The city was
prosperous, the people were happy, and for a time all went well. It was
not long, however, before whispers concerning Sita's long abode in Ceylon
spread abroad, and some one whispered to Rama that a famine in the country
was due to the guilt of Sita, who had suffered the caresses of the demon
while in captivity in Ceylon. Forgetful of the trial by fire, forgetful of
Sita's devotion to him through weal and woe, the ungrateful Rama
immediately ordered her to the forest in which they had spent together the
happy years of their exile.
Without a murmur the unhappy Sita, alone and unbefriended, dragged herself
to the forest, and, torn with grief of body and spirit, found the
hermitage of Valmiki, where she gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kuca.
Here she reared them, with the assistance of the hermit, who was their
teacher, and under whose care they grew to manhood, handsome and strong.
It chanced about the time the youths were twenty years old, that Rama, who
had grown peevish and disagreeable with age, began to think the gods were
angered with him because he had killed Ravana, who was the son of a
Brahman. Determined to propitiate them by means of the great sacrifice, he
caused a horse to be turned loose in the forest. When his men went to
retake it, at the end of the year, it was caught by two strong and
beautiful youths who resisted all efforts to capture them.
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