His Hill
BY AVVAI
(Translated by P. N. Appuswami from the original poem in Tamil)
[A girl is love-lorn and sick. Her relations believe her to be troubled by the high gods, and seek the aid of a soothsayer to find out the cause of trouble. The soothsayer divines the true malady, and sings in praise of the hero’s hill. The girl’s maid asks the soothsayer to sing that song over again so that the relations may not miss the real cause.]
Oh soothsayer, soothsayer,
Whose long white locks
Are like sea-shells string:
Oh soothsayer, sing.
Sing now that song,
The song that sang
Of his mighty mountain.
Sing again.