Friday, January 18, 2019

Week 2 Extra Reading: Ramakien, Part B

I'm picking up where I left off last time: Ramakien, Part A. Rama hasn't even been born yet!

17. Totsakan straightens the heavenly mountain Krailat. Lizard mocks demon Wiroonhok's devotion to Isuan; demon throws gold chain at lizard to kill lizard and it tils Krailat. Totsakan rights it and demands Uma as payment. She made her body fire, but he carried her away on his head. Narai disguised himself as famrer planting trees upside-down to warn Totsakan not to sleep with Uma. Totsakan takes Nang Monto instead (she's the one who was a toad!).

18. Nan Monto in the monkey kingdom. When Palee see Totsakan flying along with Nang Monto, he fights Totsakan and takes Monto from him. Koboot advises Totsakan consult Angkot, Palee's former guru. Angkot learns Monto is pregnant with Palee's child, so he takes the unborn child and puts it in a goat. Monto then went to live with Totsakan.

19. Totsakan is beaten by Palee. Ongkot is born, and Totsakan wants to kill him. So when it is bathing ceremony, Totsakan makes himself into a crab in the Yamuna river. Palee catches the crab and monkeys torment him and... "as an added insult, Palee let Ongkot pull Totsakan around the palace on a string like a toy crab." Finally Palee let him go.

20. Totsakan is made immortal by magic. Koboot extracts Totsakan's heart so that he cannot be killed. Koboot will keep the heart safe in a glass container, far from Totsakan. If the heart got near Totsakan, it would jump back into his chest.

21. Totsakan steals the chariot Butsabok. Totsakan steals Butsabok from Kuperan, his elder brother. Angered, Isuan hurls a tusk through Totsakan's chest. The tusk won't come out, so Witsanukam saws it down and covers it with a gold plate. Totsakan has various sons and a daughter, Supanna Matcha. His son Ronapak learns a prayer that summons Isuan-Prohm-Narai. From Isuan he gets the Prohmat-arrow, from Narai the Satsanu-Panam arrow, and from Prohm the Nakabat serpent arrow. He also got other boons from the gods. Ronapak led an army against Indra and defeated him, hence his name Intorachit.

22. Nontakan is transformed into a buffalo. Isuan punishes Nontakan's harassment of a maiden by making him into a bull, Torapa, destined to be killed by his own son, Torapee. Torapa kills all the calves, but one cow runs away and gives birth to Torapee.

23. A change of Kings in the Underworld. Maiyarap attains immortality when guru Sumet extracts his soul in form of green bumblebee; Sumet will keep the bee safe, far from Maiyarap.

24. Totsarot of Ayutaya marries Kayakesee. Kayakesee marries Totsarot who becomes king when his father Atchaban goes into the forest. Atchaban meets a hunter carrying a dinner and offers him his own flesh in exchange for weight of deer; hunter cuts away all of Atchaban. Isuan is impressed and takes Atchaban to heaven.

25. Totsarot of Ayutaya slays Patootatan. The demon Patootatan is going to attack Indra; Indra asks Totsarot to do battle with demon, and he does. Kaiyakesee holds his chariot together during the battle; grateful Totsarot promises her anything she wants as a reward.

26. Kalaikot, the seer, is distracted. The story of how King Romapat's daughter Aroonawadee seduces the hermit stag-faced Kalaikot so that he allows the rain to fall. He has never seen a woman before; he thinks her breasts are strange horns growing out of her chest.

27. The reincarnation of Pra Narai. This chapter lists ALL the incarnations going on in this epic! These monkey general avatars of the gods have a boon from Isuan: "if any were killed in battle, he would be restored to life simply by the wind blowing over him."

28. Totsarot's son. The smell of food from Totsarot's ritual reaches Longka, and Monto insists Totsarot bring her some of the food. Crow brings back half a rice cake which Monto ingests; now there are only three and a half rice cakes instead of four. Kaiyakesee and Kaosuriya each get a cake; they give birth to Prot and Ram. Sumeet Tewee got the rest; she gave birth to twins Lak and Satrud.
Ram: green: Pra Narai: Suchada, the Noble-Born midwife
Prot: red: diamond discus: Sudjitra, the Good-Hearted midwife
Lak: gold: serpent throne: Sutama, the Good-Truth midwife
Satrud: purple: bejewelled: Sutama

29. Nang Sida finds a father. While Totsarot's wives are in delivery, so is Monto: "Scarcely had the pretty little head emerged when three times from the mouth of the infant came the cry, 'Phlan Rap, Death to the demons!'" Totsakan wants to kill her but Monto persuades him to set the girl adrift. Chanok finds her and buries her by a Rang tree where he will find her later.

30. The youth of the princes of Ayutaya. Ram plays a mean trick onf Kudjee; she vows revenge. The princes train with the gurus Wasit and Swamit, and they receive magical arrows from the gods. Prot with Satrud goes to his grandfather's kingdom of Kaiyaket.

I found this Totsakan toy for sale:



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