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
