two brothers then travel with the hermit to the
city of Mithila, attracted thither by hearing of its king, his
wonderful daughter, and his wonderful bow. The bow was given him by
the god Shiva; no man has been able to bend it; and the beautiful
princess's hand is the prize of any man who can perform the feat. On
the way thither, Rama brings to life Ahalya, a woman who in a former
age had been changed to stone for unfaithfulness to her austere
husband, and had been condemned to remain a stone until trodden by
Rama's foot. Without further adventure, they reach Mithila, where the
hermit presents Rama as a candidate for the bending of the bow.

The king beheld the boy, with beauty blest
And famous lineage; he sadly thought
How hard it was to bend the bow, distressed
Because his child must be so dearly bought.

He said: "O holy one, a mighty deed
That full-grown elephants with greatest pain
Could hardly be successful in, we need
Not ask of elephant-cubs. It would be vain.

For many splendid kings of valorous name,
Bearing the scars of many a hard-fought day,
Have tried and failed; then, covered with their shame,
Have shrugged their shoulders, cursed, and strode away."

Yet when the bow is given to the youthful Rama, he not only bends, but
breaks it. He is immediately rewarded with the hand of the Princess
Sita, while Lakshmana marries her sister. On their journey home with
their young brides, dreadful portents appear, followed by their cause,
a strange being called Rama-with-the-axe, who is carefully to be
distinguished from Prince Rama. This Rama-with-the-axe is a Brahman
who has sworn to exterminate the entire warrior caste, and who
naturally attacks the valorous prince. He makes light of Rama's
achievement in breaking Shiva's bow, and challenges him to bend the
mightier bow which he carries. This the prince succeeds in doing, and
Rama-with-the-axe disappears, shamed and defeated. The marriage party
then continues its journey to Ayodhya.

_Twelfth canto. The killing of Ravana_.--King Dasharatha prepares to
anoint Rama crown prince, when Queen Kaikeyi interposes. On an earlier
occasion she had rendered the king a service and received his promise
that he would grant her two boons, whatever she desired. She now
demands her two boons: the banishment of Rama for fourteen years, and
the anointing of her own son Bharata as crown prince. Rama thereupon
sets out for the Dandaka forest