Once upon a time, there was a clever monkey who lived in a tall tree next to a river. In that river lived a crocodile who was friends with the monkey. Every day, the monkey would eat sweet, juicy fruits from the tree and throw some down to the crocodile. They enjoyed each other’s company and were happy friends.
But one day, the crocodile’s wife got jealous. She wanted to taste the monkey’s heart, thinking it must be very sweet because he ate so much fruit. She said to her husband, “Bring me the monkey’s heart! I want to eat it!”
At first, the crocodile didn’t want to hurt his friend. But his wife kept asking and asking, and finally, he agreed. The next day, the crocodile said to the monkey, “My wife and I would love to have you for dinner. Why don’t you climb on my back, and I’ll take you across the river?”
The monkey trusted his friend and hopped onto the crocodile’s back. But as they crossed the river, the crocodile suddenly started to sink. “What are you doing?” the monkey asked, feeling scared.
“I’m sorry, my friend,” the crocodile said. “My wife wants to eat your heart, so I have to take you to her!”
The clever monkey quickly thought of a plan. “Oh, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he said. “I would have gladly given you my heart, but I left it back in the tree!”
The crocodile believed the monkey and turned around to take him back. As soon as they reached the riverbank, the monkey jumped off and climbed high up into his tree. He laughed and said, “You tricked me once, but you won’t trick me again! Now go home and tell your wife you won’t get my heart!”
The crocodile felt embarrassed and swam back to his wife empty-handed. The monkey, safe in his tree, had stayed calm and clever when he was in trouble.
Moral: In times of trouble, one should remain calm to come out of the problem.