It is not really a translation but more of a rewriting of the Ramayana, using as source material the published English translations. The main sequence of events in the Indian original and in Buck's rendition is the same, except that in Buck's version the story begins ten thousand years after the war, when Rama's children Kusa and Lava, unbeknownst to their father, have learnt the story of his battle from Valmiki and are reciting it in the Naimisha forest.The original begins in the city of Ayodhya with the events leading up to Rama's birth.