Once upon a time, a clever monkey lived in a tree
that bore juicy, red rose apples. He was very happy. One fine day, a crocodile
swam up to that tree and told the monkey that he had travelled a long distance
and was in search of food as he was very hungry. The kind monkey offered him a
few rose apples. The crocodile enjoyed them very much and asked the monkey
whether he could come again for some more fruit. The generous monkey agreed.
The crocodile returned the next day. And the next.
And the next one after that. Soon the two became very good friends. They
discussed their lives, their friends and family, like all friends do. The
crocodile told the monkey that he had a wife and that they lived on the other side
of the river. So the kind monkey offered him some extra rose apples to take
home to his wife. The crocodile’s wife loved rose apples and made her husband
promise to get her some everyday.
Meanwhile, the friendship between monkey and the
crocodile grew as they spent more time together. The crocodile’s wife started
getting jealous. She wanted to put an end to this friendship. So she pretended
that she could not believe that her husband could be friends with a monkey. Her
husband tried to convince her that he and the monkey shared a special bond—true
friendship he called it. The crocodile’s wife thought to herself that if the
monkey lived on a diet of rose, his flesh would be sweet. So she asked the
crocodile to invite the monkey to their house.
The crocodile was not happy about this. He tried to
make the excuse that it would be difficult to get the monkey across the river.
But his wife was determined to eat the monkey’s flesh. So she devised a plan.
One day, she pretended to be very ill and told the crocodile that the doctor
said that she would only recover if she ate monkey’s heart. If her husband
wanted to save her life, he must bring her his friend’s heart.
The crocodile was aghast. He was in a dilemma. On
the one hand, he loved his friend. On the other hand he loved his wife. And one
the ‘third hand’ he couldn’t let his wife die. The crocodile’s wife threatened
him saying if he did not get her the monkey’s heart, she would surely die.
So the crocodile went to the rose apple tree and
invited monkey to meet his wife. He told the monkey that he could ride across the
river on the crocodile’s back. The monkey happily agreed. As they reached the
middle of the river, the crocodile began to sink. The frightened monkey asked
him why he was doing that. The crocodile explained that he would have to kill
the monkey to save his wife’s life. The monkey was helpless, he couldn’t
escape. The last thing he remembered was the knife of his friend—the crocodile
piercing through his heart.
Moral
Lesson:
The enemy of your enemy is your friend. But have you
ever considered that the: friend of your friend might be your enemy? In life,
tred carefully.
