A World of Stories
Whether prominent or lesser-known, these folk tales of Asia are equally riveting
INDIA Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story, dated to roughly 200 BCE, based on older oral tradition. The text’s author is unknown, but has been attributed to Vishnusharma or Vasubhaga – both of which may be pen names. The Panchatantra was translated into many languages, including English, various Indian vernacular languages, Persian, and Arabic. “The Monkey and the Crocodile” is one of the most famous stories from the collection.
Once upon a time, in a forest, there lived a monkey who resided on a jamun (berry) tree, which was on the banks of a river. In the same forest, there lived a crocodile and his wife. One day, the crocodile came to the banks of the river and rested under the tree. The kindhearted monkey offered him some fruits. The crocodile came back the next day for more fruits, as he loved them. As days passed by, the crocodile and the monkey became good friends.
One day, the monkey sent some fruits for the crocodile’s wife. She ate the fruits and liked them, but was jealous, as she didn’t like her husband spending time with the monkey. She told her husband, “If the fruits are so juicy, I wonder how sweet the monkey’s heart would be. Get me the heart of the monkey.” The crocodile was not willing to kill his friend, but had no choice.
He invited the monkey to his house for dinner and that his wife would like to meet him. The monkey was happy, but couldn’t swim, so the crocodile took him on his back. The crocodile was happy that he had tricked the monkey, however, while talking, he blurted out the real reason for taking the monkey home. The clever monkey said, “You should have told me earlier, I left my heart on the tree. We must go back and get it.”
The crocodile believed the monkey. He turned and swam quickly to the jamun tree. The monkey leaped off his back and into the safety of his tree. “Oh you false and foolish friend,” he cried, “Don’t you know that we carry our hearts within us? I will never trust you or ever give you fruit from my tree again. Go away and never come back!”
The crocodile felt really foolish – he had lost a good friend and a supply of sweet fruit. The monkey had saved himself because he had thought quickly. He realised that a monkey and a crocodile could never be true friends – crocodiles preferred to eat monkeys rather than be friends with them.
On the surface a children’s poem,
The Crocodile and the Monkey is a well spun tale of friendship, kindness, betrayal and subsequent estrangement at its heart, where humanised animals converse and impart values. The crocodile is a character whose major objective is to impress his wife and
“If loving kindness be not shown, to friends and souls in pain, to teachers, servants, and one's self, what use in life, what gain?”
– from Panchatantra, Book 1
cater to all her needs. For this purpose he agrees to sacrifice his own friend, the monkey, to satisfy her appetite. His wife is shown to be greedy, manipulative and selfish as she wants to devour the same monkey’s heart that had been providing her with sweet jamun. Her concern lies only with her own well being as she casts aside her husband’s friendship with the monkey and demands that he betray his friend and satiate her greed. The monkey later shows his presence of mind and shrewdness when he outsmarts the crocodile after discovering his evil intentions and manages to save his life.