Fables and animal stories: Tale 57

The monkeys and the dragon-flies

Narrated by Pedro D. L. Sorreta, a Bicol from Albay, who says that the story is very common in
the island of Catanduanes.

One day, when the sun was at the zenith and the air was very hot, a poor dragon-fly, fatigued
with her long journey, alighted to rest on a branch of a tree in which a great many monkeys
lived. While she was fanning herself with her wings, a monkey approached her, and said, Aha!
What are you doing here, wretched creature?

O sir! I wish you would permit me to rest on this branch while the sun is so hot, said the
dragon-fly softly. I have been flying all morning, and I am so hot and tired that I can go no
farther, she added.

Indeed! exclaimed the monkey in a mocking tone. We dont allow any weak creature such as
you are to stay under our shelter. Go away! he said angrily, and, taking a dry twig, he threw it
at the poor creature.

The dragon-fly, being very quick, had flown away before the cruel monkey could hit her. She
hurried to her brother the king, and told him what had happened. The king became very angry,
and resolved to make war on the monkeys. So he despatched three of his soldiers to the king of
the monkeys with this challenge:

The King of the Monkeys.

Sir, As one of your subjects has treated my sister cruelly, I

am resolved to kill you and your subjects with all speed.

Dragon.

The monkey-king laughed at the challenge. He said to the messengers, Let your king and his
soldiers come to the battle-field, and they will see how well my troops fight.

You dont mean what you say, cruel king, answered the messengers. You should not judge
before the fight is over.

What fools, what fools! exclaimed the king of the monkeys. Go to your ruler and tell him my
answer, and he drove the poor little creatures away.

When the king of the dragon-flies received the reply, he immediately ordered his soldiers to go
to the battle-field, but without anything to fight with. Meanwhile the monkeys came, each
armed with a heavy stick. Then the monkey-king shouted, Strike the flying creatures with your
clubs! When King Dragon heard this order, he commanded his soldiers to alight on the
foreheads of their enemies. Then the monkeys began to strike at the dragon-flies, which were
on the foreheads of their companions. The dragon-flies were very quick, and were not hurt at
all: but the monkeys were all killed. Thus the light, quick-witted dragon-flies won the victory
over the strong but foolish monkeys.

A Visayan variant, The Ape and the Firefly (JAFL 20 : 314) shows the firefly making use of the
same ruse the dragon-flies employ to get the monkeys to slay one another. The first part of this
variant is connected with our N. The killing fly on head incident we have already met with in
N, in the notes to which I have pointed out Buddhistic parallels. It also occurs in N (d). In a
German story (Grimm, N, The Dog and the Sparrow) the sparrow employs the same trick to
bring ruin and death on a heartless wagoner who has cruelly run over the dog.

A closer analogue is the Celebes fable of The Butterfly and the Ten Monkeys, given in
Bezemer, .

Our story belongs to the large cycle of tales in which is represented a war between the winged
creatures of the air and the four-footed beasts. In these stories, as Grimm says in his notes to
N, The Willow-Wren and the Bear, the leading idea is the cunning of the small creatures
triumphing over the large ones .... The willow-wren is the ruler, for the saga accepts the least
as king as readily as the greatest. For the bibliography of the cycle and related cycles, see
Bolte-Polivka, 1 : 517-519, and 2 : 435-438, to which add the Latukika-jataka, N, which tells
how a quail brought about the destruction of an elephant that had killed her young ones. I am
inclined to think that the Bicol and Visayan stories belonging to this group are native at least,
have not been derived through the Spanish.

I have another Visayan story, however, relating a war between the land and the air creatures,
which may possibly have come from the Occident. It was narrated by Jose R. Cuadra, and runs
thus:

The Battle between the Birds and the Beasts.

A great discussion once took place between the lion, king of the land-animals, and the bat, king
of the air-animals, over the relative strength of each. The lion claimed to be more powerful than
the bat, while the bat claimed to be more powerful than the lion. The final outcome was a
declaration of war. The lion then called a general meeting of all his subjects. Among them were
tigers, leopards, elephants, carabaos, wolves, and other fierce land-animals. The carabao was
appointed leader of the army. Each animal in turn made a speech to the king, promising a sure
victory for him. At the same time the bat also called a general meeting of his subjects. There
were present all kinds of birds and insects. The leadership of the army was given to the bees
and the wasps. Early in the morning the two opposing armies were assembled on the battle-
field. At a given signal the battle began. The land-animals tried to chase the air-animals, but in
vain, for they could not leave the ground. The bees and wasps were busy stinging the eyes and
bodies of their enemy. At last the land-animals retired defeated, because they could not endure
longer their severe punishment.