The Heart of a Monkey is a Swahili fairy tale collected by Edward Steere in Swahili Tales. [1] Andrew Lang included it in The Lilac Fairy Book . [2] It is Aarne-Thompson 91. [3]
A monkey and a shark struck up a friendship, with the monkey tossing his friend the fruits of a giant mku yu tree that grew overhanging the ocean. After a time, the shark said if the monkey would only come home with him, he would give him a gift, and offered to carry him. The monkey accepted, but half way there, the shark told him that the sultan of his country was deathly ill and needed a monkey's heart to cure him. The monkey said it was a pity, because if he had known, he could have brought his heart, but as it was, he had left it behind. The shark, deceived, brought him back to get it. The monkey instantly jumped up into the tree and was not to be lured back down. He told the shark a story of a washerman's donkey, which was twice persuaded to meet with a lion, and so lost its life the second time — and that the monkey was not a washerman's donkey.
An earlier version of this tale, with a crocodile instead of a shark, serves as the frame tale for the fourth book of the Panchatantra. In this version it is the crocodile's wife who, after enjoying the figs given by the monkey to her husband, desires to eat the monkey's heart. [4] Whereas the Swahili version has only one embedded tale, in the Panchatantra version the monkey and crocodile tell each other numerous tales in the course of their story, the second of which corresponds to the story of the washerman's donkey.
Folklorist Seki Keigo stated that the tale is "very popular" in Japan, and reported an ancient Japanese version from the 11th century, in the Konjaku Monogatarishū . [5]
J. R. R. Tolkien in his On Fairy-Stories cites this tale as an example of not a true fairy tale, because while the detached heart is a common fairy-tale motif, it appears in it only as a ploy. [6]
"On Fairy-Stories" is a 1947 essay by J. R. R. Tolkien which discusses the fairy story as a literary form. It was written as a lecture entitled "Fairy Stories" for the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, on 8 March 1939.
A fairy tale is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. Prevalent elements include dragons, dwarfs, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, griffins, merfolk, monsters, monarchy, pixies, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, witches, wizards, magic, and enchantments.
Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect of Japan. In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of "folktale" or not among various types of folklore. The admixed impostors are literate written pieces, dating back to the Muromachi period or even earlier times in the Middle Ages. These would not normally qualify for the English description "folktales".
The "Town Musicians of Bremen" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1819.
Bunbuku Chagama, literally "Bunbuku tea-kettle" is a Japanese folktale or fairy tale about a tanuki, that uses its shapeshifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness.
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"Trusty John", "Faithful John", "Faithful Johannes", or "John the True" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1819. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.
Why the Sea Is Salt is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book (1889).
The Crab and the Monkey, also known as Monkey-Crab Battle or The Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab, is a Japanese folktale. In the story, a sly monkey kills a crab, and is later killed in revenge by the crab's offspring. Retributive justice is the main theme of the story.
Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.
The Nunda, Eater of People is an abridged version of a Swahili fairy tale titled "Sultan Majnun", collected by Edward Steere (1828–1882) in Swahili Tales, as told by natives of Zanzibar (1870). Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book (1901).
Keigo Seki was a Japanese folklorist. He joined a group under Yanagita Kunio, but often came to different conclusions regarding the same folktales. Along with collecting and compiling folktales, Seki also arranged them into a series of categories.
Shippeitaro or Shippei Taro is the name of a helper dog in the Japanese fairy tale by the same name.
The Tiger, the Brahmin and the Jackal is a popular Indian folklore with a long history and many variants. The earliest record of the folklore was included in the Panchatantra, which dates the story between 200 BCE and 300 CE.
How the Killing of the Old Men Was Stopped is a Serbian fairy tale that first appeared in Kazadzic, a journal of Serbian folklore, having been submitted by Mr. I. L. Szeckovic from Paracin. It is Aarne-Thompson type 981, "Wisdom of Hidden Old Man Saves Kingdom."
Urikohime, Uriko-hime or Uriko Hime is a dark Japanese folktale about a girl that is born out of a melon, adopted by a family and replaced by a evil creature named Amanojaku.
Hachikazuki or Hachi Katsugi is a Japanese folktale of the Otogi-zōshi genre. It refers to a maiden of noble birth who wears a bowl on her head and marries a prince.
The Fire Boy is a Japanese folktale collected by scholar Seki Keigo. It tells of a boy expelled from home to another realm and, thanks to the efforts of a faithful horse, marries a lord's daughter.
The Golden Eggplant is a Japanese folktale, published by scholar Seki Keigo in Folktales of Japan. Scholars relate it to tale type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index.
Works related to The Story of the Washerman's Donkey (Swahili Tales) at Wikisource Works related to The Monkey and the Crocodile (Panchatantra) at Wikisource