Latin, Latin, and yes More Latin

I'm not being quite as fanatically about it this semester as I was last. Which means I probably won't do as well. I had asked Laura to help but she's got too much to do already so she refered me to an informal latin group from the school that is meeting at 8:15 Wednesday mornings. A bit early for my tastes but they are using a different Latin book. So I may learn a thing or two but the point is...I'm getting more exposure to Latin which in itself is beneficial. This also lead me to check out Kerry Magruder's History of Science on line course which I jumped on the waiting list for next semester! That will be a seriously cool course to take. The website has been redone and redone. My niece Tammy just had her fourth baby, Weylin Harley Johnson. You can see all his info on the website. He is a very grand baby. But I'm sure he'll be 10 before I see him, lol. I'll put another story on here that I wrote. They definitely get better as they go. Keli asked me yesterday to create a subdomain for her on my website. So she's going to try her hand at publishing! Its a very handy skill (wish I could get better at it!) I've had such problems with my website and the things that I've tried to use to fix it doesn't seem to be working. But I get a little closer every time. Here's the story!!! FYI: Maricha was a demon. Rama killed his mother and brother (also demons) but Maricha was injured and is involved later in the story as an aestic. This is the story of what happened to Maricha that made him an aestic. The information was not in Narayan's Ramayana so I made up my own version. Enjoy!

Thud! Rama’s forceful arrow struck Maricha in the chest and sent him sailing through the air. Maricha passes out from the force of the arrow and the pain that came with it. Suddenly, he struck water. He instantly came to his senses. He quickly looked around him, confused and disoriented. Where was he? What happened to him? Then suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. The pain almost overcame him, stealing his consciousness. He felt himself sinking into the icy depths of the water. He swam towards the nearest beach, with every stroke, he struggled to stay awake. He finally made it to shore, collapsing in pain and exhaustion. Relaxing, he worked on surfacing those memories that would tell him how he got so far from home. One word came into his mind, Rama. His mind seethed in anger at this thought - Rama. He drifted off with this name on his lips. Rama.
Suddenly, Maricha awoke. As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he saw a ragged little man standing over him. “Be still, “ the little man said, “You are injured but it is not life threatening. You will recover.” Maricha looked around. He found himself to be in a decrepit hovel of a hut, lying on a bed of leaves. A leaf plastered to his chest with some unknown aromatic substance. He stared at the little man, who seemed old, yet ageless. “Where is Rama?” He demanded. The little man looked deeply at Maricha. “That life is gone from you now. It is time that you follow a different path and not seek revenge on Rama.” “ You expected me to forget that he killed my mother and my brother? I should just let him walk away, unpunished?” Maricha screamed at the little man. “Revenge is not yours,” quietly the little man laid his hands over Maricha’s eyes, “Sleep now. You will meet Rama again.”
When Maricha awoke again, much time had passed. He felt strange. He looked around and found a large pile of fruit lying next to his bed of leaves. He was famished!! As he heartily ate he began to think about how he felt. It was strange. He had never felt like this before. Suddenly it dawned on him! He felt so incredibly alive! He wasn’t just living, he was ALIVE!!!! Joyously, he leapt from his bed and ran out of the hut. Outside he saw a beautiful ashram. In a circle, sitting on the ground was a group of hermits, including his host, the little man. They were chanting and praying, performing a yagna to one of the gods. Maricha sat down and listened. He was transformed.
Maricha stayed for many years at the ashram. He learned all he could from the little man. One day, the little man said to him, “It is time for you to go. You will find your own hermitage and stay there until the time comes for you to meet Rama again.” “But master, I do not seek revenge against Rama any longer. That part of my life has past and I now realized that Rama is a good and powerful man,” Maricha stated emphatically. “Yes, I know,” said the little man, looking deeply into Maricha’s heart, “you will not seek revenge for the deaths of your family but you will serve the evil purpose of another. This is your destiny. Go now.”

Frightened and sad, Maricha left the ashram to meet his destiny and Rama once again.

Source:
Ramayana R.K. Narayan, Penguin Books, New York, 1972. pgs 16-17, 84-89

Quote of the Day!
A peaceful world is a world in which differences are tolerated, and are not eliminated by violence. John Foster Dulles, War or Peace, 1950

Merry Meet and Blessed Be!
Jill