The crocodile and monkey
A monkey who
lived on a tree near the river bank and a crocodile who lived in that river
were thick friends. The monkey would pluck delicious fruits from the tree and
throw it at his friend. The friendwould
eat some and take the rest to his wife . the wife ate the fruits and relished
the fantastic taste.
A thought
soon passed through the mind of the lady crocodile. If the fruit could be so
tasty, how tastier would be the heart of the monkey, who lived entirely on the
fruits of that tree. She echoed her finding to her husband and persuaded him to
somehow take the monkey to their home, so that they could have the best food
they ever tasted.
Reluctantly
the croc husband agreed. When he next saw the monkey, he told the ape that mrs.
Croc was so eager to meet him and thatshe had prepared a grand meal for their family friend. The croc assured
him that he could ride on the croc back and after dinner he would be taken back
to his tree. So the trip started with the monkey on his friend`s back.
Halfwayacross the river, the croc
opened his heart and told the monkey about his wife`s desire. The clever monkey
was aghast but he kept his cool, told the croc, that he should have told the
monkey in advance, as he always keeps his heart on the tree, whenever he
travels. So if the wife should have the heart, he should be taken back to the
tree and he would hand over the heart to the croc. The stupid croc readily
agreed and took back the monkey to the river bank to fetch his heart. Once they
reached the bank, the monkey jumped over to the tree, quickly plucked some
heavy branches and pelted the croc. The stupid croc was too late to realize his
blunder and shrank away in shame.