Storytelling Blog post, Week 6: Hanuman The Cat

As Hanuman gazed up at the legendary walls of Lanka he could not help but feel awe struck by its shear beauty and formability. As he gazed at the wall he thought to himself “ If I were to scale these walls as I am now, a monkey, I surly would be recognized and killed.” It was then that Hanuman  noticed a cat slinking in and around the feet of the guards at the gate. He knew what he had to do, even though he was absolutely disgusted by the thought; he must turn himself into a cat. The thought of having to lick oneself and cough up hairballs made his stomach lurch but Hanuman took a deep breath closed his eyes and “poof” shrank into a fluffy white cat. Once transformed, he opened his eyes and proceeded to the gate where as he drew nearer he realized people were quizzically staring at him. He looked around and realized he was still walking on his hind legs. He quickly snapped down on all fours and pranced his way past the guards and through the gate.  He couldn’t believe he had almost blown it and he hadn’t only just arrived. As Hanuman walked through the streets, he noticed that he had no idea where he was going. He couldn’t exactly ask one of the thousands of demons walking the streets to show him around and show him where Sita may be being kept. Hanuman roamed the streets struggling to find his way until he stumbled across a livestock stall where a farmer was milking his cow. Begging eagerly by the farmer’s side was the same cat he had seen earlier sneak into the city. Hanuman knew if he could befriend this streetwise cat he might have a chance in finding Sita. So  Hanuman scampered over to the chicken coop and slowly opened the door, allowing all the chickens to run free. The farmer, noticing all his chickens escaping, stopped tending the cow and started chasing the chickens. Hanuman then ran over to the cat and urged him to drink as much of the milk as he could before the farmer came back. He and this cat of Lanka dove into the milk and got their fill. Once they had become fat from the milk, Hanuman mentioned to the cat that he was knew in town and would really enjoy a tour of the city. The cat, which insisted to be called Steven, gratefully accepted the request. He proceeded to take Hanuman around the city, showing him all the ways in and out of the city, the military establishment, jails and gardens. Hanuman was absolutely in awe of how huge the city was and how many demons it housed. He knew if it came to a battle between Rama and Ravana there would be a great deal of death. After exploring majority of Lanka, Hanuman asked Steven where it was that Ravana lived. Steven replied “ that’s in the very center of the city, in the royal compound. If you want to go there you are on your own, its way to dangerous.” Hanuman understood and trotted off alone to find Sita in the heavily guarded royal compound. He had finally started to get used to being a cat. He didn’t mind the periodic self-washing, he found it was actually rather refreshing. The fact that he had claws was another unexpected bonus. He could climb and scamper like he never had before. As he reached Ravana’s center city, Hanuman was fully convinced that he could pass as a cat and successfully find Sita.

Authors Notes:

I chose this story because I felt like Buck didn’t elaborate enough on how a monkey like Hanuman would react to being turned into something so different like a cat. I also felt the need to add a guide to the story since Lanka is such a massive city and Hanuman has no idea where to start looking for Sita.

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Ravana is meeting Sita at Ashokavana. 16th century. Picture found here