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it is worthwile noticing that this song is the first book of the Bible
which Gundert translated into Malayalam. In the beginning of 1843
he noted down in his diary: "Uebersetzung vom Hohenlied"
(translation of the Song of Songs).7 The following event at
Thalassery at that time is not without importance: a complicated love
story among young missionaries which became very burdensome
for Gundert was going on after the first Basel missionary lady-
teacher, Miss Catherina Mook, had arrived on 30, November 1842
and was finally married to the missionary Christian Mueller by
Gundert on 4, April 1844. Most probably due to these circumstances
the Song of Songs became the first biblical book in Malayalam of the
Protestant Basel Church. No other Church started translating the
Bible with the Song of Songs in her native tongue!
The comment on the Song of Songs which Gundert wrote as
late as in 1878 was already valid when he had translated the poem
into Malayalam in 1843. With his Malayalam translation he not only
met an actual situation at Thalassery but he also created a poem
following the line of Malabar folksongs as well as the biblical texts.
In contradiction to the different comments on the Song of Songs,
Gundert self-confidently expresses his own opinion which gives us
a deep insight into his understanding. He demythologizes various
traditional commentaries while leading the reader into a fascinating
text.
Before starting on the translation of the Song of Songs,
Gundert explains: "His songs numbered a thousand and five' is said
of Solomon in I King 4, 32. The poem "The Song of Songs', being
handed down to us in the holy scripture, ranks first, being the most
beautiful pearl among the richness of songs which has almost been
lost except a few examples...... There is, however, great difficulty in
explaining this song. According to the most plausible result of the
wording we can hardly find anything other than the poetic description
of a real event and the experience of Solomon: within a typical
human sphere the king received Sulamith's love-the highest
available on earth, the bliss of inmost and most devoted love. The
question arises: what are the common characteristics of a minne-
song and the canon? And certainly the inclusion of this book in the
holy Scriptures can be explained only, it seems, by understanding
the song allegorically, as a clothing of higher spiritual conditions and
