An Old Story: The Monkey Sings the Blues

THE MONKEY SINGS THE BLUES

         A long time ago, even before men first landed on Mars, there was a huge forest in the area which is now Philadelphia. The forest was rife with strange animals and exotic birds that no human beings had ever seen. Actually, there were no human beings in both continents of the New World at that time. The ancestors of what would later be called humans were few and still fighting over females in remote parts of Eastern Africa. 

         Meanwhile, the life line of the forest that I was describing above was the river Delaware that flew through it. Of course it was not called Delaware then. It was called Yongjhun Pa, which translates somewhat as "River of Tears".

        Thousands of species of fish, crabs and freshwater dolphins made their home in the river Delaware. There were also some crocodiles of different shapes and sizes. In the tall reeds on the bank lived red macaques that lived on the delicious apples that grew there. The macaques were very intelligent and had developed an advanced empire that extended down from the Leigh Valley to what is now southern New Jersey.

        Away from the hustle and bustle of the macaque empire, in Reedland in northern Pennsylvania, lived a sage monkey who spent most of his time admiring the beauty of the Delaware and enjoying the gift of nature he received in the form of deliciously blessed apples. Sometimes, he used to meditate for days on the top of a reed which had developed a strange glow due to heavenly grace that emanated from the monkey.

       One bright day in June, as the monkey was trying to eat an apple after two days of inspired meditation, the apple suddenly slipped from the monkey's hand and fell down in Yongjhun Pa. A lazy crocodile that was enjoying the warm sun saw the apple falling and swam to catch it in his mouth. The sage monkey, full of compassion, offered some more apples to the crocodile. The crocodile had never eaten something as delicious as the blessed apple, and readily accepted the offer.

    That day onward, every day the monkey would share some apples with the crocodile, and soon they became best of friends. They would talk all day about their lives and experiences, and the crocodile loved hearing the wonderful words that came out of the mouth of the sage monkey. The monkey would eagerly listen to the crocodile and his wonderful description of the world underneath the water, which he had no idea about until he met his new friend.

          Time went by. The leaves started to fall, and the monkey started to store the apples for the winter. The water was slowly getting colder on the surface, and the crocodile  would not come out of the water in cold cloudy days. On those days, both would miss each other and would wait as eagerly for the sun to appear as the young ladies who wait for their sweethearts before they elope away secretly from their homes.

        The longest of those days fell one October when the crocodile did not appear on the bank for a whole week. After seven days that appeared like centuries for both of them, the crocodile finally emerged, and you can guess how happy both of them felt. They talked till late evening, and when the crocodile departed, with tears in his eyes, the monkey gave him a dozen apples from his storage.

         With twelve apples hold firmly in between his one hundred and twenty five teeth, the crocodile dived down into the cold water and swam towards his home. When he finally reached there, his wife, like all other wives, greeted him with a mocking smile and warm complains about the household. At dinner time, Mr. and Mrs. Croc ate the apples that their friend had presented. When Mrs. Croc took the bite of an apple she almost cried in pleasure. Her tongue had never tasted anything like that before. It was as if all the water running through the streams of heaven was melting right inside her mouth. However, all her evil (or logical) mind could think was how tasty the heart of the monkey would be that fed everyday on those delicious apples. It was like love in first bite. She was helpless.

               Every night from then on, she dreamed of biting the sweet heart of the monkey, and before she got insane, she finally confessed her lust to her husband. The crocodile refused, and almost bite off her tail in aggression. However after days of nagging, the crocodile, like all husbands, finally gave up. Mrs. Croc felt like summer in Amazon when Mr. Croc with head on his tail, promised to bring the monkey in the Halloween.

             So finally on October 31, Mr. Croc invited the monkey for dinner. The poor monkey who failed out of love to smell the pungent smoke of conspiracy, readily accepted the invitation. Thus riding on the crocodile's back, the monkey went deep into Delaware to the Croc's Villa at 423 Alligator Avenue.

(At this point I suggest you to click the play button on the video below, and continue reading the passages below with the song playing in background!!!)

             Mrs. Croc was pacing back and forth in the porch when her husband drove home with the monkey behind. With a crooked smile that monkey failed to decipher, the lady crocodile invited them into the house. After a small gossip, three of them sat around the dining table for the dinner. The monkey could not help but admire the Crocs for delicious shrimp from the Reefland and clampburgers from Mc. Dolphin's that he ate after so long.

             Then they sat in front of a fireplace (for it was almost November and the water had already started being chilly), and drank some French wine fermented by the river Rhine.When the monkey, just before the clock struck twelve, finally asked his hosts to leave, Mrs. Croc, who had already grown restless by now, with a grin told the monkey that the dinner was not over yet. The puzzled monkey looked at his friend for some clue, not at all anticipating the net that his friend had trapped him in. When finally the lady pronounced her plan for the late night monkey-heart party, the monkey could not believe his ears. He felt like in haze. It was worse than the trip of reed-weeds  that he had smoked behind the big brown apricot tree, listening to Purple Haze in his IPod as a teenager. The monkey with eyes that would have melted the devil's soul looked at his friend with some hope. The crocodile looked away as if he had not heard even a word. For a moment or two everyone was quiet except Mr. Dylan who was singing Just Like a Woman in the gramophone. 

Then the monkey suddenly laughed. It was a wild laugh, and the crocs had already thought the monkey had gone crazy, when he finally told that he had left his heart hanging on a hanger in his closet up the tree.

"Had you told me earlier,", the monkey said flaunting a Vanilla Dutch on his hand ,"I would have bought it with me."

Mrs. Croc, who was sharpening her claws, put down her sharpener and ordered her husband to drive the monkey home so that he could bring back his heart. Before getting in the kitchen to turn the gas on, she cried out to the departing friends, "Don't forget to bring the fish oil from the Riverfront. We will fry the heart."

        It was almost morning when the crocodile with the monkey on his back drove through Highway No.69 in full throttle to Reedland.  When the GPS machine finally announced that they had reached the destination, the monkey got out of the croc's back, and climbed up the nearest tree. After reaching the topmost branch, he cried down to the croc, "Oh the foolish one! How naive of you to believe that someone could hang his heart in his closet. I have been a fool to make a friend with a fool like you, and I thank God that I have been finally released. Don't ever show me your wicked face again."

         So this is how the wise monkey got rid of his evil friend who disappeared down the Yongjhun Pa to his furious wife in the Croc's Villa at 423 Aliigator Avenue. The wise monkey, whose statue still stands in a crossroad in Philadelphia, meanwhile went into his room, opened his closet and fixed his heart back into his chest.