flowers, and was rather looking like the rope around a bull’s hump. The confidante concludes by saying that when the man had come in this manner, mother had caught a glimpse of him, and at that moment, she had turned to the confidante and remarked with much sarcasm, ‘Aren’t you an innocent, little girl?’.
An anecdote to tell the listening man that mother had an inkling of the man’s relationship with the lady, and soon, the lady may be placed under guard, and so it was best for him to come seek the lady’s hand in marriage. In that scene of the male boar standing boldly in the path of the menacing hunters, the confidante places a metaphor to show the man that he too must face the lady’s kith and kin with courage and claim the lady’s hand. The thing that moved me the most in this verse was that transformative moment when the hunter sees himself in the boar, telling us that there can be no better mirror to our lives than nature!
