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K379 and K380 of Canto Xxxviii of the Thirukkural Translated With Commentary

K379 and K380 of Canto XXXVIII of the THIRUKKURAL, Translated with Commentary
 
(Just a note on the translations to say that, even if G.U. Pope did more to research and elucidate the THIRUKKURAL, his translations - with some exceptions - bent on rhyme and stilted structure, require further interpretation and are sometimes needlessly obscure.
W. H. Drew and John Lazarus's translations are generally quite clear, but tend sometimes towards needless expatiation. In my own rendering, I have tried to keep to the semantic ordering and grammatical structure wherever possible. 
Lest non-Tamils unfamiliar with the Kurals think that the author Thiruvalluvar also used punctuation marks found in the translations, would do well to note that Tamil writers of yore never had this bother to cope with. Besides, as Pope points out, the short and long vowels like "o" and "O" were undifferentiated in the original; now and then however the dot over the "l" (there are three in the Tamil alphabet) was used to indicate the use of "l" as "ela" or "la".) T. Wignesan
 
K379: nanraangkaal nallavaak kaanpavar 
           anraangkaal allal paduvathu evan

When good things come, men view them all as gain,
When evils come, why then should they complain? ( Transl. G.U. Pope)
How is it that those, who are pleased with good fortune, trouble themselves
when evil comes (since both are equally the decree of fate)? (Transl. Drew & Lazarus)

When everything goes well, we tend to enjoy life (for what it is worth); 
When things take a turn for the worse, why should we whine? (Transl. T. Wignesan)

K380: uulin peruvali yaavula matruonru
            cuulinum thaanmunth thurum

What powers so great as those of Destiny?  Man's skill
Some other thing contrives; but fate's beforehand still. (Transl. G.U. Pope)
What is stronger than fate? If we think of an expedient (to avert it), it will itself
be with us before (the thought). (Transl. Drew & Lazarus)

Is there force mightier than fate? It will forestall  the very thought of one who tries to dodge it. ( Transl. T. Wignesan)

© T. Wignesan - Paris, 2017

Copyright © T Wignesan | Year Posted 2017

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