Transactional Relationships
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poruṭpeṇṭir poymmai muyakka miruṭṭaṟaiyi / lētil piṇantaḻīi yaṟṟu.
The false embrace of women who seek wealth is like embracing an unknown corpse in a dark room.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As one in darkened room, some stranger corpse inarms, / Is he who seeks delight in mercenary women's charms!”
“The prostitute pretendeth love when she embraceth her lover: but in her heart she feeleth even as one who hath touched a stranger dead body in a dark room.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பொருட்பெண்டிர் பொய்ம்மை முயக்கம்= கொடுப்பாரை விரும்பாது பொருளையே விரும்பும் பொது மகளிரது பொய்ம்மையை யுடைய முயக்கம்; இருட்டு அறையில் ஏதில் பிணம் தழீஇயற்று= பிணம் எடுப்பார் இருட்டறைக்கண்ணே முன்னறியாத பிணத்தைத் தழுவினாற் போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
In the historical frame, Parimelazhagar describes public women who do not desire the male giver but desire his payment, making their embrace false. He compares that contact to a corpse-bearer unknowingly embracing an unfamiliar corpse in a dark room. This is dehumanizing classical sexual rhetoric, not a modern license to call women, sex workers, people in poverty, bodies, or any living person a corpse. The bounded modern analogy concerns freely chosen bodily warmth staged to obtain a concealed benefit.