not force her lest he incur the wrath of the gods. It is
evident, however, that his patience is worn nearly threadbare, for
Hanuman overhears him threaten to chop Sita to pieces unless she will
yield to his wishes and become his wife within the next two months.

"My cooks shall mince thy limbs with steel
And serve thee for my morning meal."

When Sita is left alone, Hanuman, in the guise of a tiny monkey,
climbs down to her side, exhibits Rama's ring, which he has brought as
a token, and receives from her in return a jewel, after he has assured
her that she will soon be delivered.

About to leave Ceylon to report what he has seen, it occurs to the
monkey general to do some damage to the foe. In the guise of an
immense baboon, he therefore destroys a grove of mango trees, an act
of vandalism which so infuriates Ravana that he orders the miscreant
seized and fire tied to his tail! But no sooner has the fire been set
than the monkey general, suddenly transforming himself into a tiny
ape, slips out of his bonds, and scrambling up on the palace roof sets
it on fire as well as all the houses in Lanka, his flaming tail
serving as a torch.

As earth with fervent heat will glow
When comes her final overthrow;
From gate to gate, from court to spire,
Proud Lanka was one blaze of fire,
And every headland, rock, and bay
Shone bright a hundred leagues away!

Then, satisfied with the damage he has done, Hanuman hastens back to
the sea-shore, whence by another prodigious leap he lands in India, to
inform Rama and Sugriva (the monkey king) of the success of his
expedition.

A huge monkey army now sets out under Rama's guidance, but general and
warriors are equally dismayed on reaching the sea to find an
unsurmountable obstacle between them and their goal. In answer to
Rama's fervent prayers, however, the god of the sea, rising from the
waves, promises that any materials cast into his waters will be held
in place, to form a bridge whereby they can cross to Ceylon. All the
monkeys now bring stones and tree trunks which they hurl into the sea,
where, thanks to the efforts of the Hindu architect Nala, they are
welded together and form a magic bridge. It is by means of this
causeway that Rama invades Ceylon, and, when Ravana hears the foe is
approaching, he musters an army, of which the poem gives a wonderful
description. Then begins the dire combat wherein Rama and his forces
finally prove victorious, and wherein