ause of fear! Who is so powerful as to be
able to smite Rama? O thou of sweet smiles, in a moment thou wilt behold
thy husband Rama!' Thus addressed, the chaste Sita, from that timidity
which is natural to women, became suspicious of even the pure Lakshmana,
and began to weep aloud. And that chaste lady, devoted to her husband,
harshly reproved Lakshmana, saying, 'The object which thou, O fool,
cherishest in thy heart, shall never be fulfilled! I would rather kill
myself with a weapon or throw myself from the top of a hill or enter into
a blazing fire than live with a sorry wretch like thee, forsaking my
husband Rama, like a tigress under the protection of a jackal!--

When the good natured Lakshmana, who was very fond of his brother, heard
these words, he shut his ears (with his hands) and set out on the track
that Rama had taken. And Lakshmana set out without casting a single
glance on that lady with lips soft and red like the Bimba fruit.
Meanwhile, the Rakshasa Ravana, wearing a genteel guise though wicked at
heart, and like unto fire enveloped in a heap of ashes, showed himself
there. And he appeared there in the disguise of a hermit, for forcibly
carrying away that lady of blameless character. The virtuous daughter of
Janaka, seeing him come, welcomed him with fruits and root and a seat.
Disregarding these and assuming his own proper shape, that bull among
Rakshasas began to re-assure the princess of Videha in these words, 'I
am, O Sita, the king of the Rakshasas, known by the name of Ravana! My
delightful city, known by the name of Lanka is on the other side of the
great ocean! There among beautiful women, thou wilt shine with me! O lady
of beautiful lips, forsaking the ascetic Rama do thou become my wife!'
Janaka's daughter of beautiful lips, hearing these and other words in the
same strain, shut her ears and replied unto him, saying, 'Do not say so!
The vault of heaven with all its stars may fall down, the Earth itself
may be broken into fragments, fire itself may change its nature by
becoming cool, yet I cannot forsake the descendant of Raghu! How can a
she-elephant, who hath lived with the mighty leader of a herd with rent
temples forsake him and live with a hog? Having once tasted the sweet
wine prepared from honey or flowers, how can a woman, I fancy, relish the
wretched arrak from rice?' Having uttered those words, she entered the
cottage, her lips trembling in wrath and her arms moving to and fro in
emotio