Monkey Tales Around the World

A Folklore Anthology

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About the Book

Here are 63 traditional stories from world folklore about our nearest relatives: monkeys and apes. As with many tales about other animals, those about monkeys and apes sometimes reflect what we as humans admire about ourselves. However, the stories more frequently embody features that we dislike. Whether they depict monkeys and apes as annoying or clever pranksters, imitative nuisances and troublemakers, loyal and wise friends, or heroic and noble characters who sacrifice themselves for others, the selections in this anthology about our closest primate kin can tell us much about ourselves and what it means to be human.

About the Author(s)

Terry L. Norton is professor emeritus of education at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he taught courses in literacy education and children’s and adolescent literature. He lives in Rock Hill.

Bibliographic Details

Terry L. Norton
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 254
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9542-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5452-2
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Preface

Purpose 1

Organization 2

Adaptation Techniques 2

Supplemental Analyses: Commentaries 4

A Note on Monkeys Versus Apes 4

Acknowledgments 5

Introduction: Some Meanings of Monkeys and Apes

People and Animals 7

Perceptions of Monkeys and Apes in the Ancient Western World 8

Some Views from the Middle Ages Through the Modern Era 10

Disquieting Simians in the Middle East 11

Mesoamerica and South America 12

Mixed Portrayals in South Asia 12

Major Monkeys: Old Monkey of China and Hanuman of India 14

Conclusion and Invitation to the Reader 15

The Middle East and India

The Origin of Monkeys 17

The Greedy Monkeys 18

The Monkey and the Necklace 19

The Monkeys Assigned to Water the Trees 22

The Vile Monkey and the Patient Buffalo 23

The Brahmin and the Monkey 24

The Heroic Monkey’s ­Self-Sacrifice 25

The Monkey Who Outwitted a Water Ogre 28

The Lessons of the Meddling Monkey and the Unheeded Bird 29

The Story of Prince Rama 34

The Monkey and the Elephant 75

The Monkey and the Mirror 77

The Monkey Prince 77

The Men Who Became Monkeys 86

The Children Who Were Turned into Monkeys 87

How the Langur Got Its Tail 88

The Monkey Husband 89

The Monkey Nursemaid 92

The Sultan’s Daughter and the Baboon 95

Africa

The Monkey and the Shark 99

Monkeys and People 102

The Monkey and the Jackal 103

The Fiddling Monkey 105

Why Old Baboon Has That Kink in His Tail 107

Old Jackal and Young Baboon 111

Leopard and Monkey 117

The Baboons and ||Xabbiten||Xabbiten 120

The Boy and the Baboons 122

The Truthful Monkey 124

The Woman, the Monkey, and the Child 125

How Twins Entered the World 128

How the Tail of the Colobus Monkey Became White 130

Western Europe

An Aesop Sampler 134

The King of the Apes 134

The Ape and the Fox 135

The Lion and the Ape 135

The Monkey and the Fox 136

Jupiter and the Monkey 136

The Monkeys and Their Mother 137

The Dancing Monkeys 137

The Monkey and the Dolphin 137

Voltaire 140

Candide, the Girls, and the Two Monkeys 140

Tibet, Korea, Southeast Asia, and China

The Two Monkeys 143

The Monkeys Saved from Death 144

The Monkeys and the Moon 146

The Monkey’s Judgment 147

Why Monkeys and People Do Not Live Together 148

The Adventures of the Monkey King 150

The Cruel Rich Couple 173

Japan and the Philippines

The Fox, the Otter, and the Monkey 176

Raw Monkey Relish 178

The Monkey, the Crab, and the Persimmons 179

The Monkey and the Wise Boar 181

The Monkeys and the Dragonflies 188

How Children Became Monkeys 189

The First Monkey 191

The Story of a Monkey 192

The Monkey and the Turtle 194

The Caribbean, South America, and North America

Irraweka and the Flood 197

How Monkey Became a Trickster 201

The Fox and Monkey Thieves 202

The Woman and the Monkey 205

The Monkey Who Begged for Misery 208

The Monkey Girl 209

The Signifying Monkey and the Lion 211

Chapter Notes 217

Bibliography 229

Index 239