The Monkey, the Shark, and the Washerman's Donkey

Once upon a time, a monkey named Keema and a shark named Papa became good friends. Keema lived in a huge tree by the sea. The tree's branches stretched over both the land and the water. Every morning, while Keema ate the tasty fruit of the tree, Papa would swim up and call, "Throw me some fruit, my friend!" Keema happily shared his food, and this went on for many months.

One day, Papa said, "Keema, you’ve been so kind to me. I want to take you to my home so I can thank you properly."

Keema replied, "How can I come with you? I live on land, and I can’t swim."

"Don’t worry about that," said Papa. "I’ll carry you on my back, and you won’t even get wet!"

"All right," said Keema. "Let’s go!"

Keema climbed onto Papa’s back, and they swam far out into the sea. After they had gone quite a distance, Papa stopped and said, "Keema, you are my friend, so I need to tell you the truth."

Keema was surprised. "What truth?"

Papa hesitated but finally said, "Our king, the Sultan, is very sick. The only thing that can cure him is a monkey’s heart."

Keema’s eyes widened, but he quickly thought of a plan to save himself. "Oh no, Papa!" he said. "You should have told me this before we left!"

"Why?" asked Papa.

"Because I don’t have my heart with me," Keema explained. "When we monkeys go out, we leave our hearts in the trees for safekeeping."

Papa looked very confused. "You left your heart in the tree?"

"Of course," Keema said, pretending to be annoyed. "If you had told me earlier, I could have brought it with me. Now, there’s no point in going to your home. Your Sultan will be disappointed."

Papa believed Keema’s story. "Then let’s go back and get your heart," he said eagerly.

Keema pretended to hesitate. "Well, if you insist," he said with a sigh. "But this is such a waste of time."

Papa turned around and swam back to the tree. As soon as they reached the shore, Keema quickly climbed up into the branches. "Wait there, Papa," he called. "I’ll get my heart, and then we can go."

Papa waited patiently. But Keema didn’t come down. After a while, Papa called, "Are you ready, Keema? Let’s go!"

Keema poked his head out from the tree and laughed. "Go? Where? Do you think I’m as foolish as a washerman’s donkey?"

Papa was confused. "A washerman’s donkey? What do you mean?"

Keema grinned and said, "Let me tell you a story, Papa."

Once, there was a washerman who had a donkey he loved very much. But one day, the donkey ran away into the forest. There, it lived a lazy life and became very fat.

One day, a clever hare named Soongoora saw the fat donkey and thought, "This would make a great meal for my friend Simba, the lion."

Simba was recovering from an illness and was too weak to hunt. So Soongoora went to him and said, "I’ll bring you a big feast tomorrow, but you’ll have to do the killing."

Simba agreed, and Soongoora went back to the forest. He found the donkey and said, "Miss Donkey, the mighty lion wants to marry you!"

The donkey was excited. "Really? Let’s go to him right away!"

They went to Simba’s home. When they arrived, Soongoora whispered to Simba, "This is your feast," and then left. Simba tried to attack the donkey, but he was too weak, and the donkey kicked him hard before running away.

Later, Soongoora returned and asked Simba, "Did you get your feast?"

Simba growled, "No, she kicked me and escaped. But I made sure to hurt her too!"

After some time, when both Simba and the donkey had healed, Soongoora went back to the forest. He said to the donkey, "The lion still wants to marry you. Don’t worry about last time; that’s just how lions show affection."

The donkey believed him and followed him back. This time, Simba was strong enough to kill the donkey. Afterward, Simba told Soongoora, "I only want the heart and ears. You can have the rest."

Soongoora cooked the meat, but he hid the heart and ears. When Simba asked for them, Soongoora said, "There aren’t any."

"What do you mean?" Simba growled.

Soongoora replied, "Didn’t you know this was a washerman’s donkey? If it had a heart or ears, would it have come back after you attacked it the first time?"

Simba had to admit Soongoora was right.

"And now, Papa," Keema said, "you want to make me a washerman’s donkey. Do you really think I would go with you again? Goodbye, Papa. Our friendship is over!"

And with that, Keema stayed safely in his tree, while Papa swam away, disappointed and ashamed.