On the banks of a river stood a lush, massive tree. It bore an abundance of delicious fruit. A monkey lived on that very tree—a truly carefree spirit. He would eat his fill of the fruit, swing from the branches, and spend his days leaping and frolicking about. There was just one void in the monkey's life: he had no one of his own. He had no memories of his parents, nor did he have any brothers or sisters with whom he could play. There were no other monkeys in the region either, so he had no one with whom he could strike up a friendship. One day, as he sat on a branch gazing at the river, he spotted a long, massive creature swimming toward his tree. The monkey had never seen such a creature before. He asked the strange being, "Hey there, friend—what exactly are you?"
The massive creature replied, "I am a crocodile. There has been a scarcity of fish in the river this year. So, I have simply wandered over here while roaming about in search of food."
The monkey was kind-hearted. He thought to himself that since there were so many fruits on the tree, this poor fellow ought to get a taste of them as well. He plucked a fruit and tossed it down to the crocodile. The fruit was incredibly juicy and delicious; the crocodile devoured it in no time and then looked back up at the monkey with hopeful eyes.
Smiling, the monkey tossed down a few more fruits. The crocodile ate them all, and finally, he let out a contented burp, patted his belly, and said, "Thank you, Brother Monkey. I've had my fill; now I must be on my way." The monkey invited him to come back the following day as well.
The crocodile returned the next day. The monkey fed him fruits once again. In this manner, a friendship began to blossom between the monkey and the crocodile. The crocodile visited every day; the two would share the fruit, feed one another, and chat away. The monkey, after all, had been living in solitude. He felt immense joy in having befriended the crocodile. His loneliness vanished; he had found a companion. When two friends come together to have fun, the joy is truly doubled. One day, during a casual conversation, the monkey discovered that the crocodile's home lay on the opposite bank of the river—the very place where his wife resided. Upon learning this, the monkey reproached him: "Brother Crocodile, you never told me about Sister-in-law all this time! I would have gladly given her some of these juicy fruits. You really are a strange, selfish fellow; you kept stuffing your own belly but never once thought to take any fruit home for my sister-in-law."
That very evening, as the crocodile was leaving, the monkey carefully hand-picked a large assortment of fruits for him. Upon reaching his home, the crocodile presented the fruits to his wife, the female crocodile. She ate the delicious fruits and felt deeply satisfied. The crocodile then told her all about his friend. His wife, however, could not believe it. "Go on, you're pulling my leg!" she scoffed. "Has a monkey ever truly befriended a crocodile?"
The crocodile tried to convince her: "Believe me, my dear! Otherwise, just tell me—where else could I have possibly obtained these fruits? It's not as if I can climb trees!"
The female crocodile was forced to accept the truth. From that day forward, she began receiving fruits sent by the monkey on a daily basis. While receiving the fruits was certainly pleasant, she soon began to resent the fact that the crocodile spent his entire day away from home, engrossed in his friendship with the monkey. Sitting idle with nothing to do, her mind began to wander down dark and twisted paths.
She was, by nature, a wicked creature. One day, a sinister thought took root in her mind: "If a monkey who eats such succulent fruits tastes this good, how incredibly delicious must his heart be?" She immediately began plotting a scheme. One evening, when the crocodile returned home, he found his wife groaning in distress. When he asked what was wrong, she replied, "I have been struck by a terrible illness. The physician says that the only cure is to eat a monkey's heart. You must go and fetch the heart of that monkey friend of yours."
The crocodile was stunned into silence. How could he possibly kill his own friend? No—absolutely not; that was simply out of the question. Seeing the crocodile shake his head in refusal, his wife began to wail dramatically: "Then I shall surely die! And what do you care? You couldn't care less! Yet, I am carrying your unborn children in my womb—they, too, will perish! We will all die!" "You just keep feasting on fruits with your monkey friend. Oh, woe is me... I'm dying!"
Hearing his wife's words, the crocodile shuddered. His attachment to his wife and children clouded his judgment. He set out to betray his friend and take his life.
The monkey was astonished to see the crocodile arriving so early in the morning. When asked for the reason, the crocodile replied, "Brother Monkey, your sister-in-law is very upset. She says, 'My brother-in-law sends me juicy fruits every day, yet he has never come to visit me. He hasn't given me the opportunity to serve him.' She declared that if you don't come today, the bond between brother-in-law and sister-in-law is severed. Your sister-in-law even kicked me out of the house first thing this morning. If I fail to bring you back with me, she won't let me set foot inside the house either."
The monkey felt both pleased and perplexed. "But how am I to come? My friend, you know very well that I do not know how to swim." The crocodile replied, "Don't worry about that; just climb onto my back. I will carry you across."
The monkey climbed onto the crocodile's back. Once they had ventured a short distance into the river, the crocodile began to dive beneath the water. The monkey cried out, "What are you doing? I'll drown!"
The crocodile laughed. "You are destined to die anyway."
Hearing this, the monkey grew suspicious; he asked, "What do you mean?"
The crocodile then revealed the whole truth to the monkey—the entire scheme regarding the heart. The monkey was left utterly dumbfounded. He had never expected such treachery from his friend.
However, the monkey was clever. Quickly composing himself, he said, "Wow! Why didn't you tell me this sooner? I would gladly give not just one, but a hundred hearts for my sister-in-law! But the thing is, I left my heart back on the tree. You made a grave mistake by not telling me everything right at the start. Now, let's hurry back immediately so we can fetch the heart from the tree. If we delay any longer, my sister-in-law might die—and if that happens, I will never be able to forgive myself." The dim-witted crocodile, believing his words to be true, turned back with the monkey. As soon as they reached the tree, the monkey nimbly scrambled up onto a branch and exclaimed, "You fool! Does anyone ever keep their heart outside their body? To take someone else's heart, one needs to have a brain inside one's own skull! Now go, sit with your wicked wife, and weep over the consequences of your deeds." Having said this, the monkey vanished amidst the branches of the tree, while the brainless crocodile walked away, beating his head in despair.