literature

The Captivity of Sita DRAFT II

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Once upon a time, in a land hidden by the rising sun, there was a dashing prince, loved by all who had mastered his anger, was respectful to his elders, and diligent in his studies. He was also handsome- for all princes must be handsome and he was no exception. His skin was dark, as were his eyes that saw past people into their very hearts and his hair hung thick and black, glistening like an onyx stone. This prince’s name was Rama and it was decided that he would take his father’s place as king of Ayodhya- what we would know today as India.

However, a prince needs a princess and Rama’s princess was Sita, daughter of King Janaka of the neighboring kingdom of Mithila. She was as beautiful as Rama was handsome, with skin that shone golden in the sun and hair as black as night, with delicate features and a gentle grace. Sita was also as honourable and virtuous as Rama was respectful and diligent.

Now, as in many kingdoms, the king had wealth and it was not uncommon for him to have many wives. As such, Rama’s father, Dasarantha, had three wives, the youngest of which was Kaikeya who was served by evil hunchback, Manthara.

Now, Manthara didn’t like the thought of Rama becoming king. He was too good and goodness angered Manthara so she set out to put her own mistress’ son, Bharata, on the throne. To do this, however, she had to make her mistress beg a favour of Rama’s father, the King- Dasarantha, thus sending Rama into exile for fourteen long years.

The king begged Rama to stay but Rama, concerned more for his father, told him in all his wisdom, that he must go, his father had made a promise to Manthara’s mistress and it would be dishonest of him to break it.

Not wishing to be parted from Rama, Sita gave up her jewels, her silk dresses, and her servants, donning a coarse dress made of bark, and followed him into the forest.

Rama’s brother, Lakshmana also accompanied them, wishing to protect them from the demons that dwelled in the forest.

Well, some time passed and they came to settle into their new life in the forest. Once accustomed to huge palaces with many servants and an abundance of food and soft silks, the trio learned how to survive on their own. Rama and Lakshmana used their bows to hunt, putting meat on the table in their modest little cottage and the three of them (yes, Sita too), foraged for nuts and berries, wild herbs and fruits, and learned to live in harmony with the land as well as off it.

The quiet contentment that the three of them found in their new life was short lived however because of an evil demon. This demon, Soorpanaka, was jealous of Sita and had once been the scorned would-be lover of Rama, and she was deeply angered by the virtuous couple’s happiness and decided to remove Sita from Rama’s life.

Appearing at her brother, Ravana’s court in the kingdom of Lanka, a small island many miles south of Mithila and Ayodhya. She told her brother of the beauty and charm of the virtuous Sita. Ravana, intrigued by his jealous sister’s description of fair Sita, decided that he must have her for himself and so he sent one of his servants, in the guise of a golden deer to distract Rama away so that he could kidnap Sita.

Sita, enchanted by the golden deer, begged Rama to capture it for her so he set off in pursuit of it, charging his brother, Lakshmana with protecting her. Lakshmana, however, is tricked by Ravana who calls out for help, imitating Rama’s voice. Hearing Rama call for help, Lakshmana follows after Rama and the deer, thus leaving poor Sita alone.

Ravana then, seeing his chance, approached Sita, disguising himself as her husband, Rama and stole her away, flying with her back to Lanka to make her his bride.

When Rama and Lakshmana discover Sita is gone, though, they set out to rescue her, traveling south upon the direction of the vulture, Jatayu, who engaged in a very brief battle with Ravana before being knocked from the sky by the demon king.

In their search for Sita, they met the Monkey King and he offers his help, sending out his servant, Hanumaan to search for Sita.

Now Hanumaan was no average monkey. He was the son of the wind god and as such, possessed unnatural strength and speed so it’s of no surprise that he founds Sita in no time at all. He too, traveled south, leaping across the sea to the island of Lanka, Ravana’s kingdom, where he found Sita, held captive among the female demons in Ravana’s castle and carefully guarded. He assured Sita that Rama will rescue her.

Having found Sita, Hanumaan returned to Rama, leading him and the Army of the Monkey King back to the sea where they constructed a bridge connecting Lanka to the main land. After construction of the bridge was complete, Rama and Hanumaan marched the Monkey King’s army into a fearsome battle with the evil Ravana to rescue Sita.

The fight was valiant and neither side would budge, forcing Rama and Ravana to engage in aerial combat to prevent any more of their warriors from falling. Ravana, being of a divine nature (though evil), had the ability to fly and hovered above Rama. Rama, though, was favoured by the gods and as such, was gifted with a flying chariot to meet Ravana head on in the sky.

Ravana was fearsome with his ten heads and twenty arms, each holding a sword, and his eyes blazing copper but Rama was Goodness, for he was the great god Vishnu in disguise- reborn into a human form and with a well placed shot of his mighty bow, he defeated Ravana and rescued Sita, who was the incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi, and the gods rewarded him for his bravery.

He was restored to his kingdom and his family and he took his rightful place as king with Sita by his side and they would be joined by twin sons- Lava and Kusha and Rama would reward the brave monkeys who gave their lives for him with resurrection. He granted the valiant monkey, Hanumaan with eternal life to retell their story- the Ramayana and he would rule a peaceful and prosperous kingdom for ten thousand years with virtuous Sita by his side.

The End
Draft II of my children's story.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION
so for my English 208 class I have to rewrite one of the texts we've read and turn it into a children's book that I will actually have to sit down and read to a group of school children from the local elementary school.

I chose to rewrite the Ramayana, particularly the part of the epic where Sita is kidnapped by the demon Ravana and Rama and the Monkey King come to her rescue.

I chose the Ramayana b/c it's got a prince, a princess, a love story, gods, demons, and a final battle of epic proportions and a lesson to be learned.

This is just a working draft and the title's a working title, it will change but let me know what you think.
Comments15
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Sienna-Maiu's avatar
I don't know.. seems kind of Sue, what with the sudden information popping up (oh yeah, he's really a God. Well fancy that :B )
But.. yeah.

What moral specifically are you trying to make? "Be good and you can not only fly, but you'll also not get shot by an arrow"?


Other than that... I hope that someone who is skilled can actually provide you with a critique.


(I'll be back later after exams when I have a head again to apologize for being a jerk)