The Monkey and the Crocodile

Deep in a forest by the banks of a wide river, a monkey lived happily in a jamun tree, feasting on its sweet purple fruit every day. One afternoon, a crocodile swam up to the bank and struck up a conversation with the monkey. Day after day they talked, and the monkey began sharing his jamun fruits with the crocodile, who carried them home to his wife.

But the crocodile's wife grew jealous and greedy. "If the monkey eats such sweet fruit every day," she said, "imagine how sweet his heart must be. Bring it to me." The crocodile was torn — this was his friend — but his wife refused to eat until he agreed.

The next day, the crocodile invited the monkey to dinner across the river, offering to carry him on his back. Midway across the deep water, the crocodile confessed his wife's demand. The monkey, thinking fast, said, "Oh friend, why didn't you say so earlier? I left my heart hanging in the jamun tree! Take me back and I'll fetch it." The foolish crocodile turned around, and the moment they reached the bank, the monkey leaped into his tree and never came down again. "A friend who betrays your trust," the monkey called out, "is no friend at all."