Week 2 Story: The Lion, the Zookeeper and the Monkey
The Lion, the Zookeeper and the Monkey is also available here, on my Portfolio site!
Once, there was a lion. He spent all of his days in the confines of his cage in the zoo, and every day people came by to see him. He was sad and cried all day long, because he knew there was more to life. He remembered his younger days when he lived in the wild; he wanted to be there again.
Every morning and every night, the zookeeper would come to his cage to feed him. And every morning and night, he would beg the zookeeper to let him out.
"Why would I do that?" the zookeeper would laugh. "You're a dangerous animal. You would eat me...or someone else in the zoo."
The lion would say, "I swear I won't. You practically raised me. If you let me out, I could even be your pet..."
Finally, one day, the zookeeper agreed. He opened the lion's cage.
"Ha!" the lion scoffed. "You're even dumber than I thought. I'm a wild lion. I need real meat, so now I will eat you."
The zookeeper begged for his life, and only bought enough time to persuade the lion to be able to ask other animals for their opinion on the matter. Knowing the lion had other people in the zoo he could eat, he agreed.
First, the zookeeper went to the penguin exhibit and explained his story to all of the penguins. "What are you complaining about?" they said. "We belong in the arctic. And here we are, stuck in this zoo, too."
Then, the zookeeper went to the snake exhibit. They did nothing but hiss their disapproval.
Lastly, the zookeeper went to the monkeys and told them what had happened.
"I don't understand. You were in the cage, and the lion let you out?" the monkey said.
"No," said the zookeeper. "I let the lion out and now he wants to eat me because I trusted him."
Still not understanding, the monkey asked the zookeeper to take him to lion's cage to see if it would help him understand what happened. The zookeeper, knowing that maybe he could convince the lion to eat the monkey instead, agreed.
"Oh great, you're back. Time for dinner," the lion licked his lips.
"Yes, our dinner is here," the zookeeper said, trying to nonchalantly gesture to the clueless monkey.
The monkey was still confused. "Now that we're here, could you explain what happened again? I'm so sorry, I just keep getting it switched in my head," he said.
The lion's patience was running out as he butted into the conversation. "I was in the cage, and he let me out."
"So you let the zookeeper out of the cage?" the monkey tilted his head.
The lion snarled, "no, I was in that cage."
"What cage?" said the monkey, hopeless. "Could you show me?"
The lion then demonstrated getting back into the cage, and the monkey quickly jumped over and slammed the door shut, trapping the lion once more.
"I think I understand now!" laughed the monkey. The zookeeper was in disbelief; what a trickster!
Author's Note: This is an original version of the story "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" by Joseph Jacobs. I kept the same plot as the original, except changed the characters: tiger to lion, Brahman to zookeeper, and jackal to monkey. I also changed the setting to inside a zoo. I thought the original story was clever the way plot twisted at the end, so I wanted to keep that similar.
Bibliography: The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).
Once, there was a lion. He spent all of his days in the confines of his cage in the zoo, and every day people came by to see him. He was sad and cried all day long, because he knew there was more to life. He remembered his younger days when he lived in the wild; he wanted to be there again.
Every morning and every night, the zookeeper would come to his cage to feed him. And every morning and night, he would beg the zookeeper to let him out.
"Why would I do that?" the zookeeper would laugh. "You're a dangerous animal. You would eat me...or someone else in the zoo."
The lion would say, "I swear I won't. You practically raised me. If you let me out, I could even be your pet..."
A lion after being reunited with the man who raised her. Source: DailyMail UK
Finally, one day, the zookeeper agreed. He opened the lion's cage.
"Ha!" the lion scoffed. "You're even dumber than I thought. I'm a wild lion. I need real meat, so now I will eat you."
The zookeeper begged for his life, and only bought enough time to persuade the lion to be able to ask other animals for their opinion on the matter. Knowing the lion had other people in the zoo he could eat, he agreed.
First, the zookeeper went to the penguin exhibit and explained his story to all of the penguins. "What are you complaining about?" they said. "We belong in the arctic. And here we are, stuck in this zoo, too."
Then, the zookeeper went to the snake exhibit. They did nothing but hiss their disapproval.
Lastly, the zookeeper went to the monkeys and told them what had happened.
"I don't understand. You were in the cage, and the lion let you out?" the monkey said.
"No," said the zookeeper. "I let the lion out and now he wants to eat me because I trusted him."
Still not understanding, the monkey asked the zookeeper to take him to lion's cage to see if it would help him understand what happened. The zookeeper, knowing that maybe he could convince the lion to eat the monkey instead, agreed.
"Oh great, you're back. Time for dinner," the lion licked his lips.
"Yes, our dinner is here," the zookeeper said, trying to nonchalantly gesture to the clueless monkey.
The monkey was still confused. "Now that we're here, could you explain what happened again? I'm so sorry, I just keep getting it switched in my head," he said.
The lion's patience was running out as he butted into the conversation. "I was in the cage, and he let me out."
"So you let the zookeeper out of the cage?" the monkey tilted his head.
The lion snarled, "no, I was in that cage."
"What cage?" said the monkey, hopeless. "Could you show me?"
The lion then demonstrated getting back into the cage, and the monkey quickly jumped over and slammed the door shut, trapping the lion once more.
"I think I understand now!" laughed the monkey. The zookeeper was in disbelief; what a trickster!
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Author's Note: This is an original version of the story "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" by Joseph Jacobs. I kept the same plot as the original, except changed the characters: tiger to lion, Brahman to zookeeper, and jackal to monkey. I also changed the setting to inside a zoo. I thought the original story was clever the way plot twisted at the end, so I wanted to keep that similar.
Bibliography: The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).
I really liked your story, Lauren! I thought it was clever that you changed the setting of the story to be in the zoo, and it made sense that these animals would want to escape their cages and be in their natural habitats. I also appreciated the change in characters and the plot twist at the end. What ended up happening with the snakes and penguins?
ReplyDeleteHello Lauren,
ReplyDeleteYour rendition of this story was more modern and fit in very well. When you used the monkey instead of the jackal it was a more understandable creature to be a trickster. Playing on the heart strings of the zoo keeper was a good change as we know that they are with the animals all day and do have special connections with them.