Nobility of Character
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nilattiṟ kiṭantamai kālkāṭṭuṅ kāṭṭuṅ / kulattiṟ piṟantārvāyc col.
The shoot shows how the soil lies beneath it; in the same way, the word out of a mouth shows what a person is made of.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Of soil the plants that spring thereout will show the worth: / The words they speak declare the men of noble birth.”
“The nature of a soil is known by the seedling that groweth therein: even so is the family of a man known by the words that come out of his mouth.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நிலத்தின் கிடந்தமை கால் காட்டும்= நிலத்தின் இயல்பை அதன்கண் முளைத்த முளை காட்டும்; குலத்திற் பிறந்தார் வாய்ச்சொல் காட்டும்= அதுபோலக் குலத்தின் இயல்பை அதன்கண் பிறந்தார் வாயிற் சொல் காட்டும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The shoot shows how the soil lies beneath it; in the same way, the word out of a mouth shows the house a person comes from.