Ravan's
trick
One beautiful morning, Sita spotted a deer outside their hut. She had never seen such a
beautiful animal before.She asked Ram to bring her
the deer as a pet so that she would have company while they were away hunting.
 |
Ram told Laxman not to leave
Sita’s side for a moment.
He followed the deer into the forest to capture it and bring
it back for his wife.
|
| Ram found the deer hard to catch and it led
him deeper and deeper into the dark, dark forest. Finally, Ram strung his bow and shot an arrow that pierced the
deer’s heart.
The deer was changed
into the demon Maricha. |
|
"Sita … Laxman" called the demon sounding
just like Ram
Ram knew that something was terribly wrong, and
rushed back to Sita.
Back at the hut Sita and Laxman heard what they thought was
Ram’s voice. Sita begged Laxman to go and help Ram’s. Laxman didn’t
know what to do.
|
He had promised his brother that he would not
leave Sita but he wanted to rush to help Ram if he was in trouble. "Go and help Ram," argued Sita. Laxman agreed.
He drew a circle around the hut with his arrow and told Sita
that she must not step across this line. As long as she stayed behind this line, no harm
would come to her. |
As soon as Laxman went into the forest, an old hermit came
to the hut begging for food. Sita gave him food but was careful to stay behind the line
that Laxman had drawn.
But the old man said that he couldn’t reach the cup of
water that she had put down for him.
| "Step forward my dear," he said. Sita stepped across the line. Instantly, she was caught in a
vice-like grip as Ravan took hold of her. Sita was frightened. She tried
to struggle but Ravan was too strong. |
|
Ravan bundled Sita into his magnificent flying chariot and
sped off to Lanka ... Sita was his prisoner. |
