The next morning the red rays of the rising sun woke up Vandhiyathevan. It took me a while to come to my senses even after I woke up. It took him a while to make out whether it was sunlight or the light of a lighthouse lamp that fell on him. He was confused as to what was real and what was a dream from the experiences of the night before. Only the old man's wife and daughter-in-law were in the house. They said that Periyavar had gone to the Kuzhagar temple to perform Pushpa Kainkariyam. He did not have the courage to ask them about Poongkuzhali. He drank their breakfast and looked around. Poongkuzhali was nowhere to be found. He went to see the temple. Her father was there. He was plucking flowers for worship from the trees around the temple. He said that Poongkuzhali used to come a few days to garland flowers, but not today.
"She's chasing deer in the forest somewhere. Or wandering along the beach. Find her and ask her!"
"Brother! Beware of one thing. She is wicked, don't say anything to make a mistake with her. Don't get into Sringara rasa thinking of what you have read in the epics! She will become safe immediately. Then your life is not yours!" warned the old man.
Thinking of the dream of the previous day, Vandhiyathevan's body shivered. Then he went into the forest in search of Poongkuzhali. Where to look in the forest? After a while he got tired. It was enough to get out of the forest. After exiting, he headed for the beach. Wandering long distances along the coast was of no avail. Poongkuzhali is missing. "She'll be home for lunch anyway, won't she? We'll see you there!" she turned around. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. I wanted to go down and bathe in the calm sea, which was not much of a tidal wave. I had heard before that the sea was not very deep on this side. Poongkuzhali had also told me the evening before. Then, what is the obstacle to going down and bathing? It was also necessary to overcome his fear of the sea. It is necessary to travel by boat and ship. Is it possible to be afraid of the sea? That fear has to be overcome.
He took the roll of cloth and the knife tied around his waist and put them on the beach and went out into the sea. Little by little, he stepped cautiously. As time went on, there was no more than knee deep water. When the small waves came and crashed, the water came up to the waist. Not above that. "This is a beautiful ocean! There is no water even for drowning," he said and went further.
'Oh no! We have come a long way from the shore, thinking that there is no depth. What if the sea suddenly rises? What if the waves get bigger and crash?' This thought occurred to him and he turned towards the shore.
'It is true that we have come a long way from the shore! But the sea does not rise all of a sudden... Ooh! There comes Poongkuzhali! He must climb ashore and hold her. Hold on and listen again with subtle words. She seems to have seen us too! She's coming in the direction we are in! She even signals to us...'
'Oh! Oh! What is this? What does she look at and pick up as she crouches on the shore? Isn't she picking up the curls around our waists? Girl! Don't take it! It's mine... She didn't hear us! The roar of these ocean waves!
'She has heard our voices! She looks at us and says something! Poongkuzhali! It's mine! Don't take it...'
'Here! Won't you listen to me? You're going to sing with your possessions in your hands, stop...'
Vandhiyathevan started running towards the shore! Once Poongkuzhali looked back at him. Then she too began to run. She ran towards the forest on the opposite side of the house and the lighthouse!
'Aha! She is a wicked woman! Wicked girl? Or just crazy? We have to buy our half scroll from this madman somehow...'
Vandhiyathevan stumbled into the sea twice and drank a mouthful of salt water and slowly climbed ashore. Then he ran after the girl. As she ran, her pace increased. A herd of fifty or sixty deer ran at a distance.
'What a beautiful sight to see the deer running – leaping and running! Why? This girl is jumping and running. This is no less beautiful than the running of the deer! Beauty is the beauty of women who live so naturally and spontaneously... But don't tell her all this. It would be ruined if I told you! The old man has been warned?... But why is she running away so arrogantly? How was she to be found once she had entered the forest?... Here she is in the forest. Things have become a mess. There is no one else in the world who can be as foolish as we are... Will the garland caught in the monkey's hand come back?'
Vandhiyathevan also entered the forest in a short while. He wandered about. In his haste and excitement, he brushed aside the plants properly and scratched his whole body with thorns. "Poongkuzhali, Poongkuzhali!" he shouted. Then, "O tree! Have you seen Poongkuzhali?" "Crow! Have you seen Poongkuzhali?"
"What is this? We are going to go mad!' – Just as he was about to think, suddenly something fell from the top of the tree!
Aa! His half-cloth roll! Eagerly he picked it up and opened the scroll. The letter and the gold coins were all safe! "Is the money safe?" came a voice from above. Vandhiyathevan looked up. Poongkuzhali was sitting on the branch of the tree.
Vandhiyathevan, who was sweating and stiff, said in anger beyond himself, "I have never seen a manthi like you!"
"I've never seen an owl like you, Mom! What did you do?" asked Poongkuzhali.
"Why are you bothering me like this? If you want money..."
"! Who wants your money here?"
"Then why did you come running with it?"
"If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't have come into the forest. You must have gone back to our house!"
"What if I had gone?"
"Climb this tree and see!"
"What do you know?"
"I know ten or fifteen horses! I know swords and spears glitter!"
From the look on her face it seemed that what she was saying might be true. However, wanting to know for sure, Vandhiyathevan climbed the tree. Before climbing, he tightened the coil tightly. Perhaps she had dropped it from the treetop. Now she was plotting to usurp it again, who knows?
He climbed the tree and looked towards the lighthouse. 'Yes, Poongkuzhali is also right.' Ten or fifteen horses stood there. There were warriors on horses armed with swords and spears.
"Who could they be?... It is Pazhuvertaraiyar's men who came to capture us! Who else could it be?"
Poongkuzhali saved herself from great danger. For what? What about the purpose? – There are still some things that are not clear!
They both climbed down from the tree. "Poongkuzhali, you saved me from disaster. Thank you very much!" said Vandhiyathevan.
"Just a lie! Do you even thank the boys?" said Poongkuzhali.
"Don't think of me like all the boys!"
"You're not like everyone else; Is it a separate model?"
"Girl! Can I ask you a question?"
"You may ask freely; It's up to me to respond."
"Why did you want to save me? What is the reason for your sudden kindness to me?"
Poongkuzhali was silent. It was evident from her face that she was a little taken aback.
Then she thought about it and said, "I've always felt a little pity for."
"Joy; How did you know that these soldiers were looking for me?"
"Don't you see it? – I guessed yesterday that you have come to flee and hide. It was confirmed this morning by your friend, the doctor's son."
"What did he say?"
"When I wake up in the morning, I want to look for herbs in the forest. I said I would take him and brought him here. He began to fall in love with me. I said, 'Your friend has overtaken you?'
"What did you say?"
"Wait a bit; Listen and come! I told you that you had begun to fall in love with me. That's when he expressed his suspicions about you. On the way, for various reasons, he suspected that you had run away from the fear of royal punishment. 'Do not trust such a man and be unjustly corrupted! Marry me!' 'Are you in a hurry? Don't you want to ask the elders?" Your beautiful friend said, 'Let's marry according to the old Tamil tradition!' How's the story?"
"You wretch!" shouted Vandhiyathevan.
"By this time I heard the horses coming. I asked him to climb the tree. I still laugh when I think of how his legs trembled when I stood on top of the tree," said Poongkuzhali and laughed.
"Let the game be; What happened then?"
"He came down from the top of the tree. ' See? I was right. The royal servants have come to catch him!' He said. 'Then they will catch you who came with him? You run and hide somewhere!' "That's the way it should be," he said. He left me. It happened just as I expected..."
"What? What happened?"
"He told me that he would run and hide, and went straight in the direction of the horsemen and got caught by them..."
"Alas! Poor thing!"
"Don't be too miserable! Save some!"
"Why do you say that?"
"Listen to me! You'll find out for yourself! He went straight to them. They looked at him in amazement. They stared intently and whispered to each other. "Who are you?" he asked. "We are hunters! 'We have come to hunt deer,' said one of them. "No," he said, "I know what you're hunting." They were even more astonished and provoked him. 'You have come in search of Vandhiyathevan. Ill show you where he is. Will you leave me alone?' They agreed. He took them to our house ..."
"Traitor, Chandala..."
"I came looking for you after they left. You were bathing in the sea..."
"Why didn't you tell me all this right there! Why did you run away with this roll of cloth?"
"Otherwise, would you have run so fast? If you had gone looking for those hunters, you would have gone! Perhaps you wouldn't have believed me. By the time I told you all this and made you come with me, they probably saw you..."
'Aha! Did we think this woman was crazy?' thought Vandhiyathevan and felt ashamed.
'You have to have complete trust in her. Without her help, we cannot cross the sea to Ilankai. It would be in vain to come this far. We may have to fall back into the hands of the Pazhuvertaraiyars.'
"Girl! I cant tell you how much you've helped me. You have to do the rest of the help..."
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"You have seen my friend's looks, haven't you? You know it's no use trusting him, haven't you? You must come by boat and take me to Ilankai!"
Poongkuzhali was silent.
"Do you believe that I am not capable of doing anything wrong? Girl! The most important thing for me is to go to Ilankai at once. I need you to help me with this..."
"What will you give me if I do?" asked Poongkuzhali. For the first time there was a trace of shame on her face. His cheeks drooped; The beauty of her face grew manifold and shone brightly.
Vandhiyathevan remembered that she had heard the same thing in the dream she had seen the night before. The same words came to his tongue again. He bit his tongue with his teeth and stopped the word.
"Girl! If you do me this help, I will never forget it as long as I live; I will be forever grateful. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do for you in return. If you tell me to do something, I will!"
Poongkuzhali was lost in thought. He seemed to hesitate whether to say what he wanted to say or not.
"Tell me if there's anything I can do for you! Of course I will..."
"Is this the true word?"
"Promise! I swear!"
"Then I will tell you when the time comes. Won't you forget then?"
"I will never forget. I'll wait for you to ask for help in return."
Poongkuzhali was thinking again for a while.
"Well, come with me! Ill take you to some place in the forest. You must stay there until dusk today. I must be starving..."
"It doesn't matter! In the morning your sister-in-law cooked old rice. I ate too much just to make her stomach burn. We don't need to eat until tonight..."
"Do you even get food for dinner? Ill try to get some in my hand. You must stay where I tell you until dark! I'll come back after dark and make a noise. Have you heard the cuckoo call 'cuckoo, cuckoo'?"
"I have heard it well. Even if I don't, I'll hear your voice."
"You have to get out of there as soon as I call you. We must get into the boat before dark and leave."
"I'll wait for the cuckoo's voice to come."
Poongkuzhali took Vandhiyathevan to a place in the middle of the forest where there was a mound of sand. On the other side of the ridge the vegetation was closer together than the other. She deftly brushed them away with her hand and descended through a tree into the ditch. Vandhiyathevan followed her down. There was the upper edge of an old hall. Looking closer, he saw two pillars of the darkened hall. All this was hidden by trees and shrubs. From either side, you couldn't see the hall there.
"There was a leopard in this hall. I'm in this after it's gone. I have my own house. I used to come here when I didn't want to see people. There is water in the pan. Stay here all day! If you hear voices on all sides, horses running, or any other commotion, don't show your head outside. Don't climb up the mound and see!" said Poongkuzhali.
"Are you asking me to stay here after dark? If a wild animal, a tiger or a leopard comes?..." Vandhiyathevan asked.
"The leopard is not here now. If you come, the fox and the wild boar will come. You are not afraid of the fox and the pig!"
"There is nothing to fear. What if you come up in the dark? He didn't even have a spear in his hand. I put it at home."
"Here! Keep this weapon!" said Poongkuzhali and handed over a weapon lying in the hall. It was a strange weapon. On both sides were sharp thorns like swords. The thorns were harder than iron. Perhaps this is what Indras thunderbolt looks like!
"What weapon is this? Why did you do it?" asked Vandhiyathevan.
"This is the tail of a fish! When the leopard that lived in this hall came to pounce on me, I killed it by beating it to death!" said Poongkuzhali.