Puzzle Description:

I like to think that Monkey had learned his lesson and was no longer quite such a greedy creature. He picked the fruit from the top of the tree and gave (nearly half!) of it to Tortoise. The End.

#1: Meg Tayler (rebelcat) on Apr 24, 2009

I've always been fascinated by this story, which has its origins in the Philippines (http://folklore.philsites.net/stories/fable2.html). The problem is that Monkey's basic character will never change - he will always be selfish and greedy. So, how do you resolve the conflict?

The version my pastor told us ended with Monkey running off with ALL the fruit and leaving none for Tortoise, and the question he posed to us was "who would you rather be, a Monkey or a Tortoise"?

Well, that's a tough one. Tortoise works hard and gets nothing, while Monkey steals and gets everything. There's definitely a parallel to the financial state of the world today.

But in the version I told my children, Monkey decides to share the fruit, to everyone's benefit, including his own. He isn't completely immune to the opinion of others, and he wants to be liked.

I like my version best. :-)

Congratulations! Great pics and story. People (I don't know about monkeys) can and do change, usually a little bit at a time. Any improvement should be applauded.

I thought maybe since Monkey had eaten all the fruit and gotten fat that he got eaten, lol. Not a very kid-friendly lesson. Your lesson of team-work is much better.

I like your ending! A valuable lessons for kids - greed will get you eaten.

A good friend of mine suggested that all the animals gathered under the tree to laugh at Monkey, which enraged him so much he began throwing the fruit at them. So they all had a nice feast, thanks to him.

I like you friend's suggestion, too.

Yes...I like the version in comment #4 too...

loved the series, thank you :)

Brava! I finally finished this series and enjoyed the story as much as I did solving the puzzles. Thanks for making such artistic and unique puzzles for us!

This was an amazing series. You definitely have a talent for making animals. Another version is that Monkey was now so fat that he couldn't climb the tree to steal the fruit at all. But really, if the Lion liked Tortoise at all, he shouldn't have told the thief Monkey that Tortoise had more fruit.

New one for me. I had not heard this or any other version of the story. Interesting.

Sorry to see this series end!

I love this little fable. And really, although Lion had told Monkey that Tortoise tricked him, I think that since Monkey had initially tricked Tortoise, Tortoise creatively made the best of it. Why should Monkey have any malice toward him at all? Tortoise did nothing wrong. I, too, therefore, like the idea of Monkey coming to his senses and climbing the tree to share rather than to steal. Also, every part was so beautifully illustrated; you have truly outdone yourself, Meg.

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