Long ago Ravana, the king of Lanka, carried Sita away from her husband, Prince Rama. He keeps her on Lanka, an island across a sea a hundred yojanas wide. Rama’s monkey friends searched for her and came to the edge of that sea.

Each monkey calls out how far he can jump. “Ten yojanas!” “Twenty!” “Thirty!” Old Jambavan, king of the bears, can do ninety. Young Prince Angada, who leads the search, could reach Lanka but might not come back. Who can go?

“But the leader must not be sent,” says Jambavan. He sees the sad army and turns to Hanuman, a monkey sitting quietly alone. “Hanuman, why do you say nothing? Your arms are as strong as the wings of Garuda, king of birds.”

Jambavan tells him who he is. His mother, Anjana, once walked on a mountain top like a streak of lightning across a dark cloud. His father is Vayu, the wind. “You fly as fast as your father,” says Jambavan.

As a boy, Hanuman thought the rising sun was a ripe red fruit and leapt to catch it! Indra, king of the gods, threw his thunderbolt. Hanuman fell on a mountain top, and the fall hurt his jaw. Hanu means jaw. That is his name.

Vayu was angry his son was hurt. Not one breeze blew anywhere. The gods begged Vayu, and Brahma, the creator, promised no weapon would harm the boy. Indra saw his thunderbolt had not harmed him, and promised he would live as long as he wished.

“Once I walked around the whole earth twenty-one times,” says Jambavan. “But now I am old. You alone can do it. Arise, Hanuman! Leap over the ocean!”

As Hanuman hears Jambavan, he begins to grow, and grow. The monkeys see it. They forget their sadness and cheer, and every cheer makes him stronger. His face glows like a fire.

Hanuman speaks big words. “I could set off with the Sun at sunrise, reach the sunset mountain before it, and come back while the Sun is still high in the sky!” Then he says, “I know I will find Sita. Be happy!”

Jambavan is glad, and he blesses him. “All of us pray for you. Each of us will stand on one foot until you come back, because our lives go with you.”

Hanuman climbs Mount Mahendra, the tall mountain by the sea. Its rocky peaks are strong enough to push off from. There he folds his hands to the Sun, to Indra and to Brahma. He turns to the east and bows to his father, the wind.

He grows huge and presses the mountain with his hands and feet. It shakes, and its trees drop every flower, until it looks like a mountain made of flowers. Hanuman roars like a thundercloud. “I will go to Lanka like an arrow from Rama’s bow!”

Whoosh! He leaps. Trees fly up after him for a while, like a family seeing a loved one off on a long journey. Then they drop into the sea. Their flowers float on the water like stars.

Hanuman flies above the sea, and his shadow follows him over the water. He looks like a boat driven by the wind. He is flying for Rama, and the Sun does not burn him. The wind blows him a cool breeze.

The Ocean wants to help, because a king of Rama’s family once helped the Ocean. It calls Mainaka, a golden mountain hidden under the waves. Up he rises, shining like a hundred suns.

Hanuman thinks the mountain is in his way. He pushes it down with his chest, as the wind pushes a cloud. Mainaka is pleased by his speed and speaks kindly. “Rest on me. Eat these sweet fruits. A guest must be honoured.”

Mainaka tells him why. Long ago, mountains had wings and flew. Indra cut their wings, but Vayu blew Mainaka safe into the sea. “Your father saved me, so I honour you.”

“I am happy. You have been kind,” says Hanuman. “But I made a promise, and the day is passing.” He touches the mountain with his hand, smiles, and flies on.

The gods want to test him. They ask Surasa, mother of the snakes, to block his way with a huge mouth. “Enter my mouth!” she says. Hanuman folds his hands. He tells her of Rama and Sita, and promises to come back after. She will not move.

He grows, and her mouth grows. Ten yojanas, twenty, thirty, forty… ninety! Then Hanuman makes himself as small as a thumb. He darts into her mouth and out again. “I entered your mouth,” he says. “Your wish came true.”

Surasa takes her own form again. “Go well,” she says. “Bring Sita and Rama together.” Everyone in the sky calls, “Good! Good!” Hanuman flies on. But someone below is watching.

Simhika, a hungry giant in the sea, catches her food by its shadow. She has waited a long time for a meal. She grabs Hanuman’s shadow. “I am pulled back, like a great ship against the wind!” he thinks. He looks down.

Hanuman knows her: Sugriva, the monkey king, had warned him. He grows like a rain cloud, and her mouth opens just as wide. Deep inside, he sees where she is weak. He makes himself small, slips in, strikes there, and flies out quick as thought, big again.

Simhika sinks into the sea and does not rise. The beings of the sky call out, “Whoever has courage, vision, wisdom and skill never fails!” Who could go? Hanuman, the monkey who sat so quietly! He has crossed almost all the sea.

Hanuman sees he is as big as a great cloud. So that no one in Lanka notices him, he makes himself his own size again. He lands on Lamba, a mountain by the shore, and sees Lanka, like the city of the gods.