Hanuman was having a largely peaceful afternoon surrounded by his fellow monkeys. Having just stopped his chaotic brother Vali from antagonizing Sugriva, he deserved it. Shortly after, Sugriva fetched Hanuman and told him that two strangers were approaching and that he should go check them out to make sure that they aren't coming to cause trouble. He then met Rama and Lakshma who said that they wanted to speak to Sugriva. Thrilled that they weren't dangerous or evil, he carried them on his shoulders to meet Sugriva. Rama and Sugriva agree to help each other and they go off to kill Vati.
Later, Sugriva is crowned king of Kishkindha. It was now his turn to hold up his end of the deal. Sugriva gathered Hanuman and the monkeys and sectioned them off into groups. He sent the groups into the four directions to look for Sita and report back. Hanuman went to the south along with Angada, and Jambavan.
Hanuman and the southern search party soon reached the beach. They were all very upset that they seemed to have failed at finding Sita but then, a huge eagle approached them, limping from the beach. The injured eagle said that his name was Sampati and that he is the brother of Jatayu. He asks them to tell him about what happened to Jatayu. Hanuman steps forward and tells him that his brother was killed by Ravana. Sampati, eager to avenge his brother and with amazing eyesight, looks out to the ocean in search of Sita. He then says that he sees Sita sitting under a tree in the golden city of Lanka. The monkeys soon realize that one of them will have to leap to Lanka across the ocean. They looked left and right attempting to choose a monkey that had the best chance of leaping all that way, but no one thought that they were capable of leaping that far. Then, when seemingly every monkey had discussed the idea, Jambavan, the king of the bears, said that only Hanuman would be able to jump that far.
Hanuman was terrified. Could he really leap that far? What would happen to him if he couldn't? He soon came to the conclusion that he owed it to the rest of the monkeys, and Rama and Sita to try. Hanuman began to grow in size. As he grew, he began to climb a nearby mountain so that he could leap off of it. Hanuman reached the peak, gave one last look at the other monkeys, ran to the edge, and leaped with all his might.
To be continued...
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| Hanuman Pixabay |
Hello!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting take to the story because I did not think much of Hanuman's leap itself towards Sita but this short story made me think of it and the significance of Hanuman's leap. Did you consider describing Hanuman a bit more. I feel like a physical description of the scenery, the sea, and what Hanuman looks like would give life to the story. That is the one suggestion and change I would as a reader like for you to make. Overall, great job and good luck with your future stories!
Hey Jacob! I am glad that you gave the readers a look inside Hanuman's feelings. I know that in the world of the Ramayana, incredible feats like this happen all the time, but it still must be frightening for Hanuman since his knowledge of his supernatural abilities were hidden from him until Jambavan told him the truth. His jump must have been quite the adrenaline rush!
ReplyDeleteHello Jacob, I really enjoyed reading your story. I thought it was really fun getting to read the story from Hanuman's point of view. I like the subtle changes you made in the story as well. Reading more of Hanuman's thoughts and feelings was a refreshing change from having to assume what was going through his head during this time. Surely if people keep asking you to perform important tasks, you would be feeling some sort of way.
ReplyDeleteHey Jacob, great story I really enjoyed reading it. I just finished reading the real story about Hanuman so it was fun to read a different version of the story. I like that you left a cliffhanger at the end and don't actually continue the story when Hanuman leaps. It was interesting to watch as you focused more on what Hanuman was feeling rather than what his actions did.
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