Thai Rubbing from the South Wall of the Temple of Wat Po, Bangkok; Bibhek, Sugrib, Hanuman, and Rama's Warriors Lament for Sita, Until Hanuman Shows Doubt
In the early morning, when the sun has not yet risen above the trees and the air is still cool, Phra Ram comes down to the sea to bathe.* As always, his thoughts are with his absent wife, and to ease the pain of separation, he sings a love song softly to himself as he goes, promising that the days until their reunion shall be few.
He sees a body, that of an exquisitely beautiful woman lying as if cast up on the shore. Going closer, he realizes, with a horror that no words can describe that the corpse is that of his wife. He sinks to his knees beside the body, tenderly lifts it from the ground, and calls in a broken voice for his brother Lak.
Hearing the sound of voices raised in lamentation, Hanuman hurries down to the shore, followed by Sukreep and Pipeck. "This is what comes of your folly in Longka," Phra Ram upbraids Hanuman. "If you had not enraged the demon king, Nang Seeda would still be alive." At first Hanuman is too shocked to speak, but soon his eyes take in two discrepancies that have escaped the others, and his quicksilver brain reaches a conclusion.
"With all due respect," he says, "you are weeping in vain. That is not Nang Seeda. Look at the currents of this strait. They flow towards Longka, so how could they have brought this body here. And then I never saw a corpse that didn't show some sign of disorder or corruption. It's my opinion this is another of Totsagan's tricks. Let us burn the corpse and .see what happens."
* As it is neither Hindu nor Buddhist practice to bathe in the sea, it seems that two episodes have been compressed here; in one of these Phra Ram went down to perform his ablutions at the river, and, in the other, Benyagai's body was washed up on the seashore. The texts are ambiguous on this point.
