Kids · 3 minThe Monkey and the Crocodile

Once upon a time, on the bank of a wide green river, there stood a rose-apple tree so full of fruit that its branches hung down to the water. In that tree lived a little monkey named Raktamukha. He had a red face, a curly tail and a very good opinion of rose-apples.

One hot afternoon a big crocodile named Karalamukha climbed out on the bank and lay there puffing. "You look tired, uncle," said the monkey, and he dropped a fruit on his nose. The crocodile had never eaten anything so sweet. He ate it, he looked up, and the monkey dropped another.

After that the crocodile came every day. They talked about the river, the rain and the rudeness of herons. The monkey threw down fruit, and the crocodile caught it with a snap. He always took a few home for his wife, who lived on the far bank.

His wife liked the fruit very much, and that was the trouble. "If the fruit is this sweet," she said one evening, "think how sweet the heart of the monkey must be, who eats it all day. Bring me that heart." "But he is my friend!" said the crocodile. His wife turned her back on him and would not speak for three days.

On the fourth day the crocodile went to the tree, feeling very small for such a large animal. "Friend," he said, "my wife wants to thank you. She has cooked a feast. Sit on my back and I will take you across." The monkey had never been to a feast. He jumped down at once.

Halfway across the river, where the water was deepest, the crocodile stopped. He could not bear it any longer. "Friend, I must tell you the truth. There is no feast. My wife wants to eat your heart." The monkey's tail went cold. There was water to the left of him, water to the right of him, and not one branch anywhere.

But he took a slow breath and he slapped his forehead. "Oh, what a pity! Why did you not tell me before? We monkeys never carry our hearts about. They get shaken too much. I have left mine hanging in the rose-apple tree. Take me back quickly, and I will fetch it for your good wife."

The crocodile was so relieved that he did not stop to think. He turned round and swam back as fast as his tail could push him. The moment they touched the bank, the monkey leapt off and went up the tree, up and up, until he reached the very top branch.

"Well, friend?" called the crocodile from below. "Have you found your heart?" The monkey laughed until the fruit shook. "It has been inside me all the time, you great pumpkin! Who hangs his heart in a tree? Go home and tell your wife that she may have rose-apples, and nothing else."

The crocodile went away with his head low. Some days later he came back and lay on the bank without saying a word. The monkey looked at him for a long time from the top branch. Then he dropped one rose-apple on his nose, and he stayed exactly where he was.

And from that day, when the little monkeys of that tree grew frightened, the old ones would tell them: "When you are in trouble, do not cry and do not jump. Sit still and think. A quick mind can carry you across any river."