AKAM 014

(14) mullai

• Lines 1-12 Description of evening in the forest
• Lines 13-14 The bards reply to the talaivi and his talk to the people by his side.

Translation

• The stags with twisted horne graze the grass embracing their young mates in the rare places in the interior of the beautiful forest which is surrounded by hills, and frisk (here and there) (4-6).
• Those hills have in their broad paths of red soil which resembles red sealing wax, faded flowers of iron-wood tree (காயாமரம்) spread out, and cochineals which crawl together in many rows. They both resemble sapphire combined closely with coral (by their colour) (1-4).
• The cowherds have spread (the cows) in the expansive pastoral (முல்லை) tract, and they enjoy themselves by making garland of fragrant flowers on the sides of small hills (7-8).
• The gentle cows which have grazed the bermuda (அறுகம்புல்) grass, enter into the common cow-stalls (in the villages) to fill them up to their full capacity making sounds calling their calves in the evening, pouring (on the way) from their big and beautiful udder, sweet milk (9-12).
• The wife told me, "oh bard! "If my husband does not remember me even at such an evening as this what will be our fate in this season ?" As I could not give any reply to the wife I played on my yāḻ the melody type of cevvaḻi (செவ்வழிப்பண்) in a low (slowly) pitch and praised God and set up on my body suffering (12-16);
• I who was going to the place of the chief saw the tall and decorated chariot of the good chief of the agricultural tract who was in the battle front of the enemy (17,21).
• That chariot was fleeting fast because of the galloping horses that were spurred so as to proceed faster still by giving way to all traffic coming in the opposite direction (18)
• The sound produced by the wheels which had many spokes and which dashed against the stones and made a noise resembling the thunder of the cloud in the winter season (19-20)

Syntactical link :- "பாண(13)! (எம் தலைவர்) மாலையும் உள்ளாராயின்(12), காலை(12) யாங்கு ஆகுவம்(13)' என்ற(13) மனையோள் சொல் எதிர் சொல்லோன்(14); கடவுள் வாழ்த்தி(16), அவர்திறம் செல்வேன்(17) முனைநல்ஊரன் நெடுந்தேர்(21) கண்டனென்(17).

The bard spoke to people near and dear to him so as to be heard by them.