When reading Part C of Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, there were two tales that stuck out to me the most.
The first that stuck out to me was Tale 139, "A Squirrel Wants to Help". I enjoyed this tale because I have a fondness for all stories involving the efforts of the "little guy", which this one surely seemed to be. I like how the squirrel was able to make a difference just by rolling in sand and then shaking the sand out on top of the bridge to fill the gaps. Surely if the squirrel had not done this then the bridge could have collapsed. I think it also shows something about Rama's character that he was able to appreciate the squirrel's efforts.
The second tale that stuck out to me was Tale 144, "Ravana Summons a Magician". The reason this story stood out to me was because the ending seemed like something that could be in Romeo and Juliet. In this, Sita is attemptedly fooled into thinking Rama was dead, and she responded by telling Ravana to kill her too. I imagine if he had gone through with her request, we could've had an ending to the story similar to Romeo and Juliet in that one of the couple thinks the other is dead, they then kill themselves, and then the other finds them actually dead and also kills themself. I might rewrite the ending of this tale to something along the lines of the ending to Romeo and Juliet.
In the actual ending to Tale 144, however, all that is stated is that the conjured head vanishes and Ravana's plan failed. But, what did Ravana actually want to accomplish with his plan? Is he so idiotic to think Sita would fall in love with the man who killed her husband?
Bibliography: Part C, Pages 14 and 15, Tales 139 and 144 of the Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Links: Tale 139 and Tale 144.
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