Monkey Tales Around the World
A Folklore Anthology
$39.95
In stock
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)
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
