Hey, readers!  It's that time again - another great story is coming your way.  This time I'll be telling you a story about my cousin, Flips, who is one of the smartest Monkeys around.  He told me this story a little bit ago and I could not possibly leave it out of our journey.  It is rather witty and exciting.  I call it "Flips and Croco the Dumb Crocodile."  I hope you enjoy it...

Flips and Croco

Flips and Croco the Dumb Crocodile

One day Flips was practicing his tricks along the riverbank.  He is a part of the Thursday night performances the Monkey Community Center puts on for free.  They have live music, entertainment (that's where Flips comes in), and really great banana bread pudding.  I, myself, go every Thursday night to support Flips.  He really is a great performer.  So anyways, Flips was practicing for his big show the next night when all of a sudden a large crocodile swam up close to the riverbank and started to talk to him. 

Flips is a very friendly monkey and did not think anything of the crocodile's visit but to say hello. 

"Hi there," Flips said back boisterously to the crocodile. "What's your name?  I'm Flips!"
"Well hello there, Flips, my name is Croco.  I have been watching you practice your tricks for some time now.  Doing all that work must make you very, very hungry at the end of the day."
"Well, yes, I often do get really hungry after my practices," Flips said back to the crocodile.
"I know of a little island where you can get baskets and baskets full of fruit for free to fuel your hard practices.  Would you like me to show you where it is?" asked Croco, knowing the monkey would need something or someone to take him to the island. 
"You would do that for me?" said Flips as his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Of course," said Croco. "Come jump on my back and I will swim you to the shore of the island, no problem."

Flips excitedly hopped on Croco's back, ready to go fetch a scrumptious meal for dinner.  As the two were gliding along, the crocodile dove hard into the water all of a sudden.  Flips came up gulping for air as he spit out water he had swallowed on the dive. 

"Why did you do that?" asked Flips, with a confused look on his face.
"My wife is pregnant and she has been craving monkey ears and tail for dinner.  I will provide you for her so that my sons can be big and strong like me and so that she will be happy."
"Why, you can't do that!" said Flips, adding a bit of warning to his voice.
"And why not?" said the crocodile.  "I've got you in my trap now and there is no way for you to get out."
"But I don't have on my best tail today," declared Flips.
"You have more than one tail?!" asked Croco, very confused.
"Why of course I have more than one tail.  All monkeys do.  But I always practice in my worst tail in case something tragic happens.  You can't feed me to your wife without my best tail," said Flips.  "Why don't you take me back to my riverbank and I'll grab my finest tail for you and your family?"
"Well, that's awfully nice of you.  I think that'll be just fine."

So Croco swam Flips back to the shore where Flips hopped off and scurried up his tree to his home. 

"Stupid crocodile!" Flips yelled down from the treetop.  "Monkeys only have one tail!!!  Maybe crocodiles should have more than one brain!"   

Since then, Flips has been very careful about who he talks to along the riverbank.  I'm just thankful he was able to outsmart the crocodile so quickly.  I don't know what I would have done if something were to have happened to him!!!    He is my favorite cousin and all. 

Okay, readers! I hope you liked the third story... I'm getting kind of sad.  Our next story is going to be our last stop but don't worry, I saved the best for last! See you there!
xx Flexy

Author's Note:  After I told the story of the stupid monkeys and the garden I wanted to make sure I told one that gave the monkey species somewhat of an intelligent role.  I hated the idea that so far my stories focused on their stupidity and ignorance.  Now hopefully the readers will understand that the Jataka Tales don't necessarily "discriminate" against monkeys.  Because they are often didactic stories they tend to shed negative light on at least one or two of their characters.  In this story I switched a couple of things around and characterized the monkey's personality a little bit more than in the original story.  I like to extend my characters' personalities because I think it makes the reader feel more comfortable with the story and the story's content.  I also decided to add the part about the monkey's tail to make the story a little bit more fun and lighthearted.  Obviously monkeys don't have more than one tail.  In the original story, the monkey had to protect his heart - yikes!  One of the lessons that I tried to portray in this story was to not underestimate the intelligence of your enemy or counterpart, which is exactly what the crocodile did.  He assumed that the monkey would be truthful to him even though he was not honest with the monkey and he assumed that the monkey was unintelligent. 

Image Information:  "Monkey and Crocodile."  Bolo Kids.  Link.
Story Information:  "Jataka Tales" by Ellen C. Babbitt. 1912. Link.
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