The Monkey, the Turtle, and the Fig Tree (from Kalila and Dimna)

Once upon a time, beside a sparkling blue sea, there grew a big fig tree.

Its branches were wide and leafy. Its leaves were shaped like green hands. And every summer, it was covered in sweet purple figs, round and soft and full of juice.

In that fig tree lived a monkey named Qird.

Qird had brown fur, a long curly tail, and a laugh you could hear all the way down the beach. He spent his days swinging from branch to branch, eating figs, and watching the waves roll in. Swish, splash. Swish, splash.

He was happy. But sometimes, he was a little bit lonely.

One sunny morning, Qird was sitting on a branch, eating a fig. He dropped one by accident. It fell down, down, down, and landed with a plop in the water below.

A head popped up out of the waves. It was a big green sea turtle with kind, sleepy eyes.

"Oh!" said the turtle. He sniffed the fig. Then he took a bite. "Mmm! This is delicious!"

Qird laughed. "Do you like figs?" he called down.

"I have never tasted one before," said the turtle. "We do not have figs under the sea. Only seaweed. Seaweed for breakfast. Seaweed for lunch. Seaweed for dinner."

"Then have another!" said Qird. He picked a big, ripe fig and tossed it down. Plop!

The turtle caught it and munched it happily. "Thank you!" he said. "My name is Sulha."

"I am Qird," said the monkey. "Come back tomorrow, and I will give you more."

And Sulha did.

The next day, and the day after that, and every day all summer long, Sulha swam to the fig tree. Qird tossed him figs. Plop, plop, plop. They talked and laughed together for hours. Qird told Sulha about the birds and the treetops. Sulha told Qird about the coral and the shiny fish under the sea.

Qird was not lonely anymore. He had a best friend.

But Sulha had a wife at home, under the sea. Her name was Lulu. And Lulu was not very happy.

"You are always at that fig tree," she grumbled. "Every day, you swim away. I never see you anymore."

Lulu was feeling left out. And when we feel left out, sometimes we think up silly ideas.

"Sulha," said Lulu, "I have heard that monkeys have very sweet hearts. Sweeter than figs. I want a monkey's heart. Bring me your friend's heart, or I will be grumpy forever."

Sulha did not like this idea at all. Qird was his friend. But Lulu kept asking, and asking, and asking. And Sulha did not know how to say no.

So the next morning, Sulha swam slowly to the fig tree. His flippers felt heavy.

"Good morning, Sulha!" called Qird, waving. "Here is a fig for you!"

"Qird," said Sulha, not quite looking at him, "my wife Lulu would like to meet you. She is having a big party at our house under the sea. Will you come?"

"A party under the sea?" said Qird. His eyes lit up. "But I cannot swim."

"You can ride on my back," said Sulha. "I will carry you."

Qird clapped his hands. He jumped down from the tree and climbed onto Sulha's big green shell. "What an adventure!" he said.

Sulha began to swim. Swish, swish. Out from the beach. Out past the rocks. Out into the deep blue sea.

Qird held on tight. He laughed as the waves splashed his toes.

But Sulha was very quiet. Out in the middle of the sea, he stopped swimming. He floated there, bobbing up and down.

"Qird," he said in a small voice. "I have to tell you something. There is no party. My wife wants your heart. She says monkey hearts are sweeter than figs."

Qird's mouth fell open. All around him was water, deep and blue. He could not swim. He could not climb. There was no tree to jump into.

His heart went thump, thump, thump.

But Qird did not cry. Qird did not shout. He took a deep breath. And then he thought.

Then he slapped his forehead.

"Oh, Sulha!" he said. "Why did you not tell me before we left? Do you not know that monkeys never carry their hearts with them? We keep our hearts safe at home, hanging in our trees. Mine is back in the fig tree right now."

Sulha blinked. "Really?"

"Of course," said Qird. "If you want it, we will have to go back and get it."

"Oh," said Sulha. "Well. All right."

So Sulha turned around. Swish, swish. Back past the rocks. Back toward the beach. Back to the big fig tree.

The moment they reached the shore, Qird leaped off Sulha's shell. He scampered up the trunk, faster than he had ever climbed before. Up, up, up, to the highest branch.

Then he sat down and laughed and laughed.

"Qird?" called Sulha from the water. "Are you getting your heart?"

"My heart is right here inside me, where it has always been," Qird called down. "Every monkey keeps its heart inside. Just like every turtle does."

Sulha's face went pink. He looked down at the water. "Oh," he said quietly. "You tricked me."

"And you tricked me first," said Qird.

Sulha floated there for a long time. He thought about all the happy days. All the figs. All the laughing. And he felt very, very sorry.

"Qird," he said at last, "I should never have listened to that silly idea. I should have said no. You are my best friend, and I am sorry."

Qird looked down at him. He could see that Sulha meant it.

"I forgive you," said Qird. "But next time someone asks you to do something unkind, you must be brave and say no. Even if it is hard."

"I will," said Sulha. "I promise."

Then Qird picked a big ripe fig. He picked another, and another, until he had a whole armful.

"Take these to Lulu," he said, tossing them down. Plop, plop, plop. "Tell her they are from me. Maybe she only needs a friend too."

Sulha carried the figs home. Lulu tasted one, and then another, and then she smiled her first smile in weeks.

"Maybe," she said, "I could come and meet this monkey."

So the next morning, two turtles swam to the fig tree. And Qird tossed down figs for them both.

Plop, plop, plop.