Emedinews: Inspiration: A little monkey and man

An Inspirational Story
(Ms Ritu Sinha)

Once upon a time, a man was passing through a jungle. He saw a monkey and was attracted to it. He called the monkey and to his surprise, the monkey came near him.

The man told the monkey that it was his ancestor and so they should cultivate friendship. With different kinds of gestures, he was able to establish friendship with it. The man was just trying to kill time using the monkey as company while crossing the jungle.

Suddenly unexpectedly, a lion roared fiercely and pounced in front of them. They scarcely had time to escape. The monkey ran and the man followed suit. They found a very huge tree and soon climbed it. Though they were breathless, they did not stop until they climbed to a safe height. The lion continued to prowl here and there, hoping to catch them when they climbed down. The lion was angry and hungry and awaiting his prey finally sat down under the tree. The man was clinging to one of the strong branches, while the monkey was sitting on a branch with ease, as if nothing had happened.

After a prolonged wait, the lion lost patience and proposed to let one of them go scot-free if the other was offered to him as 'food'. The man and the monkey consulted each other. They even offered to sacrifice their lives for each other, but ultimately concluded that they would live and die together. The lion was disappointed, but not dissuaded. He continued his vigil. Nevertheless, the wait on the tree proved a testing time for both the monkey and the man.

They were feeling drowsy. They were both faced with the danger of falling down while dozing on the tree. Ultimately they decided to take turns to sleep. The monkey would sit wide-awake while the man slept and the man would keep vigil while the monkey had his share of sleep. As decided, it was the man's turn to sleep first, while the monkey kept guard. The monkey slept in the other half of the night, while the man held forth. When the monkey was fast asleep, the man started contemplating. He thought that if he pushed away the sleeping monkey, the lion, as promised, would allow him to go scot-free.

Immediately, he translated his thoughts into action. The monkey was in deep slumber. The man pushed him down. As the monkey was accustomed to such things, he immediately caught hold of the branches halfway and was back to his place in a moment. Without uttering a single word, he went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

In the morning, the monkey led the man to safety. The lion was still on prowl under the tree. When they reached at the safer place, the monkey made a special request to the man, “Please do not allege that monkeys are ancestors of mankind.”

Man without humanity is inferior to animals.