"This will be the last story I tell you, my American friend," Rama explained.
"Please proceed," I urged him.
"So that mean dude Ravana had kidnapped Sita and it was up to me to go and get her back. I had a little help finding her from a few monkeys and bears, but for the most part I was on my own. They all offered to stay and fight, but I knew for the most part they were worthless against such a strong foe as Ravana. After we had located Sita, I made the five-thousand mile hike across the land to get her..."
"Wait," I interrupted, "You are telling me you WALKED five-thousand miles to get her?"
"That is correct. It was a long walk, but I would do anything for Sita. So finally I arrived at Ravana's city's gates. I called him out, trying to provoke him into fighting me. However, he first sent his brother out to try to take care of me. This guy was named Kumbhakarna and he was as large as a mountain. However, he was just big and clumsy so I made quick work of him."
I know it sounds crazy now, but Rama really did tell me he was the size of a mountain.
Rama continued, "Finally Ravana came out from behind the walls to fight me, man on man. Ravana was quite big in stature. He had ten heads and twenty muscular arms. His skin was a dark gray color and he wore bright red pants and no shirt. He looked mighty intimidating. At this point, I had no idea if Sita was even still alive but I was bound and determined to kill Ravana and find out. Ravana had this huge, elaborate chariot that he used to charge at me in. I had no such vehicle and was forced to fight on my feet. First, I disabled the chariot by using my bow and arrow to shoot out the tires. Although that didn't completely stop the chariot, it slowed it down enough that it was no longer a huge advantage. Now we were both fighting on foot with nothing but the swords and arrows we could carry on us."
Even though I do not remember everything else he said about the chariot, the recording has him saying something about how it can fly.
"We shot arrows back and forth at each other for hours. I could not believe he was even close to as good as me, but he was. I tried to cut off his heads, but every time I did they just instantly grew back! I could not believe he had the power to rejuvenate like that. I knew I was going to have to pull out a special weapon to defeat him. I shot a very rare arrow I had and struck him right in his shield. My arrow broke his shield clean in half and I knew he was toast. I raised another arrow and shot it right through his chest from about four-hundred yards away. He fell over and died instantly."
"Sounds like it was quite an epic battle," I told Rama.
"Oh it was," Rama replied. "I was able to defeat him and then find Sita, unharmed, at the back of Ravana's Palace."
Listening back to the recording I kept on this encounter it is very hard for me to believe I was actually hearing most of this stuff. I mean, a guy with ten heads, rare arrows, and rescuing a princess all sound too much like a fairy tale. Anyways, by now I was extremely tired. I had been at work all day, then in the bar talking to this blue guy all night. It was well after three in the morning when I told Rama it was time for me to be going home.
Rama proclaimed to me, "Now that you have heard my stories, my spirit will forever protect you on your journey through life."
"Alright man, take it easy. I had a good time listening to your stories tonight." As I walked out the door, I suddenly remembered that I left my jacket at the bar. "Shoot," I thought as I walked back inside to get it. I asked the bartender if he had seen it but he told me he did not have it. I asked where Rama went and I got the funniest look.
"Who?!" he asked me.
"You know, Rama. The only guy with blue skin to come in here tonight."
"Hey man, I don't know what your deal is, but you are drunk and need to leave."
"Hey man I just want my jacket and I'll get out of here."
Then the bartender threw me out the door and I never did see that jacket again. At least I still had this conversation recorded, because there is no way anyone is ever going to believe this happened to me.
The ten-headed monster, Ravana.
Source: Religous Debate: How Sons of Hindu Gods Were Born.
Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Author's Note: I very loosely used Buck's telling of the story. I left out a lot of things from his story so it would fit my frametale better. By putting most of the focus of Rama, I was better able to adapt it to my storybook. I left out most of the chariot fighting as well as the drivers and descriptions of the chariots. I also left out the entire part of the bears and monkeys helping Rama. Another thing I left out was Lakshmana's role in the fight. I really underplayed the fight against Kumbhakarna. The biggest thing I left out was how all of the good guys were actually killed until they got the mountain of medicine. I think that would have hurt storyline which makes Rama out to be the ultimate warrior. I said that he fought the battle alone which was wrong, but I think that's how Rama himself would have told it in my story. Basically, I made up alot of the battle scene except the names of the characters and the fact that the original story does pit Rama in a fight against Ravana. The setting of the story was the same and so was the part about them dueling with arrows.
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