The Monkey and his Two Children

By: Bernadus Loblobly

 

The Monkey was already old and was about to die. That day he called his two children to sit with him and he gave advice to them. He said, "I'm about to die, so, I want to tell you that I'm dying, but you must receive my advice."

Then that Monkey gave advice to his two children. He said, "I will die and go away now, and while you all live on this earth don't go looking for trouble, because you will find it."

When he had finished advising them, the Monkey said, "I'm already dead now, so be sure to bury me at the side of our house only." Then he died. He died and the two children the older and the younger took him and buried him beside the house.

So those two lived there and the older and the younger just cooked food to eat. It came to pass when the days had become seven months, the younger monkey said to his elder, "Brother, this advice of my father's, we've paid attention to it already. But, I'm going to go into the jungle to search for what trouble is this my father did not want us to find? Because when we seek trouble then we find it."

So that younger Monkey left. That Monkey left and entered into the heart of the jungle. Before that some lions had gathered together lying down in their place there. And then that Monkey hopped along right in front of those lions' faces. These big mean animals did not move at all for that Monkey. So the Monkey said to himself, "These mean animals, people and dogs and pigs are afraid of them. And I come along and when I hopped myself right in front of them like this they don't grab hold of me or they don't bite me or carry me away Ah my father's advice is probably not true."

The next morning he said to his older brother, "Brother, I'm about to go into the jungle again now."

"Okay go. Go but don't forget our father's advice."

He went until he arrived  where tigers were resting in the place where they circle around down there, and that younger Monkey did to them like he did to the lions. When he hopped and hopped right up to their faces they didn't move not one bit, instead they just stayed silent with him there. So he said to himself, "This advice of my father's is a lie. It's not true."

Then his elder said, "It's better if you don't go here and there at all. Instead just stay inside the house as there is food and stuff for use to eat and drink. However if it wasn't like this then we'd search for our needs and just bring them to inside our house to eat and drink."

When it was morning he left and didn't tell his elder brother. He went again to enter into the jungle. That day a person had gone hunting along with his dogs. That person's dogs chased after the pig until they had cornered him (barked at him down below there). At the same time when they were barking at him, that Monkey went and hopped to and fro right in front of those dogs. Then that person took his bow to use it to shoot and kill the pig, after which those dogs turned around and chased that Monkey, trying to devour his rear, his legs, or whatever, and they grabbed hold of him right there, until he got away from them and climbed up to the top of a tree to stay there.

He sat there in a large fork in the tree and felt his wounds, and he moaned outloud right there, and his blood poured out  and fell down below.

He observed that the person finally called his dogs and went back to the village, and the sun started to go so it was about to set, then that Monkey came down from the top of that tree and came home. When he came and approached his elder, his elder asked him, "Where have you been?"

He said, "Brother, look at me. Dogs bit me so that I'm wounded and bleeding and I just dragged my blood to the village."

"Because?"

"Because at the same time they captured this pig, when the dogs' master shot and killed the pig, the dogs chased me, grabbed me, and bit me, so I was wounded and bleeding and my legs see they are really big."

Then his older brother said, "Ah, yesterday our father when he was about to die gave us advice: we mustn't go looking for trouble because we will find it. But younger brother you here don't want to believe anything. You didn't believe the advice our father spoke, so now you certainly found it! You certainly found trouble like this. Your body hurts like this, and what will we do with you eh?"

Then his older brother said to him, "Are you going to do this again?"

He said, "No I won't do it again."

"Ah, and from this day going into the future, don't desire to seek out trouble, because you will find trouble. The advice our father spoke lives inside us to live by, don't seek trouble, because you'll find trouble."

So this story goes like that and ends there.

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