Reading the Signs
கண்நோக்கம்: அவளது பார்வை வெளிப்படுத்தும் உள்ளக்குறிப்பை அறிதல். — Glance reading: Discerning the secret love in her shy, sidelong glances.
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irunōk kivaḷuṇka ṇuḷḷa torunōkku / nōynōkkoṉ ṟannōy maruntu.
“A double witchery have glances of her liquid eye; / One glance is glance that brings me pain; the other heals again.”
“Two are the looks of her eye: one of them tortureth the heart, but the other is the balm that healeth it.”
The gaze of her kohl-lined eyes has two powers: one glance causes love's ache, the other cures it.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இவள் உண்கண் உள்ளது இரு நோக்கு= இவளுடைய உண்கண் அகத்ததாய நோக்கு இதுபொழுது என்மேல் இரண்டு நோக்காயிற்று; ஒருநோக்கு நோய் நோக்கு ஒன்று அந்நோய் மருந்து= அவற்றுள் ஒருநோக்கு என்கண் நோய்செய்யும் நோக்கு, ஏனையது அந்நோய்க்கு மருந்தாய நோக்கு.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The gaze within her kohl-lined eyes acts upon me in two distinct ways: one glance inflicts the torment of love, while the other serves as the healing remedy for that very torment.