The Monkey and the Fox (Grand Mother's Tales)

The Monkey and the Fox 

        Once upon a time there were a fox and a monkey in a big forest. They were good friends and lived their life happily. One day they both went out in search of food. Suddenly some people came that way with some baskets full of banana, sugarcane and milk products for a wedding. When the fox and the monkey saw these things their mouths filled with water. The fox said "I have thought out a plan, my friend. You should hide behind a tree near the road and I will also hide somewhere nearby. When the people reach us, I will make a sound "Hua-Hua" and you make the sound "Khua-Khua". When they will hear these sounds, they will be in panic and will run away leaving all these stuff." The monkey and the fox did the same and the people thought that it might be the sound of the dangerous wild animals and ran away after dropping their baskets on the road. Both monkey and the fox laughed to see their condition. The monkey said, "Friend! We better leave this place immediately because if they come back in search of their goods, they will kill us. Therefore I will take these foods stuff to the top of the tall tree. Since you do not know how to climb up a tree, you stand up here. I shall give you your food from the top of the tree. The fox accepted his proposal and stood under the tree. The monkey ate the banana and gave him the banana peel and said to him "Friend, here comes banana, catch it." Again the monkey ate the sugarcane and gave him the peel. The monkey eat the entire stock of food. The fox was very hungry. He become very angry and felt sad because his friend cheated him.

         Many days passed. One day, the monkey saw the fox sitting beside a big wasp nest. The monkey said to him "What are you doing here, my friend?" The fox replied, "Oh! My friend1 am just protecting the king's drum." The monkey requested the fox "Can l play the drum?" Fox said "No, I am sorry my friend. King told me to protect this drum. I can't allow you to play the drum because the king will punish me if he come to know about it." The monkey said "Please let me play the drum for once!" The fox agreed reluctantly "Okay. You can play it, but very gently." Saying this, the fox fled from the scene very quickly. The monkey was very happy and he started beating the wasp nest vigorously thinking it was a drum and he was bitten very badly by wasps. When the monkey cried in pain, the fox said from far way "How do you feel now? Do you remember that you gave me the peel after eating banana?" The monkey said "Please help me." "Remember, you gave me the empty pot after drinking all the milk. Now this is my time to take revenge." Saving so, the fox left the monkey alone.

        Many days passed. One day the monkey met the fox again. He was sitting beside a plot of arum. The monkey already forgot about the wasp bites and asked him "What are you doing here my friend?" The fox replied that the King asked him to protect his sugarcane. The greedy monkey replied, "Can you give me a little piece to taste it? The fox replied "No I can't My friend." The Monkey said, "Oh my friend! The king will never know about it. Please allow me to have one." "The cleaver fox said, "Ok! How can I not give you permission? You can have a little." The monkey ate an arum thinking that it was sugarcane. It gave him very much itch. He shouted and asked his friend for help. The fox replied, "Do you remember that you gave me the banana peel and threw me the peel of sugarcane? I am just taking revenge for that." Saying that the fox left the place. After few days of this incident, the monkey again met the fox who was sitting nearby an old well, which was covered by spider web. The fool monkey again forgot about the fox's cruel actions and went to the fox. The monkey said "What are you doing my friend?" The fox replied with a sweet smile and said that he was just guarding the Queen's palanquin. The monkey replied, "Queen's palanquin! It is so nice. Please let me ride it once." The fox said "No, if the king comes to know about this he will ask his soldiers to chain me to prison." The monkey laughed and said, "How can this possible? Please give me permission, my friend." The fox said, "OK! You can ride it. But be careful. "Then the monkey jumped on the spider web to enjoy the Queen's palanquin. But he instead fell inside the well drowned to death.

-Collected from,

Burhi Aair Sadhu(Grandmother's tales)

Lakshminath Bezbaroa(1864-1938)