The Turtle and the Monkeys
Once upon a time, in the lush forests of the Philippines, there lived a turtle and a group of monkeys. These monkeys were known for their mischief and always wanted the best for themselves, while the turtle, though small and slow, was clever and wise.
One day, the turtle found a banana tree. It was small, but she saw its potential. She couldn’t climb it on her own, so she decided to seek help. Along came a mischievous monkey.
“Dear friend,” said the turtle, “Would you help me climb this tree and harvest its fruit? I’ll share the bananas with you.”
The monkey, with a sly grin, agreed. “Of course! I’ll climb the tree for you,” he said. And up he went. But once he reached the top, the monkey began eating the bananas all by himself, throwing only the peels down to the poor turtle below.
The turtle, realizing she had been tricked, was furious. But instead of arguing, she quietly collected sharp sticks and planted them all around the base of the tree. Then, she called out, “The hunters are coming! The hunters are coming!”
Startled, the monkey leapt from the tree, only to land on the sharp sticks below. Injured and angry, the monkey died from his wounds. The turtle skinned the monkey and, being resourceful, dried the meat to sell to other monkeys.
However, when the other monkeys saw fur still attached to the meat, they realized that the turtle had killed one of their own. Furious, they dragged the turtle before the monkey chief to be punished.
The monkeys tried to think of a fitting punishment for the turtle. One suggested, “Let’s burn him!” But the turtle laughed and said, “Fire doesn’t hurt me! See these marks on my back? My father burned me when I was little.”
Frustrated, another monkey said, “Let’s cut him into pieces!” But again, the turtle replied, “Cut me if you wish, but I’ve been cut before, and it did nothing to me.”
Finally, a clever monkey suggested, “Let’s drown him in the river!” This made the turtle pretend to be scared. “No, no!” he cried. “Anything but the water! Please, do not drown me!”
But the monkeys didn’t listen. They threw the turtle into the river, and with a splash, he disappeared beneath the water. But what the monkeys didn’t know was that water was the turtle’s home! Laughing, the turtle swam back to the surface and called out to the monkeys, “You foolish creatures! The water is where I belong!”
From that day on, monkeys refused to eat meat, remembering the clever turtle who had outwitted them.
