“I came hunting for the Chozha tiger, but, instead found the Vaanarkulam fox. Not a bad catch.”
The queen was pregnant and realised that the mute girl was pregnant as well. Out of compassion, the queen took the mute girl to the palace. The girl gave birth to two children in the palace. The queen offered to raise one of the children in the palace. The girl first hesitated. After deep thought, she decided to leave both the children at the palace and she ran away into the dark of the night.
I am reminded of an ancient poem about the fictitious elephant owned by one of my ancestors, Perunkilli Valavan. This elephant was supposed to have one leg in Lanka, one leg in Thanjavur, one in Kanchi, and the fourth in Urayur (present day Trichy).
The Prince came and sat on a tree stump in the centre. He was not wearing a beautiful gold crown, pearl necklaces, or dressed in fine silk. Vandhiyathevan and Nambi were sitting close to him. They were getting ready for an enactment of the tale of Elela Singhan.
“Oh yes, General. I had half a dozen armed soldiers near the door for company. The house was large. And for dinner, they sent me a cat. Just when I was about to finish off the cat, this Veera Vaishnavan came and disturbed me. The cat, which was a staunch Shaivite did not like this man one bit, and scratched his skin and drew blood.”
“She gave me an important task.”
“Which was.. ”
“To come here to Lanka and search for the Pandiya coronation crown and a bejeweled scepter. Apparently, it is hidden in some jungle here in Lanka.”