A Filipino Folktale: The Turtle And The Monkey

A Filipino Folktale:  The Turtle and The Monkey

Retold by:  Rose Flores - Martinez

Let me name the characters Turtly and Minky.

 

Here is the folktale.

Once upon a time, Turtly and the Minky went around the forest to find a banana plant, so they could have something to eat. 

Minky chose to plant that part with leaves (upper part), while Turtly just got what was left available to him, the lower part with thick trunk. 

A few weeks later, Minky’s plant dried and wilted, but Turtly’s plant had produced a lot of banana fruits.

Minky said to Turtly, “ Since, you can’t go up the tree, I’ll harvest the bananas for you.  Just share some to me.”

“Okay,” Turtly said.  “We will divide the harvest equally.”

But then, up the tree, Minky ate all the bananas.  Proudly, he threw down Turtly, those yellow banana peelings so Turtly turned green with envy. 

Turtly, didn’t get mad.  Instead, he put a lot of thorns around the banana trunk.

So when Minky went down, he cried, “Ouch, ouch, ouch! You, Turtly! I will cut you into pieces and drown you in the sea.  You cannot go away from me; you will see!”

Turtly came running.  And because turtles were so slow, Minky found him soon.

“Please, please, just cut me into pieces and don’t throw me into the water.”

“Aha! And why would you like me to cut you into pieces?”

“So, I can grow other turtles from my shells.  Cut me! Cut me, now!”

“No! I will throw you into the deep sea."

“Please, Minky don’t throw me into the sea.  I will drown in the water.  I beg! I beg!”

“Hahaha. There you go in the sea!”

And so a stark splash!  Then there was silence. 

In a little while, Turtly floated up. 

“Hey Minky, don’t you know the water is my home?”

From that time on, in the village, monkeys and turtles were never friends.

Minky’s tribe learned a lesson.

Turtly roamed the sea, and down, he swam into the deep.

In I Wrote Fiction, posted by rosevoc2, January 17,2012.