| Short
Stories - Wise Monkey |
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Once upon a time there lived
a monkey on the branches of a rose-apple tree. As the monkey
jumped up and down the branches swinging to and fro, the ripe
fruit used to fall down into the tank which was under the
tree.
One day a crocodile was moving in the water under the tree and
swallowed up a rose apple as it fell in the water. The taste
was very good. The crocodile ate up all the fruit that fell
from above. When they were all finished he lifted up his head
to see wherefrom they fell. Up in the branches he saw the
monkey singing and swinging. The crocodile said, "O
Monkey, I like your song and I like the fruit dropped by you.
Will you be my friend and companion? I shall deem it a great
privilege." The monkey saw that the crocodile was sincere
in his request. He agreed, "Yes, let us be friends."
Their friendship gradually grew. The crocodile was so
attracted by the simple devoted life of the monkey, that he
started spending more and more time in his company and almost
forgot his wife at home. As days went by, the wife
crocodile got fed up with this new fascination of her husband.
She thought that if she failed to take some urgent action her
husband would one day abandon her altogether and remain near
the monkey only. So she planned a vicious plot to get rid of
the monkey.
One night by the time the crocodile returned home after hours
of talk with monkey, the wife tied a cloth round her head and
lay moaning and groaning. The husband was alarmed. He asked,
"Dear, why are you groaning? Are you not feeling well?
Shall I get some medicine fro you?" The wife groaned some
more and mumbled, "What is the use of telling you
anything? Do you care for me at all? Even if I die away it
will not make a difference to you." At this accusation,
the husband crocodile protested and loudly proclaimed,
"How unjust you are towards me, darling? Don't I love you
more than my life?" The wife moaned as if she were in
great pain and said, "If you love me that much, now is
the time to prove it. Since the morning I was suffering with
severe headache. I consulted a doctor who examined me
thoroughly and said that there was only one remedy for this
headache. If you have any regard for me you will immediately
procure that medicine for me." The husband eagerly asked,
"Please, quickly tell me what the medicine is. Whatever
it might be I will surely get it for you." Hearing it the
wife inwardly smiled. She groaned once more and said, "O,
the medicine is something which you can easily get, if you
have the wish to get it. The doctor said that a monkey's heart
has to be made into a paste and applied on the forehead in
order to get rid of this headache once for all."
The husband was shocked. "Monkey's heart? How can I get
it? Impossible!" The wife bitterly moaned and shed tears.
She exclaimed, "Yes. I knew that you would say this. Your
friend is more to you than even my life. All right. Go and
merrily spend time with your friend. I shall moan, groan and
die away here, unattended and uncared for!" She sighed
deeply and turned away fro her husband weeping bitterly. It
was too much for husband. He came near her, wiped her tears
and said, "Please don't say such things. I am prepared to
bring the heart of my friend. But how can I get it? I can
hardly ask him to come down the tree sot that I can take his
heart, can I?
Then the wife said, "No, you can hardly do that. But you
do one thing. Go and invite the monkey to our house for lunch
tomorrow. Ask him to jump on your back and carry him here.
Once he is here I shall kill him and take out his heart."
The husband looked very sad when he hard how he had to deceive
his best friend.
Next day the he-crocodile reached the rose-apple tree in a
short time. The monkey was as usual on the tree, jumping and
singing. He stood under the tree in the water and looked up.
"Hello, my dear friend, good morning to you."
"Very good morning, my friend. What news?" asked the
monkey. "I have no news but only a request. You know, now
and then I take the fruit given by you to my wife. Daily she
enjoys them and has been saying that we must invite you for
lunch one of these days. Today she importuned me to bring you
without fail to our place. Will you come?" replied the
crocodile.
At the mention of lunch the monkey's mouth watered. Who would
not like to have a good meal? But how to reach there?
"How can I reach your house? I don't know swimming"
said the monkey. As per their plan, the crocodile answered,
"Don't bother. You jump on to my back. I shall carry you
there."
The monkey was very happy. He jumped on to the back of the
crocodile immediately and the crocodile turned back and
started swimming towards home. The monkey was in a jolly mood
thinking of all the dainty eatables which he would get for
lunch. So he was running up and down the back of the crocodile
singing off in great ghee. As the crocodile saw the happiness
of his innocent friend, he felt guilty and sorry. Great tears
rolled down his cheeks. The monkey saw them with concern and
surprise. "Why are you shedding tears, my dear? Is any
thing wrong with you?" The crocodile could no more
control himself. "Excuse me my friend, I have deceived
you. I am not taking you for lunch, but to kill you."
Then he went on to explain how his wife had a severe headache
for which the doctor prescribed the paste of a monkey's heart.
The poor monkey's heart stood still. What an ugly trick to
play upon a friend who believed in him! How to escape now!
They were in the middle of the tank now and the monkey could
not jump into the water because he did not know how to swim.
Suddenly the monkey burst forth laughing. The crocodile was
surprised. In the face of death how could the monkey laugh so
uproariously? He asked, "My dear friend, I thought that
you would be either angry with me or terribly frightened at
what I have told you. How is it that you are laughing instead?
Are you not afraid of dying?"
The monkey pretended to be controlling his laughter with great
effort and said, "Oh, no, friend. I am not angry with
you. After all when your wife is ill, it is natural for you to
procure the medicine. How can I find fault with you? But I
could not control my laughter because all your effort is in
vain. Because my heart is not with me now. Had you told me in
the beginning, I would have brought it with me. Now, your
taking me to your house is futile."
"You see, what happened is this. I am terribly afraid of
the water as you know. When you asked me to jump over your
back. I felt that my heart might get wet in the water. So I
removed it and kept it hanging on the branches of the tree for
safety. What is the use of your carrying me there?" said
the monkey. "Yes, what is the use?" agreed the
foolish crocodile who had a big body put no brains. "What
shall we do now?" he asked the monkey.
The monkey smiled and said, "Under these circumstances
there is only one way out. Turn back and take me to the tree.
I shall go up and get the heart for you." The crocodile
was very happy at this easy solution. He turned back and swam
towards the tree. The monkey's heart was thumping in great
trepidation as they were reaching back. At last when they
neared the tree, the crocodile stopped and said, "Friend,
please go up and throw down your heart."
"In a minute," said the monkey and jumped up to
safety onto the tree. There he jumped up and down the branches
in relief and joy. The crocodile waited under the tree for a
long time, then he lifted up his head and asked, "Friend,
have you forgotten about the heart? Please throw it down so
that I can take it to my wife."
The monkey laughed uproariously and said, "You silly
crocodile, what a fool you are to believe that I could have
taken out may heart! Go, go away from this place and never
show your face again to me. False friends like you should
never be trusted at all."
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