The Cat Who Wanted to Be a Monkey

Two funny stories about our tricky Monkey. They are both about wanting the impossible! In the first, Baby Bushcat wants to be a monkey - so he can play and have fun all day. In the second story, the Monkey wants to fly - but ends up falling - for a trick - and literally falling too! Thank you to Wondery for supporting the show. Check out Flip & Mozi's Guide to How to be an Earthling for fun and education.

Written by Bertie
Read by Jana
Illustration by Adobe Stock
Sponsored by Wondery and Flip & Mozi's Guide to How to be an Earthling

The Cat who wanted to be a monkey
Hello,

This is Jana, and I’m here with two of our popular monkey stories. If you have heard them before, you will know that they are small, cheeky, and sweet - just like monkeys! And just in case you are waiting for the Ramayana, we’ll be back with our epic serial soon. The first of our stories is called, The Cat who wanted to be a monkey

[Bring up Music]

Once upon a time, Mother Bushcat, Father Bushcat, and Baby Bushcat were watching the monkey playing. They saw how he drank flower nectar, ate fruit, picked flees from his friends fur, and swung through the trees shrieking and chattering. Indeed, he was a very noisy monkey, and best known for his naughty tricks.
“It’s alright for some,” said Mother Bushcat, after picking up Baby Bushcat for the fifteenth time that day and putting him back in their den.
“Yes, monkeys lead a very easy life,” said Father Bushcat as he stretched and yawned.
And then Baby Bushcat piped up, “Mummy, can I be a monkey someday when I grow up?”
Mother Buschat laughed and said: “Oh how you wish you were a monkey! But no dear, you were born a bushcat and you will always be a bushcat. That’s the law of the jungle.
“Ooooooh!! That’s not fairrrrrrrr!!!!” protested Baby Bushcat, “I’m sure the monkeys would really like me to join them if I asked them nicely.”
“Well you can try dear, and see what happens” said Mother Bushcat, who was sure that her baby would soon forget about his idea to become a monkey.
But Baby Bushcat did not forget his ambition to become a monkey, and as soon as he was old enough to prowl out and about on his own, under strict instructions not to stray too far, and to come back before dark, he set out to find the place where the monkeys were playing. Sure enough, he soon found a monkey sitting with his back to a banana tree.
“Meehow, Mr Monkey, I’m Baby Bushcat, pleased to meet you,”
“Likewise, Baby Bushcat,” said the Monkey as he peeled a banana.
“I’ve seen you play, and I’d like to be a monkey too, if I can please,” said Baby Bushcat.
“Well now, it’s no easy matter for a Baby Bushcat to grow up into a monkey,” said the Monkey.
“Oh, please let me be a monkey, please, I really really want to be a monkey, and I’ll never forget you if you help me, and I’ll always pick your flees whenever you ask me.”
“Alright then,” said the Monkey, “We monkeys like enthusiasm. If you really want to be a monkey first you must learn to scratch my back. I’ve got an itch just in the middle, but mind you are not too sharp with your claws.”
Baby Bushcat scratched the Monkey’s back and the monkey said, “Ahh, that’s just right.
“Great, can I be a monkey now?’
“Hold on, hold on, not just yet. Next you must learn to harvest bananas. Climb up into that tree and get me a few.”
Right away, the cat sprang up into the tree and cut down six bananas with his claw, and then he jumped down onto the forest floor and said.
“I’ve done it! I’ve cut down some bananas. Now can I be a monkey? Please! Please!”
“Hold on, hold on, not just yet. We’ve got to sort out that tail of yours first.”
“What’s wrong with my tail? I’ve got a good tail, haven’t I?”
“Yes, it’s ok tail for a baby bushcat, but it isn’t long enough for a monkey.”
“So what can I do?”
“Hold on a minute, I’ll help you.” replied the monkey, who got up and began to pull Baby Bushcat’s tail.
“Oooh, that hurts,” said Baby Bushcat, “is it long enough yet?”
“Hmm, not yet, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll just tie your tail to this branch and that will do the trick.”
“Tie my tail to a branch? I don’t want you to tie my tail to a branch. Please don’t do it.
“Hold on a minute. I thought you said you wanted me to help you to become a monkey?”
“I did.”
“Well then. Just let me tie your tail to this branch, and before too long. You’ll be one.”
“Alright then. I suppose if you have to.”
And so the Baby Bushcat let the monkey tie his tail to a branch of the banana tree. The monkey used some vines to tie him by a strong monkey-knot and then stood back to admire Baby Bushcat who was now swinging upside down from the branch, almost like monkeys do.
“Now can I be a monkey please?” Baby Bushcat asked, as he swung there by his tail.
“Ha Ha! I Monkey tricked you!,” called out the monkey as he flew off through the trees laughing to himself at the wonderful trick he had played on the Baby Bushcat who was left meowing and crying for his mummy. To tell you the truth, it was a very mean trick of the monkey to play on the Baby Bushcat.
Now Baby Bushcat’s tail was really starting to hurt and he started to sob.
“I want my mummy! I don’t want to be a monkey anymore.”
. Eventually Mother Bushcat came out to find him and she bit through the vines and let him down.
“Who tied your tail to that branch?” she asked.
And Baby Bushcat sobbed, “The monkey”
“And do you still want to become a monkey?”
“No I don’t because monkeys play mean tricks.”
“Well you’ve learned a good lesson today,” said Mother Bushcat. And from that day on Baby Bushcat wanted to grow up to be a Bushcat just like Father Bushcat, which he did, and when he had his own babies, he told them to watch the monkeys and laugh at them, but never to try and be one.

And that was the story of the Cat that wanted to be a Monkey. In a moment, I’m going to tell you another Monkey story - this one’s called the Monkey who wanted to Fly - but first, let’s hear from this week’s sponsor, Wondery!

And now, on with our next story, which is called, The Monkey Who Wanted to Fly!

Now as you know, the Monkey was always playing tricks on the other animals. I’ve already told you about the time that he tied Baby Bushcat to a tree by his tail, and he was always catching the other animals by surprise, making them jump with a sudden shriek, or sneaking up when they were asleep and pulling their noses. He thought that his tricks were very, very funny, but the other animals found him very, very annoying. And the biggest and proudest beasts, like the Bear, the Tiger, and the eagle were most annoyed with him of all.
“Growl!” said the Bear, “I wish I could bear-punch him, but he’s too fast, and he always dodges.”
“Grrrrr!” said the Tiger, “I wished I could bite his cheeky head off, but he won’t hang around long enough for me to eat him!”
And then the eagle, who was the king of the birds, said: “SQUARK! I’d like to pick him up by the scruff of his neck, fly high into the sky, and drop him into the ocean.”
“MMM. What a delightful idea!,” purred the Tiger.
“I like the way you think,” said the Bear. “Why don’t you do it? It will be a service to animal-kind.”
“I would,” said the eagle, “But he hides in the trees where the branches are too thick for me to swoop down and catch him.”
And the Bear, the Tiger, and the Eagle grumbled among themselves that nobody would ever catch that monkey and he would carry on playing annoying tricks until the end of time!
Now a little mouse happened to be listening to the conversation of the three Big Beasts, and he squeezed up:
“Excuse me sirs, if you don’t mind me suggesting, but if you want to catch a trickster, you have to play a trick.”
“That’s right. He’s got a point,” said the Bear.
“But what trick can we play?” asked the Tiger.
“Remember, he knows all the tricks, because he’s played them already,” said the eagle.
“I know! I have an idea!” said the mouse,” and he told them his plan, which the three big beasts thought was a super-smart idea, and ordered the other animals and birds to put it into action.
The eagle announced that for one day only, he was willing to take any animal who wanted, up into the air for free to experience what it felt like to fly, and he promised not to eat them.
Normally, none of the other animals would have agreed to try anything like that, because the idea of flying can be very frightening, unless you are a bird. But the Bear and the Tiger ordered the smaller animals including the Gerbil and the Tortoise, the Bushcat, to queue up and wait for their turn to go flying. As promised, the eagle picked each one of them up, soared into the air, and returned them safely to the ground. The smaller animals reported that flying was a bit sick-making, but very thrilling, and they were so happy to be alive when they returned, that they did a little dance and told everyone else that they should try it too.
Now the monkey saw the animals go up in the air and return safely, and eventually he could not resist the chance to experience what it was like to fly. So he stepped forward and said:
“Can I have a go?”
“That’s a good fellow Monkey!” roared the Tiger. “It will be the thrill of a lifetime! I wish I could have a go up, but. I’m too heavy to fly. Now you’re just the right size, and you’ll love it!”
And then the monkey clung for dear life to the eagle’s legs as the bird’s great wings soared across the air warm currents, over the tops of the trees, and out above the waves of the ocean.
“Hey, I feel air sick, can we go back now please?” asked the monkey.
“Ha! Ha! Tricked you!” called back the eagle, who started to swoop this way and that until the monkey was so dizzy he would not hold on any more, and he fell down into the sea the eagle called out:
“Bombs Away!”
Now that would have been the end of the monkey. But it so happened that a fisherman caught the monkey in his net and hauled him on board. The monkey was the strangest fish he had ever seen - and he soon shot up to the top of the boat’s mast where he sat above the sail like a look out in his nest until they reached the shoreline where he hopped into the branches of a nearby tree.
The eagle returned to the spot where he had left the other animals and declared.
“Mission accomplished. I dropped the cargo into the ocean waves. The Monkey has tricked his last!”
But no sooner had he spoken than The Monkey called out from a nearby tree.
“Ha! Ha! Tricked You!” And the three big beasts jumped into the air with shock.
“Thanks for taking me flying.” called out the Monkey. “I didn’t ask to go swimming! But that was fun too! See you soon for another funny trick!”
“AAAAAAAH!” growled the tiger at the eagle. “Mission accomplished you said? Total failure more like like,”
And the eagle saw how angry the Tiger and the Bear were, and decided to fly back to his nest on top of a craggy mountain.

And that was the story of the Monkey who wanted to fly. I do hope you enjoyed it. I’ll be back soon with another episode of the Ramayana here at Storynory.com