For this reading, I enjoyed many of the tiny tales (honestly, all of them), but the ones that struck me as the most interesting were tales 34 and 35, dealing with Ahalya.
In Tale 34, "The Story of Ahalya", Vishvamitra tells the story of a woman created by Brahma to be the most beautiful girl in the world. She is "given" to a rishi named Gautama to be his wife.
Gautama is so busy with his prayers and such that he ignores his wife. And yet, when another deva, Indra, wanted Ahalya and disguised himself as Gautama so that he could "take her to bed", Gautama finds out and curses them.
Not only does he curse the man who raped his wife, but he also curses Ahalya! She did nothing wrong! Putting myself in her shoes, I am sure she was happy that her husband was finally showing her attention, and she perhaps thought that she could finally provide him with children. Instead, she gets turned into a stone for doing literally nothing wrong.
It's not until the 35th tale, "They Come to a Deserted Ashram", that she is freed when Rama's foot brushes against Ahalya's rock. The cherry on top, is that after she is freed she takes her husband's hand and forgives him. I was shocked!
Reading the story of Ahalya, I was reminded of tellings of the birth of King Arthur. Oftentimes the story is told that Uther Pendragon uses Merlin's magic to transform into Gorlois, the wife of Igraine. Igraine, believing Uther to be her husband, sleeps with him and later gives birth to Arthur. Wikipedia details this version of the story on a page over Igraine.
My biggest issue with the story of Ahalya is that she has been victimized by both Indra and Gautama, and in the end does nothing but forgive her husband. I want to see her standing up for herself! If I had written her story, I think she would definitely not easily forgive her husband, and maybe she would find a way to curse him back. Maybe I'd incorporate something based off of Uther and Igraine, and have Ahalya give birth to a son who helps her curse Gautama?
Bibliography:
Part A, Page 4, Tales 34 and 35 of the Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Links: Tale 34 and Tale 35.
"Igraine." Link: Wikipedia
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