Chapter 2 - Vali
After Ravana had kidnapped the woman in the forest, it seemed my human, as I grew to call him, joined forces with Rama. From that day on we were never too far from him. Rama was a mighty man to behold. He was kind and just and wise and courageous, among other great qualities! It is an honor to say I traveled with his camp across the country in search of his bride. Though humans and beetles are so different from one another, there are many things to be learned from humans, especially Rama. We traveled along until we ended up in a monkey kingdom. This was also the most treacherous part of my journey. Can you imagine being surrounded by monkeys, children? It was terrifying! I could have been scooped up and eaten at any moment. I had to stay hidden often and couldn't wander too far from my human either, for fear of getting left behind. This scary place is where the next story unfolded. I saw another death before my eyes, and I hope that if I tell you the story, you will learn a little more about life. Now this story needs some explanation before I tell you what I saw. I learned most of this from a friendly ant colony. Always mind the ants. Ants are great in number so they see and know many things. They told me that many years before we had arrived, the monkeys had been a horrible lot. They were ruled by a disagreeable king named Vali. This monkey king was extraordinary, though, because the gods had granted him immeasurable strength. Sons, I know what you are thinking as you read this; how great it would be to have immeasurable strength! I remember in my youth wanting to move the largest leaves and pull the heaviest load. But read on, dear sons. King Vali was prone to fighting, and he ended up in a battle against a demon named Dundubhi. He and this demon charged and fought and ended up chasing eachother deep into a cave. Waiting outside the cave was Vali's brother, Sugriva. Where Vali was headstrong, Sugriva was mild. He was a loyal brother and waited by the cave for twenty-eight months. Twenty-eight months of waiting! Can you imagine? What a faithful and diligent brother and citizen. After all that time, the elders of the kingdom were sure Vali was dead, despite his strength, and demanded Sugriva take the throne. They were tired of going without a king. Sugriva, being mild and eager to please, accepted their request. As he did so, his heart was heavy and he mourned for his brother. He was not elated to become king like some might have been. The ants told me that life among the monkeys became much more pleasant after Sugriva took the throne. Well, children, this is where the story really begins. You see, the ants went on to explain that the mighty Vali was not dead! You can imagine how enraged the monkey king was when he had regained his strength only to find that the cave had been blocked off! The monkeys had blocked off the cave to trap Dundubhi, of course, but Vali couldn't see it that way. Vali was convinced his brother had had turned the leaders of the land against him in a plot to take the throne. He immediately went after his brother. The ants told me Vali beat Sugriva horribly. They watched as Sugriva was punished physically and verbally. Vali did not even give him a chance to defend himself. Before being killed, Sugriva managed to flee to the mountains where Vali could not travel because of an ancient curse. Now if the story ended here, the moral would be that the stronger beetle, or man or monkey, always wins. But this is not the end of the story, my dear ones! My human must have worked his way into Rama's close counsel because I was near mighty Rama often. When we arrived in the monkey kingdom, Vali was on the throne again and there was chaos in the kingdom. I saw one of the monkeys tell Rama of poor Sugriva's fate. Rama took pity on Sugriva, who had done nothing wrong. So a small group of men, including my human, went to the mountains and retrieved Sugriva. Rama promised Sugriva he would aid him in a battle against Vali. Children, I hope that none of you ever witness a fight between monkeys. They are feisty and vicious and do not fight honorably like we beetles do. I climbed unnoticed onto my human's shoulder to get a better view of the battle. Vali laughed at his brother, taunting him. Vali was sure no one could match his god-given strength. As they fought, it seemed hopeless for Sugriva. He was clearly no match for Vali. But just as I was about to despair, an arrow came flying out of the bushes and pierced Vali in the chest! Rama had killed him! You see, dear ones, it is better to have strength of character than strength of shell or legs. Rama aided Sugriva because he was the better monkey. Sugriva had been faithful to his brother and to his country. Vali, though he was mighty, was taken down in the end. So, when you are off strengthening your shell or exercising your legs, remember it is more important to strengthen your character and exercise your heart. Author's Note: For this story I decided it would be interesting to keep the beetle with Rama so that I can logically tell two more death stories from the Ramayana. In the original story it does not mention whether the monkeys were more civilized or happy under either brother's rule. I added that in the part of the story told by the ants to add to the contrast of one brother being good and one evil. I think that makes the reader and the beetle narrator more passionate about the story. I decided to add the ants into the story because that was an easy way to have the narrator learn the background behind what he actually saw. I also like the aspect of adding other insects into the story to remind the reader of the perspective of the narrator. I made the lesson about strength of character which was an easy attribute to pull from this story. I decided to leave Hanuman out of the story, though he provides the link between Rama and the world of the monkeys in the traditional Ramayana. I did not think Hanuman was a necessary part of this story, which was focused instead on the monkey kings.
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