Hanuman finally
crossed the ocean and arrived at the city of Lanka. It had been months since
Ravana stole Sita, Rama’s wife. Hanuman promised Rama he would find his
beautiful wife and return her to him. Rama’s camp had heard she was here but it
was up to Hanuman to find where she was being held prisoner. Hanuman was in awe
at the beauty of Lanka. The gates shimmered in the moonlight and everything
appeared to be made of precious stones.
There were four gates
at Lanka facing each cardinal direction. Upon the walls were many rakshasas,
demon sentries. The sentries were dispersed throughout the tops of the walls
standing watch. Hanuman became as small as a fly and snuck through a crack in
the city wall. Searching for Sita in his true form as a monkey would be questionable. Hanuman would be discovered to easily. He then shifted into an unkempt black cat in order to
avoid detection. He prowled through the city streets, peering through every
household window. He saw many things, none of which helped in his quest for
Sita. Lanka appeared strange through his cat eyes. He could see through the
night with amazing clarity. What once would have appeared as shadowy
silhouettes in the distance was now a clear picture of a rakshasa and a rakshasi making
their way home.
Hanuman tried to speak
to the couple and ask if they had seen Sita but the only thing that came from
his mouth was a low purr. The couple exclaimed and began to pet him. Hanuman
was confused and hissed as he ran away. Hanuman was easily distracted in his
new form. He was unable to control his urge to pounce as mice scurried past him
in the streets. Hanuman discovered a secret underground colony of mice. He was
delighted and immediately chased after a small brown mouse that disappeared into
a hole in the gutter. Hanuman turned around and saw a grey mouse staring right at
him. He took off after the mouse but it was also too fast. Hours passed as
Hanuman was playing with the mice. Hanuman finally remembered he had come here
on a mission. Hanuman quickly scampered away to continue searching for Rama’s
bride.
Hanuman slinked toward Ravana’s palace, ever
watchful. The guards paid no heed to the wild black cat entering the gate.
Hanuman first saw Ravana’s concubines, littering the floor in one massive empty
room. He made his way through these women but none were as beautiful as Sita
was said to be. There were leftover salmon crumbs from last night's feast on a
great table. Hanuman leapt up onto the table and started licking the fish.
Hanuman did not know what had taken over him but knew he must find Sita soon. He
heard a beautiful but sad song off in the distance behind the palace. Hanuman
followed the music and found the sad and lonely Sita withering under a tree
with tears slowly running down her face. He quickly changed back into his monkey form so he could speak again. Hanuman jumped around with joy and
raced to tell Sita that he had come to rescue her.
Author's Note-
A song in the Disney movie
The Aristocats inspired the title for my story. I decided to tell the story of
Hanuman becoming a cat while he is searching for Sita. I chose this because I
found it very humorous in the Ramayana. I wanted to describe how he could see
very clearly at night which was an obvious advantage in the search for Sita. I
also wanted to illustrate some of his feline urges which I thought were funny
in the original story. I liked how they showed Hanuman acting as a cat but I wanted
to make it my own in my story. The basic premise is the same, but I altered
minor details. I changed the way that Hanuman found Sita in the story. In Buck's version Vayu the Wind Lord helped Hanuman find Sita with his gusts of wind. That eventually led Hanuman to Sita. In the original story Hanuman strikes Lanka before he enters the city. I
decided to take out that part and make up a new way for him to enter. I
thought that it would just take up unnecessary space in my story. It’s fun and easy for me
to write about cats because I can use my experiences as a cat owner to add new
details. My own cat likes to jump on the table and eat off my plate, so I
wanted to keep that the same.
Bibliography-Buck, William (1976) "Hanuman's Jump"Ramayana:King Rama's Way 228-241
