How the Monkey Outsmarted the Leopard

By Nilay Patel

Prologue: Once upon a time in ancient Maldives, there lived a young, weak leopard, Lolo deep into the tropical forests of Male. He was not very smart, and he was very slow. He hadnt been taught how to hunt; he was all alone in the forest. His mother had died from childbirth and his father was captured and killed by poachers for his skin. They both died when he was just a cub. He was lost, scared, and alone. 11 YEARS LATER

One day on a burning summer evening, he was running in the woods because he thought he smelled monkey. As he brushed passed trees, because he was so clumsy he kept hitting trees. Running as unsteadily as a rocky cliff, he hit a very weak tree really hard, and before he knew it, he was trapped under a gigantic log that fell from the fragile tree. The leopard was stuck for many hours. He called for help several times, but the same thing replied over and over again, nothing. However in a not-too-distant tree, there stood a silent monkey, who saw the whole event unfold. He felt sympathy for the leopard. What a poor little leopard he thought to himself. While waiting, the leopard glanced at the trees in the

forest before he saw the monkey sitting in the tree. He was suddenly filled with joy. Staring, the leopard called to the monkey, Kind Monkey, will you help me get out from under this log. It is very painful and I am trapped. But if I do that, you will eat me! protested the monkey. No, please, I will not eat you. If you help me escape I shall reward you. said the leopard, cunningly planning to kill the monkey and eat him. I am listening. What will you give me? The monkey exclaimed, interested in the unexpected offer. If you help me escape, I shall give you 250 Dhivehi (official currency of the Maldives) as a reward. cried the leopard. WOW! 250 DHIVEHI shrieked the monkey. Deal!

The monkey wanted his money before the leopard escaped otherwise the leopard might have had other thoughts once he escaped. The leopard was unwise to give him the money before he escaped as he thought, this stupid monkey will have nowhere to go, and he will be helpless. He handed the monkey 250 Dhivehi, as promised. Then the monkey used all his body strength to lift the log. The leopard clawed his way out from under the log before the monkey let go of the log. BANG! Complete silence struck. Together, turning their heads to look at each other. Their fierce eyes met. Suddenly the leopard pounced on the monkey to try and kill him. The monkey was able to dodge the attack, just. His predictions were right; the leopard would try to eat him once he had escaped. Darting toward the nearest tree, he just about made it to the top. Lolo wasnt far behind though. The monkey began to panic as the

leopard gained in strength to climb the tree. Think, think, think, he said to himself. He knew that leopards could climb trees but he hadnt thought further once he had gotten to the top of the big part of the tree. An idea suddenly popped in his head: Leopards cant climb on small branches and leaves higher up in trees. Lolo was just about to go for the kill before the monkey sprang and leaped to higher branches. He got to the highest branch of the tree and looked down to see the leopard stuck down below. Lolo was not able to get any higher up and the monkey had all his money. Lolo slowly and carefully climbed back down. Every part of his body was aching. The leopard had learned his lesson. The monkey just

sat for a few minutes. After the leopard had left, and then quietly walked away into the distance. They both disappeared.

About the Author: My name is Nilay and I was born on 3rd May 1999 in London, England. I lived there for 6 years before moving to New Delhi, India. In my folktale, I have tried especially hard to add thoughts and dialogue to my writing. I think I show a great deal of my writing skill in this folktale booklet.

Ratings and Reviews: Adi - It was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it and I loved the plot, and all of the humor in the book, purely excellent!

Cristiano - Good Read