Week 7 Story: Jackal and Monkey, Extended Version

Every evening, the jackal would sneak into the boar's corral and steel some of his food.
He was always incredibly quiet, and the boar never noticed him.
However, one evening the boar realized that his food stores were growing low. He grew suspicious. Just to test his theory, he counted the amount of food that he had and then went to bed.

Like every other night, the jackal snuck into the corral again. He had never been caught, and thought that he was too sneaky for the boar to realize what was happening. He took some food, as usual, and scurried off into the night.

The next morning, the boar counted his food again. Aha! Some more was missing. He did not know who was taking the food or where it was going, but he was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. At once, he set up a trap at at the entrance of the corral, with the hopes of discovering exactly who was robbing him of all his food.

That night, like every other night, the jackal snuck into the corral. Upon entering, though, the trap quickly caught him! The rope wrapped around his body and suspended him in the air. He was helpless - caught in the act, and with nobody to help him. He struggled and struggled to break free, but to no avail. He would simply have to wait until somebody found him in the morning.

As the sun rose, a monkey was a perched in a tree nearby the corral. He noticed the suspended jackal and began laughing! Because of his position, he had seen the entire sequence of events unfold. He began to tease the jackal.

"You think you're awfully clever, don't you! Well now the boar's really gonna get you back."

The jackal began to devise a plan, and quickly responded.

"You just think I got caught, monkey. I'm actually practicing this exercise because it makes me feel rested and gives me more strength!"

The monkey, not the brightest of the bunch, wanted to test it out for himself. However, once he was trapped in the noose, the jackal began prancing around and laughing. He had tricked the monkey! He soon heard the boar approaching, and rushed off into the day.

The boar was shocked that the monkey was caught in the trap.

"Monkey! We've always been such good friends. Why have you been stealing my food?"

The monkey was distraught, and told him exactly what had just transpired.

The boar, after hearing the story, knew that he had to punish the sneaky jackal for what had happened. He and the monkey teamed up, and after coming up with a plan, left to their respective homes.

That night, never learning a lesson, the jackal returned again to the corral. But this time, the scene was different. He saw the monkey in the middle, eating some of the boar's food.

"Monkey!" he whisper-shouted. "What are you doing here?!"

The monkey acted as if nothing was wrong.

"Oh, hello, Jackal! You see, we had it all wrong. For some reason, being caught in the rope caused the boar to free me, and give me all this food. You should try it, I'm sure the same will happen for you!"

The jackal quickly ran underneath the trap, and as before, the rope wrapped around his body and suspended him in the air. Immediately, the monkey shrieked with laughter and ran off.

Not much later, the boar arrived on the scene with a gun.

"Well, well, well..." he said with an evil grin as he approached the original thief.

He aimed his gun and fired, preventing the jackal from stealing forever.

Author's Note:
This story incorporates much of the original, but simply implements a just ending. The original story nearly mirrors this retelling up until the point where the monkey is suspended in the trap, and the boar arrives on the scene. In this first version, at this point, the boar accuses the monkey of stealing his food. Before hearing the monkey's story, he shoots him. End of story. However, in my version, I wanted to add some justice. Therefore, I included the original narrative. Once the boar confronts the monkey, I created a situation where the boar listens to the monkey's story, and they devise a plan to catch the original thief. Then, their new plan causes the jackal to be caught again in the trap. This time, the boar shoots him and delivers justice.


Bibliography:
"South African Folk-tales: Jackal and Monkey" by James Honey; online link

Image Information: A small monkey sitting down.
Link: Pixabay