The Monkey's Heart |
Morale of the Story: " Never Trust A Betrayer Or Else You'll put your life in danger " |
 Once upon a time in a dense Jungle, near a river there lived a clever monkey
on a Jamun tree. Whenever the Monkey felt hungry he used to eat the Jamun
from that tree. One day he saw a crocodile coming out of the river and he
asked him," Dear Friend I have never seen you here before, what makes you loiter
(proceed slowly or linger aimlessly) here?" The Crocodile said," Me and my wife
live in this river, and I am moving about in search of food." The monkey said, "
Welcome to my place! There's a lot of Jamuns here which I'll pluck for you." The
monkey threw Jamuns down the tree and the crocodile ate them until his stomach was
filled.Then he thanked the monkey and said , "Will you treat me in the same way if I
come again?" The Monkey said,"Certainly! You are my friend now." After that the crocodile returned. The next day also the crocodile came and the Monkey served him sweet Jamuns. The Monkey gave him sweet Jamuns for his wife. The crocodile took them to his wife and said , "It's a gift to you from my friend." The wife enjoyed the Jamuns and said, " How sweet they are! Bring them for me tomorrow too!" One day the wife asked,"Who's the friend that gives you such sweet Jamuns daily?" The crocodile said,"Well, he's a monkey and he lives on that Jamun tree." The clever wife thought to herself, "If the Jmauns are so sweet, how sweet would be the heart of that monkey who always eat them?" She said to the crocodile," Why don't you ever invite your noble friend to our place? I would love to see him." The crocodile said,"O.K. I'll invite him to our place one day." The Crocodile understood his wife's intentions and avoided inviting the monkey under one or the other pretext. But everyday the wife eagerly awaited the monkey's arrival.
Seeing his wife's condition the poor crocodile thought that he had his duty towards his wife too! So he said, "All right, Today I'm going to bring him here!" The monkey was waiting for the crocodile. He said," Friend, why are you so late today?" The crocodile said, "Nothing serious, but a quarrel with wife. She says I enjoy your hospitality everyday without showing the courtesy to invite you for dinner." The monkey said,"She is right, but I don't know how to cross the waters." The crocodile said,"Water is no problem, dear friend! I'll carry you safely if you ride on my back." The monkey frightfully said, "Okay Friend, but kindly swim slowly as I'm very frightened and please do not dive."
The crocodile said, "Well, my wife is ill
and she can only be saved if she gets a monkey's heart. Where else could I get it except
from you?" The monkey was startled on hearing this but he remained calm and he
immediately thought of an idea, he said calmly,"Oh, my dear, if this is the matter
why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have gladly given you my heart to save your
beloved wife.But we have to go back to my place as I always put my heart in a safe place
on that tree. Had you asked for it there I would have certainly given you on the spot. Now
we'll have to return to the tree to take it with us. Hurry up. We've no time. Her life is
very precious!" The crocodile turned its back and swam speedily.The moment they arrived at the bank of the river the monkey jumped over the tree and said from there, "Good bye, Stupid creature! Now you go home and tell your wife that you are the stupidest of all living creature. How could you believe that the heart could be separated from the body?" The crocodile was crestfallen(Dispirited and depressed). He said, "Oh dear friend, I was just joking. Come on again!" But the monkey said,"Enough of it now. It's truly said - Never trust a betrayer or else you'll put your life in danger." |
| The End |
Her desire to eat the monkey's heart grew so strong that she posed to be ill
one day and started crying in pain when the crocodile came. The crocodile took her to be
really ill and said, " Oh dear, I am prepared to do anything to restore you do
health!" The wife seized this opportunity and said,"Only the monkey's heart can
save me. But I know you love your friend so much that you'll never bring him here."
The crocodile thought its the right time to disclose his intentions to his
friend. He said," Dear Friend I have brought you here to kill you at the suggestion
of my wife." The monkey was in trouble but he was very intelligent and resourceful as
well. So he said in a composed voice, "Why do you wish to kill me?"