banana trees. The tiger said to the goat: "Friend Goat, aren't you
hungry? Let us stop here and eat some bananas. You climb up and pluck
the bananas. Give me the ripe ones, and keep the green ones yourself."
The goat climbed up and picked the bananas. He gave the ripe ones to
the tiger and the tiger had a good meal. The goat went hungry.
The tiger and the goat walked along and after going for some distance
they saw a cobra lying in the path. "Friend Goat," said the tiger,
"here you have the opportunity to procure a beautiful necklace for
your daughter, free of cost. Just pick it up and it is yours." The
goat started forward to pick up the snake, but the tiger told him to
let it alone if he did not want to be killed.
When the tiger and the goat arrived at the house of the tiger's friend
it was very late. They soon went to bed in hammocks hung close
together. At midnight the tiger rose quietly, walked on tip toe to the
door, opened it, and went out. He hurried to the place where the sheep
were kept, killed the fattest lamb of the flock, and had a feast. Then
he went back to the hammock, wiped the blood on the goat, and went to
sleep.
Early the next morning the host discovered that one of his lambs was
missing. He hastened to the room where the tiger and the goat were
sleeping and accused the tiger of having killed the lamb. The tiger
looked up at him with an innocent expression and asked, "Do you see
any blood on me?" There was no blood on the tiger, but the host looked
into the next hammock and saw the goat all covered with blood. "I know
now who killed my fattest lamb," he said, and he gave the goat such a
beating that the poor goat barely escaped with his life. From that day
to this when one speaks of a person who has been easily imposed upon
he calls him "the goat."
Things happened very differently with the monkey. One day not long
afterward the tiger invited the monkey to accompany him when he went
to visit his friend. The monkey accepted, and the tiger and the monkey
set out on the journey. When they came to the marsh the tiger said to
the monkey, "Friend Monkey, how very pale you look when you think
about crossing the marsh. Don't be afraid. Just go ahead."
"You go ahead yourself," replied the monkey. The tiger went through
the marsh and fell into the mud so that he was barely able to get out
again. The monkey went around the marsh and walked on dry ground.
After a while the tiger and the monkey came to the banana trees.
"Friend Monkey," said the tiger, "aren't you hungry? Let us stop here
and eat some bananas. You climb up and pluck the bananas. Give the
ripe ones to me and you may keep the green ones for yourself." The
monkey climbed up and picked the bananas but he ate all the ripe ones
himself and threw the green ones down to the tiger. The tiger was
forced to go hungry but the monkey had a good meal.
Finally the tiger and the monkey came to a cobra lying in the path.
"Friend Monkey," said the tiger, "here you have the opportunity to
procure a beautiful necklace for your daughter, free of cost. Pick it
up and it is yours."
"Pick it up yourself," replied the monkey.
When the tiger and the monkey arrived at the house of the tiger's
friend it was very late. They went to bed in hammocks hung up close
together. The monkey had seen enough of the tiger that day to make him
decide that he had better sleep with one eye open. Accordingly he
pretended he was asleep, but he was really awake. At midnight he saw
the tiger crawl quietly out of his hammock, walk on tip toe to the
door, open it gently, and go out. The monkey decided to watch and see
what happened when the tiger came back.
The tiger went to the place where the sheep were kept, killed the
fattest lamb of the flock and had a feast. When he came back he tried
to wipe the lamb's blood on the monkey. The monkey saw him and gave
him a push so that he spilled the blood all over himself and his own
hammock. Not a single drop went on the monkey.
Early the next morning when the host missed one of his lambs he came
to the room where his guests were sleeping. He saw the tiger all
covered with blood and he cried, "O ho, I have at last caught the one
who kills my lambs." Then he gave the tiger such a beating that he
barely escaped with his life. It was all he could do to crawl home
again.
X
How the Monkey Got a Drink
When He Was Thirsty
Once upon a time the monkey made the tiger very angry. This is how it
happened. The monkey was seated high up among the leafy branches of a
mango tree playing upon his guitar. The tiger passed that way and lay
down under the tree to rest. Just to tease him the monkey played and
sang this little song:
"_Tango ti tar, tango ti tar,
The tiger's bones are in my guitar.
Tee hee, Tee hee._"
The tiger was very angry. "Just wait until I catch you, Mr. Monkey,"
he said. "Then I'll show you a trick or two with bones."
The monkey leaped from one tree to another keeping himself so well hid
by the foliage that the tiger could not see him. Then he came down out
of the trees and hid himself in a hole in the ground. When the tiger
came near he again played and sang his little song:
"_Tango ti tar, tango ti tar,
The tiger's bones are in my guitar.
Tee hee, Tee hee._"
The tiger put his paw into the hole and caught the monkey's leg. "Oh,
ho, Mr. Tiger!" said the monkey. "You think that you have caught my
leg but what you really have is just a little stick. Oh, ho! Oh, ho!"
Then the tiger let go of the monkey's leg.
The monkey crawled farther back into the hole in the ground where the
tiger's paw could not reach him. Then he said: "Thank you so much, Mr.
Tiger, for letting go of my leg. It really was my leg, you know."
Again he played and sang his little song:
"_Tango ti tar, tango ti tar,
The tiger's bones are in my guitar.
Tee hee, Tee hee._"
The tiger was angrier than ever. He waited and waited for the monkey
to come out of the hole in the ground but the monkey did not come. He
had discovered another way out and once more from the high tree tops
he sang down to the waiting tiger:
"_Tango ti tar, tango ti tar,
The tiger's bones are in my guitar.
Tee hee, Tee hee._"
There had been a great drought in the land and there was only one
watering place where the beasts could drink. The tiger knew that the
monkey would have to go there when he was thirsty so he decided to
wait for him and catch him when he came to drink.
When the monkey went to the watering place to get a drink he found the
tiger there waiting for him. He ran away as fast as the wind for he
was really very much afraid of the tiger.
He waited and waited until he thought he should die of thirst, but the
tiger did not go away from the watering place for a single minute. At
last the monkey thought of a trick by which he would be able to get a
drink.
He lay down by the side of the pathway as if he were dead. After a
while an old woman came along the path carrying a dish of honey in a
basket upon her head. She saw the monkey lying there by the path and,
thinking that he was dead, she picked him up and put him into the
basket with the dish of honey. When the monkey saw that it was honey
in the dish he was very happy. He opened the dish and covered himself
all over with the soft sticky honey. Then as the old woman walked
under the trees he lightly sprang out of the basket into the trees.
The old woman did not miss him until she got home and found only part
of her dish of honey in the basket. "Why, I thought I had brought
home a dead monkey in my basket," she said to her children. "Now
there is no monkey here and my dish is only half full of honey. The
monkey must have been playing one of his tricks."
The monkey had, in the meantime, stuck leaves from the trees into the
honey all over his body so that he was completely disguised. His own
mother would never have recognised him. He looked something like a
porcupine; but instead of sharp quills there were green leaves
sticking out all over him. In this fashion he went to the drinking
place and the tiger did not recognise him. He took a long, deep drink.
He was so thirsty and the water tasted so good that he stayed in the
drinking place too long. The leaves came out of the honey which had
held them and the tiger saw that it was really the monkey. The monkey
was barely able to escape.
He was so badly frightened that he waited and waited a long, long time
before he again went to the drinking place. At last he got so thirsty
that he couldn't wait any longer. He went to the resin tree and
covered himself with resin. Then he stuck leaves into the resin and
again went to the drinking place.
The tiger saw him, but as the tiger expected to see the leaves come
off just as soon as the monkey got into the water, he thought he would
wait and catch him in his bare skin. This time the leaves did not come
off, for the resin held them fast and was not in the least affected by
the water. The tiger thought that it was not the monkey and that he
must have made a mistake. The monkey drank all he wished and then
strolled away leisurely without the tiger's attacking him. He used the
resin and leaves every time he wanted a drink after that. He kept up
the trick until the rainy season arrived and he could find plenty of
water in other places than the big drinking place.
XI
How the Monkey Got Food
When He Was Hungry
Once upon a time the monkey was hungry. He wanted to make some
porridge, but he did not have any money to buy meal to make the
porridge. So he went to the house of the hen to borrow some meal. The
hen gave him some meal.
"Come to my house to-morrow at one o'clock," he said to the hen, "I'll
pay back the meal then."
Then the monkey went to the house of the fox and said, "O, friend fox,
please lend me some meal. Come to my house to-morrow at two o'clock
and I'll pay you then." The fox gave him some meal.
Then the monkey went to the house of the dog and said, "O, friend dog,
please lend me some meal. Come to my house to-morrow at three o'clock
and I'll pay you back then." The dog gave him some meal.
Then the monkey went to the house of the tiger and said, "O, friend
tiger, please lend me some meal. Come to my house to-morrow at four
o'clock and I'll pay you back then." The tiger gave the monkey some
meal.
The monkey went home and made a great pot of porridge. He feasted and
feasted until he couldn't eat any more, but there was still plenty of
porridge left in the pot. Then the monkey made his bed and took care
to fix it high up from the floor.
The next day, at midday, he ate some more of the porridge. Then he
bound a cloth about his head and went to bed pretending that he was
sick.
At one o'clock the hen came and knocked at the door. The monkey in a
low, weak voice asked her to enter. He told her how very sick he was
and the hen was very sorry for him.
At two o'clock the fox came and knocked at the door. The hen was
frightened almost to death. "Never mind," said the monkey, "you can
hide here under my bed."
The hen hid under the monkey's bed and the monkey in a weak, low voice
invited the fox to enter. The monkey told the fox how very ill he was
and the fox was very sorry for him.
At three o'clock the dog came and knocked at the door. The fox was
frightened almost to death. "Never mind," said the monkey; "hide here
under my bed and everything will be all right."
The fox hid under the monkey's bed and the monkey, in a low, weak
voice, invited the dog to enter. The monkey told the dog how very sick
he was and the dog was very sorry for him.
At four the tiger came and knocked at the door. The dog was frightened
almost to death. "Never mind," said the monkey. "Hide here under my
bed and everything will be all right."
The dog hid under the monkey's bed. Then the monkey invited the tiger
to enter. He told, the tiger how very sick he was but the tiger was
not at all sorry for him. He sprang at the bed, demanding in a loud,
fierce voice that the monkey pay back the meal at once, as he had
promised to do. The monkey escaped to the tree tops, but the bed broke
down under the tiger's weight.
Then the fox ate up the hen and the dog ate up the fox and the tiger
ate up the dog. The tiger is still trying to catch the monkey.
XII
Why the Bananas Belong to
the Monkey
Perhaps you do not know it, but the monkeys think that all the bananas
belong to them. When Brazilian children eat bananas they say, "I am a
monkey." I once knew a little boy in Brazil who was very, very fond of
bananas. He always said, "I am _very much_ of a monkey." If you are
fond of bananas the Brazilian children would tell you that you are a
monkey, too. This is the story they tell to show us how it all came
about.
Once upon a time when the world had just been made and there was only
one kind of banana, but very many kinds of monkeys, there was a little
old woman who had a big garden full of banana trees. It was very
difficult for the old woman to gather the bananas herself, so she made
a bargain with the largest monkey. She told him that if he would
gather the bunches of bananas for her she would give him half of them.
The monkey gathered the bananas. When he took his half he gave the
little old woman the bananas which grow at the bottom of the bunch and
are small and wrinkled. The nice big fat ones he kept for himself and
carried them home to let them ripen in the dark.
The little old woman was very angry. She lay awake all night trying to
think of some way by which she could get even with the monkey. At
last she thought of a trick.
The next morning she made an image of wax which looked just like a
little black boy. Then she placed a large flat basket on the top of
the image's head and in the basket she placed the best ripe bananas
she could find. They certainly looked very tempting.
After a little while the biggest monkey passed that way. He saw the
image of wax and thought that it was a boy peddling bananas. He had
often pushed over boy banana peddlers, upset their baskets and then
had run away with the bananas. This morning he was feeling very
good-natured so he thought that he would first try asking politely for
the bananas.
"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," he said to him, "please give me a
banana." The image of wax answered never a word.
Again the monkey said, this time in a little louder voice, "O, peddler
boy, peddler boy, please give me a banana, just one little, ripe
little, sweet little banana." The image of wax answered never a word.
Then the monkey called out in his loudest voice, "O, peddler boy,
peddler boy, if you don't give me a banana I'll give you such a push
that it will upset all of your bananas." The image of wax was silent.
The monkey ran toward the image of wax and struck it hard with his
hand. His hand remained firmly embedded in the wax.
"O, peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my hand," the monkey called out.
"Let go my hand and give me a banana or else I'll give you a hard,
hard blow with my other hand." The image of wax did not let go.
The monkey gave the image a hard, hard blow with his other hand. The
other hand remained firmly embedded in the wax.
Then the monkey called out, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my
two hands. Let go my two hands and give me a banana or else I will
give you a kick with my foot." The image of wax did not let go.
The monkey gave the image a kick with his foot and his foot remained
stuck fast in the wax.
"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," the monkey cried, "let go my foot. Let
go my two hands and my foot and give me a banana or else I'll give
you a kick with my other foot." The image of wax did not let go.
Then the monkey who was now very angry, gave the image of wax a kick
with his foot and his foot remained stuck fast in the wax.
The monkey shouted, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my foot. Let
go my two feet and my two hands and give me a banana or else I'll give
you a push with my body." The image of wax did not let go.
The monkey gave the image of wax a push with his body. His body
remained caught fast in the wax.
"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," the monkey shouted, "let go my body!
Let go my body and my two feet and my two hands or I'll call all the
other monkeys to help me!" The image of wax did not let go.
Then the monkey made such an uproar with his cries and shouts that
very soon monkeys came running from all directions. There were big
monkeys and little monkeys and middle-sized monkeys. A whole army of
monkeys had come to the aid of the biggest monkey.
It was the very littlest monkey who thought of a plan to help the
biggest monkey out of his plight. The monkeys were to climb up into
the biggest tree and pile themselves one on top of another until they
made a pyramid of monkeys. The monkey with the very loudest voice of
all was to be on top and he was to shout his very loudest to the sun
and ask the sun to come and help the biggest monkey out of his
dreadful difficulty.
This is what all the big-sized, little-sized, middle-sized monkeys
did. The monkey with the loudest voice on top of the pyramid made the
sun hear. The sun came at once.
The sun poured his hottest rays down upon the wax. After a while the
wax began to melt. The monkey was at last able to pull out one of his
hands. The sun poured down more of his hottest rays and soon the
monkey was able to pull out his two hands. Then he could pull out one
foot, then another, and in a little while his body, too. At last he
was free.
When the little old woman saw what had happened she was very much
discouraged about raising bananas. She decided to move to another
part of the world where she raised cabbages instead of bananas. The
monkeys were left in possession of the big garden full of banana
trees. From that day to this the monkeys have thought that they own
all the bananas.
XIII
How the Monkey Escaped
Being Eaten
Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, people ate fruits and nuts. Then
there came a time when the fruits and nuts became scarce. People had
to eat meat. So they began killing the various beasts to see which
ones were the best to eat. They skinned them and cut them in pieces
and cooked them over the fire. Some of the beasts were good to eat and
others were not good at all.
The ox was found to be very good, and so was the sheep, and the
armadillo. Then one day a man thought that he would try to eat the
monkey.
The monkey was playing his guitar. "Lee, lee, lee, lee, lee lay, lee
lay, lee ray, lee ray." The man came close to him and said, "Come
here, little monkey, and let me hear your music. I enjoy it very
much." All the time the man was coming closer and closer to the
monkey. Just as he was about to stretch out his hand and seize the
monkey, the monkey gave a sudden leap to the tree and hurried away to
the tree top.
After that every time the man heard the monkey play the guitar he
would come near and try to catch him. The monkey grew afraid of the
man, so afraid that he gave up playing his guitar at all. For a long,
long time he did not play upon it. One day he felt that he just _must_
have some music. He hid in a hole in the ground and there he played
upon his guitar. He did not think that the man would hear him, but the
man had very sharp ears. When he got through playing he started to
come out of the hole in the ground. There was the man waiting for him!
He crawled quickly back,--so far back that the man could not catch
him. The monkey waited and waited for the man to go away, but the man
did not go away.
After a while the man became thirsty and went to get a drink. He left
his little boy in his place to watch for the monkey. After the man had
gone away the monkey called out to the little boy, "O, little boy, O,
little boy, don't you wish that you could see the monkey dance?"
The little boy replied that he wished he could.
"Just put your eyes down to the door of my little cave, and I'll let
you see the monkey dance, little boy," said the monkey.
The little boy put his eyes down close to the hole in the ground. No
sooner had he done so than the monkey threw dirt into the little boy's
eyes. When the little boy was rubbing his eyes to get the dirt out of
them the monkey made a sudden dash out of the cave and escaped to the
tree tops. When the man returned the little boy did not dare to tell
him that the monkey had escaped. The man waited and waited and waited
there by the hole in the ground. At last he became tired of waiting
and went away.
After that the man tried harder than ever to catch the monkey. If he
had not had the good luck to catch the monkey napping one day there is
no knowing when he would have got his hands upon him. One day,
however, he caught the monkey napping. He shut him up in a box and
carried him home to the children for supper.
The man put a big dish full of water over the fire ready to cook the
monkey. Then he went away to collect more fuel for the fire. The
monkey and his guitar were shut up in the box, and there, inside the
box, the monkey played on his guitar. "Lee, lee, lee, lee, lee lay,
lee lay, lee ray, lee ray." The children came crowding close to the
box.
"O, children, O, children," said the monkey, "don't you wish that you
could see the monkey dance?"
The children replied that they wished they could.
"This box is so small that there is not room enough for me to dance
here," said the monkey. "Just let me out and I'll show you how well I
can dance."
The children opened the box and let the monkey out into the room. The
monkey played on his guitar, "Lee, lee, lee, lee, lee lay, lee lay,
lee ray, lee ray," and he danced about the room. Then he said, "O,
children! O, children! You have nothing at all cooking in that pot
over the fire. Let us put something into the pot to cook."
The children thought that it would not be polite to tell the monkey
what the pot of water was waiting for, so they let the monkey fill
the pot as he liked. He put into it some little dry sticks and an
empty cocoanut shell. Then he said, "O, children, O, children, I
cannot dance any more. It is so hot here in this room."
The children begged him to dance some more.
"If you will open the door a little bit so that I can have more air to
breathe I'll show you a new dance," said the monkey.
The children opened the door. The monkey danced over to the door and
out of the door away to the tree top. That was the last they ever saw
of him. He moved to another part of the country after that experience.
When the man came home with fuel for the fire the children did not
dare to tell him that the monkey had escaped. They let him think that
the sticks and the cocoanut shell in the pot was the monkey. He built
a big roaring fire under the pot and soon it was boiling merrily.
After the pot had boiled a while he called the children to come to
supper with him. The children let him taste first. He fished a hard
stick out of the pot and bit into it. "This is not the monkey's leg.
It is just a dry stick," he said, as he made a wry face. Then he
fished the empty cocoanut shell out of the pot. "That is not the
monkey's head," he said as he tasted it, "That is just an empty
cocoanut shell." He couldn't find a single trace of the monkey in that
monkey stew. He never wished to make a monkey stew again.
XIV
Why the Monkey Still Has
a Tail
Once upon a time the monkey and the rabbit made a contract. The monkey
was to kill all the butterflies and the rabbit was to kill all the
snakes.
One day the rabbit was taking a nap when the monkey passed that way.
The monkey thought that he would play a trick on the rabbit so he
pulled the rabbit's ears, pretending that he thought they were
butterflies. The rabbit awoke very angry at the monkey and he plotted
how he might revenge himself on the monkey.
The rabbit and the armadillo are very good friends. The armadillo is
very, very strong, you know, so it was he whom the rabbit asked to
help him.
One day the rabbit caught the monkey napping. He had watched and
waited a long, long time to catch the monkey napping, but at last he
succeeded. Even the monkey sometimes takes a nap. The rabbit called
the armadillo at once and together they rolled a big stone upon the
monkey's tail. The monkey pulled so hard to get his tail out from
under the stone that it broke off. The cat, who at that time had no
tail of her own, spied the tail and ran away with it. The monkey was
very angry at the rabbit. "O, we thought it was just a snake lying
there," said the rabbit. "When you pulled my ears, you know, you
thought they were butterflies."
That did not help the monkey to feel any better. How was he to live
without his tail! How could he climb without it! He simply had to have
it back so he at once set out to find the cat.
At last he found the cat and said to her, "O, kind cat, please give me
back my tail."
"I will give it to you," replied the cat, "if you will get me some
milk."
"Where shall I get the milk?" asked the monkey.
"Go ask the cow for some," replied the cat.