The Monkey and Crocodile Story for Kids in English

Moral stories have a paramount influence on all the children and adults who are reading it. People usually get influenced by what they read. Hence, it is important to read moral stories that will enhance morals and values in our personal lives. The Moral story of Monkey and Crocodile is a famous tale from Panchatantra depicting how it is beneficial to have a wise enemy rather than a foolish friend. 

Story of Monkey and Crocodile 

Long-time back, there lived a monkey on an apple tree by the side of a beautiful river. Although he was alone, he was happy and cheerful. The Monkey has a kind heart, he would always help other animals who came to rest in the shade of the apple tree.

One afternoon, a crocodile came out of the river and sat in the shade of the tree. 

He told the monkey that he is tired, and he has traveled a long distance to reach here. The happy monkey offered him some apples from the tree. 

The crocodile thanked him for his kind gesture and asked him if he can come back to see him sometimes. 

The monkey was delighted and said that he was always welcomed with a kind smile. 

From that day, Crocodile and Monkey became good friends.

crocodile

From that day, the crocodile visited the monkey often. They talked about many things and shared the sweet and juicy apples. 

Both Monkey and Crocodile have developed a good friendship between them. 

One day, Crocodile told the monkey that his wife lived on the other side of the river and she will be delighted to meet the Monkey. 

So, the kind Monkey plucked some apples and gave them to the Crocodile for his wife.

The crocodile’s wife loved the taste of sweet apples but, she was kind of jealous of the friendship of Monkey and Crocodile. 

She was not at all convinced with their friendship. She planned something to ruin their friendship.

One day, the crocodile’s wife thought to herself if the monkey ate those sweet apples every day, his flesh would be sweet as well. 

So, the wife pretended to believe in his friendship with the monkey and told him that she wished to be the monkey’s friend as well. 

Thinking this, she asked her husband to invite the monkey to their house. But the crocodile restrained and postponed the idea to later.

In the evening, the crocodile’s wife told him that she was sick and the doctor had told her to eat Monkey’s heart otherwise, she would die. 

If the crocodile loved his wife, he might bring the monkey’s heart at any cost. The crocodile fell into the trap of her wicked wife. 

crocodile

The crocodile was foolish enough to believe in his wife’s words. But he didn’t want to end his friendship with the monkey by killing him. Still, due to his wife, the crocodile went to the other side of the river and invited his friend for dinner. 

As they crossed the river, the crocodile began to sink. The monkey panicked and asked him why he was doing this. The crocodile replied that he wanted to kill him by sinking in the water. His wife was sick and she had to eat his heart to live.

Monkey was devastated but he used his brains and replied that you should have told me this earlier. The monkey said that he left his heart in the tree. He requested the crocodile to swim back to the apple tree so that he could give his heart to him. 

Stupid Crocodile believed him and was happy to know Monkey willingly decided to give him his heart. The crocodile swims back. 

After this, the monkey climbed the tree safely and told the crocodile that you could swim back and tell your wife that her husband was stupid enough to put his friend’s life over his wife’s wish and he was even more stupid to believe that someone could forget his heart. 

monkey on tree

He reached to one of the nearest branches and threw some apples towards him. The monkey said let his wife have some of these apples rather than his heart. The crocodile realized his mistake now but he had lost a true friend who cares for him. 

Origin of story

This engaging and moral story of Monkey and Crocodile was taken from the collection of Panchatantra. The Panchatantra is a collection of ancient fables in Sanskrit verse arranged in the form of a story. 

The story in the Panchatantra is read and loved by everyone. These stories are not only entertaining. It also teaches some important life lessons. These stories had been read, loved, and recited in every Indian household. These fables not only bring smiles but also inspires and teaches us to be a good human being.

Moral of story

  • It is always beneficial to have a wise enemy rather than a foolish friend. It is important to have wise people around you. It’s better to have wise enemies than to have stupid friends around.
  • Don’t underestimate yourself. You can find the solution to every problem. You just have to think. Just like the monkey, think of a solution whenever you are in trouble.
  • Never blindly trust anyone. Think before trusting somebody just like the monkey. Be kind and generous but don’t be foolish enough to fall into the wicked traps of anyone.
  • You should be kind as the monkey was as he shared his apple with his friend. 
  • Always welcome your guest no matter how it is. Rightly said in the phrase अतिथि देवो भव: Meaning– Guest is like God. We should always respect our guest and righteously treat them as the monkey did with the crocodile.

Real-life application of the moral for kids

  • Quick Intelligence can save you from a lot of troubles. Whenever you are facing any difficulty just like the monkey in the story, use your brain. Try to come up with a solution. Don’t lose hope when you are trapped instead look for a solution to get out of the situation.
  • Never trust anyone blindly even if he/she is your best friend. We often don’t know what is going on in other people’s minds. Believe in facts rather than false claims and rumors. 
  • Everything you heard may or may not be the truth. Without knowing the facts, one should not come to any conclusion.
  • As rightly mentioned in the shloka, लोभ नाशस्य कारणं 

Meaning – Greed causes the end of a man.

  • Greed can make your life miserable. It will surely lead to your downfall. In this story, the greed of the crocodile’s wife leads to ruining a good friendship between her husband and the monkey.

Happy Reading!

One thought on “The Monkey and Crocodile Story for Kids in English

  • May 8, 2021 at 5:29 pm
    Permalink

    I used to be able to find good information from your blog articles.

Comments are closed.