The Monkey and the Crocodile

Also known as Bandar aur Magarmach

• 4 minute read
• Ages 5-9
• Panchatantra Stories

On the bank of a wide river grew a jamun tree, heavy with purple fruit all year round. In its branches lived a monkey named Raktamukha, who had never in his life been hungry.

One hot afternoon a crocodile hauled himself out of the river and lay panting in the shade of the tree. The monkey looked down at him.

"You look tired, friend," he called. "Have some fruit."

He picked the ripest jamuns he could find and dropped them down. The crocodile ate them, and they were the sweetest thing he had ever tasted.

A friendship across the water

After that the crocodile came every day. The monkey would drop fruit, and the two of them would talk until the sun went low. They became true friends, which is a strange thing for a monkey and a crocodile to be.

One evening the crocodile said, "My wife has never tasted these. May I take some home?"

"Take as many as you like," said the monkey.

So the crocodile carried a bundle of jamuns home to his wife. She ate them, and then she sat very still for a long time.

"Husband," she said at last, "if the fruit is this sweet, imagine the monkey. He has eaten nothing but this fruit his whole life. His heart must be sweeter than anything in the world. I want it."

The crocodile's terrible choice

The crocodile was horrified. "He is my friend," he said. "I will not."

But his wife would not let it go. She refused to eat. She refused to speak to him. Day after day she asked, until the crocodile grew so miserable and so worn down that he gave in.

The next morning he swam to the tree.

"Friend," he said, "my wife is grateful for the fruit. She has cooked a meal for you and asks you to come to our home tonight."

"I would like that very much," said the monkey. "But I cannot swim."

"Sit on my back," said the crocodile.

So the monkey climbed down and sat on the crocodile's broad back, and they set off across the river.

Halfway across

When they were far out in the deep water, with the bank behind them small and green and very far away, the crocodile could not bear it any longer.

"Friend," he said, "I must tell you the truth. My wife does not want to feed you. She wants to eat your heart."

The monkey's whole body went cold. But he did not move, and he did not shout, and when he spoke his voice was calm and cheerful.

"Oh! Why did you not say so at the start?"

The crocodile turned his head. "What do you mean?"

"Every monkey knows this," said the monkey. "We do not carry our hearts about with us. It is far too dangerous, jumping from branch to branch all day. We leave them hanging in the tree. Mine is hanging in the jamun tree this very moment. If you had told me, I would have brought it."

"Then what shall we do?" cried the crocodile.

"Take me back," said the monkey, "and I will fetch it."

The crocodile turned round at once and swam as fast as he could to the bank.

The moment they touched the shore, the monkey leapt off and went up the trunk in three jumps. He climbed to the very top branch and looked down.

"You foolish creature," he called. "Nobody keeps their heart in a tree. You had my friendship and you traded it for a meal. Go home to your wife, and do not come back."

And he never came down while the crocodile was watching.