The Crocodile and the Proud Primate
A Retelling of The Crocodile and Monkey Jatakas
Long
ago, in a time before Man, animals ruled the jungle lands. It was a peaceful
and prosperous era in which all creatures ate only plants for food. Even the
mightiest of beasts, the great Lion, feasted only on fruits and nuts. But
because all animals cannot reach the high branches of the fig tree, Monkey was
tasked with retrieving foods for everyone to eat. With his light frame and long
fingers, Monkey was able to pluck all kinds of fruits from the forest, and all
of the animals were very grateful to him.
Unfortunately, with such notoriety, Monkey grew to
be quite vain.
One day, he overheard a conversation between Rabbit
and Owl.
“Say, Owl!” Rabbit cried, “You see all from your travels
about. Who is the handsomest creature of the forest?”
Owl thought a long time before responding; “From
what I can see, all of the animals in the kingdom are handsome, but surely the
handsomest of all is the Crocodile, for his smile is the most wide.”
Jealous, Monkey began to swing rapidly through the
forest.
“Am I not the handsomest?” he thought. “ Do I not
give all creatures food to eat? Surely they can see how handsome I am. How
ungrateful! Crocodile does not deserve any recognition. He merely lays about in
the river all day.”
Caught up in his thoughts, Monkey misstepped and
fell from a tall branch onto the forest floor, landing in the rotting remains
of a nearby fruit tree. Sitting up, Monkey was struck with an idea.
“I know how I’ll get back at Crocodile! He can’t
smile if he’s sick from bad fruit!” With that, Monkey returned home and waited
for the next morning, when he would again share food with the rest of the
animal kingdom.
Two days later, upon swinging by the river, Monkey
heard his name being called. It was Crocodile!
“Please” he said, “my wife is very sick, and only
you can help.” Crocodile knew of Monkey’s experience with all of the plants of
the forest, and was desperate for Monkey to pluck a fruit from the Healing
Tree. This Tree was sacred, and only Monkey dared climb its branches. All of
the animals knew the fruits were precious to him, and called them Healing
Hearts because of their shape and medicinal qualities.
“Please.” begged Crocodile, “My wife is dying and I
can’t reach the branches.” Still jealous, Monkey fetched one of the fruits and
returned to brag, swinging gleefully over the river on vines, flaunting his
superiority.
“Look Crocodile! Am I not more strong, more swift,
and more handsome?” With this he tossed the fruit from hand to hand and
continued to taunt agonized Crocodile. Desperate, Crocodile stretched his nose
up as high as he could, reaching and reaching for the Healing Heart. His nose
grew very long, but still he could not reach. Still gloating but growing wary
of Crocodile’s snout, Monkey, ever envious, opened his mouth and swallowed the
fruit in one bite.
Enraged, Crocodile replied “If I can’t have a
Healing Heart, I can at least have YOURS.” And with that he leapt from the
water and swallowed Monkey in one gulp. And thus the peace of the forest was broken
as news of Crocodile’s act spread to the other sharp-toothed animals, who,
without Monkey, began to resort to eating other creatures to sate their hunger.
So it was that the carnivores began to eat meat and the Crocodile’s snout grew
long. And the Monkey, for his envy, vanity, and pride, obtained only an early
end.
Author's Note: The two Jatakas with the similar Crocodile/Monkey dynamics stuck out to me among the many stories, as did the prompt "tell the story from the villain's point of view". Specifically I remembered the Crocodile's wife saying (rather melodramatically) that she would die if she did not get Monkey's heart. In hopes of expanding and explaining her ailment, I definitely made a few tweaks, including that of the Healing tree and food-gathering role of Monkey. I also did my best to embrace the Native American approach of integrating the origins of signature animal features and mannerisms throughout. Hopefully it's as fun to read as it was to write!
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| Image Info: Saltwater Crocodile in India Source: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Saltwater_crocodile.html |
Bibliography:
The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart
- Chalmers, Robert. Vanarinda Jataka, in The Jataka: Volume 1. http://thejatakas.blogspot.com/2017/08/0164-monkey-and-rock-in-river.html
The Crocodile in the River
- Shedlock, Marie L. Eastern Stories and Legends. http://thejatakas.blogspot.com/2017/08/0100-monkey-and-crocodile.html
