When Vandhiyathevan regained consciousness, he found himself staring at a beautiful starry sky. He realised that he was tied at the waist by a strong rope. A chill ocean breeze blew over him. Amidst the light ocean sounds, he heard a beautiful voice singing a soulful melody. It was Poonkuzhali.
He remembered what had happened. But, only until the point when he had seen her jump into the water and swim towards him. He did not remember anything after that.
It looked like she had rescued him from the ocean. She had tied him to the boat, so that he would not fall off again. She had also taken care to tie the rope on top of his clothes, so that the rope would not chaff at his skin. He thought about how difficult it would have been for her to lift him up from the water, all by herself. She was indeed a very strong girl. Once again, he felt ashamed that he had doubted the intentions of this girl.
He noticed her getting up. She walked over towards the sail. “Samudra-Kumari, please untie me. I will help you raise the sail.”
“You can untie yourself if you want. The knot is very loose. But, you do not need to help me. Just keeping out of my way would be helpful.”
She unfurled the sail. The craft surged forward with the wind.
“Poonkuzhali, can I please have some water? I am feeling very thirsty.”
“You drank a lot of salt water. No wonder, you are thirsty.”
She took a wooden cask of water and gave it to him.
He drank a mouthful and cleared his throat.
“Please forgive me. I mistook your good intentions.”
“That is fine. Come dawn, we are going to go our own ways.”
He saw the North Star shining bright in the night sky. He was reminded of the Kudandhai Josiyar’s words. He had compared Prince Arulmozhi to the North Star.
“We will reach the Naaga Theevu towards dawn. From there, you can get to Mainland Lanka without having to cross any straits.”
“Poonkuzhali, what would you do after you drop me?”
“Why do you care about me?”
“You are doing me such a big favour. Should I not thank you? You were mentioning that you would ask me for a favour, but at the right time. Can you tell me what I can do for you?”
“I have changed my mind. I am not going to ask you anything. You are a thankless person.”
Vandhiyathevan was silent for a moment.
“I am feeling ashamed of myself, thinking about how I behaved earlier. Please forgive me.”
“Ok. Let bygones be bygones. Once in Lanka, how do you plan to find out where the Prince is?”
“The same God who helped me so far in crossing this ocean would help me.”
“Oho. You have so much faith in God?”
“Well, I have not done any philosophical research on it. When I face an ordeal, I usually pray to God and he helps me. If not for God, why do you think you would have agreed to help me?”
“That is my personal business. You need not know about it.”
He decided to extract some more information from her.
“I hear that Lanka is full of thick forests and high mountains. I wonder how the people are. Are they also brutish people?”
“Of course not. The people are very nice. But yes, the land is a very rough terrain.”
“I wonder how I will go and find the Prince among these people.”
“The Prince will shine bright among anyone. There should not be any problem in finding him.”
He noticed the pride in her face and voice, when she said this.
Like most people of the Chozha Kingdom, she too treated the Prince almost as a God. He wondered what was so special about the Prince. He felt so lucky to be on a mission to go and meet him.
“Go and seek out the Chozha forces. They will lead you to him.”
“But I hear the Chozha forces are occupying almost half of the island of Lanka. I need to reach this scroll to him as quickly as possible. I only wish I knew where exactly the Prince was. If I did, I could reach this to him quickly.”
She seemed lost in thought for a little while.
“I think I can help. Before I drop you off at the Naga Island, we will visit the Boodha Theevu (Island of Ghosts).”
“Just hearing the island’s name frightens me.”
“It was originally named Buddha Theevu (Island of the Buddha). This was where, it is believed, Buddha preached his teachings under a large banyan tree. Over time, it has begun to be called Boodha Theevu. And by virtue of its name, no one visits the place anymore.”
“And why would we be stopping in this island?”
“I know of a boodham – a ghost – who can perhaps tell me the exact location of the Prince.”
“Would you also introduce me to this ghost?”
“No. We will go there only if you promise to stay with the craft on the beach. I will go into the island and get the information you need.”
He agreed. The chill wind was comforting. The sound of the wind lulled him to sleep very quickly.