The monkey and the turtle were friends. One day, as they were out walking, they found an  uprooted banana tree. They decided to take it and replant it. "I’ll take the top half and you take the bottom half," the wily monkey said to the turtle. He was already eyeing the big bunch of fruit on the upper half of the tree. He wanted those bananas all to himself.

 "Okay, I’ll be glad to have the bottom half," the turtle answered.

 The friends went their separate ways to plant their halves of the banana tree. The monkey  also wanted to eat his bananas alone, thinking he got the better part of the deal.  Alas, the monkey’s half of the plant did not grow. It withered and died. And so he did not  have any more bananas to eat.

On the other hand, the turtle’s half of the plant grew strong and healthy and bore much  fruit.
A few weeks later, the monkey chanced upon the turtle again. The turtle was glad to see  him.

 "Could you do me a favor?" asked the turtle. "You see, my banana tree bore fruit but I   can’t reach them. Could you climb the tree and get them for me? I’d be glad to share the  bananas with you."

 "Of course," answered the wily monkey.

 He went up the turtle’s tree but did not hand down the bananas. Instead, he ate them all by   himself while he was up there.

 "Please give me my share of the bananas," cried the turtle.

  But the monkey only laughed and munched away.

 When the monkey finally came down after eating all the bananas, he couldn’t find the turtle   anywhere. Because he was so full, the monkey sat down on a coconut half-shell. His tail  slipped into the hole in the shell.   The monkey did not know that the turtle was hiding in the shell. When the turtle saw the  monkey’s tail, he bit down on it.

  "Ouch!" cried the monkey.

  He jumped up and caught the turtle.

  "Just for that, I’m going to roast you over the fire," said the enraged monkey.

  "Oh, I’d like that," answered the turtle. "I’ll finally get a rosy tan."

 "Oh no, you won’t," said the monkey. "I’ll chop you into little pieces instead."

 "That would be even better," answered the turtle. "I’ll multiply into several turtles."

 "I won’t have that!" said the monkey. "I think I’ll just throw you into the river then."

  "Oh, please don’t do that!" cried the turtle. "I will surely drown."

  "Then that’s exactly what I’m going to do," said the monkey.  So he threw the turtle into the river.

The turtle laughed as he swam away. "Didn’t you know that the river is my  home?"

Adapted from a story written by Dr Jose Rizal
Courtesy of:  Chuchay [ link ]