Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

The monkey and crocodile stories

• Told from the point of view of the crocodile and the monkey and then from the point of view of the Buddha
• The plot device driving the story both times is the wife of the crocodile wants to eat the heart of the monkey
• In the first story the monkey is somewhat fooled by the crocodile, because he rides on the crocodile to get to the island with better food. As a result, the monkey has to fool the crocodile to get out of the bad situation he put himself in
• In the second story the monkey has to fool the crocodile to get back to the island he normally stays on
• In both stories the monkey outwits the crocodile and the crocodile gives up

A crocodile waits for a monkey