The Dog And The Monkey
Night Fire: The Dog And The Monkey
Whatever the nature of the dog and the nature of the monkey, we can say that the two animals intrigue us. The monkey, honestly, looks so much like us. We cannot observe a monkey without asking ourselves if there is a human being within a monkey or if within every human being, there is a monkey. When it comes to a dog, he always impresses us with his intelligence and his faithfulness. In one way, a dog shows through its behavior what we would hope to see from our neighbor or our friend. For a human being, the world would be a beautiful place if every neighbor of a human being was a dog, if every neighbor of a human being stayed attached to us despite our tyranny, abuse, and neglect. If the neighbor was accepting to go through our moods and insults, and only expect from us our pity and if he wasn't returning our insults like a dog... The world that is linked is the closest image of our ideal!
There is a mystery in the relationship between these two animals to us in many ways. These two animals represent diverse aspects of a human. There is always a sense of competition, hatred, and even antagonism every time one of these animals finds themselves in the presence of the other. The monkey and the dog do not love each other, they hate each other. Whenever they have met in nature, the monkey always finds itself forced to climb the closest tree while the dog stays on the ground barking fanatically. And every time the monkey can, he always abuses the dog from the heights of the treetops. They are, in reality, mortal enemies. There are many legends that explain the origin of their hatred for each other, but today, we will try to understand why the monkey and the dog hate each other so much. We will simply talk about an episode of the rivalry between the two.
One of the legends from my village tells that one day, a monkey decided to prove to a dog that he was not as intelligent as the human being believes. For the monkey, there has always been an injustice through the fact that the human being always made the dog his best friend while all the monkeys resemble human beings hundreds of times more than dogs. There is no doubt that a dog can kill a monkey, but if the human being has succeeded in dominating other animals despite the fact that he has no fur, horns, gills, etc., the monkey can also succeed in dominating the dog by using his brain. The monkey decided that he needed first to isolate the dog.
After the isolation of the dog, it is necessary that the monkey create an ally that is capable of devouring the dog. But the truth is that there was no animal capable of devouring a dog that was not at the same time capable of devouring a monkey.
The monkey decided to make friends with a leopard on the basis that he would offer a dog to the leopard for dinner. But the leopard that, from the depths of the forest, has never met a dog asked the monkey, "My new friend from the top of the trees, tell me, what is a dog?"
To that question, the monkey answered, "A dog is nothing but a loudmouth. A lot of noise. A very weak being. Stupid. And incapable of climbing trees." The leopard, after a silence, asked another question. "Is a dog good to eat?"
"Oh, absolutely!" answered the monkey.
The monkey agreed with the leopard on an area in the forest where the leopard would wait. The monkey would go and provoke the dog; he knew that, as usual, the dog would chase him and, therefore, he would run towards the area where the leopard would be waiting. When the dog arrived, the monkey would then climb the tree and from the height of that tree, he will observe the leopard eating the dog.
For the monkey, there couldn't have been a plan that was more sure and more intelligent than this one. The monkey imagined all the aspects of his plan and made sure that the dog would not survive. The leopard does not know what a dog looks like, but he would like to eat a dog; the dog will never resist the instinct of pursuing and chasing the monkey, catching him, and eating him. The monkey knows that dogs do not climb trees; as long as there is a tree nearby, he will only have to climb it and he will be safe. For the monkey, this was a chance to at least observe the dog while it is being eaten by an animal stronger and more ferocious. When the day came, he decided to apply his plans. The monkey simply climbed down the tree and went straight to the nearest human habitation. He walked in the middle of the path with a dry nut in his hand. It did not take very long for a dog to see him and start barking and running towards him. The monkey, so sure of himself, waited for the dog to come at a reasonable distance before he started his run toward the forest. The monkey was running while making sure that the dog was still behind him. Every time the dog appeared to slow down, the monkey would stop and cover him with insults. The dog then would get angry and start his run behind the monkey. They pursued each other for long hours. And when the monkey made sure that they were deep enough in the forest, he simply climbed a tree and started moving from branch to branch while calling the leopard. "Hey, leopard, where are you? I brought you a feast! He is all yours!”
By hearing these shouts from the monkey, the dog very quickly understood that he had fallen into a trap. He looked around him but could not recognize where he was. He was lost and could not find even the direction of the village. On the ground, he could only see bones of diverse animals that, without a doubt, had been a feast for ferocious animals of the forest. He wanted to run but could not decide which direction to run. While in the moment of panic, he was observing the diversity and quantity of the bones and skeletons on the ground; he heard a very resounding roar and heard the steps of a big leopard that was running towards him. The dog knew that he could not run faster than this animal. Very quickly he developed a trick. He pretended he didn't see the leopard coming. He sat on the floor and turned his back towards the leopard. When he sensed that the leopard was close enough to hear his voice, he took one bone from the ground and started sucking it, saying "Ahhhh.....mmmmmmm. The leopard I just ate was so good! I wonder if there is another leopard left in this forest. I would like to eat more!"
Hearing what the dog just said, the leopard suddenly stopped his momentum and ran in the opposite direction. In his panic, the leopard sprinted like an arrow. When the dog turned back, he only saw the dust. He then sighed. The monkey, from the top of the tree, observed the leopard running. He asked himself what could make a leopard run so fast in front of a dog. He pursued the leopard trying to comfort him. "You are the mighty powerful leopard. You cannot run from a dog! Stop!" When the monkey succeeded in stopping the leopard, he explained what he heard the dog saying. "It's a bluff...it is a bluff. He scared you for nothing; leopards eat dogs," said the monkey, almost out of breath. "Look at the size of the dog... a leopard can kill ten dogs without breaking a sweat."
The monkey knew that the dog was lost in the forest. This is a chance for him to avenge himself. If he could convince the leopard that dogs were not as dangerous as he believed...
Knowing that it was difficult to convince the leopard to go back towards the dog, the monkey told him that if he could promise not to devour him, he would accompany him to the dog just to prove that dogs are not as dangerous as leopards are. The leopard promised not to devour the monkey. For the monkey, the situation was becoming very interesting. He imagined what the dog would feel if he sees that the monkey and the leopard were together. The idea seduced the monkey. To make a much greater impression on the dog, the monkey asked the leopard to climb on his back. The leopard did not see a problem since the monkey was taking him where he could eat a big meal.
While the monkey was riding the leopard, he spent a lot of time explaining to him about the nature of dogs. "Dogs are the best prey for leopards; they bark every time they are scared, but they can only bite those who do not have protection," he explained everything he knew about dogs and slowly put the leopard at ease.
While the dog was trying to find the way back to the village, he heard the distant voice of the monkey. He raised his eyes and, from afar, he saw a monkey riding a leopard! He realized that his situation was becoming more complicated. He quickly decided to come up with a new trick. He just sat on the ground with his back turned towards the leopard and monkey. He waited until they were close enough to hear his voice and he started complaining. "I knew that I shouldn't have trusted this stupid monkey; it has been a long time that I've been sitting here waiting for him to bring me the leopard he has promised. I told him I have eaten all the leopards in this forest, but he promised me that he could bring me another one..." Hearing these words, the leopard ran back and while the monkey on his back was shouting "Do not listen to him! Do not listen to him! He is lying to you!" The leopard was running faster and faster. The monkey was forced to grab the fur of the leopard and was telling the leopard that they are far enough and that he could stop so he could get down. The leopard answered, "I don't know if dogs are eatable, but a monkey on my back is easier to eat than a dog I do not know."
"Huh?!?" said the monkey.
The leopard repeated, "The one I can eat is more attractive than the one that would like to eat me." To these words, the monkey simply jumped off the back of the leopard. He fell into the bush and quickly ran towards the closest tree.
It is said that this is how the monkey made a new enemy for himself in the forest. When it comes to the relationship between the dog and the leopard, one does not know if the leopard has ever met a dog; every time a leopard devours a dog, he may be telling himself that it was not a dog.
