Long-Standing Friendship
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paḻaimai yeṉappaṭuva tiyāteṉiṉ yātuṅ / kiḻaimaiyaik kīḻntiṭā naṭpu.
What is called long-standing friendship? It is friendship that does not lightly diminish any of the familiar liberties established by old intimacy.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Familiarity is friendship's silent pact, / That puts restraint on no familiar act.”
“That friendship is called intimacy which submitteth without resenting to all the freedoms taken by the beloved one.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பழைமை எனப்படுவது யாதெனின்= பழைமையென்று சொல்லப்படுவது யாதென்று வினவின்ந கிழைமையை யாதும் கீழ்ந்திடா நட்பு= அது பழைமையோர் உரிமையான் செய்வனவற்றைச் சிறிதும் சிதையாது அவற்றிற்கு உடம்படும் நட்பு.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that long-standing friendship is the bond that does not diminish the acts an old friend performs through established familiar intimacy, but receives those familiar liberties without curtailment.