1117. The Perplexed Poet

King Gajavarman didn't expect that a casual remark made by him, in a lighter vein, while talking to his friend, would reach the ears of his queen and enrage her.

Gajavarman's friend Kuladeepan had come from another place. The two friends were conversing, sitting in the palace garden. 

At one stage, the conversation turned to the topic of women. Both were making fun of how poets usually described the beauty of women.

"Nothing can be more idiotic lie than comparing the face of a woman to the moon. I will never accept that my wife's face resembles the moon!" said Gajavarman, laughing aloud.

At that time, he heard the noise of some movement behind the plants in the garden. When he looked in the direction of the noise, he saw Nandini walking away at a quick face. 

Gajavarman realized that Nandini who had come to the garden, looking for him, heard his remark and, angered by it, walked away. He began to worry about how he was going to pacify her.

After Kuladeepan had taken leave of him, Gajavarman went to see Nandini, intending to pacify her.

"I am not beautiful, after all. Why did you came to see me?" asked Nandini, her tone carrying her anger.

"When did I say you were not beautiful?"

"You said that you would never accept that my face resembled the moon. What does it mean?'

"I said so only to mean that your face is more beautiful than the moon.

"Don't bluff!" said Nandhini and went into her room, banging the door behind her. 

Gajavarman delved into deep thought.

The next day, there was a program in the King's court. As the  queen, Nandini was sitting next to Gajavarman. To show that her hanger had still not subsided, she was looking straight ahead, without turning her gaze at Gajavarman.

Gajavarman didn't attempt to talk to her, either.

After a couple of dance numbers and songs rendered by the court artistes, some of the poets in the court read out their poems.

Listening to the poem read out by one particular poet, Nandini looked surprised. She turned towards Gajavarman and looked at him.

Gajavarman smiled at her.

"Oh, Bard! Can you explain the meaning of the poem read by you?" Nandini asked the poet.

"Yes, Your Majesty! The full moon looks at the queen's face and feels that its beauty is no match to the beauty of the queen's face. Thinking that the stain on its face affects its looks, the moon tries to get rid of the stain, by rubbing it off its surface. Since the stain doesn't go away, it keeps rubbing off more of its surface every day. In the process, the moon gets progressively thinner, in the next fifteen days. After fifteen days, the face becomes to grow and gets its full shape in the next fortnight, The process repeats itself." 

"You have a god imagination, Bard!" appreciated Nandini. "Before reading out the poem here, did you share your poem with anyone?"

"I have not recited this poem anywhere else. But, since this is a poem about Your Majesty, I thought I should show it to the King and gets his clearance, before singing it in the court. So, I showed it to the king yesterday. He liked it and asked me to read it in the court" said the poet.

Nandini looked at Gajavarman and smiled. The smile conveyed a message expressing her regret for having been angry with him, without knowing that he had, while conversing with his friend, only shared the theme of the poem shown to him by the poet earlier.

After the court was adjourned, the poet came to Gajavarman, who was sitting alone.

"Your Majesty! You wrote a poem, gave it to me and asked me to read it in the court, as my own poem. You have also rewarded me for this poem, which was not written by me!" he said, feeling surprised.

Gajavarman laughed and said, "Bard! I have rewarded you in the past for many poems written by you. But the reward I gave you today was not for the poem. It was for reading the poem written by me in the court, falsely claiming it as yours and making the queen's anger go away!"

The poet could not understand the meaning of the king's words.

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 112
In Praise of Her Charms

Verse 1115 (in Tamil):
aRuvAy niRaindha avirmadikkup pOla
maRu uNdO mAdhar mugaththu.

Meaning:

The glistening moon that wanes and waxes is marred by vacant spaces. Is there a single taint on my maiden’s face?

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pulavar sonnadhum poyyE poyyE' by the same author.)

Verse 1118
Verse 1116