66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

know day had come. Even the roosters remained silent,
unable to adjust themselves to the sudden daylight. “Is this
the sun? You call him the sun! He is once again the moon
who was here a while ago and made my blood boil. This one
is no better. Same as before. Don’t lie,” said Ravana. His
servants assured him again that this was really the sun. Then
he ordered the sun to go out and the crescent moon to rise;
then the sea waves to remain silent; and then ordered total
darkness to envelop the earth, causing confusion and
suffering to its inhabitants. In that utter darkness Ravana
suffered hallucinations of Sita’s figure approaching and
receding, and addressed it endearingly.
He had never seen anyone so beautiful in all the worlds
where he had roamed at will. Still doubting his own vision, he
ordered, “Fetch my sister at once.” No time could be lost
between his command and the execution thereof.
Soorpanaka arrived. He asked her, “I see this woman before
me. Is this the one you meant?”
Soorpanaka looked hard and said, “Oh, no. The person
who stands before us is not a woman at all. It’s Rama, that—
that man. I don’t see Sita here. You are only imagining… .”
“If it’s mere imagination on my part, how is it you see
Rama here?”
Soorpanaka merely said, “Ever since the day he did this
damage to me, I find it impossible to forget him,” trying not to
be too explicit about her feelings for Rama, equivocating her