38 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
38 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
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THE MONKEY KING
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Once upon a time . . . a long time ago, there was a thick jungle where many
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kinds of animals lived in harmony together. Their ruler was a wise old lion.
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But one sad day, the king died and the animals had to decide who was to be
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their new ruler. The dead king had a gold crown, encrusted with precious gems,
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and it was decided that all the candidates for the throne were to come forward
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and each would try on the crown, and the ruler would be the animal whose head
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it fitted. Now, though many tried on the crown, it fitted no one. Some heads
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were too big, others too small, a few had horns and some had big ears. The
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fact was that the old king's crown did not fit any of the animals. Then a
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cheeky monkey snatched up the crown and started to amuse the crowd with clever
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tricks. First, he slipped the crown round his waist and whirled it round and
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round his middle without letting it fall to the ground. Then he tossed it
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higher and higher into the air and caught it as it came down. He then stood on
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his head and twirled the crown on the tips of his toes, before jumping to his
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feet again and catching it in his hands. All the animals laughed delightedly
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at the nimble monkey's skill and clapped in excitement. Pleased at the great
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applause, the monkey went on with his show, till the enthusiastic crowd
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decided to award him the crown and proclaim him king.
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The only animal to disagree was the fox. "A silly creature like that can't
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be our king!" he said. "I'm going to do all I can to make him lose the throne."
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One day, having just managed to avoid a trap that men had set at the edge
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of the jungle, the fox took it unseen to the tree where the monkey lived.
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Covering the trap with dead leaves, the fox picked a large bunch of bananas
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and called up to the monkey: "Sire! Sire! Can you help me? I have some ripe
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bananas I'd like to present you with, but I can't climb trees as easily as you
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do! Would you please come down and accept my gift?" The unsuspecting monkey
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shinned down the tree, and just as he reached for the bananas, the trap
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suddenly clamped shut over his legs. The fox began to laugh: "What a foolish
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king we have! Fancy falling into a trap for a handful of bananas!" And calling
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all the other animals, he went on: "Just look at our sovereign! Isn't he
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stupid? He can't even avoid being caught in a trap. If he isn't able to watch
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out for himself, how can we expect him to look after us?" All the animals let
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themselves be persuaded by the fox's words, and in a twinkling the monkey king
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was deprived of the crown. And from that day on, this particular jungle was
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the only one whose animals made do without a king.
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