night, behold the power of my bow, although I am but a man!  Release Sita, the daughter of Janaka!  If thou dost not release her, I shall make the Earth divested of all Rakshasas with my keen-edged arrows!” Hearing these defiant words of the enemy, king Ravana bore them ill, becoming senseless with wrath.  And thereupon four Rakshasas skilled in reading every sign of their master, seized Angada like four hawks seizing a tiger.  With those Rakshasas, however, holding him fast by his limbs, Angada leaped upwards and alighted on the palace terrace.  And as he leaped up with a great force, those wanderers of the night fell down the earth, and bruised by the violence of the fall, had their ribs broken.  And from the golden terrace on which he had alighted, he took a downward leap.  And overleaping the walls of Lanka, he alighted to where his comrades were.  And approaching the presence of the lord of Kosala and informing him of everything, the monkey Angada endued with great energy retired to refresh himself, dismissed with due respect by Rama.

    [57] Lit. an engine killing a hundred.  Perhaps, some kind of
    rude cannon.

[58] Perhaps, brands or torches steeped in wax, intended to be thrown in a burning state, amongst the foe.  Readers of Indian history know how Lord Lake was repulsed from Bharatpore by means of huge bales of cotton, steeped in oil, rolled from the ramparts of that town, in a burning state, towards the advancing English.

    [59] Lit. be a Purusha (male)!  Manhood would not be appropriate
    in connection with a Rakshasa.

“’The descendant of Raghu then caused the ramparts of Lanka to be broken down by a united attack of all those monkeys endued with the speed of the wind.  Then Lakshmana, with Vibhishana and the king of the bears marching in the van, blew up the southern gate of the city that was almost impregnable.  Rama then attacked Lanka with a hundred thousand crores of monkeys, all possessed of great skill in battle, and endued with reddish complexions like those of young camels.  And those crores of greyish bears with long arms, and legs and huge paws, and generally supporting themselves on their broad haunches, were also urged on to support the attack.  And in consequence of those monkeys leaping up and leaping down and leaping in transverse directions, the Sun himself, his bright disc completely shaded, became invisible for the dust they raised.  And the citizens of Lanka beheld the wall of their town assume all over a tawny hue, covered by monkeys of complexions yellow as the ears of paddy, and grey as Shirisha flowers, and red as the rising Sun, and white as flax or hemp.  And the Rakshasas, O king, with their wives and elders, were struck with wonders at that sight.  And the monkey warriors began to pull down pillars made of precious stones and the terraces and tops of palatial mansions.  And breaking into fragments the propellers of catapults and other engines, they began to cast them about in all directions.  And taking up the Sataghnis along with the discs, the clubs, and stones, they threw them down into the city with great force and loud noise.  And attacked thus by the monkeys, those Rakshasas that had been placed on the walls to guard them, fled precipitately by hundreds and thousands.