Maiyap Enters Hanuman's Mouth
(Wat Pho in Bangkok)
Phra Ram also has a dream of ill omen. The wise Pipeck correctly interprets it as a forewarning that an attempt will be made in the coming night to steal the king away from his army and warns that the only way to avert this danger is by keeping a strict watch until dawn the next day. Hearing this, Hanuman decides that he will play a part in the protection of Phra Ram. That evening he recites a spell that makes him grow to the size of a fortress. Thus enlarged, the Son of the Wind opens his mouth and places Phra Ram, Phra Lak and Pipeck inside. With his tongue as the door, Sukreep as the doorman and the eighteen royal generals as watchmen, Hanuman feels sure that his master will be safe. He curls his tail, which is the size of a great town wall, around the entire camp and, with his eyes wide open and his mind on the alert, he waits for the morning.
Maiyarap has been observing these precautions from close at hand, and overhears the order, "No monkey is to sleep until dawn!" Amused at the simplicity of his foes, the Lord of the Underworld flies high into the heavens and in the east suspends his magic diamond Gomin. This gem is so bright that the monkeys mistake it for the morning star and, thinking that dawn is at hand, believe the time of danger is past. Worn out by their vigil, many of them curl up on the ground where they are and fall asleep. Others, stretching and yawning, leave their posts and go off in search of comfortable bowers in which to catch up on their rest. Even Hanuman closes his eyes and sinks into a light sleep.
Satisfied that no one is watching, Maiyarap flies over the camp and scatters the magic dust onto the monkeys, deepening their slumber. Then he leaps into Hanuman's mouth, steps over the recumbent bodies of Phra Lak and Pipeck, picks up Phra Ram, and makes off with him.
