Rama had given them seven days in which to complete the bridge, and Nala, their engineer, had calculated how many miles they would need to complete each day, but something had happened in the night: all the work of the day before had simply vanished, as if the bridge had washed away in the darkness. The bridgework had been solid and strong, held together by the power of the syllables RA and MA carved into each stone, but something had happened during the night. Hanuman conferred with Nala and they decided to work through the night; this would allow them to get back on schedule and perhaps discover what had happened the night before.
By the light of the moon and their torches, the monkeys worked as quickly during the night as they had during the day, hauling the rocks out onto the bridge and fitting them into place, chanting RA-MA RA-MA as they worked. Hanuman placed his most trusted lieutenants to stand guard, while he flew back and forth along the whole length of the bridge, scanning the sea for trouble.
After they had been hard at work for a few hours in the darkness, Hanuman detected movement in the water, pulsating ripples racing towards the bridge. Before he could shout a warning, the makaras attacked: some grabbed the monkeys and crushed them in their enormous jaws, while others lashed at the bridge itself, knocking the stones out of place and then pushing them down into the water with their snouts. Hanuman stared in horror as hundreds of the sea-crocodiles swarmed the bridge.
The makaras then disappeared into the depths of the sea, and Hanuman dove down after them in pursuit. His father was Vayu, after all, the god of the wind, so the breath of the wind filled Hanuman's lungs even underwater. Swishing his enormous tail behind him and brandishing his trident, he raced through the sea in pursuit of the makaras, swimming farther and farther down into the darkness.
He then saw a glowing light ahead of them: an underwater palace! When the crocodiles reached the palace, they began swimming in circles, ignoring Hanuman completely. He raced inside through an open gateway, surprised that there was no guard to stop him.
He then swam from room to room, but found no one. And then he heard… the singing. He paused for a moment to ascertain its direction. Beautiful singing. He followed the song's sound until he found himself in an inner courtyard, and there he saw the mermaid. As soon as the mermaid noticed Hanuman, she stopped singing and stared at him with a look of shock on her face. "It's . . . you!" she stuttered.
"I am Hanuman," he replied, confused by her words. He then added angrily, "Your crocodile beasts have attacked my army and destroyed my bridge."
The mermaid swam down to a seaweed-covered couch in the center of the courtyard and gestured for Hanuman to join her. "Please," she said, "come sit with me, and I will explain."
Once Hanuman had seated himself, she continued, "We were acting on King Ravana's orders." Hanuman bristled at the mention of Ravana's name.
"Aha," she continued, "well, yes, it was actually Queen Mandodari who conveyed his request. She has always been kind to me, so when she told me that there was an army coming from the north who were going to invade Lanka, threatening to take her and all of Ravana's wives into captivity, I offered my help. She asked that I destroy the bridge that you are building. I never meant any harm. Certainly not to you. Not ever. Apparently I have made a great mistake, Hanuman, and I am humbly sorry for it."
Again, he was puzzled by the way she spoke to him as if she knew him; he was sure he had never met her before. "But who are you?" he asked. "And why do you speak to me this way, as if you know me?"
"But I do know you," she said. "You don't remember, of course. It was a long time ago, when you were following Surya the sun-god as your guru. I was a celestial singer then, an apsara. I saw how you reverently ran backwards across the sky, always facing Surya's chariot, never tiring, honoring your guru all day long. I vowed that you, and only you, would be my husband someday. I must have spoken my thoughts out loud because Surya heard me, and he cursed me to become the creature you see now: a mermaid who lives under the water, no longer breathing the air of the sky. They call me Suvarnamatsya, the Golden-Fish."
Hanuman had known nothing of this woman, and nothing of the curse that his guru had pronounced upon her. But he also sensed that the words she spoke were the truth. "And I too am humbly sorry to have been the cause of your trouble, Suvarnamatsya," Hanuman said. He then knelt before her and told her the story of Prince Rama and his wife Sita, how Ravana had kidnapped Sita against her will and taken her to Lanka, and how Rama had come with an army of monkeys to petition Ravana to return Sita to him. And that if Ravana refused, then there would be war.
"You did well to come here," said Suvarnamatsya, "and now I will help you to build your bridge. Come! I'll order my makaras to retrieve your stones. I only hope we will not be too late, for Sita's sake." And with that she raced back through the palace, Hanuman beside her, to where the makaras swam around the palace in circles, patiently awaiting their queen's command.
[to be continued next time]
Author's Notes. This story is based on a famous episode from the Ramakien (the Thai version of the Ramayana) in which Ravana orders his daughter, the mermaid Suvannamaccha, to destroy the bridge that Rama is building. Instead, she falls in love with Hanuman (this is only one of Hanuman's many love affairs in the Ramakien). I really didn't want her to be Ravana's daughter, though, and I also decided that I wanted her to have a proper love affair with Hanuman, so I combined the traditional Suvannamaccha story from the Ramakien with a story about Hanuman that I read in Philip Lutgendorf's amazing book, Hanuman's Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey. The Suvannamaccha story is not found as such in India (although the name comes from Sanskrit, Suvarna Matsya, goldfish), but there are other stories about Hanuman's fish-family, including a story about an apsara who fell in love with him and was cursed by Surya to become a mermaid; that story actually comes from the 1997 TV show Jai Hanuman, and Lutgendorf provides a detailed summary in his book.
Bibliography
Hanuman's Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey, by Philip Lutgendorf, pp. 328-329.
The Ramakien: A prose translation of the Thai Ramayana by Ray Olsson (published in Bangkok in 1968). Online at Chulalongkorn University Library.
Suvannamaccha at Wikipedia.
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Wow Laura, I was so fascinated by your story and could not stop reading and wanted to read more! It was kind of funny that all the monkeys were chanting Ra-Ma as they worked. This was such a great spin on the story, that the bridge was being destroyed because of Ravana's wife's orders. She definitely seems like the true person in power or person organizing things. It was cool to see how you incorporated Hanuman's powers by allowing him to breathe underwater. I want to read more!! I liked the ending how you left on a cliff note ! I will be looking forward to the next one!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI really love how you layout your stories. I think the use of multiple images really keeps the audience captivated and helps them imagine each scene in greater detail. I imagine this is why picture books are so important for children learning to read. I really think that Hanuman is still one of my favorite characters that we have learned about so far. I think you did such a great job portraying him in this story! Great job!
Wow! Laura!
ReplyDeleteI love how you started off as very with the story then turned and made it your own. Mermaids rock and her story is so much different than I first expected. You kept me on my toes! I have recently wanted to use more pictures and I think your story secured my decision. It is just so visually pleasing. You're such a great writer, Nice Job!