One day a turtle was swimming at the mouth of a deep river. She swam and swam and suddenly saw that a monkey had fallen into the river.
The monkey screamed, asking for help - she was afraid that she would fall into the mouth of the crocodile. The turtle immediately swam to her and helped her get to the shore. The monkey was very grateful to her for saving her, they became friends and began to get food together.
- It’s so good that we help each other! - said the monkey.
“Indeed, very good!” agreed the turtle. Together they cleared the land for a field and together began to think about what to plant.
One day they saw: the river was carrying a banana stem uprooted from the mountain. They immediately caught him and pulled him ashore.
“We need to divide the find into two parts,” said the monkey and, sitting on the top of a banana stem, added:
- This will be my part.
“And I’ll take the bottom,” answered the turtle, and they cut the stem into two halves.
The monkey planted the green top, and the turtle planted the lower half of the stem with roots. The monkey chuckled to himself: “My banana will bear fruit faster - there are so many leaves on it!” But what really happened? The top that she planted began to wither and soon completely withered. The stem planted by the turtle grew and soon gave leaves. A little time passed, and fruits appeared on it. Every day they became heavier and finally began to turn yellow. Then the monkey climbed onto the top of the turtle's banana and began to feel the fruit.
- Wait, friend, they are not ripe yet! - screamed the turtle.
“It’s true, they’re still hard,” the monkey answered and went down.
After a few days the fruits ripened.
“Let me look again,” said the monkey.
She climbed up the tree again, picked a banana and ate it right away.
- Hey, friend, throw me one! - asked the turtle.
“Wait, we still need to try them,” answered the monkey, picked a new banana and ate it too.
“Oh, if that’s the case, then don’t you dare eat my bananas!” the turtle got angry.
But the monkey did not pay any attention to her words - she picked the ripe bananas, ate her fill, and then left. The turtle decided to take revenge on her. At night, she stuck sharp pegs into the ground under the banana and covered them with banana leaves on top.
The next morning the monkey again came to the turtle's banana and climbed on it again.
“Hey, friend, when you go down, don’t jump here,” the turtle shouted, “there’s dung here!” Jump only where the banana leaves are.
- Okay, friend. “You have a very kind heart,” the monkey answered mockingly.
The monkey ate his fill, jumped onto the banana leaves covering the pegs, and immediately screamed:
- Oh-oh, I'm dying!
- Haven't you eaten too much, friend? Otherwise, my bananas are very tasty,” said the turtle and laughed.
And the voracious monkey, pierced by sharp pegs, died on the spot.
The turtle cut the monkey into pieces, added seasonings to the meat and put it on the fire to cook. The pleasant smell spread far and wide.
In the evening, several monkeys came to the turtle, looking for their comrade.
- Hey, friend, do you know where our comrade went?
- Don't know.
- Aren't you friends with him?
“We’re friends, but I don’t know where he went this time.”
- Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! — the monkeys suddenly made noise. - It smells like meat, delicious boiled meat!
And, jumping for joy, they surrounded the turtle.
- There's meat in the pot, there's meat in the pot! - they shouted.
“We’re your friends, aren’t we?” Give us half of your food,” said one.
And the other one didn’t even ask - she grabbed the pot and dumped everything that was there on the banana leaves. The monkeys immediately grabbed all the meat. It was so hot and peppery that tears flowed from everyone’s eyes, but in an instant the meat was gone.
“Friends, you should at least think about the owner!” shouted the turtle, pretending to be very offended.
“Friend, we are your guests, and you should have prepared more food!” the big monkey exclaimed, sneezing.
- Is there anything else? - asked another.
“It will be another time!” the turtle answered cheerfully.
“So, then, we are friends?” said the largest and oldest of the monkeys. “When we come next time, be sure to prepare us the same delicious food!”
And the monkeys walked away. As soon as they walked away a little, the turtle shouted:
- Hey, listen - you ate your friend!
- What? - the monkeys turned around.
- You ate your friend! - repeated the turtle.
- Let's kill this scoundrel! - shouted the older monkey.
The turtle hid under the rice mortar. The monkeys searched and searched for her, but could not find her until they finally turned the mortar over.
- Ah-ah-ah, here she is! - the monkeys made a noise when they saw the turtle.
- Throw her into the fire! - one shouted.
- And I’ll warm myself! - said the cunning turtle.
-Cut her into pieces! - suggested another.
- Even better: the number of pieces you cut me into, the more new turtles will appear.
- Throw her into the river! - shouted the young monkey.
- Oh-oh, no need, have pity on me! - the turtle began to ask, pretending to be very frightened.
- No, now we will drown you! - the monkeys shouted, rejoicing that they had finally found a way to deal with the turtle. They picked up the turtle and threw it into the river.
Bub-bub-bub-bub - the turtle blew bubbles as it sank to the bottom, and a moment later it surfaced and shouted:
- Hey, fools, you thought that I would die here, but this is my home!
The monkeys tried to catch the turtle, but it only bit off their fingers. They ran away cursing.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru