would throw herself into the fire with as little concern as he would into a bathing pool.47 Another widow, a poetess herself, who leads this penitential life prescribed by social convention, has a quatrain of simple beauty in which she addresses the water-lily. The poem is so fragile in its tender suggestiveness that one dare not risk a translation. It means, however, that it is sad indeed that the same water-lily which in the courtship days of the poetess served for her ceremonial dress of leaves, now that her husband is no more, should offer the grain which recalls to her a life of abnegation and loneliness.48 Nature and Folklore We have seen the use made of garlands and flowers in warfare, and the different flowers which signified different strategic movements. It remains to sum up briefly those customs connected with Nature which have not been mentioned so far. Each king and each chief had a tree which symbolized him and was called the tree which he guarded. He seems to have planted his outer defences with many trees of that species, and any king waging war against another was supposed to score a great victory over his enemy and disgrace him if he could penetrate into the forest defences of his enemy, and cut down his symbolic tree. Thus the margosa tree was the “guarded tree” of Paḷayan and the punnai of Tittan. It was also counted an act of defiance and bravery, if a king tied one of his elephants to the “guarded tree” in the forest defences of his enemy.49 The story is narrated of the poet Saatanaar who went to receive a poet’s gifts by singing the praises of a chief, Veḷimaan, by name. Since Veḷimaan was resting he refused to see the poet but ordered his younger brother to give a few gifts to the poet. The latter was niggardly in his giving. The poet refused his gifts, went to the chief Kumaṅan and having received ample presents which included one or more elephants, he brought one of them, and tied it to the “guarded tree” of Veḷimaan, and harangued him thus in his presence: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 47Puram; 246. | 48Puram; 248 |
49Patir; 33, 3; Puram; 57, 10-11; 162, 5-6; 336, 4. |